Chapter 402
Carmilla’s eyes widened at Zeke’s words.
“You mean about Lady Laura?”
“Yes, I want to know about your relationship with my mother as well.”
Carmilla nodded.
“I understand. The lady and I…”
“Wait, this seems like it’ll be a long story. Let’s get comfortable first.”
Zeke took out a table and chairs from his inventory, wanting to listen to Carmilla’s story comfortably within Richmond and Bane’s barrier.
He even brewed tea and prepared leisurely to hear the tale.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I’m really not used to being called king. Call me lord instead.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“…”
Seated, Carmilla began speaking slowly, ignoring Zeke’s disgruntled expression.
“Lady Laura is my life’s savior.”
“Mother saved you?”
“Yes. About 50 years ago, there was a time when the Empire conducted large-scale vampire hunts.”
Carmilla explained she was leading a vampire organization, the predecessor to Red Eye, though it wasn’t as powerful then as it is now.
“At the time, we mainly operated dance halls centered around female vampires to lead the organization.”
According to Carmilla, dance halls featuring beautiful vampire dancers were common in every city 50 years ago, though they’re rare now.
As a result, these dance halls were the first targets when the vampire hunts began.
Thus, Carmilla, who operated a dance hall, found herself pursued by the Empire’s knights.
Even with her True Ancestor powers, it was impossible to face hundreds of knights using Aura.
Eventually, Carmilla was caught by the Empire.
“Lady Laura was already active in the Dawn Society then. The Dawn Society conducted relief activities for not just the Lubern bloodline but also non-human races. By fortune, I was rescued through their activities.”
She said Laura helped her recover her strength with the Dawn Society’s aid.
Afterward, she volunteered as a guard warrior by Laura’s side to repay the debt.
“Lady Laura said it wasn’t necessary, but it was my own decision.”
Zeke now understood why she was with Laura Agamemnon at the museum.
‘So she had connections to the Dawn Society.’
He suddenly became curious about the Dawn Society organization.
Initially, he thought it was just focused on saving the Lubern bloodline, but hearing Carmilla’s story suggested otherwise.
When asked more about the Dawn Society, Carmilla said she didn’t know anything else.
‘I thought Lord Fab organized it, but had it been active even before then?’
Based on Carmilla’s story, he thought the Dawn Society’s lineage might go back quite far.
Setting aside thoughts of the Dawn Society, Zeke asked what he was most curious about regarding his mother.
“Why did she marry Arthur Draker whom she despised so much?”
Carmilla’s expression grew complex at the question.
But unable to avoid Zeke’s question, she slowly spoke.
“…There was a revelation from Chronos.”
Zeke felt his breath stop for a moment hearing Carmilla’s words.
“Are you saying mother was forced to marry Arthur Draker because of a revelation?”
Laura Agamemnon clearly despised Arthur Draker. Having met her directly, Zeke knew this emotion well.
It was hard to believe that Laura Agamemnon, who had such strong convictions, would marry a man she hated simply due to Chronos’s revelation.
Carmilla slowly spoke.
“Lady Laura accepted this because she believed marrying Arthur Draker would break the Agamemnon family curse.”
“The Agamemnon family curse?”
The curse that plagued the Agamemnon family for over 50 years was finally purified by Zeke’s hand.
He recalled how the Agamemnon family members rejoiced that the prophecy of the black-eyed savior ending the curse had come true, and that Laura was the one who made this prophecy.
Chronos, the Dragon of Time, might have revealed to Laura that Zeke would break the curse in the future.
‘To decide to marry a man she despised to break the family curse…’
Zeke unconsciously clenched his fist.
Like Bacchus, he had never felt any paternal affection from Arthur Draker.
On the other hand, although he only saw Laura Agamemnon briefly when he went to the past, Zeke felt more drawn to her.
So confirming that she had an unwanted marriage made his heart ache.
Composing himself, Zeke asked Carmilla:
“Setting aside mother, why did you marry Arthur Draker?”
Carmilla bit her lip slightly before speaking.
“I initially entered the Draker family as Lady Laura’s maid. When Arthur Draker discovered my prophetic abilities, he coveted them.”
“So he bound you and made you bear Bacchus because of that ability?”
Carmilla nodded.
“Arthur Draker is subtle yet terrifying. He’s skilled at ensnaring souls and moving hearts with irrefusable proposals and conditions.”
She paused and shuddered.
“…Though it’s shameful now, I actually fell in love with Arthur Draker due to his whispers.”
Zeke was shocked.
“You initially cooperated with him because you loved him?”
“Yes, while vampires are seen as symbols of sensuality and temptation… I fell for Arthur Draker’s devilish charm.”
Arthur Draker was not just a powerful knight but also an excellent strategist and politician.
He was eloquent and physically attractive.
It was well known that he had numerous mistresses besides his many wives.
It was simply surprising that even Carmilla, the Vampire Queen, fell for Arthur Draker’s charms.
“You know the rest. After being bound by him, I couldn’t escape the Draker family until I was finally able to break free with Bacchus’s help when I was revived.”
Through Carmilla’s words, Zeke glimpsed part of Arthur Draker’s true nature.
‘Arthur Draker already stands at the continent’s peak as head of the Draker family. Yet he still craves something.’
Zeke found it difficult to grasp what Arthur Draker wanted.
Then Carmilla took something from her chest and handed it to Zeke.
“I’ve been keeping this, thinking it would be better to give it to you.”
It was an old leather notebook.
‘This is…?’
Zeke took the notebook and turned its pages.
A familiar handwriting spelled out a name.
‘Laura Agamemnon… mother’s notebook.’
Zeke had been planning to find Laura Agamemnon’s hideout in the north to find this notebook. But Carmilla had it all along.
“After Lady Laura disappeared, I gathered all important items and left them with Lord Fab just in case. We retrieved items stored in the northern continent hideout when moving headquarters to the neutral city. Just let me know if you need anything else.”
Seeing his mother’s handwriting preserved in the notebook stirred Zeke’s emotions.
This was rare for Zeke, who usually maintained a cool and calm mind.
After carefully putting away Laura Agamemnon’s notebook, he said to Carmilla:
“Thank you for protecting my mother’s notebook.”
“Lady Laura is my life’s benefactor. I miss her terribly even now.”
Seeing her sorrowful face, Zeke knew these words were sincere.
With his questions answered, Zeke dismissed Richmond and Bane’s barrier.
Then he said to Carmilla:
“For now, focus on fully mastering the Royal Vampire power. I’ll call for you when the time comes. Until then, we’ll communicate through Bacchus.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“One more thing. From now on, call me lord, not your majesty .”
At Zeke’s words, Carmilla made a troubled expression before nodding.
“Understood, my lord.”
Next, Zeke turned and pointed to Icarus, who was stuck in a corner of the room.
“By the way, can you make any use of that if you take it?”
Carmilla nodded as she examined Icarus, the high-ranking Nightmare, from various angles.
“Nightmare demons have surprisingly many uses. Even those who don’t speak openly are honest in their dreams.”
“You’ll use the Nightmare demon to gather information?”
“A high-ranking Nightmare can create dreams similar to reality, allowing us to extract more accurate information.”
Zeke nodded at Carmilla’s words and called Icarus, who immediately crawled over.
“You called, master!”
He pointed to Carmilla and said,
“I’m entrusting you to Carmilla. Her words are like my orders. Follow the Vampire Queen’s commands from now on.”
Though Icarus’s pride was hurt having to follow Carmilla, a lower-ranked earthly vampire, he had no choice as it was his master’s order.
“Ah… understood, master.”
Zeke said to Carmilla,
“I’ve given the order, so use him well from now on. I’ll send other Nightmare demon too.”
“Thank you for your consideration, my lord.”
Carmilla turned to look down at Icarus.
“By our lord’s command, I am your master now, Icarus. Call me Queen Carmilla.”
Befitting the Vampire Queen, the matured Carmilla possessed both seductive charm and overwhelming pressure. Having absorbed Garin’s dagger and the ancient blood mage’s power, she easily subdued Icarus.
The dignity of a Royal Vampire, nobility of the demon realm, already emanated from her.
Even Icarus, a high-ranking Demon, was overwhelmed by Carmilla’s presence, forgetting all previous complaints.
“I-I will follow your orders, Queen Carmilla.”
Seeing this, Zeke felt he made the right choice entrusting Icarus to her.
* * *
Zeke decided to stay one night at the vampires’ hideout before returning to Himonas in the morning.
In the warm private room Bacchus prepared, Zeke found some rare free time.
However, he couldn’t relax completely.
‘I still have two unopened special random boxes.’
As he was about to open them, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Could I enhance special random boxes to create higher-grade boxes?’
Special random boxes mostly contained unique-grade items.
But since higher-grade random boxes produced legendary artifacts, Zeke wanted better boxes.
He opened the system window and enhancement window, placing a random box on it experimentally.
“Oh? It actually works!”
What started as a half-joke turned out possible – he could enhance random box grades.
“To make an extra-grade random box… needs five special random boxes and quite a few other things.”
The other items seemed obtainable.
The special random boxes were the issue.
“I have two now, so I need three more. Sigh… if I’d known, I should have saved the other special random boxes.”
One legendary artifact was worth much more than five unique items, so he couldn’t help feeling regret.
But regret changed nothing, so Zeke stored the boxes in his inventory.
He lay on the bed and read through Laura Agamemnon’s notebook.
It mostly contained Dawn Society activities and occasional mentions of the outer scripture Arina spoke of.
Reading through it, Zeke realized something.
‘Mother… wasn’t very organized.’
The notebook’s contents were quite scattered, making it difficult to classify and understand the information.
As he skimmed through it, a folded paper fell out.
‘What’s this?’
The dirty surface suggested it was quite old.
Zeke unfolded it and sat up in surprise.
‘This is… a sea chart!’
He was surprised because the marked route was unusual.
‘A route crossing the Dark Sea to the Dark Continent.’
Zeke knew who left this route.
‘This is Captain Kidd’s sea chart – the legendary pirate who owned Triangle.’
