The Church moved swiftly. By the time the academy stirred to life the next morning, its agents were already moving in the dark. Cloaked in holy seals, three spies slipped past mortal eyes and into the city, their mission clear: confirm the boy's identity.
Their path led them toward the academy's edge. They moved like predators cloaked in scripture, eyes burning with zeal. One carried a blade of sanctified silver, another bore a rosary lined with charms of exorcism. To them, the academy was nothing but a nest of monsters waiting to be purged.
But they never reached its gates.
The night itself seemed to fold around them. One spy choked mid-step as shadows wrapped around his throat, dragging him into a wall of darkness. Another screamed, his silver blade clattering uselessly as his body vanished into the void. The last turned to run, but he froze when a figure stepped from the shadows.
She was tall, her presence as cold as the grave, her crimson eyes glowing faintly beneath the hood of her cloak. Blades crafted from pure shadow extended from her fingertips, slick with the blood of the spies already slain.
"You thought you could sneak into my husband's territory?" her voice was silk and venom. "Victor always watches. Always."
The spy tried to mutter a prayer, but his words were cut short as the shadows swallowed him whole. The street was silent again, as though nothing had ever happened.
Far away, within his private realm, Victor Allucard opened his eyes briefly. A faint smile curved his lips. "Good." Then he closed them again, returning to his slumber.
That evening, in the quiet of the dorm halls, Lilith confronted Ophis.
"I know what you're doing," Lilith said sharply, arms folded. "You want to give him your blood. You want to wake the Night King inside him."
Ophis, lounging casually against the window, didn't deny it. Her emerald eyes glimmered in the moonlight. "Of course. His bloodline will not awaken on its own, not fully. Someone has to give him the push."
Lilith scowled. "And you? Why you? Do you realize what kind of chaos that will unleash?"
Ophis tilted her head, a small smirk playing on her lips. "Chaos is inevitable. And besides…" Her gaze softened, her voice dipping lower. "I don't just want to wake his blood. I want him for myself. I intend to be his wife."
The words hit Lilith like a strike. She blinked, momentarily speechless, the mask of composure cracking for the first time.
"You… what?"
Ophis leaned closer, whispering like a serpent in the dark. "Don't look so shocked. You felt it too, didn't you? The pull. The bond. He's not just another student. He's something more. And I won't let him slip away."
For once, Lilith didn't know how to respond. The thought of Ophis — the feared Elderblood princess — lowering herself to claim a husband… and that husband being Aiden?
The silence stretched between them, heavy with disbelief and a flicker of unspoken jealousy.