A strange chill spread through the hall as the murmurs rose again, softer now, edged with sothing that did not exist before.
Fear.
"I am sowhat scared... could she be of Duke lineage?"
"If that is true... does that an the Moonshade family would rise above the other houses?"
"Rise above even the ancient lines?"
"That would change everything..."
Eyes shifted not just toward Cornelia, but toward one another. Calculations flickered in crimson irises. Alliances, marriages, power structures, succession lines. Every noble mind in the hall was racing.
Cornelia stood before the towering pillar of dark crystal, the Duke chamber waiting above the Marquis seal like a silent verdict.
One of the Blood Ancestors exhaled slowly.
"Proceed."
His voice was calm, but there was tension beneath it, like a taut string pulled too tight.
Cornelia stepped forward.
Her boots brushed against the cold stone floor, the faint echo sounding far too loud in the stillness. She lifted her hand, steady, and placed it at the fifth middle seal.
Duke.
The runes around that chamber glowed faintly as if recognizing her presence even before she released anything.
"Release your Blood Mana," the ancestor instructed, though his voice sounded lower now, heavier.
Cornelia closed her eyes.
Inside her veins, her Blood Mana felt different. It no longer moved like a simple current. It felt vast. Deep. As though there were layers to it she had never touched before.
She allowed it to flow.
Slowly at first.
A thin stream entered the seal.
For a long second, nothing happened.
Then—
The blood inside the Duke chamber trembled.
Not violently.
Not yet.
Just a soft ripple.
A few vampires leaned forward.
"It moved."
"Yes... it moved..."
"Does that an..."
The ripple spread wider.
Then the surface of the blood began to churn, subtle at first, like a pot beginning to boil.
More mana flowed from Cornelia, her breathing steady, her expression calm.
The crimson liquid inside the chamber suddenly twisted into a spiral.
Gasps filled the hall.
"It’s responding!"
"Duke level!"
"She’s reached Duke!"
But it did not stop there.
The spiral grew stronger. The blood slamd against the inner walls of the chamber with a force that made the entire tower vibrate.
The runes along the tower flared so brightly that shadows leaped wildly across the stone walls of the hall.
"It’s still rising!"
"It’s not stabilizing!"
The Duke chamber erupted into violent motion. The crimson liquid roared like a storm trapped inside crystal.
The entire Moonshade family froze.
No one dared breathe.
Then the realization hit them all at once.
"It’s above Duke..."
"Above a normal Duke level..."
"Holy—"
"Holy hell..."
The words ca out broken, breathless.
The noble vampires staggered back, hands covering their mouths, eyes wide as though they were witnessing a miracle or a disaster.
"Above Duke..."
"That’s impossible..."
"She’s just a descendant..."
"No, no, look at it!"
The blood inside the chamber was not rely responding. It was raging. The intensity of the reaction surpassed anything recorded in the family’s history.
One noble clutched his chest.
"This... this ans..."
"She surpasses Duke lineage!"
"She surpasses Duke!"
The hall exploded into chaos.
"Cornelia!"
"Our Cornelia!"
"The Moonshade family has produced a monster!"
"No, a genius!"
"A blessing!"
"A divine descendant!"
Their voices overlapped in a frenzy of awe.
"I didn’t expect this!"
"None of us expected this!"
"She was quiet all these years!"
"To think she would carry such blood!"
So of the older nobles fell to their knees, overwheld.
"This changes everything..."
"With this bloodline, our Moonshade will dominate the vampire courts!"
"The other houses will bow!"
"She will lead us!"
"Yes, yes!"
The way they looked at her had completely changed.
It was no longer simple admiration.
It was reverence.
Almost worship.
Cornelia slowly withdrew her hand. The Duke chamber continued to tremble for several seconds before gradually settling, though faint ripples still disturbed its surface.
anwhile, in the corner of the hall, Cain watched with half-lidded eyes.
Those bastards.
Their blood tests are so limited.
Only Emperor level rank at most.
His gaze shifted briefly to the uppermost chambers of the tower, to levels that none of them dared speak of lightly.
If they knew her blood far surpasses even that, they would die from shock.
He suppressed a faint scoff.
His lips remained sealed.
The hall slowly quieted.
The Blood Ancestors were not cheering.
They were staring.
One of them finally spoke, his voice unusually tight.
"Should we... attempt the Vampire Prince or Princess rank?"
The words dropped like a stone into deep water.
Silence swallowed the hall.
Even the nobles who had been shouting monts ago stiffened.
"Prince rank?"
"Princess rank?"
"That is ancient nobility..."
"That is near the royal bloodlines..."
Fear crept back into their expressions.
"If she reaches that..."
"Then our family..."
"Then the hierarchy..."
The implications were too vast.
The ancestors exchanged glances.
Even they looked uncertain.
One of them cleared his throat softly.
"Cornelia."
She turned to face them.
"Are you willing to continue?"
There was no pressure in his tone, only gravity.
Cornelia’s heartbeat echoed faintly in her ears. She could feel the weight of history pressing against her shoulders.
But she did not hesitate.
"I am fine with it," she said gently.
Her voice was steady.
The ancestors stared at her for a long mont.
Then one of them smiled faintly.
"Courageous child."
"Truly worthy of Moonshade blood."
"Your composure alone is admirable."
The nobles began murmuring again, this ti softer, reverent.
"She’s not even afraid..."
"Look at her..."
"She stands like a true noble..."
"She was born for greatness..."
"Even her aura feels different now..."
They stared at her as though her very existence was sothing sacred.
Cornelia turned back to the tower.
Her eyes lifted to the upper third chamber.
Princess.
The air felt thin.
She stepped closer.
Placed her hand beneath the seal.
"Release," the ancestor whispered.
Cornelia allowed her Blood Mana to flow once more.
This ti, she did not hold back as much.
The mont her mana touched the seal, the Princess chamber flickered.
The blood inside stirred slowly.
A single ripple.
Then another.
The nobles leaned forward, barely breathing.
"It’s moving..."
"It’s responding..."
"It cannot be..."
The ripples grew.
The crimson liquid twisted into a vortex far stronger than before.
The runes along the entire tower ignited in blinding red light.
The Princess chamber began to shake violently.
"It’s surpassing Prince!"
"It’s surpassing Prince!"
"She’s above Prince level!"
"Holy—"
A noble vampire fainted outright, collapsing to the floor.
Another stumbled backward and had to grab a pillar for support.
The shock was overwhelming.
Even the ten Blood Ancestors widened their eyes, their ancient composure finally cracking.
"This is..."
"Unprecedented..."
"She surpasses Prince rank..."
"She is beyond it..."
The Princess chamber roared like a trapped beast before gradually settling.
Cornelia slowly pulled her hand away.
The hall remained frozen.
Then Cornelia, still calm, looked at the ancestors and asked softly,
"May we proceed to King or Queen level?"
The hall collectively stopped breathing.
Every head snapped toward the ancestors.
The nobles stared at them as though awaiting a death sentence.
The ancestors stared back at Cornelia.
For a long ti.
Their expressions shifted between disbelief and sothing dangerously close to panic.
"King... level?"
"She wants to test King level..."
"That is reserved for royal progenitors..."
One ancestor rubbed his forehead.
Another let out a dry laugh that sounded slightly hysterical.
"This child..."
"Does she intend to overturn the entire vampire hierarchy in one day?"
A third ancestor muttered, "If she reaches King... the political consequences alone will tear the courts apart."
The nobles began whispering nervously.
"Should we even allow this?"
"What if..."
"What if she truly reaches it?"
"Are we prepared for that?"
The tension grew so thick that it felt like the air might crack.
Finally, one of the ancestors raised his hand.
"No."
His voice was firm.
"We will test King level another ti."
"Yes," another quickly agreed. "So other ti."
"For now, this is sufficient."
The nobles let out a collective sigh of relief.
So even laughed weakly.
"Yes, yes... that is wise..."
"One miracle at a ti..."
"My heart cannot take more..."
The atmosphere lightened slightly, though the awe remained.
Cornelia blinked once, then smiled faintly.
"As you wish."
The tower was slowly carried away.
The nobles continued praising her, their words pouring over her like a flood.
"Moonshade’s jewel!"
"Our rising star!"
"You will lead us to glory!"
She listened politely, nodding occasionally.
Then her eyes searched the hall.
They found Cain.
Without warning, she ran toward him.
Cain blinked.
"What—"
Before he could finish, Cornelia leaped.
He instinctively caught her.
Her arms wrapped around his neck. His hands caught her waist.
The sudden movent drew a few surprised gasps, but most of the hall was too exhausted from shock to react strongly.
Cain froze.
She froze.
They were close.
Too close.
"What the hell..." Cain muttered softly.
Then sothing shifted.
The noise of the hall faded.
The world slowed.
For Cain, everything around them blurred.
All he could see was her.
Her long, curly brown hair cascaded down her back, catching the light. Her pale face was slightly flushed, her small vampire fangs peeking adorably from beneath her lips. Her eyes, bright and alive, reflected him entirely.
She was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
He felt a strange warmth creeping up his neck.
What is this?
He did not notice the subtle shimr in her gaze.
He did not feel the faint pulse of sothing ancient weaving between their blood.
Cornelia stared at him as well.
He was tall.
Broad-shouldered.
His pale skin contrasted with his dark red hair. His eyes, deep and sharp, carried a quiet dominance that made her heart flutter in a way she did not understand.
He’s... so handso.
Neither of them realized that sothing subtle had been triggered.
Their blood is resonating towards each other.
Their awakened lineages stirring.
Ti felt stretched thin.
Their faces slowly moved closer.
Breath mingled.
The space between them shrank.
And in that suspended mont, as their lips neared, the world seed to hold its breath with them.
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