The trio crossed the castle's threshold with calm steps, the sound of their shoes echoing softly against polished stone walls. The interior was as grand as the exterior had promised—black marble columns streaked with silver veins rose toward a vaulted ceiling painted with scenes of ancient wars between monsters and hunters, as if the castle itself held mories of forgotten eras.
Magical torches burned along the walls with bluish flas, casting ethereal shadows that seed to move of their own accord.
Kaguya led them down a vast corridor until a pair of double doors swung open without anyone touching them. Beyond lay the banquet hall.
The table was long—crafted from ancient, dark wood, its surface carved with tornted faces and rune symbols worn down by ti. On the left side, where Vergil and Sapphire were guided to sit, there was a veritable feast of exotic dishes: roasted ats with golden crusts, caralized vegetables, berry-filled pies, aged cheeses, and a refined selection of wines—all human, absurdly expensive, and ticulously arranged.
On the right... only a line of crystal goblets filled with a thick, scarlet liquid. The absence of cutlery, plates, or even napkins made it clear: Alucard's guests did not chew. They sipped.
Vergil cast a dry glance at the opposite side of the table.
"Inviting," he muttered.
Alucard sat with elegance and picked up one of the goblets. He swirled the contents with a refined gesture, inhaling the aroma before bringing the liquid to his lips.
Sapphire tilted her head, eyes fixed on him, and remarked casually, "Still pretending blood wine has a bouquet?"
Alucard gave a toothy smile. "Virgin blood, distilled a century ago... does have a bouquet. It reminds of black cherries and broken promises."
Vergil cleared his throat. "How poetic. I suppose the 1842 vintage was made from nuns slowly roasted over fire?"
"Actually, yes," Alucard replied with delight, resting his elbow on the armrest and smiling almost kindly. "You know your vintage blood, Vergil. I'm touched."
Sapphire picked up a glass of regular wine and sniffed it briefly. "At least ours still cos from grapes. I'd feel bad for so human somlier if he found out you'd replaced Bordeaux with A-positive."
"Ah, but decadence is part of the art." Alucard set his goblet down and extended his hand. Instantly, a maid appeared from nowhere, bowing respectfully before whispering sothing in his ear. He listened patiently, nodded lightly, and then dismissed her with a graceful gesture.
"Bad news?" Sapphire asked disinterestedly, nibbling on a fig stuffed with cheese and honey.
"Nothing major," the vampire replied. "The storm is intensifying... but it doesn't seem natural."
"Wonderful," Vergil muttered, running his knife through the succulent at in front of him without truly looking at it. "Because our day was going far too smoothly."
Alucard leaned forward, eyes gleaming with amusent. "Let's focus on hospitality, shall we? You've co a long way. And even if Azazel was a bit... dramatic with his 'subtle' invitation, your presence here is honored."
"Honored, monitored, and possibly maneuvered into a veiled diplomatic confrontation," Sapphire said, sipping her wine as if it were juice. "I love traveling."
Vergil, however, didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on a subtle detail: at the far end of the hall, near the black curtains swaying in the wind of the storm outside, he sensed sothing... a faint presence. Almost imperceptible. But there.
"You reinforced the bedrooms," he said slowly, eyes never leaving the dark spot behind the curtain. "But did you reinforce the halls too?"
Alucard paused, analyzing the question. For a mont, even he seed genuinely thoughtful. "...So, yes. This one, in fact."
"Then sothing got in." Vergil put down his utensils. His fingers were tense.
Sapphire lifted her gaze, her eyes shimring in a more vivid shade of blue, as if the mana in her body had awakened.
"If it's a spy, I hope it brought a notebook. It'll learn what it ans to sit in the sa room with two bored demons."
Alucard fell silent, but his eyes also shifted to the dark corner. The shadows there seed to shrink under the gaze of the three.
Kaguya appeared like an apparition, kneeling beside Alucard. "The seal on the east flank of the castle has been broken, Alucard-sama. An intruder of Unknown Rank has just entered through the mist."
"How unknown?" he asked, now serious.
"Dense mana. Chaotic. Multiple signatures. Seems... like a hybrid." She said the last word as if she disliked uttering it.
Sapphire narrowed her eyes. "Ah... one of those."
Vergil slowly stood up from his chair. The air around him shifted. His presence grew — as if the room, the castle, the world around them needed to adjust to his true nature.
"It's always during dinner," Vergil murmured, rising slowly.
Alucard sighed with a tired smile, like a host who already expected the party to be ruined. "Take care of it, yes? I need to speak with the guests before my patience runs out, and I decide to cross the hall just to slaughter that bastard."
"Yes, master." Kaguya gave an elegant bow before disappearing like smoke in the wind.
Vergil watched the empty space left by her. "...She's helpful."
Alucard sat back down, composing himself with grace. "Good subordinates are essential in the world we live in. Sapphire's, for instance, are particularly efficient... What was her na again...? Ah, yes — Viola."
He looked directly at Sapphire, his eyes narrow, the smile at his lips sharp like a blade.
"Why don't you sell her to ?"
Sapphire responded with a dangerous glint in her eyes, picking up a glass of wine — regular wine, very human — and swirling the liquid with elegance. "Because I'd kill you before I even considered it."
She smiled, then drank, as if she'd said sothing trivial.
"Ah, of course..." Alucard leaned back, laughing softly. "The last ti we t... was when I lost my third general, wasn't it?"
Sapphire made a thoughtful face, as if trying to rember sothing irrelevant. "Hmm... then he wasn't that strong after all."
Vergil gave a sharp smile. "Being called a general and dying to a maid... is honestly pathetic."
Alucard blinked once, then slowly turned his head toward Sapphire, raising an eyebrow with genuine curiosity. "He's your husband and doesn't know about Viola?"
Sapphire shrugged, serene as moonlight. "He never asked."
Vergil raised an eyebrow but said nothing imdiately. He rely looked at her with a mix of restrained surprise and silent pride. Then, finally, he spoke:
"You really know how to keep things interesting."
Sapphire let out a soft, cruel laugh. "If I told you everything I do, life would lose its charm."
Alucard tilted his head to the side, smiling as if discovering a rare new wine. "You two really deserve each other. It's charming... in an absolutely condemnable way."
"We are a masterpiece of decadence," Sapphire replied, toasting with her glass. "And you're just the cracked fra pretending to be part of the art."
"Subtle touch." Alucard laughed. "I almost felt offended."
Vergil leaned back, his eyes closing for a mont, absorbing the heavy atmosphere of the room. He murmured, as if speaking to no one:
"Then, tell ... what brought you here? Azazel ntioned wanting to talk to ," Alucard said, turning calmly to Vergil, his red eyes glowing under the soft candlelight.
Vergil crossed his arms, his voice as cold as steel. "I want to know why my wives were attacked by several vampires while I was away."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
The air grew heavy, almost suffocating. A wave of malevolent pressure covered the space like a suffocating veil. The candlelight flickered, and even the wine in Sapphire's glass stagnated for a brief mont, as if reality itself hesitated.
Sapphire raised an eyebrow and slowly turned her gaze to Alucard. Her smile disappeared.
"Hm?" Alucard blinked, genuinely confused for a mont. "That wasn't ."
His voice remained calm, but now there was a slight tension behind it. He leaned back in his chair, as if assessing an unseen enemy amidst the shadows.
Vergil remained motionless, his eyes half-closed. His presence was like a blade ready to be unsheathed.
"They attacked them the mont we discovered the fragnt," he said, his voice low but filled with contained fury. "They tried to kill them while I was away. And on top of that... they left a damn energy signature."
Alucard paused for a mont, his fingers tapping slowly on the arm of the chair. When he spoke, his voice was laced with sarcasm, but there was a dangerous spark behind his words.
"And you still think I would make the colossal mistake of attacking Sapphire, Sepphirothy, Rapphaeline, and Stella... all at once?" He leaned forward, his eyes locked on Vergil. "After everything I've seen them do? Are you crazy? A lunatic, perhaps?"
Vergil kept his gaze steady. "I'm considering all possibilities."
"Considering is different from accusing," Alucard replied, now visibly irritated. "If I wanted your wives dead, I wouldn't leave an obvious trail of my energy. I'd send sothing the world couldn't even begin to describe... and I'd make sure to rip out each of their hearts personally."
Sapphire scoffed lightly, crossing her legs. "Soone's lying. Or provoking."
"Of course, they're provoking," Alucard said, leaning back again. "But not . They're provoking you, Vergil. And using my na as bait."
The mont he said this, the body of a vampire fell beside Alucard, and Kaguya bowed. "The Intruder, my King."
"Oh... how cute," Alucard murmured with a twisted smile, raising two fingers.The vampire's body was violently yanked off the ground — suspended not by ropes, but by the blood itself, which snaked like invisible chains at the command of its master.
"Spy," he said in a tone of boredom. "From that sa creature who has the fragnt you wanted so much, Vergil."
Vergil furrowed his brow, distrust growing in his gaze."What do you an? Isn't the fragnt with you?"
Alucard looked at him with an almost amused expression, as if Vergil had told a joke."Ah... so that's what they brought you?" He sighed, swirling the glass in his hands. "It seems Paimon and his demons were deceived. Again."
His gaze grew colder.
"The truth, my dear... is that we, vampires, are at war. Internally. And this —" he pointed at the spy writhing in the air, "— is just one of the worms who dares to play puppet master with my clan's na."
Without even blinking, Alucard closed his fingers — and the vampire's body exploded in a shower of blood.
The silence that followed was as thick as smoke.
Sapphire wiped a drop of wine that almost splashed. "Well... at least we know that misinformation is running rampant."
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