Sleep is a passage. Humans spend their days seeing, hearing, and feeling countless pieces of information, making the best decisions they can moment by moment. And at some point, the body, having endured this constant strain, reaches a state where it must collapse into sleep as if dead. To block out all senses, relinquish consciousness, and bring one exhausting day to a close—only to be reborn anew the next.
“Hu. Wake up. The moon is bright.”
“....”
“This is serious. You’re not even whining for ten more minutes... You really don’t intend to wake up, do you?”
If you don’t give the body the rest it needs, it will begin to break down. At first, you can push through, moving with some fatigue, but soon, the body will deteriorate until it finally malfunctions. Right now, I was at that breaking point.
“Is this what becomes of a human who goes just a few days without sleep? In my time, we waged war without rest for nights on end.”
“...That’s... why you survived... because you endured...”
“To think my companion would be this frail.”
“That’s not fair... coming from a vampire who doesn’t even need to sleep...! Ugh.”
I admitted it—I was weak. But in this environment, what could I do? I had already been recovering from exhaustion, only to run around the Mist Duchy, get drained of blood, then follow up with a court session. If I hadn’t collapsed after all that, I might as well be the next step in human evolution after vampires.
And besides—
“Who even holds a trial in the middle of the night? This is bedtime for good children.”
“The night is the rightful domain of vampires.”
“So I guess vampires are just a bunch of misbehaving children....”
“Look who’s talking. You’re hardly a good child yourself.”
Regardless, seeing the state I was in, Tyrkanzyaka didn’t scold or pester me. Instead, she leisurely sat up from her seat.
“Then, what shall we do about Lir’s trial? Would postponing it for a few days be acceptable?”
“Huh? We were supposed to do it today. Can we even delay it?”
“What’s the harm in a few days? They will pass in the blink of an eye.”
“Even if a bug flies into your eye, you’d be able to open it again in a few days.”
Ah. So this was a vampire’s perspective. They had no hesitation in delaying commitments. Well, considering Tyrkanzyaka had only just returned to her homeland after three hundred years, it made sense. And then, she confidently declared—
“Besides, I am the progenitor of this nation. Who is to say what I cannot do?”
“Of course...”
A living—no, an undead—no, a resurrected embodiment of power itself. Lying down, I feebly raised a thumbs-up.
“Please... Just let me rest a little. I’ll be fine after a short break....”
“Very well. Rest as much as you need. However, Hu....”
Tyrkanzyaka’s voice softened slightly. With a faint air of hesitation, she lightly poked my back.
“...When will we spend another night together? The night feels long and somewhat lonely.”
“It hasn’t even been that long since last time!”
“But it passed by so quickly that I hardly understood what was happening. I believe if I take my time to savor it, I may grasp it better.”
“Do you realize how weird that sounds?! You’re making it seem like I’m some kind of Rabbit King or something! Tyr, three days is not ‘in the blink of an eye!’ Go ask anyone! They’d be in awe of my endurance!”
Honestly, if she weren’t a vampire, she’d have died several times over! It was a brutal battle, that’s what it was! Ah, no—thinking about it is making my head hurt again. It might be a little underhanded, but next time, I might have to use the power of a demon as well....
“You don’t look well. I can sense your blood flow has weakened. Hm. I suppose I cannot push you any further.”
Tyrkanzyaka prepared to leave, draping her coat over her shoulders and gathering the darkness she had spread around the room into a parasol. Fully dressed, she glanced down at me, still lying in bed, and gave me a warm smile.
“I will call for a physician. Stay here and recover. I will tell them to wait for now.”
“I’ll be fine after just a little more rest... Just stay with me....”
“A little more, by ordinary human standards, is still something I struggle to grasp. I shall return.”
The door closed slowly. With Tyrkanzyaka having gathered all the darkness in the room, even the peak of the castle, bathed in full moonlight, was touched by a faint golden hue of lingering dusk. Until the very last moment, she lingered in the doorway, watching the red-tinged room in contemplation.
“When our times differ so greatly, the gap is this vast. Bridging that gap may be one of the joys of companionship, but one day, we must reach the same point. Whether I live in ordinary time... or Hu becomes a vampire.”
Even as she stepped away with a faint trace of regret, Tyrkanzyaka tilted her head as if puzzled.
“How curious. Before, I thought it was fine to live in ordinary time. But now, with Hu here, I want to relish this time forever. Does one’s desires shift along with their circumstances? When we have enough time to discuss it, I must speak with Hu at length.”
Right. I wonder how things will turn out.
I wasn’t the type to plan too far ahead in life. Things change, and so do desires. My goal of hunting down every last demon hadn’t changed, but the comfort of my current life was... satisfying.
“...That too is a pleasure. Heh. To think I would ever experience such a time.”
Especially with someone as beautiful and powerful as Tyrkanzyaka—above all, someone completely devoted to me. It wasn’t every day you gained an absolute ruler who would grant all your requests and indulge every whim.
Being a favored consort wasn’t such a bad job, after all.
Yes, this was fine. More than fine. For an ordinary human, this would be a perfect final destination in life.
...That is, as long as the destination remained in place.
As I buried my head into the lingering scent Tyrkanzyaka had left on the bed, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, the door suddenly burst open.
Lir Nightingale, carrying a small medical bag, strode into the progenitor’s chambers as if it were nothing.
“I was told there was a patient. Where is the patient?”
“Ughh....”
“...? You’re not even close to being a patient. Other than slight fatigue, you seem perfectly fine.”
Diagnosing me in an instant, Lir idly toyed with a vial instead of reaching for her bag.
“Would you like some nutrient-enriched blood?”
“I’m not a vampire.”
“It’s been refined for human consumption. It tricks the body into believing it has a surge in blood supply. Quite effective for a quick recovery.”
“I just need to rest a little. Just leave me be....”
“A good choice. Time is the best medicine, after all.”
Lir nodded approvingly, then pulled a chair over to sit within my line of sight.
“...What about the trial?”
“The progenitor has placed priority on her consort’s health. I have been informed that I am not required to attend the proceedings for now. However, they are still discussing my fate in my absence.”
“How do you think it’ll turn out?”
“I ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) do not know. The progenitor does not seem inclined to punish me, but who can say? One day, I too may end up assassinated, just like my father.”
“You’re talking about some uncertain ‘one day,’ which means you’re not dying right now... That’s a relief. In that case, I’ll get some more rest.”
It seemed she had come to terms with the fact that she was still alive. How fortunate. Now, I could finally rest in peace.
I buried my face into the pillow and dozed off for a moment.
“I’m all rested up!”
When I regained consciousness, my head felt significantly clearer. Feeling much better, I sat up and found Lir still seated in the exact same posture as before.
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“You’re awake.”
“How long did I sleep?”
“Approximately three hours.”
Three hours. For Tyrkanzyaka, that might as well have been the blink of an eye. But for a human, that was enough time to pull a broken condition back together. I wasn’t actually ill—just worn down. So, I quickly regained my senses.
Stretching my body a bit, I checked my condition.
“Mm. I feel great. Actually, I think I might be even healthier than before.”
“You were already healthy. Among the patients carried in with abdominal wounds, you were undoubtedly the healthiest.”
“I don’t usually get sick, but I wasn’t this resilient before. Am I hitting my physical prime or something?”
Well, it wasn’t exactly a prime. More likely, it was because I was surrounded by masterful hemocraft practitioners. Hundreds of vampires lived here—perhaps their presence had subtly influenced my body in some way.
After checking my deck of cards and slipping the remaining ones back into my pocket, I asked—
“Despite an Elder being killed, the duchy seems pretty calm. I thought things would be in complete chaos once word got out.”
“The duchy exists under the progenitor’s authority.”
“But right now, Tyrkanzyaka has lost her power, hasn’t she? Shouldn’t things be more chaotic?”
Lir answered in her usual precise manner.
“The progenitor’s power has not disappeared. It simply remains circulating within her, neither dispersing nor being exerted externally. Unlike what my father intended, it now loops back upon itself, a self-sustaining cycle. She has reached a new state on her own.”
“On her own? Someone could have helped her—like your father.”
“My father never received help from anyone. But regardless, assisting the progenitor is impossible.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Who could possibly wield hemocraft equal to or greater than the progenitor? And how could anyone help her perceive and control her own blood objectively? There would need to be another progenitor for that to happen.”
In other words, if there was someone who helped Tyrkanzyaka, that person could only be Tyrkanzyaka herself. But such a thing was impossible, so Lir concluded that she had reached enlightenment on her own.
...Wait. Is this the insight of the future Doctor of the Ages at work? She doesn’t even need to cut open a body—she can just see the flow of blood. This isn’t even hemocraft; it’s just keen observation.
No, wait a minute. If she’s this perceptive... could it be possible for a Blood Demon to be born even without Tyrkanzyaka?
But how?
“Hold on, Lir Nightingale. You seem to have an exceptional ability for diagnosing others.”
“Diagnosis is simple if one only reads what is necessary.”
“No, more than that... Lir Nightingale. You broke free from the Blood Shackles, didn’t you?”
“I did. But since the progenitor has also discarded her shackles, it hardly matters now.”
“It makes sense for Tyr to break free—hemocraft and the Blood Shackles were her own power to begin with. But what about you? How did you escape?”
Ruskinia had commanded Lir to kill him.
Following that order, she had attempted to do so.
But she failed. Instead, Vladimir had killed Ruskinia. According to what I had read from their thoughts, the reason was that Ruskinia, having broken free from the shackles, had begun conspiring against the progenitor.
That revelation had answered many questions.
But the biggest one still remained.
How had Lir freed herself?
“...That is classified information. I cannot reveal it without the progenitor’s permission.”
“Tyr has already broken free. With the Elders being at the top of the shackle hierarchy, it’s not like it really matters anymore. And besides, I am the progenitor’s consort.”
“...I suppose.”
Since the progenitor was no longer bound by the shackles, and since the method bore some resemblance to what Ruskinia had discovered, Lir likely saw no reason to hide it from me any longer.
“The key is the cycle of dominance. If a vampire can impose their hemocraft’s dominance upon themselves, they can escape the shackles. Ideally, one would circulate their dominance internally, as the progenitor did. However, vampires gain their immortality from an external source—True Blood—so accomplishing this alone is nearly impossible. That is why my father used me as an intermediary to create a closed loop. He...”
I already knew this much. I was a mind-reader, after all. I had already gleaned much of the truth from her and Vladimir’s thoughts.
What I wanted was the final missing piece.
The mind of Ruskinia, now beyond my reach.
“...And what about you?”
“...Pardon?”
“You also broke free from the shackles. What was your intermediary?”
This was my one lingering question.
For a brief moment, Ruskinia had been free.
What had he felt in that moment?
He was dead, so I couldn’t read his mind anymore.
But I didn’t need to.
Actions are the manifestation of thoughts.
“Why did Ruskinia want you to break free?”
The answer lay not in what he had accomplished, but in why he had done it.
Just as Lir realized what I was implying and flinched—
—I sensed something outside.
A presence, approaching without so much as a whisper of movement.
I was already aware that vampires could be eerily silent, their presence barely perceptible. That was why they deliberately allowed their presence to be felt when approaching the progenitor or her consort—to show respect.
But this one... was brimming with hostility.
Tch. Of course. The world wouldn’t just let me be.
This was going to be a pain.
I slid my hand into my pocket, idly running my fingers over my cards.
“...I have heard all of your opinions.”
As Tyrkanzyaka had expected, to vampires, a few days was barely a passing moment. Even the trial for an Elder’s murder, held ten years after the crime, had been accepted without urgency. A few days’ delay hardly concerned them.
“Then let us determine Lir’s fate after witnessing her capabilities. That concludes today’s discussion. I assume there are no objections.”
“Progenitor, I must offer a solemn declaration.”
The doors swung open.
A single Elder entered.
Grandmaster Dogo.
A martial monk who had once sought enlightenment but instead found himself bound to eternal suffering, cursed as a vampire.
Though he had supposedly been resting to recover from his injuries, he now stood completely unharmed, as if his wounds had never existed.
Taking the place of Vladimir, who was absent, Dogo pressed his hands together in reverence before scanning the chamber.
“There is a matter far more urgent than Lir’s trial. One that is both greater in importance and immediate in necessity.”
“What is it?”
An Elder’s murder was not the true crisis.
The true crisis was the fact that Tyrkanzyaka had severed the Blood Shackles herself.
“Tyrkanzyaka. Progenitor of disaster. Our beginning, and our destined end.”
“...?”
“We suffered beneath the Blood Shackles because they were absolute and inescapable.”
The gathered vampires exchanged glances. Some closed their eyes in feigned ignorance.
Scheming.
Collusion.
Tacit approval.
Silent observation.
A hundred unspoken perspectives flitted across pale, expressionless faces.
“The very fact that you have severed them means that your authority is no longer absolute.”
Silence fell.
Then—
“I, Dogo, hereby call for a trial to determine your right to rule.”
A trial against the progenitor herself had begun.