Bang!
Sarka, who had been hurled against the wall as if thrown, swallowed a groan.
Before he could even compose himself from the pain, the giant bear’s front paw came flying at the fallen Sarka’s legs once more.
He barely managed to roll his body to dodge, and he heard the sound of the stone wall where the paw had missed cracking.
The beasts used for duel practice had their teeth and claws dulled, but the bear was already no different from a weapon with its brute strength alone. If he hesitated, his leg would be crushed like this.
Sarka used his telekinesis to fling away the hyenas rushing in, looking for an opportunity, and hastily raised his body, then swallowed a dizzy breath for a moment.
Tinnitus rang out, and his vision began to darken. Sarka’s face filled with dismay as he sensed dizziness coming on. He wouldn’t be able to dodge the next attack.
The moment Sarka’s teeth clenched, bracing for pain,
“You’ve grown weak.”
With a low voice, all the beasts’ movements stopped simultaneously.
Sarka, who had been panting, raised his head.
In his blurred vision, he saw a man walking slowly through the beasts that had frozen like statues.
Belial, standing before him, calmly observed Sarka’s focus.
Sarka, who had barely recovered his vision, straightened his posture and bowed his head.
“……I apologize.”
Feeling the end of his voice trembling, Sarka bit down.
Belial gazed down at Sarka, who was trying to steady his breathing, then spoke in a gentle voice.
“……There’s nothing to apologize for. I know the reason.”
Belial slightly frowned as he swept his eyes over the boy’s gaunt body.
“Your father put a Controller on you, didn’t he?”
Sarka silently lowered his eyes. Watching the boy’s face fill with shame, Belial let out a faint breath.
“Your body is damaged, so your bioenergy itself has dropped. The psychic system recovers slowly when bioenergy drops. It’s also greatly affected by stress and emotions.”
Sarka continued to bow his head in silence.
Belial, who had been calmly observing the boy’s breathing that had not yet settled, sighed and summoned a sofa with telekinesis.
“It’ll be hard to have a proper lesson this month. For now, sit and rest.”
“I can do it.”
Sarka raised his head and spoke hastily. Belial gazed down at the boy quietly.
Sarka straightened his back, tried to steady his breathing, and spoke quietly.
“……As you said, since I couldn’t have last month’s lesson……I’ll make up for it this month before I leave.”
Anxiety rose in Sarka’s eyes as he looked up at Belial directly.
Unfortunately, the disciplinary period had overlapped with last month’s external visit day. Not only was it weighing on his mind that he had missed a lesson that only happened once a month, but this month’s lesson couldn’t pass by so halfheartedly like this either.
Belial gazed quietly at the boy looking up at him stubbornly, then spoke slowly.
“Sarka. I am your educator. Do I need to point out whose judgment between you and me would be more accurate?”
It was a gentle voice, but a question that allowed no dissent. Sarka swallowed dryly.
When the boy couldn’t answer, Belial gently gestured to the sofa with his chin and commanded.
“Sit.”
Sarka hesitated, but Belial didn’t look back any further.
When Belial pulled over the opposite sofa and table and sat down first, Sarka had no choice but to perch on the opposite sofa.
“Shall we have some tea while you rest?”
Belial spoke gently and flicked his hand.
The semi-slaves who had moved silently prepared tea.
When Belial offered him a cup, Sarka carefully showed his respects and accepted it.
Sarka, who had silently taken a sip, barely managed to calm his breathing.
Holding the teacup handle and hesitating, Sarka looked at Belial across from him and spoke carefully.
“……You made time for me, but due to my oversight……I failed to manage my body. I have no excuse for disappointing you.”
At the polite apology, Belial smiled gently.
Meeting the red eyes watching him silently, Sarka swallowed dryly.
Currently, the only person Sarka could rely on in the Hütivras household was this man.
The <Turncoat> Belial.
He was born in the Coexistence Faction Hütivras family about 100 years ago, but throughout his childhood he had doubts about coexistence ideology, and eventually, when he became an adult, he left his family and joined the <Pureblood Faction>.
A few years later, with outstanding political acumen, he gained the trust of the Pureblood Faction’s leader, and was finally permitted to take the path of an <Addict> who would serve vampire society forever.
<Addict> Belial, who had drunk human blood for one year under government permission and obtained an immortal body that neither aged nor died, had been active as the <Pureblood Faction> leader’s political ally for about 70 years.
<Addicts> who lived eternal lives no longer belonged to any family and were free from family obligations.
Despite his background of being born in the <Coexistence Faction>, he was a figure who had made a name for himself for decades as a brain at the center of the <Pureblood Faction>.
When he was at Leogrante, Sarka had seen this man several times.
He had often visited Sarka’s mother, who had made a name for herself as a famous general of the Pureblood Faction, and they had given each other political help.
When Sarka’s mother died and he heard the news that Sarka had fled to the Coexistence Faction, Belial came back to his own family that he had run away from 80 years ago and never looked back at.
When he learned that Sarka was being sent to <Esteban School>, he came to Sarka’s grandfather and personally proposed <private lessons> for Sarka.
It was an obvious fact that Sarka, who was being sent to Esteban School and couldn’t receive <Duel lessons> like his other peers, would be at a disadvantage in the <Wedding Duel> after becoming an adult.
Both the people who had forced Sarka to be sent to <Esteban School> and Sarka’s father probably all had the same goal.
To make Sarka, who would become an adult in three years, lose in the <Wedding Duel> and become another family’s spouse.
It was a scheme to make sure Sarka didn’t obtain <Succession Rights> and lived as another family’s possession for life.
Belial had proposed to prevent exactly that.
He would educate Sarka, who had been cut off from vampire society, one-on-one from time to time, and develop his skills enough not to lose in a duel.
Sarka’s grandfather gladly accepted that proposal.
For the grandfather, who had desperately hoped to restore his own honor that had been degraded by his son who had become a <human’s dog>, even by using his <Complete Pureblood> grandson, there was no reason to refuse the proposal.
Thirty-five years ago, when the grandfather, who had been a laughingstock of the family for consecutively producing absurdly low bloodlines, succeeded in producing <Complete Pureblood> Allend in his old age, he burned with ambition to finally seize power at the center of the family.
However, his youngest son Allend, who couldn’t endure his excessive educational zeal and oppressive disciplinary methods, became increasingly rebellious, and finally, when he turned eighteen, he shocked him with an unprecedented declaration that he would run away from Duel School and marry a <human>.
Still, just when it seemed he had barely succeeded in a Wedding Duel and obtained a Complete Pureblood spouse, in the end, all of that was overturned, and Allend, who had lost both <Succession Rights> and his <Complete Pureblood legitimate child>, abandoned vampire society and became the Imperial family’s dog—the grandfather’s rage and frustration were tremendous.
A few years later, when his grandson who had fled came and proposed to return his son’s succession rights, it was natural that he rejoiced as if he could fly.
When Allend refused to accept Sarka, the grandfather threatened his youngest son to the point of blackmail, holding his eldest son <Peter Hütivras>, who was still close with Allend, as a hostage, and urged him to accept Sarka.
When Sara, seeing Allend conflicted between his brother and his wife’s safety, stepped forward and persuaded him to accept Sarka, Allend finally gave in.
However, the grandfather’s satisfaction was brief.
Soon after, when Allend decided to send Sarka to <Esteban School>, the conflict between the grandfather and Allend intensified again.
He was furious at his son for forcing a role as lowly as <Bridge> on the grandson he had expected would restore his honor.
For the grandfather, whose insides were burning because the matter had already been officially decided at the family council and couldn’t be overturned, the <Turncoat Belial>, who had heard the news, came to him.
The grandfather immediately accepted his proposal and urged his son to send his grandson to the lessons.
Allend vehemently opposed contact between Sarka and Belial, who was no different from a central figure of the <Pureblood Faction>, but when his older brother <Peter> was held hostage again, he had no choice but to grind his teeth and step back.
Allend judged that even if it was Belial, it would be difficult to create major changes just by conducting night lessons once a month, and decided to step back for now and observe the situation.
Under his father’s tacit consent, Sarka met this man again through his grandfather’s introduction, and gratefully accepted the lessons he proposed.
Although this was the first time having a direct conversation since coming to Hütivras, Belial of the <Pureblood Faction>, who had been close with his mother, was like a lifeline to Sarka, who was completely isolated in Hütivras.
Watching the boy who relied on him absolutely, Belial smiled leisurely, curving his eyes.
“That’s fine. There’s plenty of time. To Addicts like me who live eternal lives, time is no different from grains of sand on a beach. You don’t need to worry about my ‘time.'”
At the gentle answer, Sarka bowed his head.
Belial added in a slightly more cheerful tone, as if to comfort the boy.
“If it weren’t for teaching you, I would have had nothing to live for. I entered my rest period two years ago, so I have to play for the next eight years by obligation.
Giving Addicts who work without rest during their eternal lives a ten-year rest period every 70 years for vampire welfare is a good system.
However, unlike the senior Addicts who have worked for hundreds of years, I’ve only worked for 70 years, and rather than being glad about my first rest period, I’m bored.
Watching you develop each month is my only pleasure these days.”
At the gentle tone, Sarka quietly lowered his eyes.
Belial, who had been quietly watching the obedient boy, suddenly frowned faintly.
“……And the damage to your body isn’t your fault. Allend really does all sorts of things.”
When Sarka raised his head, Belial added with a disillusioned expression.
“I heard he made you wear the Controller on your arm for a full seven days. I knew he was an ignorant fellow, but he really doesn’t know the meaning of moderation.”
Anger rose in Belial’s eyes.
Meeting that gaze tinted with hostility toward Allend, Sarka unknowingly felt a lump in a corner of his heart faintly loosen.
Belial narrowed his eyes and muttered with an unpleasant expression.
“That fellow is a disgrace even within Hütivras. How did such a thing come from my bloodline. His father is at least decent, but Allend alone has been troublesome since childhood.
Out of nowhere he takes a human woman as his spouse, becomes the Imperial family’s dog…… How far does he intend to go.”
Hearing the disillusioned voice, Sarka felt strangely somewhat calmed.
Belial, who couldn’t shake off his displeasure thinking about Allend for a long while, finally clicked his tongue and muttered.
“……It would have been good if that fellow had become Camilla’s spouse.”
Sarka raised his head to look at Belial.
Belial spoke as if sighing with a regretful face.
“That research lab was a project that couldn’t have proceeded without your mother’s support. How many ideas were gained while working with Camilla…….
I’ve never seen a vampire so bold and so proud. Never again will such an outstanding general emerge from Leogrante.”
Sarka gazed quietly at the man’s face missing his mother.
Belial looked into Sarka’s green eyes, which resembled his mother, with a faint smile as if reminiscing about her in life.
“Camilla was truly a predator who knew how to hunt.
To get what she wanted, she knew how to throw away even her pride, and even pretend to throw away vampire pride like wastepaper, lower her body, deceive others’ eyes, and wait for the right moment.
In return, she obtained you, a proud bloodline.”
Belial smiled with a pleased face and looked into Sarka’s face.
Belial’s gaze, which had tilted his head leisurely, slowly swept over the boy’s beautiful face as if appreciating a well-made sculpture.
“When <Hütivras’s> rare psychic ability and <Leogrante’s> aggression combine, there’s no masterpiece like it.
I heard all the female students among your peers coveted you as a spouse. Of course, you made sure they wouldn’t dare.”
Belial added with a pleased air. Sarka bowed his head modestly.
The losers of the matches he had crushed at Leogrante’s Basic School fleetingly came to mind and then scattered. It had been just over two years, but it felt like a very long time ago.
Belial watched the boy lost in thought quietly, then called in a low voice.
“Sarka.”
When Sarka raised his head, Belial looked into the boy’s eyes carefully and declared quietly.
“To those kids, you’re ‘prey’ right now.”
Sarka swallowed dryly. Belial looked straight at Sarka and warned in a calm tone.
“Everyone knows that you’ll become weak since you came to Hütivras and can’t receive education at Duel School.
The moment you enter the marriage market three years from now, marriage proposals will pour down like rain.
If you lose to them, you’ll lose your <Succession Rights> and become another family’s possession for life. Without any rights, you’ll just become a <Helper> who bears another family’s offspring.”
“……I’m aware.”
Sarka answered quietly.
The loser of a Wedding Duel loses everything.
The winner becomes the <Successor> who continues the family they were born into, and the loser becomes the successor’s spouse, an existence called a <Helper> in vampire society.
<Helper> was a derogatory term for ‘spouse,’ literally meaning <a person who helps> the successor bear offspring.
It had the nuance of being no different from a stud or a breeding vessel for continuing the successor’s bloodline.
Sarka had seen what kind of treatment his mother’s <Helpers> received, what kind of lives they lived.
Some successors at Leogrante completely erased all pre-marriage memories from their Wedding Duel losers to fundamentally block the possibility of their spouses attempting useless rebellion.
They were forcibly deprived of all the memories they had learned and experienced throughout their entire lives since birth, and learned only how to help the successor bear offspring and how to raise children.
That was the life of a <loser>.
Losing everything you had thought of as yourself your entire life and living as someone’s subordinate.
If Sarka lost in a duel three years from now, Sarka too would live such a life.
Belial continued speaking quietly in a stern tone.
“If you know that, you have no choice but to try harder accordingly. I’m not just talking about lessons. I’m talking about your conduct within the Hütivras family.”
Red eyes looked straight at Sarka. Belial frowned and spoke sternly as if scolding.
“Knowing your father is such a blockhead, you yourself must be careful and learn to endure.
Your mother endured and persevered in that house for nearly two years to obtain you. Being able to endure humiliation, hide in the bushes and wait for the right moment—that’s the vampire attitude and pride. You can’t achieve anything if you’re swept away by trivial emotions.”
“……I apologize.”
Sarka bowed his head and apologized quietly.
Belial, who had been looking down at the boy unable to raise his head in self-reproach, soon let out a faint breath and buried his upper body back into the backrest.
“……I understand. Enduring Allend is a difficult task.”
Belial’s voice became gentle again. Sarka silently lowered his gaze.
Belial continued speaking quietly as if to comfort the boy.
“Your mother used to say that thinking about the time she was in that house made her shudder. There would be nothing more distressing than listening to that naive, hopeless delusional maniac’s talk.
Throughout the entire time waiting for you to come out of her womb, she endured by planning only that every single day—how to kill that human woman.
She once told me some of the ideas she had conceived at the time, and some were quite interesting. Killing her in one blow would be boring, so she was thinking of taking the human woman hostage in front of that stupid man and enjoying some fun. The experiments whose outcomes seemed quite intriguing…… it’s a shame they couldn’t be carried out.”
Belial spoke in a voice immersed in memories. Sarka just silently lowered his gaze and remained silent.
Belial was immersed in recollection for a long while, then smiled hazily and looked back at Sarka.
“Camilla was truly a girl with an outstanding spirit of challenge.
Sarka. I still vividly remember the day that bold sixteen-year-old girl came to me asking for advice because she wanted to have <Allend Hütivras> as her Helper.
If she had to have a man anyway, she said she wanted to crush the nose of that <Coexistence Faction> idiot who was rejecting all vampire marriage proposals while lost in delusions and take him.
Where do you think your mother got the material to deceive the <Coexistence Faction> man? Me. I taught your mother in detail so she could pretend to understand the Coexistence Faction ideology that my family believed in and the foolish delusions Allend had developed.
Although he’s my blood, someone like Allend is no help to vampire society at all. Since he was lucky enough to be born with decent bloodlines, it would have been fitting if he had become a Helper producing Complete Pureblood children under Camilla…….
It became unfortunate because your aunt used tricks.”
Belial frowned and clicked his tongue. Sarka continued to be silent.
Belial let out a faint breath and looked back at Sarka.
“It would be good if you could deceive Allend like your mother did, but Allend won’t be easily fooled like before anymore.
That fellow became very wary after being tricked by Camilla. He developed a habit of obsessively suspecting his surroundings to protect the human woman he’s obsessed with.
Now he probably thinks it’s safer to not trust anyone from the start. No matter how stupid he is, he’s not stupid enough to be fooled twice by the same method.
Give up on the idea of earning Allend’s trust.”
“……Yes.”
At the firm advice, Sarka answered quietly.
……If he had met this man a little earlier and heard that advice, would something have been different?
Sarka quietly swept away the brief thought.
Belial continued speaking with a serious expression.
“There’s only one way for you to escape from Allend. Becoming a successor and becoming independent as a complete <adult>.
Once you obtain <Succession Rights>, you and Allend are equal successors. He no longer has the authority to control you.
Allend stuffed you into a human school and prohibited your abilities to keep you from holding power even after you become independent, but your grandfather and I are doing our best so you can obtain succession rights.
Letting a talent like you end your life as a mere ‘Helper’ would be a loss to vampire society.
Once you obtain ‘succession rights,’ you can freely choose an ideology that fits your values like me.
Of course your grandfather will want you to establish yourself in the Coexistence Faction again. It doesn’t matter.
Whether it’s the Coexistence Faction or the Pureblood Faction, such things aren’t important. After all, both ideologies have the same roots.”
Having spoken decisively, Belial softened his voice as if to ease Sarka’s tension.
“……Shall we talk a bit about history?”
