Nameless King

"You've been pretty hard on her."

"It's inevitable. Ellen can be too arrogant sometimes. She doesn't understand how the world works and is too focused on her feelings. My family's history was written in blood, and we gained our status and power through violence and pain. Ellen forgets that all the time. Warm feelings and peace are what we get by overcoming suffering. That's our reward." Vlad said seriously.

"At least she can understand when to back off and when she's wrong. It's a useful quality."

Vlad nodded and drained his whiskey glass, "I wanted to wait until after the banquet, but I can't hold back anymore. I need to drink blood right away."

Wain was wary.

"Don't worry. Until I teach you the ritual as promised, I won't demand blood from you." Vlad said and snapped his finger. A drop of blood appeared above him and flew into the distance.

A moment later, one of the maids entered the guest room with two crystal glasses and a bottle of wine. She poured them wineskins and stood beside Vlad.

"Sir, will you limit yourself to wine?"

"Not this time. Sit next to me."

The girl nodded and bared her neck. Vlad took a sip of wine and then sank his fangs into the girl's flesh. Her young blood mixed with the wine, and Vlad took a sip. He smiled contentedly and exhaled with pleasure.

"Damn, nothing can compare to that. Although, no, I recently discovered something truly remarkable." Vlad pronounced, looking at Wain.

"You are dismissed."

The girl bowed and left.

She was used to it, for when Vlad snapped his fangs into her, she didn't even flinch. Of course, Vlad acted carefully. He had no intention of crippling her. He only wanted blood, but it was painful anyway.

Wain watched the scene intently and was impressed, but not because of how Vlad took advantage of the girl. It showed how much the Pillars stood above the other races. The Pillars could use them in any way they pleased.

...

Lia entered the guest room, "Master, everything is ready. Miss Ellena is already waiting for you in the banquet hall."

p "Great, we'll be right with you."

Lia nodded and left.

"You took off your mask and revealed your face, but you didn't say your name."

"Isn't it enough that you can see my World of Darkness card?" Wain asked smiling.

"No, it's quite enough, but I hope that you will decide to tell me your name one day."

"I, like you, cannot see the future, so I make no promises. We should go. Where's the banquet hall?"

...

There was a long table set up in the banquet hall filled with various dishes. Most of it was juicy and slightly undercooked meat that oozed blood. These were vampire tastes as well as plenty of assorted red wine.

Ellen sat in her seat. She still hadn't touched her food, though Vlad and Wain were a little late.

There were also several maids in the banquet room to serve them.

"You may be dismissed." Vlad said, turning to the maids, and they quickly left.

"No one else wanted to join in?"

"No, I would have informed you of that. There is no one in the manor now except my father and us, but he is asleep. I didn't bother him."

Ellen knew that the relationship between Vlad and their father was strained. They had different views on life.

Vlad believed it was necessary to become stronger by fighting and overcoming oneself, while his father, on the contrary, believed it was the destiny of weak races. In his opinion, vampires were supposed to evolve by absorbing energy and drinking the blood of other creatures.

"Good, that's even better. My friend needs to recover. Feel free to eat as much as you want." Vlad turned to Wain.

"Whatever you say." Wain smiled and took the bloody fruits from the tray. They were sour but tasty, and they greatly replenished the blood supply.

Though the meat was deliberately undercooked, it was of high quality, which caused Wain to join in the meal.

Ellen tried to be restrained, but she could not resist for long. After a few bites, her gallantry was gone, and she pounced on the meat like a wild beast, ripping it to pieces.

Vlad preferred wine to meat. He liked to enjoy his food slowly, stretching out the pleasure.

"Brother, would you like to tell me about your friend?"

"Sure, it's Nameless, and he's a human."

Ellen's eyes widened, and she choked. She expected to hear anything but this. The Tran family was one of the strongest in this town and Ellen, like Vlad, knew many of the secrets of this world, one of which was the humans.

"Don't tell anyone about this. This is a reward for being able to admit your guilt." Vlad said coldly.

Ellen nodded.

"Vlad, isn't it time we got down to business?"

"Sure." Vlad put his glass aside, "Ellen, I know you really care about me more than anyone else, but there's no need, I'm strong, and you have to become one if you want to protect those you care about."

Ellen was confused and frozen.

...

"How does the process of determining blood purity work?" Wain asked, following Vlad into the underground floor.

"It's quite simple. You need a special magic circle and a drop of your blood. There's everything you need downstairs. You don't have to do anything. You'll know intuitively what's going on."

"Okay. Vlad, you've mentioned more than once that you're a noble vampire like your whole family. What is your blood purity?"

Wain knew that the purity of blood was of the utmost importance in every race. He was sure it was more important to vampires than to anyone else.

"Ah, that's a rather painful question. I'm the eldest son of the Tran Family, and normally I should have had high blood purity from birth, but it was only 51%." Vlad said with sadness in his voice.

"Was?"

"Yes, now my blood purity is 91%."