64 What Is That Smell?
Before the King could even open his mouth, Killorn got straight to the point. He left no time for anyone else to disagree with him.
"The Direct Descendant will not be eradicated." Killorn's deafening statement caused a stir.
Delegations shifted in their greets whilst turning to speak to their counselors, Alphas turning to their Betas alike, and Vampire Heads immediately whispering to their Advisors.
"What makes you say that, Alpha Mavez? You speak it as if the decision is up to you to make," King Claudean deadpanned, his voice rising with his annoyance. One day, he was going to knock this irritable boy down a notch. So what if the man had broken records and titles? How dare a mere werewolf interject the orders of a King?
"She hasn't even been found yet," Killorn deadpanned, like everyone in the room was dumb. Instantly, there was a slight nod of agreement, for people were most likely questioning the point of this talk in the first place.
"Do you say that because your own little wife resembles her or is it because you lack faith in our magician system of identifying her?" King Claudean humored, throwing a truth bomb that ushered immediately silence in the room.
Killorn was on the chopping block. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Everest sit up straighter.
"I'm glad your eyes aren't catching up with your age, Your Majesty," Killorn started with a dry glance in the King's direction. "Yes, my wife matches the description. Almost every man and their son in here witnessed her at the ceremony."
"Speaking of which, what was the woman even doing here? Was she not your wife when she was put up as a tribute?" someone questioned.
"An ancient Vampire House was beginning to be eliminated," Killorn explained in a hard voice. "On grounds of violating the Overlords' orders, I granted their wish."
Immediately, the man that uttered the question awkwardly glanced away, even though his question had not been answered. House Nileton's ruination left a bad taste in everyone's mouths. The Overlords couldn't have sent a vampire to eliminate another vampire house? Why a werewolf? What was running through their minds? This conflict could have prevented another war.
"The device for proper identification is being created as we speak. In 3 months, the device will be completed," King Claudean spoke up. "Until then, everything else is just mindless speculation."
"Why kill the woman?" a delegation spoke up.
Killorn easily identified the man from the Western empire. He heard there was an uprising of a rebellion beginning soon, not that it surprised him. Something about House Wraith making a presence and threatening the current Western regime. "When could we just use her for our own gain?" the man stated. "Rumors about the Direct Descendant's prophecy are the same as the Golden Rose. Both women are practically unidentified and impossible to. This so-called device will only be testing for blood, but why can't we just drain every suspected maiden dry?"
"Because mentality like that," Everest spoke up with a cold and amiable smile. "Is the same talks that sparked the first Species War. We won't be putting the lives of human girls at risk again, or else, what was the point of our treaties?"
"Well," the delegation scoffed. "I am just proposing a fine solution to this issue. Right now, we don't have anyone we primary suspect of being the Direct Descendant, except House Eve's daughter who made her presence known a few weeks ago."
At the mention of the woman, every pair of eyes snapped to Killorn. Killorn simply stared back at them with slight humor on his aloof expression. "If you wish to test my wife, go right ahead," Killorn loosely mused with a tilt of his head.
"Well, there you go, the solution—"
"—and I'll gladly grace my walls with your head." Killorn shrugged, just as a tremor of gasps was heard. In the corner, he heard an Alpha even laugh, but when Killorn saw who it was, his lips twitched. The two glanced at each other, sharing the same kind of humor.
"Audacious!" the delegation shouted, pointing an accusing hand at him. "Are you trying to—"
"Gentlemen," Everest bit out. "We'll put talks of the Direct Descendant aside, as the device has not been finalized, and there is more than one lady with near-white hair and purple eyes. For now, we must focus on the true problem at hand."
Killorn raised a brow at Everest's words. More than one lady? Who else, but his wife possessed such curious traits? From beside him, he saw the King shift in his seat. Killorn narrowed his eyes. Hm…
"Lately, the population of monsters has increased across all four corners of the continent. This problem first persisted ten years ago, but now, it has become out of hand. Goblins have attacked us no less than ten miles from the empire," Everest pressed. "If we do not deal with this problem, they'll be breeding like rabbits and by then, our lands will be overrun with beasts."
Everest glanced at his father for encouragement. King Claudean waved his hand, almost not caring about the matter. Why use his brain when he had many sons to do so for him? "As such, Helios Empire proposes that we join hands to locate the source and cause of this issue and eradicate these nests to the best of our abilities. This time, not only will the werewolves join in the battle, but so will the vampires," Everest finalized.
"And the humans?" someone shot up.
"The magicians have already agreed to help us. As you know, humans never dare to reject the orders of vampires and werewolves. Our treaties forbade them from doing so, did you forget?" Everest shot back.
Killorn sat back and watched the scene unfold. Ah, just look at these men hiding behind their walls. He saw the hesitation in the Alphas and Vampires who didn't want to dirty their hands with this kind of battle. Even so, they gladly consumed all of the benefits extracted from monster organs. "House Wraith will lend a hand," a man spoke from the far end of the room.
Every pair of eyes snapped to the powerful and regal Pure-Blood family. Pure-Bloods were well… the purest form of vampires. They were what other vampires were created from. Not many Pure-Bloods existed in the world and they seldom reached out to others.
The delegation from the western empire immediately returned to his advisors, quickly whispering and glancing at the frightening House Wraith.
"Splendid!" King Claudean welcomed with a Cheshire grin as he opened up his arms. "We welcome the other houses to join us."
"Westerias will join as well!" the delegation from the west shouted.
Oh right, that was their basic name. Killorn simply quirked a brow and relaxed in his chair, all the while, feeling the pressing glance of Everest. Instead of looking in that direction, Killorn pretended to not care. He gazed at the clock on the wall and saw how long this meeting had drawn out. The sun was quickly setting behind them, painting the enormous room in a healthy orange hue.
"And what do we get in return for participating?" another asked.
"Your lives," Everest remarked. "If we do not put an end to the infestation of monsters, there will be no earth as we know it. They populate and breed at a much higher rate than any of us can imagine."
Murmurs of agreement filled the air. Other houses quickly began to join in the fight, fearing the worst was to happen.
Killorn watched everything unfold. He listened to the debate of the people who agreed to participate in this fight. All the whilst, a horrible sense of dread filled him. Ten years ago…
The timeline of events was lining up perfectly, starting from when Killorn was 18 and Ophelia was 12. Killorn said nothing of it, but he knew he was not the only one who was beginning to connect the dots. Everything went to shit when Patriarch Eves died.
"And what do you say to it, Alpha Mavez?" King Claudean stated. "As the noble and the Empire's Last Defense, will we expect your men to lead the frontlines?"
Every pair of eyes fell upon Killorn. "When have we not been in the frontlines?"
A round of laughter proceeded, for people took it as a joke. Killorn's frigid expression didn't melt, and even Everest awkwardly cleared his throat at the statement. There had not been a time in history when Mavez Dukedom was not in charge of a battle or war. The only question was… when would the army of werewolves turn their sword toward the Helios Empire of vampires?
"Then it is settled gentlemen, by tomorrow morning, we shall begin preparations for the population control of monsters!" King Claudean applauded. He loudly clapped his hands and quickly, servants entered the room with all sorts of drinks.
Killorn watched as blood was poured into vampires' goblets and meat juices into werewolves. "A toast!" King Claudean stated, rising to his feet.
The people raised their toasts and drank from their goblets to celebrate the agreement reached through words, and not names on paper. Killorn placed the cup to his mouth, but did not take a single sip. Instead, Killorn glanced over the rim and already saw sneaky glances being exchanged left and right. The conclusion had barely begun and people were already thinking of betraying each other.
Killorn could already predict the outcome. There would be backstabbing, vengeance, liars, and alike. The exponential growth of monsters was just the beginning, soon, war would break out from this agreement.
"A toast indeed…" Everest muttered from his father's side, just as he made eye contact with Killorn.
Both men settled their cups down, their lips red from the blood, but their mouth parched. Everyone in here was quick to celebrate, but none was eager to make the first call to immobilize their men. Suddenly, Killorn rose to his feet.
"Leaving so soon?" Everest called out, but the man didn't respond.
Killorn, being the last Alpha to arrive, was still the first one to leave. He didn't bother to stay behind and network with the others. Unlike them, he actually had duties to attend to—starting with the permeating sweetness in the air.
"What is that smell?"
Killorn didn't look back—not even once. He knew if he could smell it all the way from here, then his scent on her was wearing off. He'd need to make it back to Ophelia soon. The only question was… did Beetle do his job properly?
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on f(r)e𝒆webn(o)vel.com