The First Vampire

“Your Highness, the esteemed guests are inside,”

“Hmm, you haven’t disturbed their privacy, have you?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Alright, you can leave now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Once the guards had left, Prince William straightened his collar and knocked on the door.

“Knock, knock.”

As the door was opened, Prince William gave a charming yet slightly obsequious smile.

But before he could introduce himself, Anna beckoned and said, “Come in.

Prince William immediately realized that his guards had probably been noticed by the others, so he hastily entered the room.

“Count Evan, Miss Anna, please excuse my uninvited visit…”

Count Evan did not stand up but merely pointed toward the chair in front of him, “Sit.”

Prince William immediately sat down, behaving like a well-behaved student facing his teacher.

He then placed the brought champagne bottle on the table, “Count, this is a fine wine produced from the Modewen’s vineyard, I hope it suits your palate.” Count Evan’s eyes lit up and he finally revealed a hint of a smile, “Whether it’s good or not, we need to taste it! Come, let’s have a taste.” He then immediately reached for the wine glass.

Prince William quickly uncorked the bottle, pouring three cups.

Count Evan lifted the tall wine glass, swishing it around with elegance, then bringing it up to his nose for a sniff. His face instantly broke into a smile of enjoyment.

“Indeed a good wine!” he exclaimed and praised.

Prince William was pleased, “It’s our honor that you like it, Count!”

Count Evan laughed lightly, took a small sip, savoring it in his mouth.

The room fell silent for a while.

Prince William did not dare to disturb Count Evan’s wine tasting, while on the other side, Anna had quickly finished her glass, her curious eyes sizing up the half-elf prince.

Just as Prince William was becoming uneasy under Anna’s scrutiny, Count Evan seemed to finish his tasting, smiling as he broke the silence,

“Prince William, why visit us today?”

Prince William was silently frustrated — Wasn’t it supposed to you coming to find us? Why ask me about what’s going on…

However, he only dared to think this, and definitely didn’t dare to voice it.

“It’s because my guards found our esteemed guests have traveled from afar. As the host of Silver Moon City, I should naturally extend a proper hospitality.”

“Oh? Simply to welcome us?” Count Evan replied with a playful smile, “I thought you’re here for the matter of Northern Duke’s marriage proposal.”

Prince William was taken aback, blushing at Count Evan’s unexpected comment.

Seeing Prince William’s reaction, Count Evan knew this fellow was surprisingly honest, so he stopped teasing him and turned serious,

“Prince William, the proposal from Prince Topaz to Miss Vera isn’t arranged by your father, right?”

“Of course not! Topaz’s youthful impetuosity led him to act on his own,” Prince

William hurriedly explained, “I hope you can understand, and not blame the Modewen family for this! However, things have come to this point, and my father is in a bind. If he openly rejects this marriage proposal, he’s afraid of offending Duke St. Hilde.”

“But my father is very angry at this matter!” Count Evan shook his head.

Prince William became uneasy, “I beg for your understanding, Count. Could you help us explain to Duke St. Prowse…”

“I am also very angry!” Count Evan acted out, “The Modewen family has always claimed to be neutral. How dare you engage in a marital alliance with the North Territory this time? And even with the Duke’s daughter?” Holding onto your bargaining chip? Ha-ha, you are clearly all in!”

“1…1…” Prince William was momentarily at a loss for words.

“You definitely wouldn’t like to see your own younger brother marry Vera, and thus gain the support of the Northern Duke, would you?”

“Of… of course not,” Prince William answered honestly.

“I may have a plan that could help you sabotage this marriage,” said the other party.

Prince William’s eyes lit up. He eagerly asked, “Please, do tell!”

“Direct refusal of this marriage is inappropriate. But if Miss Vera’s reputation is sullied, the Modewen family will naturally have a compelling excuse to cancel the wedding in order to maintain the dignity of the Half-Elf Royal Court.” “Sullied reputation?”

“Yes.” Count Evan poured himself another glass of champagne and said while swirling it, “Did you hear of the chaos that happened in the North Territory?” “I heard a bit about it.”

“Then you should know that the Dark Cavalry played a decisive role in it. However, from the reward distribution afterwards, it appears that a man outside the Dark Cavalry system profited greatly!”

Prince William immediately recalled a person, “You mean the envoy for this northern wedding — Viscount Angler?”

“Correct!

Are you not curious? How did this former baron’s son suddenly receive the favor of Duke St. Hilde, not only being promoted to a viscount, but also receiving a domain that is significantly larger than that usually granted to viscounts?

Moreover, it’s said that Duke St. Hilde even bestowed the Blade of Judgment on him!”

Prince William nodded repeatedly, “Indeed, very strange.”

Setting down his wine cup, Count Evan spoke in a mysteriously suggestive tone, “From what I gather, Viscount Angler happened across Vera amidst the chaos of war when she was returning from the east. They escaped together, and their relationship grew close.”

“Right!” Prince William added hastily, “Earlier at the banquet in Lion Roar Castle, Viscount Angler also asked the Northern Duke for Vera’s hand in marriage. However, the duke, in the end, chose to marry Vera to Topaz.”

Count Evan snapped his fingers, stating firmly, “So, I am certain that Viscount Angler is the man Vera loves, hence the rewards from the duke. But, there must have been some change later that made the duke change his mind and marry Vera to the Half-Elf Kingdom.”

“So, your suggestion is…”

“A tragic love story like this is what people love, isn’t it? You just need to have someone take the previous interactions between Viscount Angler and Miss

Vera, tweak the narrative a bit, add some tantalizing details, and then have bards sing about it throughout Silver Moon City…”

“Brilliant!” Hearing this, Prince William nodded repeatedly. He seemed to have received a brilliant plan and kept thanking Evan.

Anna, who was at the side, frowned at what she heard. She didn’t expect her brother to give such a foul suggestion.

And as for Prince William, whether he was truly a fool or not, he actually thought it was a brilliant idea.

It seemed that Count Evan also couldn’t bear Prince William’s mindless flattery and dismissed him after only a few words.

Once the door was closed, Anna gave her brother a contemptuous look, “So this is your brilliant plan? It is quite…”

“Vulgar? Base? Or you think it’s just useless?” Count Evan wasn’t bothered by his sister’s look and poured himself another glass of wine to savor.

Anna snorted in disdain, saying doubtingly, “Didn’t you say Duke St. Hilde had a surefire method? Even if your stratagem does make it impossible for Vera to marry into the Half-Elf Royal Court, what use does it serve?”

With a helpless shrug, Count Evan responded, “Well, I’ve got to do something, otherwise I won’t be able to report back later.

I also wanted to test the quality of our allies and opponents.

We still aren’t sure about our opponents, but our allies… well, they seem to be quite gullible.

And that makes me more confident that the North Territory is bound to win.”

“So you hatched such a rotten idea for Prince William just to have something to report back to Father?”

“What else?” Count Evan shrugged, “Duke St. Hilde wants to kill his own daughter, can we even stop it?

Maybe that Viscount Angler is the very person the Northern Duke dispatched to carry out this task.

Heh, this is truly interesting!

If we could write the love and hatred in these events into a story, it would surely be sung all across the Continent!”

Anna’s eyes widened, “Would Viscount Angler really be willing to kill the woman he loves?”

“Why not? If I were him, I would carry out the Duke’s orders faithfully. Maybe then I could even become a Count after I return, haha.’

“Brother!” Anna snatched the wine cup from Count Evan’s hand and chastised, “You can’t always use such pessimistic judgments to fathom everyone!”

Count Evan shook his head helplessly and sighed:

“Silly sister, this world is even darker than you can imagine….”