387 Von Stein Family Territory
The first few days of the trip had been alright for Arthur. Better than ever, as he was in a comfy carriage, not having to worry about the journey’s dangers.
But something was different. Arthur was feeling uneasy and sometimes with the urge to throw up. Arthur did not know what it was until Tessa pointed out why that was happening.
“They got you back then, right in the neck. You know, a werewolf bite is poisonous to us, vampires.”
Arthur did not know a bite from a werewolf was poisonous to vampires, but even if he did, there was no way for him to flee from the two werewolves.
He thought he would die for a moment, but Tessa wouldn’t rescue him and ask him to join her family if that was the case.
“Aren’t you scared?” she said, smiling.
“I believe you have the cure, and I will have to work for it.”
There was no such thing as free lunch, so Arthur knew she would save him, but to pay for the cure, he would have to work under her family’s command and turn into a soldier.
That was the only reason they were allowing him to enter in the first place. Soldiers. The vampires needed it for their plan of continent domination, and anyone with an average talent was welcome in their families.
“You are a smart one, aren’t you? The cure isn’t particularly rare or expensive, but I hope you can become my servant. I promise you I will treat you well.”
Arthur did not feel like it was a bad deal at all. Tessa should have high authority in the Von Stein family. Perhaps the daughter of someone important, like the family’s ancestor.
p-A- n-d-A-n-0-v-e-1、(c)om It was better if he was with someone of that caliber rather than relying on someone else who could be worse. Also, an outsider would have a difficult time in there, so having someone like that would help him merge with the rest of the family, thus giving him more opportunities to seek information.
He looked at her and said, “I will become the servant of someone either way and at least you saved my life so that I can live with that. I am Arthur.”
She seemed happy with the outcome, so Tessa took a flask from her magical pouch and said, “here, drink this. It will cure your problem. After that, drink this, and then rest.”
Tessa gave Arthur two flasks, one with the cure for the werewolf bite and the other with blood for him to feed. He accepted both and drank, just like she told him to.
After a couple of seconds, the biting mark on his neck healed, and he was not feeling the symptoms anymore. The potion had worked, and Arthur was now cured.
As for the other flask, well, it satiated his hunger and would last for a few more days before he had to feed again. Now, all Arthur needed to do was rest until he arrived at the destination.
~~~~
The Von Stein was the strongest of all vampire families and was one of the strongest among the other races too! The reason for it was that it was one of the few families that had two rank-four mages in it, turning it into a force no one wanted to mess with.
It was one of the oldest families too, and Arthur was almost sure it was the family Sybille came from and the one responsible for locking her in that crypt.
He still did not know why they did that, but it was not good. The Von Stein family changed throughout the decades, and it turned from a respected family that treated everyone well to blood-starved monsters that did want nothing more than dominate the continent and turn all the humans into cattle.
After almost a month of traveling, Arthur arrived at the Von Stein territory, but unlike Coldharbour, where the cities had all kinds of people, it was different in Von Stein.
The only habitants of the territory were vampires that shared the name Von Stein or wanderers who decided to live there. Of course, there were humans there too, but these were not there to live but to act as cattle, feeding all the vampires.
It was a sad environment, but Arthur did his best to act like how an evil vampire would and did not say a word about it.
“We will be heading to the castle first. My father is a duke here, and he has the power to get you at least a basic position in the army. You will have to work hard, increase your power, and maybe you can get promoted. Only time will tell.”
Tessas’s father was a duke. Arthur had done some research about the vampire families, and being a duke meant he was a rank-three vampire, which was strong.
There was also viscount, which was the title given to rank-two vampires. The most impressive thing was that the labels weren’t given to someone with strength only but to those who did great things for the family throughout the years.
“A duke? Doesn’t this mean he is impressive?” Arthur said, looking at Tessa with a face of shock.
“Correct,” she said, chuckling a bit.
The Von Stein territory had three major cities, and some villagers scattered in a radius equivalent to a small country. Arthur and Tessa reached the biggest city in the region. That was where the castle was, home to all the powerful vampires in the Von Stein family.
A carriage symbolizing a duke stopped in front of the castle, and the guards quickly came to greet Tessa.
“Lady Tessa, you are back! Please, come in,” they said.
Of course, the guards noticed Arthur was there but did not ask any questions, as Tessa had the authority to bring anyone she wanted to the castle.
Wherever they passed, vampires would look at Tessa with admiring and fearful gazes.
“Who is that blond vampire with her? Her new boyfriend?”
The news spread so quickly that before Tessa met with her father, he knew she had brought someone with her. He was waiting, sitting on a chair, looking at the fireplace in front of him.
It was one of the castle rooms where the high-ranked vampires lived, and no one could go there without permission.
“Daughter, long time no see. Who is this one?”
“Father,” Tessa said, slightly bowing to her father, showing her respect.
“Don’t need to do that. We are in private.”
Even though he was her father, Tessa treated him with respect in public, as he was also someone with a high position in the vampire army.
“This is a vampire I rescued on the road from a werewolf attack. Can he join the family under my wings?”
“A new servant? He does not look that bad compared to all the other servants you came with, so no problem. Put him in the army under my squad command.”
“Understood.”
With just a few words, Arthur was now considered part of the Von Stein family. Sure, he was a nobody in that castle, but it was a start, and now he could get more information about Sybille.
“Now the fun is starting!”