The Smiling Death

Scarlett found herself studying it for several moments.

Vetaal quietly watched her. Then he asked, "Do you know who he is?"

Scarlett slowly shook her head. "...No. I’ve never seen him before."

Vetaal nodded. "I expected as much. It’s only natural. Very few people alive today would recognize him."

With a casual wave of his hand. Blood gathered from thin air. It flowed like liquid silk before solidifying into two elegant crimson chairs.

One appeared before Scarlett. The other before Vetaal. The chairs looked as though they had been carved from polished ruby rather than blood.

Vetaal calmly sat down and folded his arms across his chest.

He gestured toward the chair opposite him. "Please. Sit down, Scarlett. This conversation is going to take a while."

Scarlett glanced once more at the

mysterious portrait hanging on the wall. Then she silently pulled out the crimson chair and sat opposite Vetaal.

Her eyes never left him. She knew whatever he was about to reveal would change everything.

Vetaal’s gaze slowly drifted toward the enormous portrait hanging on the wall.

"The man in that painting..." he began calmly, "...is Mordecai Sanguine."

He paused before continuing.

"During the Second Era, he ruled this city as its lord. He served directly under the Human Emperor of that age...Solarius Autherion."

Scarlett listened quietly.

Her eyes wandered back to the stern-faced man in the portrait before returning to Vetaal.

"I understand that much," she said. "But why did you bring me here? And why are you telling me about him?"

A faint smile appeared on Vetaal’s face.

"Because...Mordecai Sanguine is your ancestor."

Scarlett’s amethyst eyes widened. "What?"

She stared at him in disbelief. "What did you just say?"

"I said... He is your ancestor."

Silence filled the room After several long moments, Scarlett slowly shook her head.

"No.That can’t be true. I know who founded House Bloodhart. His name was Jacaerys Bloodhart. He became the first Grand Duke of the Vampire Kingdom."

Vetaal nodded without hesitation.

"Correct. You’re not wrong. But...He wasn’t the first of your bloodline."

Scarlett frowned.

Vetaal continued in the same calm tone.

"Jacaerys Bloodhart was Mordecai Sanguine’s son. And he wasn’t an only child. He had an elder sister...Viserra Sanguine."

Scarlett remained silent.

"Viserra later married Vlad Dracula, the First Vampire King. Through that marriage, the royal bloodline inherited the Blood Affinity for next generations."

"As for Jacaerys...He established House Bloodhart and became the first Grand Duke of the newly founded Vampire Kingdom."

Scarlett slowly lowered her gaze.

Everything Vetaal had said. Matched the oldest records preserved within House Bloodhart.

The Blood Affinity had originally belonged only to the Bloodhart lineage.

Only after Princess Viserra married the First Vampire King did the royal family begin inheriting the same bloodline ability.

Those were secrets known only to the highest-ranking nobles of the Vampire Kingdom.

But there had never been any mention of Mordecai Sanguine.

Scarlett looked back at him.

"How? How do you know all of this? And more importantly...Why are you telling me now?"

Vetaal leaned back in his chair.

Then, in a perfectly calm voice, he uttered words that overturned everything Scarlett believed.

"Because...Mordecai Sanguine was my son."

There was absolute silence.

Scarlett froze. Her thoughts came to a complete halt. For several long moments, she couldn’t even find the words to respond.

Her eyes remained fixed on Vetaal, searching his face for even the slightest trace of deception.

She found none. He looked completely serious.

Her heartbeat quickened.

’No...That’s impossible... If what he’s saying is true..Then the Bloodhart Family. My entire bloodline are his descendants.’

She remained motionless like a statue.

Only when Vetaal called her name did she snap out of her thoughts.

"Scarlett."

"...Huh?"

She blinked several times before regaining her composure.

After thinking quietly for a few moments, she finally asked,

"Everything you’ve said...What proof do you have?"

Vetaal sighed softly.

"Proof."

He leaned farther back against his chair before speaking.

"My true name is Cruoris Sanguine. Though history remembers me by another title. The Blood Devil."

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

"I was born from the blood drop of the Blood Moon."

He gave a small shrug. "But that’s a story for another day. We don’t need to go that deeper. Not for today."

His expression gradually became distant.

"During the Second Era...I was nothing more than a blood-crazed devil. I sought only one thing. Power. I believed nothing else mattered. But eventually everything changed."

Scarlett looked at him curiously.

"What changed?"

Cruoris chuckled quietly.

"I was captured by the most dangerous thing in existence. It was such a vile thing.’

Scarlett frowned.

"What could possibly be dangerous enough to change someone like you?"

She could already tell how terrifying this man was. He called himself a Devil. His age spanned countless centuries. His strength was beyond anything she had ever witnessed.

Yet even someone like him had been captured by something.

"What was it?"

Cruoris looked absentmindedly into the distance.

A faint smile appeared on his face. "...Love."

Scarlett blinked.

"...Love? You fell in love?"

After hearing his answer she didn’t know whether to laugh or be shock.

He nodded.

"I did. And that single feeling changed everything. The bloodthirsty devil who desired only strength...slowly became someone’s husband."

He laughed quietly.

"Well...I wasn’t exactly a normal husband. A little insane and crazy, perhaps. But I truly changed."

Scarlett immediately understood. "You’re talking about Mordecai’s mother."

Cruoris nodded.

"Yes. "Her name was Clarissa Autherion. The younger sister of Emperor Solarius."

Scarlett let out a slow breath.

"This is... far more complicated than I imagined."

She looked at him carefully.

"So... That means my bloodline is connected to humans."

"Yes."

Cruoris answered without hesitation.

"In fact... You and the members of the Dracula royal family aren’t ordinary vampires at all. You are the closest descendants of my bloodline. In a sense...You could be called the true vampires."

Scarlett folded her arms.

"Then answer me something."

"Go ahead."

"You said only your descendants...House Bloodhart and House Dracula...can naturally inherit the Blood Affinity. No other vampire can."

She leaned forward slightly.

"But every vampire survives by drinking blood. They’re called the Race of Blood. If they aren’t your descendants...then what exactly are they?"

Cruoris smiled.

"That question... took me a while to answer myself. After getting released from that island. I tried to find about it."

He slowly closed his eyes.

"At first, I couldn’t understand it either. But eventually...I realized why I always felt a faint connection to every vampire."

Scarlett’s curiosity deepened.

"...Why?"

Cruoris opened his crimson eyes once more.

"Because... they are my Blood Subjects. When I was at my peak...I possessed a unique ability. Every drop of blood that fell from my body onto the battlefield...would give birth to a Blood Warrior. Each one was completely loyal. They fought under my command without fear or hesitation."

A nostalgic look crossed his face.

"During my final battle against the Chaos Goddess... I commanded millions of them."

His voice became quieter.

"But after she sealed me away...those Blood Warriors lost their master. They became nothing more than empty, undead husks."

He slowly intertwined his fingers.

"I don’t know exactly what the Chaos Goddess did afterward. But based on everything I’ve learned over the past months..."

He continued, "...I believe she transformed those undead Blood Warriors into an entirely new race."

He looked directly into Scarlett’s eyes.

"A living race. A race born from blood."

He paused.

"That race...became what the world now calls...Vampires."