POV: haruki
Vampires are fascinating creatures.
Their origin remains a subject of endless dispute within the supernatural community. Each faction clings to its preferred truth, and they, of course, possess their own creation myth. They love their Cainite myth. The old ones, especially, relish it. According to them, vampires are the firstborn heirs of Cain himself, the mark upon his flesh transfigured into the gift of eternal night, his curse reshaped into dominion over man. They imagine him, wandering after slaying his brother, whispered to by shadows until he drank deep of a beast's blood and became the Father of their kind. In their telling, it is a holy lineage, the true chosen people, marked not for punishment, but for supremacy. They speak of it like scripture, as if their veins are relics of divine wrath. Arrogance comes easy when you believe your curse was once God's personal handiwork.
It is all very convenient. A romantic lie draped in biblical silk.
Yet the Cainite myth is but one account, one they cling to because it flatters them. The rest of the supernatural world has other theories, and not all of them flatter the blood-sucking parasites. The most likely origin, however, is not glamorous. It places their birth not in Eden's shadow, but in the rotting heart of the pre-Flood age, when mankind stood at its most brilliant and most depraved.
It was an age where cruelty was so refined until mercy itself seemed barbaric. Children burned alive to bind the favor of malevolent spirits. Cities offering their own kin to devils in exchange for wealth and dominion. Flesh traded for power. Blood spilled for sport. And in the hidden halls of the great cities, sorcerers worked horrors no sane mind would willingly imagine: bodies flayed and reshaped while still alive, souls tethered to jars for study, hearts cut free and kept beating to power their spells. Magic was their scalpel, their needle, their fire. There were no limits, only ambitions. It is said the gods drowned the world because of that arrogance, because humanity had become both magnificent and monstrous beyond redemption. The devils regard it as their greatest triumph, humanity remade in their image. The Watchers fell in those days too, abandoning their place in Heaven to walk among, and with, the worst of mankind.
It was in this abyss of hubris that a sect, likely both brilliant and deranged, wove the Rite of Crimson Eternity. Blood magic distilled to its purest form, a ritual meant to strip away death itself. They succeeded, in a sense: those who took the rite gained eternal flesh, unnatural strength, and a hunger that nothing could quiet. But their humanity, the part of them that could love, repent, or feel anything that was not hunger, rotted away at once.
Then came the flood. Cities vanished. Empires drowned. But the newly-made vampires endured. They hid from the waters. They endured the silence that followed. They carried their hunger into the next world, where it has never stopped feeding.
The Cainite myth is cleaner. Easier to accept. It makes them the children of one cursed man instead of the spawn of an age so corrupt the gods themselves had to wipe it away. And maybe that is why they cling to it, even monsters prefer a noble lineage.
I stepped from the shadows into their domain. The air was thick, almost tangible. A damp fog coiled around the barren trees, their limbs skeletal and stripped bare. There were multiple skeletons hanging from the trees, likely humans.The cold would have been unbearable for a human, but I am not human.
The sky hung strange above me, bearing a crimson moon. Vampires are weak to light; this moon's glow had been crafted to be harmless to them. In this place, there is no sun. Only the red orb in the sky, the one constant in their eternal night.
I dissolved into a flock of crows, my form scattering into the air, and flew toward my destination.
—---------------------------
I arrived at the royal castle in the capital of the vampire nation, where King Tepes and Queen Carmilla ruled in joint sovereignty. The royal house of Tepes and the royal house of Carmilla shared the throne as equals, an arrangement born not of unity but of fear of the hero faction. In the past, when the pure-blooded vampires quarrelled over who would rule, two great factions emerged. The Tepes faction, male-dominated, with its conviction that only men were fit to rule. The Carmilla faction, female-dominated, with the same conviction in reverse. So, in essence, it was not a noble war for ideals, but a centuries-long duel of misandry and misogyny.
The castle was everything I expected from rulers who believed themselves above all others: monumental in scale, ornate to the point of absurdity, every wall and tower designed to declare superiority before a word was spoken. Gothic in architecture, which I found faintly amusing.
I walked the main hall toward the throne room. Servants in immaculate maid and butler uniforms prostrated themselves as I passed. All were pure-blooded vampires. Humans and dhampirs, apparently, are considered too base to serve royalty; humans here have only one use, and it is not service.
The throne room doors could have fit a fortress gate. Inside, the space was cathedral in scale, easily larger than a football stadium. Its vaulted ceiling rose impossibly high, each arch etched with scenes of vampire triumphs over mortals. Light spilled through a single, towering stained-glass window at the far wall, its crimson glow painting the marble floor. The window depicted an ancient battle, the Tepes and Carmilla banners flying together. Black marble pillars lined the sides, their bases adorned with chained, lifeless human statues in perfect detail.
At the end of the hall, two thrones stood side by side, equal in height, equal in ornamentation, where King Tepes IV and Queen Carmilla V sat. There were no other seats; all visitors were to stand or kneel.
On the king's right stood the nobles of the Tepes faction: Marius Tepes, eldest son of the king; The unusual presence of Anca Tepes and Liliane Manthar, formerly Liliane Tepes, was not lost on me; the king rarely allowed women of their station into court, so this was clearly a gesture to appease the Carmilla faction; three males from House Vladi; and one male from House Manthar. Lesser Tepes-aligned nobility stood behind them.
On the queen's left were the nobles of the Carmilla faction, the ranks overwhelmingly female. The four daughters of Queen Carmilla – Sorina, Isolde, Vera, and Celestine – were present. Beside them stood Adelheid Vordenburg and Elmenhild Karnstein, along with other lesser Carmilla loyalists.
I approached at a measured pace, every step steady, as befitted a lord. House Thornevald, my assumed identity, held the rank of duke and belonged to the Tepes faction. Dorian Thornevald had two elder sisters, but as a male, he inherited the title after his father's death ten years prior.
The hall was silent as I crossed it. I regarded King Tepes: tall, youthful, red-eyed, and handsome in the way that fit every archetype of a vampire lord. Then I looked at Queen Carmilla. I had to admit, she was striking, an elegance sharpened into lethality. Pale skin, crimson lips, cold red eyes, and long white hair. She wore a black and crimson ombré dress adorned with golden plates and matching heels. Her gown was cut to reveal her considerable chest, an unashamed display. The sort of beauty that could make men go to war.
I halted at the proper distance and knelt.
"Your Majesties, I have accomplished my mission and present myself with all due humility," I said evenly. It could have been more deferential, but I decided against it.
"Arise, Duke Dorian of House Thornevald. Well done. I expect nothing from you," said King Tepes, his tone unreadable. "Though I do not see your entourages with you."
Dorian had been sent to negotiate with yokai slave traders in Japan, securing a steady supply of humans. He was accompanied by nobles from several houses to assist.
"Alas, misfortune has befallen us," I said. "After the negotiation was complete and we departed, we were set upon by craven agents of the Church."
I recited the tale Le Fay and I had prepared: an angel, exorcists, my comrades sacrificing themselves to buy me time to escape. Every word false, but delivered as Dorian would, proud and measured. I gave enough detail to convince them.
"An unfortunate incident," said the king. "Those church dogs grow bold. Still, you accomplished your mission admirably. The sacrifice of your comrades was not in vain."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Alas, I was not able to secure the full number of the supply I had planned," I said with practiced disappointment.
The room listened more closely at that, waiting to hear how badly I had failed.
"Oh?" Queen Carmilla's voice was smooth and enticing. "How many did you acquire?"
"I planned for forty thousand humans per year. Unfortunately, I secured only thirty thousand," I said.
"Your standards are too high, my duke," she replied softly. "Thirty thousand is more than twice of what we had hoped for. You have gone beyond expectation."
I bowed my head. The faces in the hall shifted, most displeased at my success, except Liliane Manthar, who smiled briefly before masking it.
"Indeed, Duke Dorian, you have done outstanding work," said the king.
The king and queen exchanged a look, then nodded.
"As a result, it is only expected we reward you," said Carmilla, her tone pleased.
"Your Majesties, I did only what was expected of me," I replied, with well-measured humility.
"Regardless, it is only right that we do so. We grant you a position on the royal court, the post of Minister of Trade and Finance," said King Tepes.
Gasps rippled through the hall. The position meant control over the entire vampire economy. I had not foreseen this, but it suited me perfectly.
"Do you accept the reward, Duke Thornevald?" the king asked. The question was only formality.
"It is a tremendous honour, Your Majesties. Nothing would give me greater pleasure," I said, bowing.
"Excellent. From now on, you are the master of trade and finance. You may join us in the capital with your family," said the king.
Applause followed.
The announcement was followed by word of a royal celebration in my honor. Predictably, lords and ladies gathered to flatter me, seek my favor, or attach themselves to my rise. Few were of interest, except the ones approaching now.
Duke Severin Manthar and his wife, Princess Liliane Manthar, formerly of Tepes. Liliane was tall, graceful, black-haired, red-eyed, beautiful even by the standards of her kind. Severin was far more than a duke. As chief adviser and minister of the court, he was second only to the monarchs themselves, wielding their voice, commanding their armies, drafting their laws. When the rulers were absent, indisposed, or unwilling, he sat upon the throne in their stead. Three thousand years old, the oldest vampire walking or so it was believed. His appearance suggested a man in his early twenties.
He greeted me with a kind smile.
"Congratulations, Lord Thornevald. I was grievously saddened to hear about your troubles on the sovereign's mission. May the darkness bless you," said Liliane, her tone carrying genuine grief. Vampires wishing one luck from "the darkness" always amused me, such a very earnest attempt at menace. Lavina would have a field day here.
Severin regarded me with a strange nostalgia, then shook his head lightly, as though waking from a memory. "You must forgive me, but sometimes you look the very image of your father," he said.
He had practically raised my father after my grandfather died.
"A poor copy," I replied politely.
He smiled. "Though much better dressed." We both laughed. Then he embraced me as one might a beloved son.
We spoke of various things, my sisters, the affairs of my house. I had the memories of the real Dorian, and I played the role flawlessly.
I played the part of a perfect lord.
Not too warm, not too distant, and with precisely the right amount of arrogance expected from a duke of the Tepes faction. A little aloofness in this society is not a flaw, it is a form of mastery. I made certain my manner conveyed that I neither needed nor sought validation from those gathered.
The court itself was an intricate web of influence, more predictable than it liked to imagine. Vampires were fond of pretending their politics were shrouded in mystery, but at its core, the arrangement resembled the old human feudal orders, only with sharper teeth and infinitely more pretension.
The highest stratum, short of royalty, belonged to the dukes and duchesses. The Tepes faction possessed six dukes, the Carmilla faction seven duchesses. Each ruled over territories vast enough to sustain armies and independent economies, pledging fealty to their chosen sovereign. The vampire dimension, our grand, self-contained realm, matched human Romania in size, connected to it through the shadow of the land.
Absolute authority rested in King Tepes and Queen Carmilla. Their word was law, their will unchallenged. Beneath them, the machinery of governance turned within the royal court here in the capital. The most prominent nobles filled the key roles: master of intelligence and security, chief advisor, ministers of various portfolios.
Once, Dorian's father had held the office of Master of Finance and Trade. When he died, the position was left vacant, at least for House Thornevald. The official reasoning was that Dorian was "too young" and should "gain experience first." He was one hundred and sixteen years old at the time. Young, in vampire terms, perhaps, but hardly unformed. The truth was simpler: others had wanted the seat. The insult had lodged deep in the man's ambition.
That ambition had teeth. Dorian volunteered for the recent mission to Japan in part to rectify his status. It would have been admirable if it weren't mired in his more sordid qualities. Offering one of his sisters to seduce a rival to remove competition was not beneath him. That was the kind of man he was: power-hungry, utterly without conscience. Abusing both sisters was routine. He delighted in hunting humans for sport, collecting body parts from rare magical creatures, indulging in slaughter not for sustenance but for personal amusement. Sociopathic, inhumane, and charming enough to conceal it from most, he was an ideal candidate for the delicate role I now occupied.
I moved among the nobility, speaking to lords and ladies of both factions, careful to maintain Dorian's rhythm and tone. I noted the subtle glances from Liliane Manthar. She looked away each time I caught her, yet listened to my words with an attentiveness that could hardly be mistaken for casual interest. I was not naïve enough to misinterpret it.
She might be a key. Through her, perhaps I could move closer to her husband, Lord Severin Manthar – the most influential and ancient figure in the court. If anyone here knew what I was seeking, it was likely him. Their marriage, I suspected, was not born of affection but of political calculation, binding him to the royal family. His very presence kept the balance between the Tepes and Carmilla factions from shattering. To be in his confidence was not merely advantageous, it was essential.
Still, she was not the only piece on this board. I observed House Vladi, House Karnstein, House Vordenburg, House Nocharis, all wielding considerable power. But influence alone was not enough. I needed to understand them: what they feared, what they desired, what would make them act against their own better judgment.
For now, the evening continued. I remained the impeccable Duke Dorian Thornevald in the eyes of the court.
AN: Another chapter! Yeah, I'm really on a roll right now. Honestly, after so many of you subscribed to my Patreon, it helped me tune out my crappy living conditions and just focus on what I love doing, writing.
So, Haruki is now in the vampire dimension. This arc is going to lean heavily into political intrigue and scheming. It will also mark Haruki at his lowest point morally, but I hope the payoff by the end of the arc will be satisfying. There will be quite a few OCs introduced here, since canon gives us almost nothing about the vampires. I'll basically be creating their society from scratch. I hope the new characters won't feel boring, but if you want, I can make a separate post listing all the major factions (Carmilla and Tepes factions) along with their key members, to help keep track of names.
Also, fair warning: there will be a lot of dark material in this arc. Of course, it's all fiction, and it doesn't reflect my views in any way.