The First Vampire

Under the Duke’s intimidating gaze, the old butler recounted tremblingly:

“My Lord, according to Marquis Vincent’s attendant’s report, when the young master arrived at the Howell family manor, he happened upon some Northerners getting ready to flee, holding members of the Howell family hostage. In a fit of anger, the young master ordered an encirclement of the manor, then personally fought with the Northerners…

But with a lapse in his vigilance, the young master was killed… by a Northerner wearing red armor…”

“Northerner?” Duke St. Prowse, holding the butler, moved to the edge of the balcony. Pointing in the direction of East City, he snarled, “Look very carefully. The Blood Knight Army hasn’t even broken through the Pegasus Army’s defense line, how could they have reached the Howell family or even attempted to take them hostage?”

“My Lord, I’m not sure. Perhaps they are a group of covert assassins from the North, not soldiers of the Blood Knight Army…”

“How many of them were there?”

“According to the report, there were about a few dozen people…”

“Just a few men, are you all idiots!”

Duke St. Prowse, unable to contain his anger, angrily flung the butler onto the ground, then stormed out like a raging bull.

Duchess watched as her husband’s figure gradually vanished at the end of the corridor, her gaze shifted to the butler who was still gasping for breath in the corner, and asked:

“What about Molly and Eckert? Have they returned to the Howell family?”

Duchess was actually referring to Molly, Marquis Vincent’s wife, and Eckert, Marquis Vincent’s son.

“They have not, My Lady, they are still in White Dew Fortress.”

“Good, send someone to keep an eye on them; do not let them leave the castle.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

After the butler left, Duchess stood on the balcony looking in the direction of the Howell family, toying with the bruise on her wrist left by her husband, her expression indecisive.

…

The Howell family.

The intense combat had already stopped, the group of assassins from the North who had invaded were not many, and were soon either killed or subdued by the supporting Pegasus Army.

However, following such a victorious accomplishment, no warrior in the East managed a laugh.

Because, Marquis Vincent had died!

An oppressive atmosphere hung over the manor, like the prelude to an imminent storm.

Knight Muffat’s face was so gloomy it looked as though it could drip water. He suppressed the anger and fear in his heart and sternly questioned the woman in front of him:

“Lady Delin, how did these Northerners appear in the Howell family manor?”

Lady Delin, wife of Count Howell, and currently the person in charge of the Howell family in White Dew City, replied with forced calm:

“Knight Muffat, shouldn’t you be asking your Pegasus Army how these Northerners managed to infiltrate White Dew City undetected?”

Knight Muffat did not care to bear the blame, he sneered and interrogated:

“Lady Delin, who do you think you’re fooling? Your Howell family has been in cahoots with the Northerners for a long while now, Count Howell’s actions in Alfalfa City are nothing but a flagrant betrayal to the East!

And this time the Blood Knight Army stormed into White Dew City, directly targeting your family’s manor, haha, isn’t it obvious what they wanted to do!”

“I am not clear what the Northerners want to do, but you should not slander the Howell family!”

“Then why are you all packed?” Knight Muffat sneered, “It’s getting late, are you preparing for a trip?”

Lady Delin was taken aback, unable to speak.

Seizing the opportunity, Knight Muffat pressured, “Lady Delin, the Duke has yet to pass judgment on you, he wishes to give your Howell family a chance to reform. So, don’t attempt to justify or conceal anymore, tell me, has your family already made contact with these Northerners?”

After a moment of struggle, Lady Delin finally gritted her teeth and said, “Knight Muffat, do you know who told us to make preparations to flee?”

“Who?”

“Marquis Vincent!”

“Marquis Vincent?” Knight Muffat couldn’t believe that he would get such an answer from Lady Delin. But his first reaction was —

This woman is lying.

So, he scoffs coldly and says: “Lady Delin, slandering a knight who has just bravely fallen in battle isn’t a very wise choice.”

“But this is the truth!” Lady Delin insisted, “It was Marquis Vincent who had Molly inform us that if we saw knights in red armor, we should go with them!”

Knight Muffat stared into Lady Delin’s eyes, and she returned his gaze without flinching.

Intuition told Knight Muffat that Lady Delin was not lying.

But if that’s true, does that mean that Vincent Marquis had long planned to help the Howell Family escape?

This was absurd!

Even more absurd was that Marquis Vincent had died in the battle to prevent the Howell Family from fleeing…

Knight Muffat was left speechless – how could he have been deceived by such a contradictory and hole-ridden lie?

“Lady Delin, if you don’t tell the truth, don’t blame me for being rude…”

Before Knight Muffat could take any action against the obstinate Lady Delin, greetings were suddenly heard from outside the manor:

“Duke!”

Knight Muffat’s heart tightened and he immediately walked out without even looking at Lady Delin.

Before he could reach the manor gate, he saw Duke St. Prowse entering with big strides.

“Duke!”

Knight Muffat immediately bowed and then heard the deep hoarse voice of Duke St. Prowse:

“Where is he?”

“In the Great Hall.” Knight Muffat hurriedly took the lead to guide the way.

He had expected Duke St. Prowse to inquire about the situation, but found that the Duke just walked forward in silence, not even stopping when he passed by Lady Delin.

In the Great Hall, Duke St. Prowse found that his son’s remains had already been prepared and placed into a crystal coffin.

As he moved closer, he saw Vincent lying peacefully inside. If not for the ferocious wound across his chest, anyone would have thought he was merely sleeping.

Seeing Duke St. Prowse standing in front of the coffin in silence, Knight Muffat signaled the attendants in the hall to quietly leave, leaving the father and son alone.

The howling cold wind continuously entered the Great Hall, accompanied by the distant sounds of battle.

Standing alone in front of the coffin, Duke St. Prowse suddenly felt an unspeakable sorrow, as well as infinite regret and self-blame.

You only appreciate what you have once you’ve lost it.

At this moment, facing Vincent’s remains, Duke St. Prowse finally realized that Vincent should have been his best successor.

Considering Evan’s recent behavior, was he really better than Vincent?

And not to mention Anna, who was naive and unreliable.

At least when White Dew City was in crisis, only his eldest son, Vincent, remained here, helping him formulate strategies against the enemy and even risking his own life to fight till the end…

The churning regret was like ants gnawing at Duke St. Prowse’s heart.

Had he not listened to slanderers and defended his eldest son’s right to inherit, outsiders wouldn’t have had the opportunity to incite civil unrest in the East City, and he wouldn’t have had to endure the pain of losing a child.

In his grief, Duke St. Prowse felt his eyes moisten with tears.

Through his blurred vision, Duke St. Prowse seemed to notice his son’s remains move. He initially thought it was a hallucination caused by excessive grief, but the next second, an intense pain came from his chest.

Duke St. Prowse abruptly opened his eyes wide and saw his supposedly dead son staring at him!

And in his son’s hand, a black dagger was held.

The dagger pierced through the crystal coffin and stabbed into the chest of Duke St. Prowse!