Episode 402
Carmilla’s eyes widened at Zeke’s words.
“Are you talking about Lady Laura?”
“Yes, and I want to know about your relationship with my mother as well.”
Carmilla nodded in understanding.
“Alright. As for me and the lady…”
“Hold on, this might take a while. Let’s get comfortable first.”
Zeke pulled a table and chairs from his inventory, setting them up within Richmond and Bane’s barrier to listen to Carmilla’s story at ease. He even brewed some tea, handing it to her as he settled in to hear her out.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I still can’t get used to being called ‘Your Majesty.’ Just call me ‘Lord.’”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
”…”
Ignoring Zeke’s awkward expression, Carmilla took a seat and began her tale slowly.
“Lady Laura is the savior of my life.”
“You mean my mother saved you?”
“Yes. Over fifty years ago, there was a massive vampire hunt across the empire.”
Carmilla explained that she led a vampire group, the predecessor of Red Eye, which wasn’t as powerful back then.
“At the time, we operated mainly through dance halls run by female vampires.”
These dance halls, where beautiful vampire dancers performed, were once common in every city, though they are rare now, according to Carmilla.
When the vampire hunts began, these dance halls were the first targets. As a result, Carmilla, who ran one, found herself pursued by the empire’s knights.
Despite her ancient vampire powers, she couldn’t stand against hundreds of knights wielding aura. Eventually, she was captured.
“Lady Laura was already active in the Dawn Society back then. The society worked for the freedom of non-human races, not just the Rubern bloodline, and by a stroke of luck, I was rescued through their efforts.”
After her rescue, Carmilla regained her strength with the society’s help and chose to become Laura’s bodyguard out of gratitude.
“Lady Laura said it wasn’t necessary, but it was my decision.”
Zeke now understood why Carmilla had been with Laura Agamemnon at the museum.
‘So, she had ties with the Dawn Society.’
He grew curious about the organization. Initially, he thought it was solely focused on saving the Rubern bloodline, but Carmilla’s words suggested otherwise. When he asked for more details, she admitted she knew little about it.
‘I thought Sir Pab organized it, but it seems it existed long before.’
Carmilla’s story hinted that the Dawn Society might have a long history. Setting aside thoughts of the society, Zeke asked the question that had been on his mind about his mother.
“Why did my mother marry Arthur Draker, whom she despised so much?”
Carmilla’s expression turned complex at the question. But she couldn’t avoid it and began to speak slowly.
”…There was a prophecy from Chronos.”
Zeke felt his breath catch at her words.
“Are you saying my mother married Arthur Draker because of a prophecy?”
Laura Agamemnon’s hatred for Arthur Draker was well-known to Zeke, who had met her and felt her disdain firsthand. It was hard to believe that someone as strong-willed as Laura would marry a man she loathed just because of a prophecy.
Carmilla continued, “Lady Laura believed that marrying Arthur Draker would break the Agamemnon family’s curse.”
“The Agamemnon family’s curse?”
The curse that had plagued the Agamemnon family for over fifty years was finally lifted by Zeke. He recalled the prophecy that a savior with black eyes would end the curse, and that Laura herself had made that prophecy.
Chronos, the god of time, might have revealed to Laura that Zeke would break the curse in the future.
‘To marry a man she hated to break a family curse…’
Unconsciously, Zeke clenched his fists. Like Bacchus, he had never felt any paternal affection from Arthur Draker. In contrast, his brief encounter with Laura Agamemnon had left a deeper impression on him.
Learning that she endured an unwanted marriage stirred his emotions.
Zeke composed himself and asked Carmilla, “Leaving my mother aside, why did you marry Arthur Draker?”
Carmilla bit her lip before speaking slowly.
“I initially entered the Draker household as Lady Laura’s maid. When Arthur Draker discovered my prophetic abilities, he coveted them.”
“He forced you to bear Bacchus because of that ability?”
Carmilla nodded.
“Arthur Draker is a cunning and terrifying man. He binds souls and manipulates hearts with offers and conditions that are impossible to refuse.”
She paused, shivering slightly.
”…It’s embarrassing to admit now, but I once fell for his whispers and felt love for him.”
Zeke was taken aback by her confession.
“You mean you initially sided with him out of love?”
“Yes, vampires are often seen as symbols of seduction and allure, but… I was drawn to the demonic charm of Arthur Draker.”
Arthur Draker was not only a formidable knight but also a brilliant strategist and politician. His eloquence and attractive appearance were well-known, as was his reputation for having numerous lovers besides his wives.
It was surprising that even Carmilla, the Vampire Queen, had fallen for his charms.
“You know the rest. I was trapped in the Draker household until Bacchus helped me escape and regain my freedom.”
Through Carmilla’s story, Zeke glimpsed another side of Arthur Draker.
‘Arthur Draker stands at the pinnacle of the continent as the head of the Draker family. Yet, he still craves something more.’
Zeke found it difficult to grasp what Arthur Draker truly desired.
At that moment, Carmilla handed him something from her belongings.
“I thought it best to give this to you, Your Majesty.”
It was an old leather notebook.
‘This is…?’
Zeke opened it, recognizing the familiar handwriting.
‘Laura Agamemnon… my mother’s notebook.’
He had been searching for Laura Agamemnon’s hideout in the north to find this very notebook. It turned out Carmilla had kept it safe all along.
“After Lady Laura disappeared, I gathered her important belongings and entrusted them to Sir Pab. When we moved the headquarters to the neutral city, I retrieved it from the northern hideout. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Seeing his mother’s handwriting stirred emotions within Zeke, something rare for his usually composed self.
He carefully put the notebook away and thanked Carmilla.
“Thank you for keeping my mother’s notebook safe.”
“Lady Laura is the savior of my life. I miss her dearly.”
Zeke could see the sincerity in her words as he looked at her wistful expression.
With his questions answered, Zeke dispelled Richmond and Bane’s summons and lifted the barrier.
He then addressed Carmilla.
“Focus on mastering the power of the Royal Vampire for now. I’ll call for you when the time comes. Until then, stay in touch through Bacchus.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“And one more thing. From now on, call me ‘Lord,’ not ‘Your Majesty.’”
Carmilla hesitated but eventually nodded.
“Understood, Lord.”
Zeke then turned to a corner of the room where Icarus was slumped.
“By the way, can you make use of that?”
Carmilla examined the high-ranking nightmare, Icarus, and nodded.
“Nightmares have many uses. People may not speak the truth in reality, but they are honest in their dreams.”
“You plan to extract information using the nightmare?”
“A high-ranking nightmare can create dreams similar to reality, allowing us to gather accurate information.”
Zeke nodded at her explanation.
He called Icarus over, and the nightmare crawled to him.
“You called, Master!”
Zeke gestured to Carmilla.
“I’m entrusting you to Carmilla. Her words are my commands. Follow the orders of the Vampire Queen from now on, understood?”
Though it hurt his pride to serve a lower-ranked vampire, Icarus had no choice but to obey his master’s command.
“Yes, Master.”
Zeke instructed Carmilla, “I’ve given the order, so make good use of him. I’ll send other nightmares your way as well.”
“I appreciate your consideration, my lord.”
Carmilla turned her head to look down at Icarus as she spoke.
“By the command of our lord, I am now your master, Icarus. You shall address me as Queen Carmilla.”
True to her title as the Vampire Queen, Carmilla exuded an enchanting yet overwhelming presence. Having absorbed the power of Garin’s dagger and the ancient bloodline sorcerer, she easily subdued Icarus.
Her regal aura as a royal vampire, a noble of the demon realm, was already evident.
Even Icarus, a high-ranking incubus, found himself overwhelmed by her presence, forgetting all the grievances he had just moments before.
“I-I will follow your orders, Queen Carmilla.”
Watching this, Zeke felt reassured that entrusting Icarus to her was the right decision.
Zeke decided to spend the night at the vampires’ hideout and return to Himonas in the morning.
In the warm private room Bacchus had prepared for him, Zeke finally found a moment of peace.
But there was no time to truly relax.
‘I still have two unopened special random boxes.’
As he was about to open one, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Is there a way to enhance these special random boxes to create a higher-grade box?’
The items from the special random boxes were mostly of unique grade. However, higher-grade random boxes could yield legendary artifacts, so Zeke naturally desired a higher-grade box.
On a whim, he opened the system window, accessed the enhancement menu, and placed a random box on it.
“What? It actually works!”
What started as a half-hearted experiment turned out to be a real possibility—he could indeed enhance the random box’s grade.
“To make an extra-grade random box… I need five special random boxes and a bunch of other stuff.”
He figured he could gather the other miscellaneous items somehow. The real issue was the special random boxes.
“I have two now, so I need three more. Ugh… If I had known, I wouldn’t have opened the others.”
A single legendary artifact was far more valuable than five unique-grade items, so he couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.
But dwelling on it wouldn’t change anything, so Zeke set aside his disappointment and stored the boxes in his inventory.
Then he lay down on the bed and began flipping through the notebook left by Laura Agamemnon.
Most of it detailed the activities of the Dawn Society, with occasional references to the apocrypha Arina had mentioned.
As he skimmed through the notebook, Zeke realized something.
‘Mother… you weren’t very organized, were you?’
The notes were so haphazardly written that it was difficult to categorize and understand the information.
While casually browsing through the contents, Zeke noticed a folded piece of paper fall out of the notebook.
‘What’s this?’
The paper was old and worn.
Unfolding it, Zeke’s eyes widened in surprise as he sat up.
‘This is… a sea chart!’
What shocked him was that the chart marked an unusual route.
‘A course across the Dark Sea to the Dark Continent.’
Zeke knew who had left this route.
‘The master of the Triangle and legendary pirate, Captain Kidd.’