Chapter 168: Fugitive Hunter
Sable and Silvia left without extending the conversation.
Silvia maintained her posture until the end. She left with her head held high, controlled steps, and the expression of someone who had already understood that insisting would be a waste of time. She had not liked Victor’s answer, that much was obvious, but she quickly accepted that there was no competing with Eleonora in that room. Not like that. Victor was not evaluating prestige, structure, or political advantage. He was choosing based on his own stubbornness, his own criteria, and the absence of any desire to deal with someone he did not know.
Sable, on the other hand, left much more rigid.
Her face remained cold, but Victor noticed the clenched jaw and the way her fingers closed at her sides before she crossed the door. His rejection had not merely been a refusal. It had been a direct accusation. And worse, in front of two other regents.
When the door closed behind the two of them, the silence became lighter.
Eleonora remained seated.
Victor looked at her.
"Are you not leaving?"
"After getting what I came for?" She crossed her legs and leaned back naturally. "No. I still want to complain."
Victor let out a low laugh and passed the towel over the back of his neck.
"Of course."
Eleonora stared at him for a few seconds, evaluating his state. Shirtless, sweaty, hair still damp from training, small dark marks on his arms because of the recent use of Black Lightning. He looked far more like an animal fresh out of an arena than a young noble receiving a regent inside his mother’s house.
"You should have come to me," she said.
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"To you?"
"Yes. After the Ritual. After that whole spectacle. After choosing not to accept the drop and after humiliating the Central, you should have appeared at the Palace of Lavender and said you wanted to join us."
"Why?"
Eleonora opened a small, irritated smile.
"Because it would have been the logical move."
Victor threw himself back into the armchair.
"I have no interest in that."
She kept looking at him.
"No interest in choosing a palace?"
"No interest in pretending I am excited to enter a structure that only started noticing me after I split Jake in half."
"That is understandable."
"Then why are you complaining?"
"Because understandable does not mean intelligent."
Victor rested his elbow on the arm of the armchair.
"You are starting to sound like my mother."
"Serafall has good sense."
"She also makes threats using tea."
"Does it work?"
"Unfortunately."
Eleonora laughed through her nose, but did not abandon the subject. She leaned forward a little, letting the joking fall just enough for the conversation to become serious.
"I thought you wanted to become stronger."
Victor stopped.
His eyes moved to her with more attention.
"What?"
"I said I thought you wanted to become stronger," Eleonora repeated, shrugging. "But maybe I understood wrong. Maybe you are satisfied with the title, with the noise you made in the Ritual, and with the pile of people now trembling when they hear your name."
Victor did not answer immediately.
Eleonora noticed the hit.
"Or maybe you truly do not know what the Palace of Lavender does."
"You said something about refined minds and information control."
"I said a polite version because Silvia was in the room. And because Sable loves pretending her palace still has any morality to sell."
Victor smiled.
"Now this is getting interesting."
Eleonora relaxed in the chair again.
"The Palace of Lavender is disciplinary."
Victor waited.
"We are the ones who hunt fugitives."
His expression changed little, but it changed enough. The lazy smile became smaller. His eyes became more attentive.
Eleonora continued:
"Fugitives from the Valentine Family are not frightened servants trying to escape punishment. Not in most cases. They are trained vampires, fallen nobles, assassins, experiments gone wrong, heirs who stole artifacts, soldiers who deserted with restricted techniques, and people who know too much to be left alive."
Victor stayed quiet.
"They flee because they have the power to do so," Eleonora said. "And when they are found, they rarely return willingly."
A crimson shade passed through Victor’s eyes.
Quick.
Almost discreet.
But Eleonora saw it.
Of course she did.
She smiled.
"Now you are listening."
Victor leaned back slowly, but his relaxed posture was no longer the same.
"Continue."
"Lavender has analysts, trackers, interrogators, precision combatants, and capture squads. Most palaces train young people to obey. We train people to find problems the others cannot solve."
"And kill?"
"When necessary."
"How often is it necessary?"
Eleonora smiled more.
"Often enough."
Victor laughed low.
"You should have started there."
"I know. But I wanted to watch you dismiss Silvia first."
"Why?"
"It was fun."
"Fair."
Eleonora took a small dark envelope from inside her sleeve and placed it on the table between them. She did not push it toward Victor yet. She merely left it there, like well-positioned bait.
"There is an opening in Squad Seven."
Victor looked at the envelope.
"Squad Seven?"
"Field unit. Little ceremony, plenty of execution. They are going after some fugitives from the Kingdom who crossed internal routes and disappeared near the northeastern border."
"How many?"
"Confirmed? Five."
"Real estimate?"
"Between eight and twelve."
"Strong?"
Eleonora rested her chin on her hand.
"One of them was captain of an advanced unit. Another stole records of blood techniques. One of the fugitives killed three trackers before leaving the monitored area. There is also suspicion of involvement with an exiled noble no one has managed to capture in the last forty years."
Victor picked up the envelope.
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is."
"Good."
Eleonora laughed.
"You did not even try to pretend concern."
"I train to fight strong people. You just offered me strong people with authorization to hit them."
"It is not that simple."
"But it is close."
"You will still need to obey mission command."
Victor grimaced.
Eleonora pointed at him.
"That part is not optional."
"Who commands?"
"Captain Mirella Voss."
"Do I know her?"
"No."
"Is she irritating?"
"Very."
Victor sighed.
"Of course."
"But she is competent. And she will not kneel just because you won a pretty title."
"Even better."
Eleonora watched his interest grow without needing to make any effort. It was almost funny. Five minutes earlier, Victor had seemed ready to fall asleep while three regents discussed his future. Now he was awake, attentive, and clearly tempted by a mission that any other newly ascended vampire would consider far too soon.
"If you want in, I will put your name on the mission," she said. "Officially, it will be a field evaluation for the Palace of Lavender. Unofficially, it is a good way for you to disappear from the Central for a few days before half the families try to invite you to unbearable dinners."
Victor raised his eyes from the envelope.
"You are trying to buy me with violence and social escape."
"Yes."
"It worked."
"I imagined it would."
He opened the envelope and ran his eyes over the names, locations, and summarized descriptions. He did not read everything carefully, but he read enough to see that Eleonora had not been exaggerating. These were not ordinary criminals. They were people with history, training, and reason to resist. The most interesting part was that the mission did not request immediate execution for all of them. Some were to be captured, others interrogated, and two had elimination orders if they resisted.
That meant choices in the field.
It meant improvisation.
It meant fighting without knowing everything.
Victor liked it.
"When do they leave?"
"Tonight."
"Fast."
"Fugitives do not wait for your schedule."
"My schedule is empty."
"Then excellent."
Victor closed the envelope.
"I am going."
Eleonora nodded, satisfied, but not surprised.
"I imagined you would say that."
"You came here already knowing."
"I suspected."
"Lie."
She smiled.
"I was certain."
Victor pointed the envelope at her.
"You are quite manipulative."
"I am a palace regent. It comes with the chair."
"At least you are useful."
"I will accept that as a compliment."
"It was almost one."
Eleonora stood.
"Be at the Central’s western gate before nightfall. Bring what you need for a short trip, but do not overdo it. Squad Seven moves fast."
Victor looked down at his still-shirtless chest.
"Do I need to put on clothes?"
"It would be recommended."
"Annoying."
"And try not to threaten the captain in the first ten minutes."
"And after?"
"Afterward, she will probably have threatened you already."
Victor smiled.
"I like her."
"You have not even met her yet."
"I already like the idea."
Eleonora went to the door, but stopped before leaving. She looked at him over her shoulder.
"Victor."
"Yes?"
"Lavender is not shelter. It is not a prize. And I will not treat you like the mascot of a new title."
"Good."
"If you enter, you work."
"Even better."
She was satisfied with the answer.
"Then truly welcome to the Palace of Lavender."
Victor raised the envelope in response.
"I hope your fugitives are as interesting as you sold them."
Eleonora opened the door.
"If they survive their first meeting with you, perhaps they will be."
She left, leaving Victor alone in the room.
He spent a few seconds looking at the envelope. Then he smiled.
"Hunting strong fugitives, huh?"
The crimson red passed through his eyes again, brighter this time.
"Now that actually sounds like a career."
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