Chapter 159: Seraphina’s mother
Vlad came out half an hour later, after taking a shower, wearing grey trousers and a loose white T-shirt.
"You brought extra clothes?" Seraphina asked, raising an eyebrow. She was sitting on the sofa, still in her nightgown, her coffee cup placed beside Vlad’s, which was still filled to the brim.
"My clothes get ruined a lot, so I always keep an extra pair with me," Vlad revealed, showing the finger wearing the storage ring.
Seraphina didn’t ask him the reason. She knew that with how often he got into fights, he definitely needed extra clothes.
"You haven’t drunk your coffee?" Vlad raised an eyebrow as he reached beside her on the sofa. He touched its lid and sighed. "It’s cold now."
"Yours is cold as well," Seraphina murmured, her eyes turning sideways.
"Oh, so you were waiting for me," Vlad chuckled, settling beside her. "That’s rather sweet of you."
"In your absolute dreams!" Seraphina scoffed. "Keep saying that to yourself if it helps you sleep at night."
"Fine, no need to get all hyper," Vlad sighed. He took both cups and poured the coffe in the mana-kettle to reheat it.
"Are you not attending classes today?" Vlad asked while the coffee was heating.
"And leave you alone in my room?" Seraphina asked with narrowed eyes. "What would you do if a maid came in to do the cleaning?"
"Oh, right."
He grabbed the hilt of the kettle, but Seraphina snatched it from his hand. "Leave it. I will do it myself."
She filled Vlad’s cup first before doing her own, while he simply looked at her with genuine amusement.
"So, have you thought of a way to help me escape?" Vlad asked, taking a sip from his cup.
"The warden goes for lunch at twelve-thirty," Seraphina revealed, moving the cup elegantly to her lips, where she took a small sip. "You may escape during that time."
"And if any girl sees me?" Vlad asked the obvious question. Since there were multiple batches for both the Order of Knights and the Order of Rings, the dormitory remained bustling with students leaving and returning throughout the day.
"Hmm, that could be a problem," Seraphina nodded. "But I have another idea as well."
Her lips rose into a playful smile as she looked at him with mischievous eyes.
"Wh-what?" Vlad asked, flinching. The smug smile on her face unsettled him.
"I will tell you when the time comes," she said, taking another sip. "Relax until then."
Vlad didn’t have a good feeling about whatever she was plotting. Nonetheless, he also knew pestering her about it would be useless. She wouldn’t tell him a thing.
Once her cup was empty, she said, "I’m going to take a shower. You may read any book in the meantime."
She pointed at the corner where an L-shaped wooden bookshelf stood against the wall, mostly filled with books and several painting frames.
From the other side of the wall, where her wardrobe with more than ten sections was built, she opened one of them, filled to the brim with her neatly arranged clothes. She took out a pair and went inside the bathroom.
"Mages really are so fastidious," Vlad said, nodding in respect.
Her room was not only clean but completely organized. There wasn’t a single book outside the shelf. She had even fixed her bedsheet while Vlad was bathing.
At one corner of her room was a small kitchen. Vlad washed the cups in the sink and placed them back in their proper place before turning his attention to the bookshelf.
Naturally, the frames grabbed his attention. The first one was of her sitting on a chair in an elegant red gown in a dark room. She was holding a rose in her hand, close to her nose, her eyes half-closed.
"She is looking every bit the noble she is," Vlad couldn’t help but admit, impressed by the dignity with which she carried herself in the painting.
His gaze shifted to the other frames. They were of Lucas, her father. In most of the paintings, Lucas was either standing behind her while she sat on a chair or sitting on the floor before her. Just from the paintings, Vlad could tell how much Lucas truly adored his daughter.
As he moved further, Seraphina appeared younger and younger in the paintings. There was one of her sitting on the ground in a garden full of flowers, another of her playing with her dolls, and another of her riding on Lucas’s back.
In the final painting, there was one more person in the frame beside Lucas and Seraphina. In the painting, she seemed even younger than when Vlad had first met her ten years ago. Her little hair was tied into two short braids, and she was laughing brightly with her eyes narrowed. Vlad had never seen her make such a face.
At her left, she held Lucas’s finger, while on her right, her little hand held the finger of a striking woman with pale skin and long raven hair. Surprisingly, she had crimson eyes just like Vlad’s.
"I-I have seen her somewhere," Vlad mumbled, his eyebrows knitting together. "S-she is Carmilla Vesper, one of the five heroes!" he gasped, recognising the person from the history books.
His lips parted, his eyes widening as several pieces fell into place. Carmilla Vesper, the noble vampire who slew dozens of dragons with her Sanguine Flame Art and died a few years later because of her injuries, was in truth Seraphina’s mother.
But now, another question emerged in Vlad’s mind.
"The War of Dragons ended twenty years ago, and in this painting, Sera looks around four or five years old. So, it means her mother was still alive until twelve or thirteen years ago."
If the painting wasn’t fake, which didn’t seem to be the case, it filled Vlad with numerous questions. Once the war ended, most of the heroes became strangely inactive, vanishing from the public eye. Only three of them made an appearance again, and that was eight years after the war ended.
Lucas Cendral, Bram Vordrek, and Filavandral.
The news of Carmilla’s death was also made public during that time. But again, it was never mentioned exactly when she truly died.
"Did Carmilla Vesper really die of old injuries?" Vlad muttered, his fists tightening at his sides. "First, Legendary Knight and now, suddenly Carmilla Vesper also died around the same time. What exactly happened twelve years ago?"