A thousand years had passed since Duke Cadovan of the North established a union of the great four regions in the Kingdom of Lorvil: Auchendale, Armagh, Lakeburg, and Sakaris,which allowed both human races and the night creatures to live in harmony.
Dwarven Burg, the capital city located in the middle of the great four regions, was inhabited by both human and vampire populations. The place served as a trading town where merchants from different villages sold their harvested crops, pieces of gemstones, wools, and linens made of silk.
Within the city are the located theaters, taverns, inns, and pubs where vampires are often seen, and humans, particularly the slaves, who are fairly acquainted with the night creatures bartered their blood for pieces of gold and silver coins.
There was no rampage ever happened in the city. There was no violation of rules committed by either humans or vampires. Despite the racial differences, peace is the heirloom conserved by the Union Council at their lordship's last bequest.
However, the story of Duke Cadovan appeared like a myth in the present time, penned in an ancient book and a mere folktale for young children. Whether he is a myth or a night creature whose presence remained unknown, no one could ever foretell.
Nonetheless, there were still few who believed that the night creatures were higher than mortals, possessing an immense power of dominance and schemeful exploits.
A fortnight had passed since the rumor of corrupted vampires' reappearance spread throughout DwarvenBurgand its nearby villages after a human scribbler was seen dead in the Town of Reaperville. With his chest brutally opened and limbs decapitated, speculations along with fear, traveled faster than any other news in the walled city.
Horrified that pureblooded vampires are on their move on warping the long-timed protected peace between humans and the night creatures, the ancestry of Valaravans held a hidden assembly underground its Manor House.
Valaravans, occupying the western land of Sakaris, are warriors serving mortals. A lineage of strong-willed people who can fight vampires with their pistols, daggers, swords, arrows made in sulfur, and mystical gifts. Trained to fight in a war, they are the only descendants of humans who could win against the dark creatures with crimson eyes.
"A war is bound to happen," Lady Morticia expressed with vigor. "Certainly their existence was long eliminated during the mass extermination but the reappearance of corrupted vampires is quite viable as long as the corporality of the purebloods remained vital. I believed that those who were sighted in the northern region were not regular night creatures we often encounter in the capital city but turned ones, milord," she uttered a few more convincing words.
"What do you wish to suggest then, milady?" Lord Icarus inquired.
His wife surprised him by holding an urgent assembly with all the members of the hunters. As the Head of Valaravans, it has always been his duty to tail the movements of the night creatures, and by far, none of the hunters found something suspicious in the northern region. And yet Lady Morticia suspected that the dead body of a human scribbler found in the Town of Reaperville was done by a corrupted vampire.
"Observing from afar is not enough, milord. I suggest it is time to abide by the oldest proverb. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. We shall find someone to serve as an emissary."
Lord Icarus lifted his ocean, arctic gaze. "And who might that be?"
"Cassandra—"
"I do not intend to send off my daughter to become a sacrifice of this absurd presumption of yours," he intervened. "I had them followed in years, traced their every movement, assembly, and even the simplest ball they had attended to, and there was nothing disputable on the account of the purebloods. This assembly is—"
"You cannot be possibly suggesting that we shall take this matter lightly when there was a human killed by one of their kinds! It is our job to secure the safety of mortals against the nature of those who still crave blood and power. Or are you insinuating to discard all these threats, milord?"
Silence etched inside the room when no one dared to interrupt the heated conversation between the leaders of Valaravans. Lord Icarus straightened his back. "The one who possesses authority over the northern region holds honor under his sleeves," he strongly reprimanded. "This is treachery against his lordship's loyalty!"
"Betrayal knows no boundaries and honor is nothing of great import over selfish greed," Morticia's eyes flickered with some unknown emotions he could not comprehend. "None of us knew what they had been up to since the union. The pureblooded vampires distanced themselves by building high-walled fortresses and hid from the sight of humans. In recent years where the cohabitation of both creatures appeared to be the new form of our society, aren't they acting suspiciously, milord?"
Her gaze turned cold, devoid of emotions. "Among the night creatures, the pureblooded are the only ones who can corrupt humans and turn them into their kinds. I suggest that the northern region must become a priority of our investigation. Even the Union Council has been wary of this matter and they expected us to do our job."
'The Union Council?' Lord Icarus thought.
"And if it is indeed true that the pureblooded had nothing to do with the case at hand, that does not mean that the reappearance of corrupted vampires is off to be ignored. I am telling you that they are a threat, milord."
Sighing in distress, Icarus pressed the sides of his temple. "We can send anyone but Cassandra."
"Seduction is better than any weapons we have. The young miss is to entertain the vampire lord."
"She is our daughter!" Icarus gritted his teeth, locking his sharp gaze with his unbothered wife. "The only daughter we have, Morticia."
"So is the future leader of this land. She must be conditioned early to carry her people," Morticia said with finality.
Cassandra flinched when she pricked her pointed finger with the needle she used in her embroidery. A drop of blood appeared to which she pondered in curiosity. If she were to barter her blood over some gold coins, would she finally become useful to her people?
"Milady!" her wandering thoughts were snapped away at the squeak of her attendant. Belinda was quick to tend to her finger, wiping the blood away with a piece of satin cloth. Her clumsy hands trembled in horror. "You must not hurt yourself, milady. Or I will be summoned in your mother's chamber!"
Setting her embroidery aside, she furrowed in displeased. "Did she summon you today, too?" Cassandra felt Belinda's hesitation, bringing her to call her attendant's name with emphasis. "Belinda."
"She did, milady."
"And for whatever reason?"
"Might be because of the Grandcrest Ball, milady."
"Hah!" she scoffed in disbelief. "Why would she want me to stay longer in that ball? Lord Salem was upfront at showing his indecency towards me and the Repenters abhorred my very existence," she crossed her arms below her chest, frowning. "Mother is sick, isn't she?"
"I beg not to express my opinion, milady."
"You have no loyalty at all," Cassandra jested with a smile and handed her embroidery to Belinda. "Hand me my covers."
Belinda quickly lifted her gaze. "Wherever it is you are going, milady?"
"Dwarven Burg."
But it is far," she shook her head in refusal.
"I have Persephone," she shrugged. "She rides faster among my favorite horses," giving Belinda a sideway glance, Cassandra noticed her attendant's disapproval of letting her go. She smiled and assured, "Don't fret, Belinda. Alexander will give me company and my witch birthgiver has already given her consent."
Belinda's face lightened up, completely wary of the young miss's affection towards the hunter, Alexander Recceswinth of the Hunter's Association.