Elvys was swept into a torrent of blood like a drowning man being toppled by waves of memory, those sealed images reappeared once again.
There were only two kinds of people in the castle of Nocturne, the Duke's servants, and the young boys and girls who provided fresh blood for the Duke.
Elvys, who was forcibly transformed into a vampire, naturally belonged to the servants, and even because he did not accept his identity, lacked enough awe for the Duke of Nocturne, so he was naturally assigned to the lowest work.
Elvys' first job was: sunning books.
There was a special study in the castle for storing books, because there were no windows in the room, to prevent the pages from getting damp, the books had to be regularly placed outside for airing.
This job was previously done by human servants. Because low-ranking vampires were extremely susceptible to sunburn, letting them air books sounded laughable.
But this job was assigned to Elvys.
"Don't you want to become a vampire? Then pretend you're still a human. I wonder if your own perception can withstand the scorching sun?" Unmerciful laughter and ridicule rang in his ears.
Elvys said nothing. The next morning when the sun rose, he appeared on the platform specially used for airing books.
"He's not trying to kill himself, is he?" The other vampire servants hiding in the heavy curtains discussed.
"I hope not, that would be boring."
Walking down from the platform, Elvys was pale and bloodless. The burn on the back of his hand extended into his unseen sleeve, and his slightly trembling lips suggested he had suffered tremendous pain. Elvys passed by the group of giggling vampire servants, ignoring them from start to finish as if they were air.
On the first night assigned to sun books, Elvys leaned against the corridor wall, staring at a small patch of moonlight sprinkling on the floor through the window. Around his feet and side lay the castle's human lowly servants. They worked during the day and did not have individual rooms at night, so they slept on the corridor floor in their clothes.
The ones active in the castle during this time were the vampire servants. This did not include Elvys; he was special because his work was assigned during the day, so he had nothing to do at this time.
Elvys took out a book with a black cover from behind and started to read in the moonlight.
He always harbored a faint hope in his heart: maybe the process of being transformed into a vampire was reversible, and he could find a way to return to his human identity.
After airing all the books in the Duke of Night Tomb's study, more than two months had passed. Elvys' originally distinct hand was now covered with scars. Vampires have a strong self-healing ability, but the speed of getting burnt far exceeds healing. At every moment, his body was spontaneously healing wounds, bringing him endless pain and itching. Elvys' vision also deteriorated, not knowing whether it was because he stayed in the sun for too long or because he read books in the moonlight every night.
In short, after airing all the books, Elvys received his second job: taking care of the precious magical plants in the castle garden.
This job was not heavy or dangerous. Elvys was a bit surprised, was his former friend and companion, now a bully in the castle, no longer targeting him?
That was until two boys and girls were thrown at Elvys' feet. "This is fresh flower fertilizer, the magical plants in the garden are very precious and need to be fertilized once a week."
The boys and girls huddled together, shivering. Their rosy faces turned pale upon hearing this sentence, and their eyes looking at Elvys revealed a plea.
They came to the castle voluntarily. The Castle of Night Tomb would pay their families a large sum of money, claiming that they only needed to provide a little blood each week in return, during which they would enjoy the richest food and sleep on the softest beds, so that their mood would be pleasant and the sweetness of their blood would reach its peak.
This was a job that the nearby residents scrambled for. At first, everyone suspected that the children who were taken away would only have a one-way ticket, but as time passed, gradually a group of children who had reached the age of 20 returned home, talking about their dreamlike life in the castle. As for those who did not return, they were accustomed to the good life over there and did not want to come back to live a hard life.
Whether this was the truth or not, Alice used to believe it without a doubt until she and her twin brother were ruthlessly abandoned because they couldn't make a tasty "Twins Magritte" due to the different sweetness of their blood. Alice stared blankly at the bright flowers in the garden as red as blood as if she saw bloody mouths full of sharp teeth.
"Please don't kill me, I beg you, sir, please." Alice looked at the man who was slowly approaching and crawled backward clumsily.
The pale man helped her up from the dirty ground. "I won't kill you."
The man managed to arrange Alice and her twin brother into an empty room. Although it was narrow and humid, at least they didn't have to worry about losing their lives all the time. The steward who had thrown them into the garden seemed happy to see the current scene, once Alice saw him looking at her with mockery, and saying to the person next to him, "He doesn't want to kill people" and "It's really funny, he thinks these fools are his kind."
Once, Alice sneaked into the castle garden and saw the pale and handsome man under the moonlight cutting his wrist, a series of bead-like blood drops falling on the wet black soil.
For some reason, Alice had courage. She rushed out and extended her scarred arm, "Use my blood!"
Elvys took a step back and looked down at the excited girl with a cold expression, "Stay away from me, go back."
Alice looked at his eyes which were even more crimson under the moonlight, retreated fearfully for two steps, hesitated for a while, and still moved her feet to leave.
The magical plants that were watered with fresh blood grew rustlingly in the dark night, just like the plan hidden in Elvys' heart, was getting closer to the target step by step.
Later, Alice and her brother's blood passed the "quality test" again, and they returned to their original spacious room. Whenever she passed the dark garden, she would always look into it, trying to see that slender figure, but she never got what she wished.
One day, Elvys proactively found Alice and handed her a bottle of liquid as thick as blood.
"Drink it. I saved your life, and in return, I want you to do something for me, just one thing."
Alice trembled and took it, throwing the requirement that the steward should not eat or drink anything outside the menu at the back of her head. She drank it up and returned the bottle to Elvys, then ran away without looking back.
Elvys returned to the castle corridor—he still did not have his own room, quietly waiting for when the last link of this long chain could be tightened.
He took advantage of the opportunity to read all the books collected by the Duke when drying books, and he did not find how a vampire can be reversed to a human, but he discovered a secret spell.
A potion made from materials such as seven-spot grass, sand-bone flower, emerald tendril fruit, and drunk flame flower watered by a vampire's blood, if drunk by another vampire, can swap their bloodlines.
This is a wonderful method for a lower vampire to soar into the sky, but the higher vampire will never let down their guard and drink a potion with unknown ingredients.
So Elvys let Alice act as the intermediary and set up the last bridge for him.
The blood produced by the human girls in the castle is exclusive to Duke of Night Tomb. This is his authority. Other vampires can only drink the "blood tax" with mixed blood collected from the town below. So Elvys is not worried that someone mistakenly drinks Alice's blood and completes the wrong exchange.
Wait, just wait. Maybe it's tomorrow, or maybe Duke of Night Tomb will never remember that cup of "Twins Margarita".
But Elvys waited. He took over the authority of the vampire duke, silently becoming the master of this castle. The Night Tomb Duke who lost his power hid in the basement, fearing that others would find that he was no longer the strong and dignified superior. Elvys didn't kill him immediately, he wanted Duke Night Tomb to live in fear of being exposed at any moment. Elvys wanted him to live in terror, fearing his identity would be exposed at any moment.