Chapter 425: Elder, Ancilla, Neonate and Human (8)

My proposal to cover up Finlay’s actions was quickly rendered meaningless.

Valdamir had me seated across the desk from him and rested his chin on his hand in thought.

“Finlay, you say.”

“You know Finlay?”

“I do.”

“Ah, that was a stupid question. Of course you knew him, since he’s your retainer.”

But then, Countess Erte, who stood beside Valdamir, corrected me.

“It’s not because he is His Grace’s retainer. It is because His Grace is exceptional. His Grace knows the identities of every vampire in existence—Elders, Ancillas, Neonates, and even how many Twaites each Neonate commands.”

Really?

To that extent?

Valdamir didn’t deny it.

Instead, he remained deep in thought before finally speaking.

“Erte.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Countess Erte bowed her head.

Valdamir looked at her coldly and muttered.

“Remove your heart.”

Wait? What?

Remove her heart?

While I was still trying to process what I’d heard, Countess Erte didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

Before I knew it, she had raised her hand and stabbed her own chest, pulling out her heart through the spilling blood—without a single sound.

Shocked, I asked.

“W-What? She just ripped out her heart?!”

Even as he ordered a loyal subordinate to kill herself, Valdamir’s expression showed no emotion.

If one were to compare it to a human reaction, he felt no more regret than clipping off a fingernail.

“As you said, it’s best to keep Finlay’s rudeness toward the Progenitor buried. The most effective way to silence a vampire is through utter erasure.”

“What? But it was Finlay who did it! Not her!”

“There’s little difference. If a retainer can commit a crime without their maker being blamed, then anyone can just make a retainer and have them do their dirty work.”

“But you’re Ms. Erte’s maker! Are you passing off your own responsibility?!”

Even as I pressed him, Valdamir responded calmly.

“Didn’t Finlay say it himself? That without the Progenitor’s orders, nothing could be decided. That in order to start a war, the Progenitor needed to awaken first…”

“And how do you know what he said?”

“Because I told Erte to tell him exactly that.”

Valdamir had desired war—or at least movement on that scale.

But this country belongs to the Progenitor.

No national-scale operations could be carried out without her permission.

“Finlay misunderstood the intent of what he was told. But still, what vampire has the right to disturb the Progenitor’s sleep?”

And Finlay, who resonated with his maker, took those words as a call to awaken her and set out on a journey—believing it to be a loyal act to Erte and, by extension, to Valdamir.

And yet, Valdamir now sought to execute the Ancilla for her retainer’s actions?

“She’s your vassal!”

“Which is why I must be the one to sever her.”

Countess Erte’s life force was steadily dwindling.

A vampire of her level could circulate blood even without a heart, but… right now, Valdamir wasn’t allowing her to regenerate.

Bloodcraft was barely keeping her alive—but she would not survive without his mercy.

Faced with this grim sight, all I could do was speak.

“So much for vampires being immortal. A lot of them have died lately.”

“As you have wished.”

“What? Are you blaming me now? Finlay practically killed himself and Countess Erte is only dying because of you!”

“There’s also Jazra, Luscynia’s Ancilla. He died while visiting your little outing with the Progenitor.”

“I didn’t kill him! Ms. Kavila did! Besides, I don’t even have the strength to kill a vampire!”

Now he was trying to pin the blame on me?

Sure, I’d done some things, but I wasn’t about to take the fall for someone else’s crimes.

I’ve got my own record to worry about!

Valdamir stared at me silently.

As someone who ruled—no, managed—a nation, it was probably the first time he’d ever had someone try to deflect blame in front of him.

I was sweating.

But still—who am I? The Progenitor’s consort.

The beloved of the God who stands above even the law of this land.

Even if Valdamir wanted to crush me, he couldn’t.

I had to hold my ground.

“You say you didn’t mean to kill them, but they died from your reckless actions.”

“How am I supposed to stop someone from killing themselves?!”

Valdamir, who had been silently watching me, finally bowed his head and said.

“King of Humans. I thank you for reviving the Progenitor’s heart. I never imagined that a human—not a vampire—would fulfill her deepest wish… but if it’s the King of Humans, I can accept it.”

“Huh? If you thank me so suddenly, I don’t know what to say except… you’re welcome?”

“However, if you truly are the King of Humans, then you must represent all humans.”

His cold, piercing gaze stabbed into me.

It wasn’t fake—I felt a real chill down my back.

I admit it.

I hadn’t fully read Valdamir’s thoughts.

A vampire’s memories are vast and complex.

They’re not easy to read.

I’m used to skimming through memories from the past fifty years—but trying to read through a thousand-year old life?

Even the most avid reader would be overwhelmed with that many memories stacked around them.

And trying to read them all at once just makes it worse.

So I’d planned to go slowly, reading each one carefully, but he got to me first.

He came to find me.

“To you, King of Humans… are Ancillas and Neonates also human?”

I could not lie.

As King of Humans, I had a duty to represent them all.

I answered honestly.

“Yes, they are.”

“Then to you, the Progenitor and Finlay… are equals. As are the Progenitor and every other vampire.”

The King of Humans stands with no one.

The last words left behind by the Saintess of Steel before she departed.

Valdamir remembered them better than anyone.

No—that’s not quite accurate.

Even if the Saintess of Steel had never spoken those words, he would have investigated me all the same.

Valdamir simply wanted to understand me.

Only then could he determine whether I was a threat or not.

I answered his questions sincerely.

“Not exactly. Tyr is a bit different from the other vampires.”

“Yet she’s also a human, isn’t she?”

“Just because two things are the same doesn’t mean they’re identical. You and I are both human, but we’re different, aren’t we?”

That kind of vague answer wouldn’t satisfy him.

So instead, I said.

“Return Ms. Erte to normal.”

“And what does that have to do with this discussion?”

“Why don’t you find out?”

Valdamir nodded.

In that instant, the force binding Countess Erte was released.

At last, she regained control of the blood around her and quickly reabsorbed it.

A faint flush of color returned to her pale skin.

Valdamir, having restored her life, looked at me again—waiting for my answer now that he’d done what I asked.

So I answered.

“You investigated and observed me. You called me here and tried to converse with me because that’s how you could understand who I am.”

When I didn’t continue, Valdamir prompted me.

“That’s only natural.”

“No, it might not be… If you had already defined what a ‘human’ was in your mind.”

Mind Reading is the only power I have left.

The power to read and understand people.

I may not know exactly how the King of Humans lost all their other powers in the beginning, but I do know why this one alone remained.

Because I must understand humans in order to represent them.

“Only after the concept of ‘humans’ is created can I exist. The King of Beasts is a conceptual being. Just as you judge me after seeing my actions and speaking with me, I too must first see humans as they are to represent them.”

That’s why I also must be at odds with the Sanctum.

That’s also why I headed straight for the Military State’s Command when I sensed the Saintess’ shadow.

The Sanctum seeks to erase what it calls sin… to delete the future, essentially.

…Though once I got there, the Military State turned out to be not quite what I expected.

Their Seers don’t suppress sin itself; they merely detect it.

And even that task is now left to Signallers, so all I had to do was tweak the Signallers a bit.

“But vampires bound to their makers can’t make choices separate from their maker’s will, right? Just like how Finlay resonated with your emotions and descended to the Abyss to convince Tyr. Was that really Finlay’s will?”

Elder, Ancilla, Neonate.

They’re all human.

But because of their vampiric nature, the boundary of what it means to be human becomes blurred.

Their bodies and minds are both bound to their maker.

That’s why I need to confirm whether their desires truly come from them.

“Restoring her heart was Tyr’s wish, but it was also mine. Because unless we sever the Shackles of Blood, we can’t verify a vampire’s humanity without interference. I needed to see them not as an extension of someone else’s will, but as individuals.”

Tyr returned to the Duchy with her heart revived, but her dominion lost.

Now, freed from the Shackles of Blood, vampires are capable of acting unpredictably.

Not that they will—but that they can.

That distinction is what matters.

…It does make things a bit riskier for me, too.

But isn’t that more human?

Better than a country that moves automatically at the Progenitor’s will, where the entire nation is essentially her body.

“The King of Humans. One who represents all humans… Are you willing to risk yourself in order to hear the voices of humans, even if those humans end up dying because of choices they couldn’t handle?”

Understanding my intent, Valdamir murmured with a flicker of intrigue in his voice.

“Just as the Saintess warned… you truly are a truly dangerous being. One who denies the very foundation of the system. The King of Humans… Is that why they called you savage?”

“You’re the same, aren’t you? A human who seeks to discard peaceful stability and start a war, yet here you are, calling others savage.”

Says the pot to the kettle.

You tried to read me, but I’ve been reading you too.

Valdamir’s memories were extremely difficult to read.

Not just because he had over a thousand years of life to sift through, but because he had lived those years with unwavering diligence.

“Valdamir, the Crimson Duke. The Noblest of Elders. The only vampire whose whereabouts and identity have always been public because you’ve always sat on the Duchy’s throne. You’ve never once entered hibernation. You ruled this land like a human, taking short rests rather than long periods of sleep.”

He never once entered a true slumber.

As the Progenitor’s sharpest sword and as the Crimson Duke of the Duchy, he ruled endlessly.

For a thousand years.

He lived those thousand years as a human would—intensely as if he might die tomorrow.

Training, learning, governing, responding.

He even battled the boredom that came with immortality.

In short, Valdamir lived a human life for a thousand years.

He filled his days diligently, without even feeling a single emotion.

And that’s why I couldn’t read him properly.

His memories were like emotionless books—voluminous, but lacking any emotional highlights, making it hard to find the information I wanted.

But now, speaking with him one-on-one and reading his thoughts…

I finally understood.

I knew what Valdamir had done.

“You wanted change, too, didn’t you? That’s why you killed Luscynia and turned Lyre Nightingale into an Elder. Because you saw that Lyre was a human capable of breaking the Shackles of Blood.”

Valdamir’s expression grew noticeably colder.