112 Plans I (1/2)

Li was driven through Riviera and up the mountainous path leading to the noble estates. There, Valery dropped him off at the front gate, which promptly opened as two black clad vampire knights immediately escorted Li out and into the mansion.

Li remarked again at how this mansion of foreboding black which stood out so much could manage to escape the eyes of nobles in Riviera for so long as a hotspot for some of the strongest monsters. Alexei himself, as a higher vampire over level 70, could probably burn this entire city to the ground with his strength alone, not to mention his sizable cohort of knights.

But then again, the noble estates were all unique in their own way. There was one plated in solid gold that hurt to look at under the bright Eldenian sun, there was Lys's veritable castle of an estate, and then there was the Lakely estate's magical tower.

Perhaps a certain eccentrism and desire to stand out among their peers gave a good amount of leeway for what was undoubtedly the darkest and most suspicious building of them all to be left alone.

Inside the mansion, Li was escorted by a duo of vampire maids, their uniforms distinctively gothic and surprisingly suited to the fact that they were, well, vampires. He let them take his boots off and give him a pair of comfortably furred slippers to wear before walking through the spacious living room with its massive dining table and into the long and winding hallway that led to the count's study.

In front of the wide oaken double doors of Alexei's study, one of the maids came up and knocked. In an instant, the doors flung wide open and Alexei burst out, his sharp face screwed into a light scowl. He was not dressed as formally as he usually was, bereft of a coat to reveal a purple dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

”I thought I said I was not to be disturbed during this time,” he said, his voice not harsh but simply authoritative. His eyes landed upon Li. Immediately, he bowed his head. ”Ah, you have come to visit?”

Alexei opened the doors for Li before talking to his maids. ”Then I understand your reasons. Go and prepare some tea.”

When Li went into the study, he came upon an interesting sight.

”Is this what you do in your free time?” said Li, mildly amused.

Alexei closed the doors behind him, runes of sealing and warding magic flashing momentarily as it shut the study off from the outside world. He walked past Li to a velveted couch where Claire, the blonde human maid, lay, her legs and arms bound tightly together leather restraints.

Alexei stepped past Li, his expression as stony and decidedly unamused as ever. ”This does appear to be a rather strange scene, I must admit, but the truth is that I do not have free time. Forgive me, but I must tend to her for a minute more.”

The higher vampire knelt on the carpeted floor and drew the coffee table in front of the couch closer to him. Li noticed that on it were an assortment of vials filled with liquids of different colors, some bubbling, some smoking. In front of the vials was a neatly arranged row of six droppers.

”Alchemy?”

”I do dabble in it. Were I an expert, she would be cured by now.” Alexei took a dropper, drew up some fluid from a vial, and held it over Claire's mouth.

She lurched forwards, her mouth opening as she snapped at Alexei's bony hand with inhuman ferocity. Her blue eyes were tinged with flecks of red and wide with energy, and Li could see that her mouth did not hold normal human teeth, but instead a row of sharp and hollow fangs characteristic of a vampire.

”So she wasn't human after all,” said Li. ”Or did you turn her into a vampire?”

”Oh, she is still very much human.” Alexei took his free hand and grasped Claire's jaw with accurate and firm strength, forcibly opening it but not harming it. He took the dropper and squeezed in a few drops of shining blue liquid that evaporated when it touched her tongue.

He furrowed his brows and shook his head once. ”Another incorrect formula.”

Li made himself comfortable, taking a seat on the couch opposite of Alexei's. ”For?”

”To cure her of her ailment. Are you aware of how vampires turn others?”

”A mutagen in their saliva,” said Li, recalling lore text. ”That's how you get more of your kind, isn't it?”

”In theory, yes. Aside from courting others of our kind, of which natural conception is exceedingly rare, it is possible to easily turn others into us through transmission of our vampiric mutagens.”

Alexei took another dropper from the table, this time filled with red liquid that Li recognized as regular blood.

”But in practice, it is not so. Our mutagens are only capable of turning others into the absolute lowest and weakest of our kind such as the bestial and mindless lamyros and lamashu.”

”But if I recall correctly, humans are capable of turning into fully fledged vampires such as yourself, no?”