Sanguis Octavian was the most powerful counselor of Reverse Sanos and a descendant of the third most important counselor of the ancient vampires. All the ancient counselors raised their descendants in the same way they had been raised: to despise any race that was not vampire. Some descendants with different thoughts appeared, but they were killed immediately after speaking the first word of dissent.
Even though they had been raised to despise other races, they also despised their own, who to them were not true vampires. At the top of that list of contempt were this old man and his grandson, the worst of them all. He even suspected Ysabella might be the same, but somehow she seemed different.
"What happened here? And why all this trouble?"
"Sir, some prisoners have escaped. From the trail left, it may have been that prisoner of the Valessia family."
"What? Incompetents! Go after them immediately!"
All the guards started running in every direction, some returning to that dungeon and others heading through the city until reaching outside it. Sanguis's chest seemed agitated. Of course, Enrico knew why, since he was close to making that circle nine obey them, but now, if they did not find her, everything would go down the drain.
"Especially when he discovers what seems to have been done to his daughter."
In the original story, they never let them meet in person. She was only allowed to send letters with the excuse that he might escape with her if they met face-to-face. Since the handwriting was his daughter's, he believed the letters that said she was well, but in truth, they forced her to write them while watching her every move.
At first, he even tried to search for his daughter when she was captured, but he was stopped by another circle nine who lied, saying she was with him.
"That is exactly why they were cursed by the Sun God, who saw them as abominations."
The Sun God Apollo placed two curses upon them: first, stripping them of immortality through aging, and then forbidding them from stepping into the sun, which would turn them to ashes if they remained too long. The first vampire humbly begged him not to do it, and since Apollo liked him, he promised that if they changed their ways, he could lift the curse.
"But there's no way to change if the counselors keep doing so much shit."
Each of their decisions only made Apollo want to place more burdens upon the vampires' lives, forcing their own race deeper into ruin. For Enrico, one of the things that made him happy before that ending was that seven chapters earlier, they had been sacrificed by the main evil god they themselves had helped.
"Very well. Now, who are these two?"
"Grandfather, I don't like the—"
"Shut up, Malakar."
Sanguis seemed calmer, though still irritated. Hearing his grandfather speak that way, Malakar stayed quiet, looking at the two in front of him as if they were nothing but trash.
"How dare he offend me like that? When my grandfather calms down, I'll ask him to give them to me as prisoners. We'll see if—"
"Hello, Lord Sanguis. We could say I am a servant of a survivor of the first generation."
"You! Who do you think you are to say that?"
Before they could do anything, Sylas showed his arm with a symbol that paralyzed the counselors. Malakar, who had been happy at the thought that his grandfather might harm him, now looked confused, not understanding.
"Grandfather, why aren't you attacking him? He is disrespecting the ancient names—"
"MALAKAR, QUIET."
He stepped back in fear and looked down at the ground. Sanguis looked incredulously at the boy in front of him, since only those who became counselors could know that symbol. On Sylas's arm was a blood circle with two swords piercing a heart, connected by three lines to three other circles around it.
"What is your name?"
"Sylas, a new servant, and this is my servant Corvina, who was given to me by my master, Belthar Zareth."
The surprise in his eyes grew, for not only did he bear a symbol only they knew, but he also knew the first name that was kept secret from the first vampires, and for them, this confirmed it was true.
"How is Lord Zareth still alive?"
"It's simple, because in the first place, he didn't die, but rather sealed himself to awaken in this era."
"That's incredible, Sanguis. If he's alive, we can wipe out those cursed circle nine humans and that circle ten. We won't even need the help of that idiot who disobeys us."
They seemed very impressed and satisfied, and Sylas knew it, since Belthar was the one who originated the council and made all those rules, in addition to having been a circle ten. When he planned this, he even wondered what faces they would make when they discovered he had lied and that their great ancestor was still dead.
"It's not time to face other enemies, Lord Sanguis. Master Belthar may have sealed himself to survive, but he needs to recover all his power before anything else, since he awakened in the human world two months ago."
He explained that he had found some vampires there in the human world recovering by drinking blood and creating new servants. He couldn't come sooner because he was observing potential enemies, but finally arrived a month ago with Corvina. Before revealing themselves, they decided to see what was happening, staying in Reverse Floravita.
"That seems to be the way Lord acted in the book of the past generation."
"Yes, always extremely cautious."
That was exactly why he chose Belthar, since his personality and history matched perfectly with what he wanted. Sanguis approached Sylas, seeming in much better spirits.
"So… Young Sylas, where is our Lord?"
"Grandfather, why are you addressing him with such respect, and who is this Belthar?"
"Must I say it a third time for you to stay silent?"
Malakar clenched his fists, glaring angrily at Sylas in front of him. He never imagined his grandfather would be so excited over a simple boy who had appeared today. For him to have even a glimpse of that recognition, he had to endure much training.
"Who is this bastard?"
"The Lord said that first he needs you to retrieve something for him. Since you were already searching for it, he decided to leave it in your hands while he continues to recover."
"Something we are searching for?"
The counselors were astonished. If it was something they were searching for and he was ordering them to retrieve it, that meant Lord Belthar already knew where it was. Malakar seemed to understand this part, since it was one of the few things his grandfather had shared with him and was desperately searching for to please him.
"No, it's not possible that this bastard—"
"Young Sylas, you mean…"
"Yes, the body of our first ancestor, Master Zerathis Noctivern."