Chereads / The vampire progenitor is a bookworm / Chapter 2 - Douglas' warning

Chapter 2 - Douglas' warning

"Ya a born researcher. Ain't seen no one else in my life that'd trade princess duties for listenin' to the screams of people mendin' broken limbs and shortening their lifespans." Douglas replied in between hearty laughs. It seemed to echo through the room, yet the other occupants of the room ignored it.

"Still best ya pay attention. Things are gettin' tense here. Princess Nadia won a battle for Nensas light valley recently. Took a couple Lisaran elites out too." Douglas explained, his laugh gone and his eyes serious.

"Good for her. She deserves it. I feel like Wyatt's trying too hard for this." Lilith replied. She had seen the efforts both of her siblings went through for this battle. Wyatt had worked harder but her sister had sacrificed more. Wyatt was too obsessed. Maybe if he lost the race for the throne, he'd calm down a bit. Go back to the goofy adventurer he always used to be.

Douglas stared hard at the girl as he puzzled out her response. "Lilith." He said, his tone becoming stern. Lilith looked into his eyes and displayed the usual curiosity in her eyes.

"Princess Nadia is practically empress by now. The prince isn't just going to sit there and take that. Lad's a hardy sort. Tough as nails. He ain't going down if he ain't dragged you down to hell with him." Douglas warned. His eyes were hard as they stared into Lilith's own.

Lilith was about to open her mouth to argue back but Douglas spoke up again as he saw this. "Listen lass. I don't like saying this but if it comes down to it, much as I like ya, I'll always protect my daughter first. I don't wanna make that call. So I'm tellin' ya now. Somethin' fishy is going on and you need to be ready for it. Do you understand?" His question resounded in Lilith's mind. She knew the expression 'A cornered rat bites back.' but what could he actually do?

This was her brother. He might be obsessed with that stupid overly decorated chair but he was still her brother. She couldn't see him doing anything. He might protest. He might wait for Nadia to renounce the throne?

This wasn't her wheelhouse. So long as it didn't endanger her life Lilith didn't much care any way. She'd save Nadia if she could. Ideal scenario one of them got the throne and no one died. Lilith could hide the other one away if she had to. If they came after her though, she'd just have to run.

"I'll inform Nadia." She decided and spoke her decision immediately. Politics was not her area of expertise. Lilith had deliberately avoided researching the topic because of her sister. Perhaps it was time she started? If Nadia couldn't come up with a solution Lilith would start researching the subject. This was endangering her life and she didn't have a choice.

"Bet'er than doin' nothin'" Douglas replied. He could see the grimace of resolve on Lilith's face. The girl was taking this seriously and that was good enough for him. She was real smart and he had no doubt she'd figure something out. She always did.

Douglas turned his eyes to his daughter. She was currently swinging her left arm up towards her mouth and then back down again in some sort of strange but clearly meaningful motion. She was staring at her arm like a test subject.

She probably wanted to talk with Lilith. He had learned to read her little ticks over the years. "This old man's gonna head off. Planet business and all that. Take care o' my girl yeah?" Douglas asked, smirk on his face. Without checking for an answer he started walking off towards where the planets were gathered.

The jupiter and pluto families were the first to greet him before they jumped straight back into important discussions for the empire. Discussions he joined in on. Lilith meanwhile knew Zilla wanted to talk to her and Douglas had given her an excuse.

She tried to remember her fellow witch's appearance. Her amethyst hair flowed behind her like the calm waves of the ocean. Her face was slightly pale and even when she went out in the sun she always got freckles instead of a tan. Her sleeves were always covered in loose strings and dripping with saliva from when the girl chewed on them.

Trying to recall other notable features was actually somewhat hard. Black eyes like the rest of the people from the Neptune duchy, she was slightly more muscular than most girls her age last time. Her skin was a little rough? She had compared it to a boat hull. That was pretty much all Lilith could remember. She overlapped the image with the blur in front of her.

"Is there something you wish to speak about Zilla?" Lilith asked carefully. She wasn't scared of Zilla's supposed 'outburts' like everyone else. Still, she didn't want to trigger one. She knew the girl didn't enjoy them. She tried to look into Zilla's eyes, keeping unnecessary movements to a minimum until the girl found her voice.

"T-there's a jellyfish that we recently discomered." Zilla said. The last word was somewhat incorrectly pronounced but Lilith knew she struggled with Vs and Ns so she ignored it. Likely something in the earlier conversation had reminded her of this fact and she had yet to inform Lilith herself.

"Sounds intriguing to me but as much as I'd like to log a new species of jellyfish for the masses, they won't much care unless we make a big update. Or-" Lilith explained but was interrupted quietly by Zilla.

"...tal"

Lilith couldn't pick up what Zilla said and she waited in silence for the girl to repeat herself. Zilla often interrupted quietly and if you kept talking she'd just not interrupt again, forgetting what she was going to say in the process. Eventually the girl did repeat herself.

"The jellyffish. It's immortal." Zilla said and Lilith had to fight herself not to pounce on the woman there and then. How? What was it called? In what way was it immortal? True immortality? Agelessness? Some other method she hadn't thought of? More importantly…

How had it achieved this?! Lilith had all but given up on immortality several years ago. Her experiments were not bearing fruit and changing the structure of the human body was proving harmful. She even tried studying under healing mages to see if she could safely change her body drastically. It didn't pan out unfortunately.

"What's it called? How immortal is it? How does it-" Lilith trailed off as she realised she was doing exactly what she shouldn't do to Zilla. It was too much information for the poor girl at once. She needed to be methodical. Temper her expectations. This was just a fish.

She took a step back to her original position as she had started advancing on the poor girl. She retracted her hand and tried to regain her perfect posture and demeanour. Lilith's displays of emotion were often physical. Her expression rarely changed but if you truly rattled her, she moved fast.

"Give me a description of the creature and it's characteristics please." Lilith said as slowly as she could manage and Zilla obliged.

With a few pointed questions from Lilith, she was able to learn quite a bit about this creature. It apparently had some form of regression to it's youth. Lilith was disappointed, it wasn't the type of immortality she was looking for. It was still immortality however and while she might lose her memories, it might give her enough time to work out how not to.

The problem was it's size. The specimen was tiny and there were barely any recorded instances of catching them. Zilla specialised in marine biology and lived in the Neptune duchy yet she couldn't even get her hands on a single sample of them.

Replicating it's abilities wasn't foolproof any way. Lilith had found that replicating animal abilities was rarely as easy as it sounded. Her research had turned up several interesting abilities from animals that might help lead her to immortality but she never found a way to integrate them with the human system.

This was promising however and Lilith noted it down for future endeavours. This would be a personal project more than a public one. The imperial nobles wouldn't be interested in an immortal jellyfish despite the scientific significance. She was going to study this herself and see if she could get results but unfortunately for Zilla, she couldn't publish this one and get paid for it.

"I do not believe this one is marketable. That said, I've taken a personal interest. Please continue study. If only for my sake." Lilith said with an apologetic tone to her voice. She felt slightly like she was wronging the girl. Immortality came first though. Her dream since she was a child. She couldn't let it pass.

"Yes! Of course!" Zilla replied, a little too enthusiastically. Her exclamation rang through the room and attracted the attention of some nearby nobles. They noticed it was Zilla immediately however. They grumbled about the mentally deficient witch interrupting them and went back to their conversations.

Zilla hung her head. She had clearly heard them. Lilith was about to try and re-assure her but she didn't need to. Zilla's eyes soon lit up once again and Lilith couldn't hear what she whispered under her breath "A job for Lilith…" She did see the giggles that the girl broke out into though.

Determining Zilla was fine, she moved on. Zilla had finished the conversation and was in her own world. Lilith would have to find her own entertainment for the rest of the evening. Zilla would simply follow along like a little duckling while she played with various body parts and absorbed the information. Lilith decided to thus pay her no mind.

First she considered going to get Candace. The only issue being that unlike Zilla and Lilith, Candace didn't actually have enough wrong with her to oust her from empire high society. Lilith had the bane of her existence as an excuse to ostracise her and Zilla was declared mentally deficient a few years ago.

Zilla wasn't even allowed to inherit her father's title despite being an only child because she was 'incapable of proper management and interaction with society.'. Lilith thought that was entirely incorrect but simply being losing land was far better than what most had planned for them.

Candace on the other hand, didn't actually have anything wrong with her. She was odd, even Lilith and Zilla would agree as much. Unlike them however, she was perfectly capable of integrating with society. Everyone thought she was an oddball but she was still considered a human oddball.

Lilith wasn't going to take her only social time away from her. Even if Candace herself didn't enjoy socialising, it was good for her.

Next on Lilith's mind was trying to find some new allies. She thought through the nobles she hadn't often interacted with. The planet families would be the ideal. Lilith already had connections with two of them through her fellow witches. The others were complicated though.

The planet families were the most famous dukes out there and Lilith was acquainted with two of them. Unfortunately Douglas thought of her as a friend of his daughter rather than a consultant. As for Candace's dad. She had no idea what he was thinking.

The other 6 though… Lilith sighed. She just didn't know anything about them. None of them consulted her and she didn't have any personal connections to them. Jupiter and Saturn were to be expected. They were a recluse(or possible spy) and a politician respectively. Giving away information was against their code of conduct.

Mars, Venus, Mercury and Uranus though. Mars was a family of warriors. They were all meatheads and they didn't need to do much thinking so Lilith's services wouldn't interest them. She also found their heir distasteful. He kept trying to drag her into dangerous situations when they were children. She didn't want to interact with him.

Mercury were an odd bunch. Their family was mostly craftsmen so really they should be the first Lilith interacted with. Yet they hadn't reached out to her and she wasn't in a position to do the opposite. Lilith was an heir to the throne yes. But she was the 'black sheep' so to speak. Though in her case it was the opposite.

Lilith was born with the curse of Albinism. Her eyes were unable to focus and constantly blurry because of the blood vessels in them. People told her they were a deep crimson. She was often complimented on her eyes by her closer acquaintances. But Lilith had never seen them herself.

White hair, pale skin she looked ephemeral basically. It would've been fine, if it wasn't considered a curse. The imperial family was all about strength. They weren't meatheads like Mars but they were expected to be strong and intelligent. Lilith was definitely intelligent.

But she could never be strong. Her body was perpetually weak, her sight similarly poor and her balance awful. She learned martial arts and was apparently incredibly skilled. Yet she couldn't beat a child. She literally got knocked over by a child in a sparring match.

Lilith sighed expelling the memory. Her time in the military was not pleasant and she didn't want to think about it now. What was she thinking about? Mercury right? Lilith decided it ultimately didn't matter. She could think about the planets at a later date.

She decided she had too many tangential thoughts. She returned to the problem at hand. What should she do? She needed to see her sister at some point, perhaps that would be an option?

Nadia was unlikely to want her company right now however. She was in the middle of an argument regardless. Lilith did not want to intrude. She decided to listen in on the argument, in case it could provide useful information and perhaps some entertainment.

"I hear you conquered a few border territories recently Nadia. The Lisaran's must be quaking in their boots at our imperial might. Excellently done." Wyatt's voice was the first Lilith heard and his comment could be deconstructed in so many ways she decided not to bother.

He had ignored the conflict so far but apparently he wanted something from his sister this time. "By that token, why are we not pressing our attack. You are here, enjoying good food and drink, while the Lisarans are panicking. Should we not make this chaos useful and press the attack?" Wyatt continued. His eyes flicked behind him for a second and one man stepped forwards at the prompt.

He was one of Wyatt's galaxy commanders. His neat black hair seemed shaved short and he had a small stubble forming on his chin. His face was thin and intimidating. Even his resting face felt like a tiger's maw. One mistake and he would bite your head off.

His eyes were brown and sharp as daggers. One look would have the feint of heart on their knees. For some it was an attractive quality, to Lilith it just made him one of the more annoying people to look at.

"I would love to volunteer my Galaxy for this assignment. I mean no disrespect but if princess Nadia is a coward. I the great Calvin livertan under the excellent command of my liege the great prince Wyatt, would gladly take up the role of chasing down those with their tails between their legs and slaughtering them." Spoke the Galaxy commander and Lilith saw Nadia's eyes narrow from the other end of the table.

"Aren't you barbaric." Came her frigid reply. Her cold tone seemed to gather the attention of those around her and she continued speaking.

"You speak of slaughtering fleeing enemies as though that is an honour worthy of praise. Have we not always sought surrender from our enemies? Such that they may one day enjoy the prosperity of the empire themselves. We are not savages. We are not barbarians. We do not 'hunt those who have their tails between their legs.'" Nadia admonished harshly.

"How do you believe you are to conquer the continent with that attitude princess Nadia? We have been attempting this for years and the Lisarans have managed to build an alliance against us. They have been a pain in our side for a century at least and I say it's time we get rid of them for good." Replied Calvin passionately. Wyatt, the supposed initiator of the debate, simply remained silent and watched on.

"If we always resorted to scorching the Earth we would be no better than those who destroyed this land for resources so many years ago. To remove something from the world in it's entirety, no matter how much they might irritate us personally, is fundamentally a flawed manner of thinking. It is the thought process of rats stuck in a cage and we are not rats. We are predators." Nadia once again argued.

The back and forth continued in the background and as it did, Zilla reached out and grabbed Lilith's sleeve. Whether she was nervous or just wanted the company, Lilith didn't really know but she just let it happen.

Her dress this time was something she'd just taken from her closet. Lilith rarely cared about appearances but her closet was full of expensive dresses for a princess. Her arm was covered in beautifully woven lace. Lilith remembered the designs depicted on her sleeve. Roses, vines even some depictions of the moon that she got special permission for.

All celestial bodies were forbidden under imperial law to be depicted in any form of art. As a member of the imperial family though, Lilith could get quite a few things normal people couldn't. One such thing was written permission from the emperor to wear clothing with celestial designs.

The dress itself didn't have the best stitching in the empire despite being perfectly capable of getting that kind of quality. When she put it on, Lilith made sure to check for gaps like she did with all her dresses. Despite the venue being inside she wanted to be safe.

There was a veil hiding her true face in darkness. A simple see through black lace cloth that she draped over her face. Simple but with excellent stitch work and made by one of the best craftsmen in the empire. It followed all the way down the back of her neck and connected to her sleeves.

The threads of the lace sleeves tightly latched onto her arms like armour straps. They covered the entire arm and did not leave any gaps for the blasted ball of fire to peek through. She had checked these for holes as well. No chances. Lilith hated sunburn.

Her legs were covered by tights that lead directly into her socks. Her ears meanwhile were covered in a pair of fluffy mufflers dark red in colour looking like adorable evilspawn clinging to her earlobes.

Zilla would tug on the lace every so often in some sort of pattern. Her eyes seemed focussed on the task and Lilith once again decided to let the girl be. Apparently she just needed some comfort. Since she could see the argument wasn't going to end any time soon, Lilith decided to tell her sister she needed to speak to her.

She tapped her heel against the floor. It wasn't very loud. Even Lilith couldn't hear it and she was the one who made the sound. Yet her sister's eyes immediately snapped to her. The moment they did Lilith's hands went through a series of simple movements.

She put her index finger up to the side of her lips and pushed her hand away from the location quickly. Then she pointed the same index finger at Nadia. Finally the same hand with the index still up tilted to the left stayed there for a short moment then quickly tilted to the right.

Having been taught by Lilith herself what these signs mean, Nadia clenched one hand into a fist by her waist making sure to keep it horizontal. She then moved it up vertically and down far faster. Her hand then turned with all fingers bunched together like a wall. She then tilted her wrist, keeping the hand in the same position, acting like something was opening.

As she did so a gust of air hit Lilith mimicking the motions she just made. A small gust of air pressed down on the top of her hand and another blew in two directions, opening outwards.

Lilith understood and she clenched her own fist before nodding it. She would now be meeting her sister outside the doors after the party is over. Another of Lilith's fun research projects. A language for people who can't talk or hear. Perhaps the most useful of her hobby projects to date.