The silence in the office remained heavy for a few seconds after Victor’s question. The Cross Family man still maintained a furious expression, part of his bloodthirsty aura leaking into the room in an obvious attempt at political intimidation. The two won seated on the side sofa observed everything with almost amused interest, while Eleonora simply seed too tired to continue dealing with this absurd situation.
Victor slowly looked around the room once more before frowning slightly.
"...Okay, but what the hell happened here anyway?"
Eleonora let out a long sigh while partially resting her head on her hand.
"These are representatives of the Cross Family," she replied calmly. "They ca to discuss the rumors circulating about you."
Victor raised an eyebrow slightly.
"And?"
"And they refuse to dispel the rumors."
The man imdiately slamd his hand on the cracked part of the table.
"Because we weren’t the ones who spread it!" he retorted angrily. "How exactly are we going to undo sothing that didn’t even start with us?"
Victor stared at him silently for about two seconds.
Then he sighed.
It was a genuinely tired sigh.
The next instant—
BOOOOM.
The punch struck the man’s face with absurd force.
There wasn’t even ti to react.
His head spun violently before his entire body partially crashed through a nearby chair and fell unconscious to the floor like an aristocratic garbage bag.
Silence.
Complete.
Victor slowly shook his hand like soone dusting off their fingers.
"...It’s better to talk to soone who understands."
He then calmly turned his face to the two won sitting on the sofa.
They both remained perfectly calm.
Which was honestly strange considering that a man almost two ters tall had just been knocked out in front of them.
Victor observed them both for a few seconds.
The first had extrely long black hair partially tied back, cold golden eyes, and aristocratic clothing that was too discreet for vampire standards. Her expression conveyed an uncomfortable, calculated calm.
The second seed younger. Reddish-brown hair fell to her shoulders, while her red eyes analyzed Victor with evident curiosity. Unlike the other, she seed much more expressive.
Victor pointed slightly at them.
"...Who are you?"
The woman with black hair was the first to answer.
"Helena Cross."
The other raised her hand slightly afterward.
"Lydia Cross."
Victor remained looking at both for a few seconds before sothing seemingly clicked in his mind.
"...Cross."
He made a small grimace imdiately.
"Ah."
Lydia blinked a few tis.
"...Ah?"
"You must hate ."
The two looked at each other for a brief mont.
Then Lydia began to laugh softly.
Helena just closed her eyes for a second, as if trying to hide her own ntal exhaustion.
"Not exactly," Helena replied calmly. "Ethan was warned several tis."
"Several tis," Lydia imdiately reinforced. "Many tis, in fact."
"He ignored them all."
"Because he was an idiot."
Victor remained silent, listening to this.
Helena slowly crossed her legs before continuing:
"Our brother was convinced he could do anything without consequences. The whole family knew it."
"And honestly," Lydia comnted, resting her face on her hand, "him dying young probably saved the Cross Family from sothing much worse."
Victor frowned slightly.
"...How so?"
Lydia shrugged.
"Ethan was becoming increasingly problematic. More arrogant. More violent." She glanced quickly at the unconscious man on the floor. "Sothing hereditary, apparently."
Helena completely ignored her sister’s comnt.
"If he kept escalating conflicts like that," she explained calmly, "sooner or later it would cause an incident that would be impossible to hide politically."
"And then House Valentine would trample on us," Lydia concluded casually. "Or kill us for fun. Both options were bad."
Victor remained in absolute silence for a few seconds, processing that.
Then he slowly pointed to himself.
"...So you’re not here for revenge?"
Lydia almost looked offended.
"Of course not." She paused. "We’re not idiots."
Eleonora let out a small, tired sigh from behind the table.
"Not everyone in the Cross family is an idiot," she comnted, observing Victor. Then she slowly shifted her gaze to the unconscious man on the floor. "But he specifically is a huge idiot."
Lydia imdiately raised a hand. "I completely agree, Dad is an imbecile when it cos to controlling his emotions."
Helena nodded silently.
Victor finally relaxed his shoulders slightly.
That was honestly unexpected.
In the previous tiline, the Cross Family practically imploded after a series of idiotic decisions. But back then, Victor never got to know the rest of the family deeply; he only t Ethan and soon after gave up going to the training area because he was getting weaker and weaker.
Eleonora then narrowed her eyes slightly, observing Victor more closely.
"...You got stronger."
Victor nodded naturally.
"I did."
The answer ca too simply.
But considering he knocked out an elite adult vampire with a single casual punch... nobody in that room needed further confirmation.
Victor then looked back at Eleonora.
"...But seriously." He partially crossed his arms. "Why are you getting involved in all this? You didn’t need to waste ti trying to resolve idiotic rumors."
Eleonora remained silent for a brief mont before replying.
"It’s part of the contract."
Victor raised an eyebrow.
She rested her elbows on the table.
"I said I’d protect you from the Cross Family." Her gaze grew slightly weary. "I just didn’t expect the problem to turn into... this."
Victor looked around the destroyed room.
The broken chair.
The unconscious man.
The cracks in the table.
The two Cross sisters observing it as if it were a strange social gathering.
Then he let out a small nasal laugh.
"...Really. This is pretty stupid."
The office remained relatively quiet after that. The unconscious man from the Cross Family continued to lie near the wall, completely unconscious, while one of the palace maids watched the scene through the half-open door with a traumatized expression.
No one seed in a hurry to wake him.
Honestly, the atmosphere was even better without him talking.
Eleonora remained silent behind the table for a few seconds before finally turning her gaze to Helena and Lydia.
This ti her expression was more serious.
"Then I’ll ask directly." She slowly crossed her arms. "Was it soone from the Cross Family who spread these rumors?"
The question imdiately made the atmosphere heavier.
Victor remained leaning against the table, observing the two sisters as they exchanged a brief, silent glance.
Helena was the first to answer.
"No."
The answer ca too quickly to seem prepared.
Lydia nodded soon after.
"The person most capable of doing this sort of thing is dead." She rested her face on her hand. "Ethan loved manipulating public narratives. Especially when it involved humiliating soone."
Victor made a small, amused nasal sound.
That really sounded like Ethan.
Helena continued calmly:
"Most of the Cross Family is furious about the whole situation surrounding his death." She paused briefly. "But currently, nobody is willing to act irresponsibly."
Eleonora narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Because of the investigation?"
"Exactly."
Lydia sighed wearily as she looked at the ceiling.
"The Nightshade Family situation has frightened many people."
Victor watched silently as she continued:
"After the internal investigation, several clans began to enter a state of political paranoia." Lydia shrugged. "Now any aggressive move imdiately draws attention."
Helena nodded slightly.
"The Cross Family has decided to temporarily limit itself to political and social isolation." Her gaze quickly shifted to Victor. "The internal climate is already bad enough."
Victor remained neutral listening to this.
It made sense.
In the vampire world, political reputation was extrely important. Especially after a major family began to be publicly investigated.
Any mistake could beco justification for official extermination.
Eleonora partially rested her face on her hand as she examined the two of them.
"So you really have no idea who started this?"
Helena calmly denied it.
"No."
Lydia let out a small, disbelieving laugh right after.
"To be honest..." She looked directly at Victor now. "The rumors are so absurd that I’m honestly still surprised anyone believed them."
Victor raised a slight eyebrow.
"I thought it was strange too."
"Strange?" Lydia almost seed offended by the word she chose. "They’re saying the man who killed Ethan Cross in public was afraid of the Cross Family."
She pointed to the unconscious man on the floor.
"You knocked that idiot out with a casual punch literally five minutes ago."
Victor looked at the fallen body.
"...That’s a valid argunt."
Helena let out a small, tired sigh before continuing:
"Of course, there are mbers of the Cross Family who would love to kill you." Her honesty was almost uncomfortable. "Especially Ethan’s closest relatives."
"But nobody would waste ti with school gossip," Lydia added imdiately. "If soone in the family really wanted to resolve this, they’d send assassins."
Silence hung for a brief mont.
Then Lydia realized what she had just said.
"...That sounded worse than I intended."
"No, it was quite honest," Victor replied calmly.
And honestly...
She was probably right.
The Cross Family seed too proud to resort to sothing as childish as spreading cowardly rumors. Direct violence suited their profile much better.
Eleonora remained silent for a few seconds, processing it.
Then she slowly closed her eyes.
"...So soone is trying to deliberately worsen the situation between you two."
Helena nodded.
"Probably."
"Or trying to weaken your public standing before the Ascension Ritual," Lydia comnted casually. "Which would also make sense."
Victor remained silent.
Because that made even more sense.
Idiotic rumors usually had no real political value.
Unless they were used as preparation.
To damage reputations.
To create isolation.
To make other clans start to doubt.
It was an extrely common thod before major conflicts within vampire society.
Eleonora opened her eyes again.
Her expression now seed much less irritated.
And much more worried.
"...What a drag," she murmured wearily. "I hate vampire politics."
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