"It seems we've won," Forki said with a smile. He had just received the news that Dante Scarlet was dead. After all, everything pointed to that: with Morgana isolating herself in the tower and Valentina almost killing Gaspar, it meant Dante was dead, or at least they thought so.
"Well, the partnership ends here," Alexander said, and everyone agreed. "I'm not involved in this," Elowyn said as she left, not even trembling, despite just finding out that Dante had been killed by Alexander, Ethan, and Forki. Something she completely disapproved of. Humiliating him was one thing, but killing him was another, something she never agreed with.
"Hey, you..." Alexander was about to finish, but an arm touched his shoulder; it was Ethan. "Leave her. She's trying to rid herself of guilt by placing it on others." He turned and looked at Seraphina, who was huddled, apparently afraid of something.
"Why are you like this? I thought you'd be the happiest," Ethan questioned, and Seraphina stood up slightly. "My family was almost destroyed after we put a restriction on the boy. I don't even want to think about what your families will suffer after this tragic end," she said, still slightly trembling, and walked away, without looking back.
She was too shocked to say anything, but now, knowing that Dante had been killed, she was going directly to Titania in hopes of gaining an advantage with this declaration.
"What do we have for this end of semester?" Forki questioned with a relaxed smile as he leaned back in the armchair.
"Our celebration, of course," Alexander said smiling, and Ethan agreed. "Who's coming?" he asked.
"My father is coming. He said he's been too idle lately," Alexander commented.
"I hope that crimson demon doesn't come to this party. Although we said to make it a memorial, didn't we?" Forki remarked.
"Yes, we'll have to keep up appearances," Ethan said and continued. "Besides, will that event really happen? Demonstrating techniques to each other to gather information isn't a bad idea, but a small competition? I don't understand why."
"Oh, come on. We didn't get to know the strength of all of us in the top ten. That sick one stole all the limelight. Think of it as a complete rematch."
As they conversed deeply, one person was inside the room uninvited. In fact, she had always been there from the beginning. After all, she had things to settle with Dante Scarlet, but not like these inferior beings. She had to repay the favor for her life, so... why not give Valentina a proper confession of the perpetrators of this incident?
Thus, a certain little bat stole an artifact from her father that completely hides her existence. Well, beings like Valentina, Vlad, and Gaspar easily sensed Elizabeth within that room, but idiots like these here? Never.
Elizabeth was transformed into a bat and perched on a nearby cupboard, listening and recording everything with a magical stone, while pondering what these idiots had just done.
"Seriously, I don't know what's in your heads... Didn't your parents warn you that the Pact was broken?" she questioned seeing the situation. Of course, she knew about Titania's expulsion from the council, as well as the contract breach, but it seemed these three had no idea what was happening.
She didn't know if it was pure stupidity or if someone was backing them up, but one thing she knew: this event... well, it was probably the best response to cause a four-way war, and she would be on the winning side. After all, she knew why the name Scarlet was so important to the vampires.
Elizabeth, still in bat form, flew out of the room through the back window. She had some plans in mind and returned to her room flying.
Quickly, she went to the mirror, whispered a few words, and her mirror turned into a portal. The portal connected directly to the Royal Hall of the Vampire King's Castle.
Elizabeth passed quickly and saw a man looking at her with hostility. How couldn't he? Elizabeth invaded the castle like a thief and stole an important artifact to play spy.
"Elizabeth Tapes," he said, and the girl quickly fell to her knees. "I accept your mother being a prankster and taking my things, but not you," he said putting force on the girl's body, who didn't flinch at all.
"I have a reason," she said, short and blunt, without any flattery. So Vlad decided to give his daughter a little credit and decided to hear what she had to say. "Explain yourself."
Elizabeth took the recording stone from her clothes and showed it to Vlad.
For six minutes, he listened to all the recordings with Alexander, Ethan, and Forki being extremely disrespectful to Dante, as well as describing how they threw him into the abyss while he looked "scared like a dog." Vlad slowly felt a lot of anger, mainly because the mastermind behind it all seemed to be Alexander, a werewolf.
Vlad doesn't care much about many things, but he despises the Werewolf King. Dante, being from the purest lineage in the whole Kingdom, makes insulting him an insult to all vampires. If vampires didn't have this feud with their own lineage, this would be different, but lineages are extremely important, especially among the vampire clans, Seusther, Bloodheart, and Silverheart.
Valentina, despite not serving the Kingdom, is one of the pillars that always keep the vampires at the height, unlike the others in the Vampire Kingdom. Valentina is a heroine. If news of her son's death spreads, not only Valentina but the Vampire Kingdom could be hit. Thinking about all this in a general way, Vlad made a decision.
"I understand. You did well... Keep this with you until I have a vision of how we can use this for good," Vlad said, and Elizabeth nodded, bowing and returning through the portal.
"You heard everything, didn't you? What do you think?" Vlad spoke, and a man emerged from the darkness. He wasn't very old and had a black beard. His body was slim and pale, but he had class. He was Vlad's butler, Nosferatu.
"Warning Valentina is of utmost importance, my King, but I think we can use this for something else," he said with a conspiratorial smile.
"Hm, tell me," Vlad ordered, showing interest. He was manipulative and calculating, but Nosferatu was much more than he.
"Siren Sirius Stela, the Werewolf Queen," Nosferatu said, and a smile appeared on both their faces. Two conspirators understanding each other was a divine scene to behold.
"The strongest female Werewolf, was subdued by Velkan a hundred and twenty years ago, a woman with the name Sirius, the ancient Werewolf Progenitor. She is the one who hates Velkan the most, despite having a son with him, Boris Sucellus, who by the way, hates his brother Alexander," Nosferatu pointed out, and Vlad listened calmly.
"It seems I'll have to invade that Wolf's territory again. Last time wasn't so pleasant," Vlad commented, remembering when Siren cut Vlad in half with a single move. Even though he knew she couldn't kill him, it was reasonably unexpected, making him wonder how Velkan, who is not a Progenitor, defeated her. If Vlad weren't a vampire progenitor, he would have been in a tight spot.
"I recommend you light Valentina's flames first; then, visit Siren to judge if revealing the information to her could result in Velkan's banishment. Thus, we can have the Wolves on a leash and Valentina without her explosive temper causing a war between three continents in a direct way.
We know what will happen, and surely she will become even more insane," Nosferatu concluded, waiting for his king's approval.
"Yes, go to the Werewolf continent and see where Siren is. If she's willing, invite her to my castle. If not, I'll personally visit her," Vlad said, and Nosferatu nodded, quickly disappearing.
"Damn it, Velkan, you idiot, your son condemned you! Hahaha!" Vlad laughed loudly when he soon felt a pair of arms going around his neck and biting his pointed ears.
"Oh, you're back?" Vlad questioned Liza, who was behind him.
"Yes, darling."
"And how was it?"
"The dungeon bathed with fire power," she commented with a mischievous smile. "I see, it seems Valentina is already back in control of everything."
"Where is she?" Vlad questioned, and Liza completed: "She's on the top floor of the White Tower. I couldn't even get close, so I used the Camouflage Device, and even then, I couldn't get within 20 km. They're wanting total silence."
"I see, it seems we have troubles."
"What troubles?"
"Our smart daughter found the culprits of the boy's death."
"What?"
"Alexander Sucellus, Forki Dolafor, and Ethan Smith."
"Damn!"
"Yes, I'll inform her before she starts a four-way war and devastates three continents because of a boy," Vlad commented as he pulled Liza onto his lap and massaged her hair.
"Would she do that?" Liza asked, but immediately: "Of course, she would. She almost killed her own Queen from your Kingdom," she replied.
Yes, Liza harbors grudges for the impalement thirteen years ago to this day. Perhaps that's why Elizabeth harbors resentment toward Dante. After all, her mother likes to relive that scene constantly in all dialogues referring to Valentina; don't doubt that she even alienated her daughter so she would never approach a Scarlet, even knowing what it means to be a Scarlet.
"Have you decided which side you're on?" Liza asked, and Vlad didn't even need to think. "Of course, I'll help a Scarlet."
"I see, is it to prepare the armies in case there's any trouble?" Liza asked.
"Hm, no, we won't interfere directly," Vlad smiled.
The most powerful vampire of modern times was having fun.