Chapter 463: A Casual Act That Changed Fate.
In another carriage.
"Adam, my son..."
"Hmm?" The blond-haired man looked at his mother.
"When you look at this mountain, what do you see?"
Question marks appeared around Adam, as he didn't understand the reason for his mother's question.
He looked at the mountain that seemed to form a wall that divided Nightingale's territory.
"…a pile of rocks?"
"Look closely." Jeanne demanded.
"Hmm..." Adam looked seriously at the mountain, but no matter how much or how thoroughly he looked at it, he only saw rocks.
"...I only see more stones, mother."
"I see..." Jeanne's expression and tone didn't change.
But even so, this weird question piqued Adam's curiosity.
"Why did you ask that?"
"I just wanted to know your opinion." Jeanne spoke the truth.
"Hmm..." Adam looked at his mother strangely but let it go.
Jeanne looked back at the mountain.
'Should I be happy that my son didn't inherit my powers or disappointed that he doesn't have these powers?' Jeanne asked herself as her eyes glowed slightly gold.
And soon, she could see thousands of beings scattered across the mountains.
Monsters, Vampires, natives of this world, and various souls were trapped in these mountains and were feeding them to serve as a defense...
'Or a weapon...' Unlike Morgana, Jeanne was the one who knew most about Clan Adrastea's capabilities.
When remembering her past, she remembered her existence, a being that is older than the First Gods, or as they are called today, the Primordials of The Pantheons.
This was Jeanne.
Looking back at her son, she couldn't help but think, 'Unlike me, his Soul core is still that of a vampire, so I don't think he will ever awaken that ability.'
Adam was born at a time when Jeanne didn't remember her origins, and even though she wasn't completely a vampire, but something else at the same time, she was mostly a Vampire.
Only when she awakened her memories and visited her older brother could she regain her true form, and her soul was whole again.
Is she a Vampire? Yes, she is.
But upon contacting her older brother and remembering her past...
She'd changed... She'd become something better than a regular Noble Vampire.
99% of her Soul Core was now made up of her former form, and only 1% was vampire.
Victor unknowingly helped Jeanne to be reborn.
Again, she felt this complicated feeling. She wanted her son to inherit her ability, but personally, she didn't want that either.
After all, this skill was just a burden.
Sigh.
She sighed internally.
'Even now, I can easily eliminate that 1% that makes up the Noble Vampire Bloodline, but… If I do that, I feel like I'll lose a reason to visit Victor…' His face turned slightly red.
'Umu, even though I hate Vlad's bloodline being in my Soul Core, I'll keep it for now... After I move forward in the relationship with him, I'll delete it and replace it with Victor's... With that, I'll be closer to him... Then as a family... children... I want 2 more... Wrong 20 more...' She started to get lost in her world.
"Mother? Are you okay? Because you're breathing rather heavily…"
"H-Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, don't worry, I was just thinking about something." She quickly composed herself.
"Hmm..." Adam narrowed his eyes, but soon his eyes returned to normal when he saw his mother's flat face.
'Idiot, you've completely lost your mind!' She mentally slapped herself.
'Remember what he said? He wanted to see me shining, that is, I must do my best for him to accept me completely. With that, I will have a big family as I always wanted! Umu!'
...He didn't say that...
Victor had no idea how his simple gesture of seeing a woman 'shine' completely shook the world of the being currently known as Jeanne.
She had been lost for so long, and the simple act of making her remember shook her completely.
Of course, that wasn't all. She had already been feeling something since she found him and watched him. He was very unique.
The way he looked at his loved ones was a way Jeanne had never seen or experienced before in her life.
She wasn't hungry for affection…far from it.
She was merely curious about this man's existence and wanted to learn more about him.
She was grateful that he reminded her of her past and, more importantly, her older brother.
And she was worried...
Worried because this man always seemed to get into trouble that seemed to want to kill him. An example of this was the very event that made her meet her brother.
'If my brother hadn't recovered his soul, he would be extremely weak now… Progenitor or not, having his soul damaged was a very dire thing. After all, the soul is the record of an individual's entire existence. It's something very important and very fragile...'
Family wishes aside, she, from the bottom of her heart, wanted to be close to him to help him in case he got into trouble.
Like it or not, at the end of the day, she was a Saint.
She had a good heart.
... But only for those who deserved that heart of hers.
Looking at the guard approaching the carriage, she thought:
'I won't make the same mistake of giving my heart away easily... Even if that person is my benefactor.'
"Name?"
"Jeanne te-…just Jeanne." She cursed herself because of her custom:
"I was here for a few days, have you forgotten me already?"
"Of course not, I'm just following protocol."
The guard looked at the man.
"Name?"
"Adam Tepes."
"...Oh, fourth prince." The guard's voice was quite monotonous.
"...." Adam's brow twitched a little, he knew the Clan Adrastea guards weren't impressed by Royalty.
'It seems that the pride of a Prince is still present in him... Troublesome, should I teach him humility?' Jeanne thought.
"!!?" Adam unconsciously felt a shiver down his spine.
...
While this was happening, the situation was different in the other carriage.
"Name?"
"Morgana."
"Oh, Welcome back." He definitely didn't say that to get in her pants, definitely not.
"Thanks." Despite sensing the man's intentions, she still thanked him.
Looking at the girls now with a bored look, he said:
"Name?"
"Elizabeth Tepes."
"Lilith Tepes."
"Ophis."
"O-Ophis!?" The guard casually ignored the two women and looked at the little girl.
"What? Is Ophis here?"
Another guard approached the carriage and saw Ophis inside.
"Idiot, how did you not recognize Ophis!?"
"I was bored."
"That's no fucking excuse! Go tell Mr. Walter!"
"Y-Yes!" The man quickly ran towards the castle where Walter was.
"...What is this reaction? Why is her treatment different?" Lilith was genuinely curious.
"Lady Ophis, your father, that monster-... Cough, your father said that as soon as you arrived, we should accompany you to his mansion. He said that his other daughter, Nero, is waiting for you."
"Nero..." Ophis' eyes gleamed slightly as she vanished and appeared outside the carriage.
"Where."
"Follow me."
"Mm."
"Hey, Ophis, you mustn't follow strangers!" Lilith screamed.
"Idiot, no one in their right mind is going to harm Ophis in this town! Just stay in the carriage waiting for your token!" The guard roared, his eyes glowing blood red through his helmet.
"I-Idiot!?"
"Come on, Lady Ophis."
"Mm." The guard pointed to a spot and followed behind the girl like she was a leader or something.
When Ophis arrived in front of the gate, another change took place, and soon she was joined by a legion of armed soldiers.
"Get out of the way, commoners! Lady Ophis is passing!"
"Shoo, Shoo, she will get sick if she breathes your air."
"…They have completely abandoned their duties!" Elizabeth roared.
"Why are they acting like thugs!?" Lilith roared along.
"Just what's going on!?" The two asked at the same time.
"You still don't understand?" Morgana smiled amusedly.
"Huh?"
"Victor did it."
"He's made Nero and Ophis' presence known in this town. Everyone knows they're his daughters, and everyone knows you shouldn't hurt Ophis, or you'd have a very angry Alucard on your ass."
"Why do they fear Victor so much?" Lilith spoke.
"It's not fear... It's respect."
"…Eh?"
"He hunted a lot of monsters when he was here, and everyone saw Victor training with the Valkyries. He's pretty close to Eleanor too, and she's very respected in this town."
"Of course, being the youngest Count in history, and the tales of his feats of tearing Clan Fulger's mansion to shreds, further helped his reputation."
"…What is this about the Fulger Clan mansion?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"Well, he fucked Natashia's brains out, and the Fulger Clan mansion is in pieces now because of his act." She commented in disdain with a slight hint of envy.
"....."
"... Upon learning of this fact, all men came to respect him even more."
"Of course, the cuteness of Ophis and Nero helped too." She added.
"What the fuck?" Lilith couldn't help but comment, "What's wrong with this town?"
"Wait, he had sex with his mother-in-law?!?!" Elizabeth yelled
"Meh, you guys know his capabilities. It's no exaggeration to say that all his mothers-in-law want a piece of him for themselves."
'Including myself…' She commented internally.
Unlike Jeanne, Morgana was more honest with her desires, she was a Demon after all.
"..." The two were so shocked that they were silent for a long time.
....
