Usually, when the suspect in a murder case is exposed, they deny it. It was only natural. Murder was taboo in every country and every civilization, and even before civilization existed, it was hardly encouraged. If someone went around proudly bragging that they had killed a person, then upon closer inspection, one would probably find a few loose screws rolling around behind them.
By contrast, Valdamir’s response was cold. He neither denied nor affirmed it, merely asking for my reason.
“Your evidence?”
“I couldn’t find any, no matter how hard I looked. It’s just a hunch.”
“Even if you are the Progenitor’s favorite, you cannot pin a crime on someone based on a hunch.”
“But let’s think about it. No matter how talented she is, how could a mere Yeiling kill an Elder? It’s impossible, isn’t it? Don’t consider what you want to see. Consider only what is possible.”
The one who was killed was an Elder. To penetrate every question, there was no possibility other than this deduction.
But among the Elders, was there anyone so interested in others that they would kill another Elder? They all guarded only their own territories, leaving the others alone on the grounds that they were none of their concern.
There was only one. Other than Valdamir, the Red-Blood Duke who ruled the entire duchy, that was. He would not even know what the other Elders were doing. Vampires were too distant from one another for any of them to kill another out of resentment.
“In this duchy, is there an Elder who could kill another Elder while evading your notice? Is there a vampire who knows as much about the powers and servants of the other Elders as you do? Only you, who know every vampire in the duchy, could have killed Ruskinia and handed his true blood over to Rir.”
“So you mean there is no evidence that I killed her.”
“The only people who could produce evidence from a murder case ten years ago would be the killer or the Saintess. I merely wrote out the most likely scenario.”
And me, a mind reader. Ten years was enough to bury everything. Valdamir was no fool. He would not have left behind evidence or witnesses.
This was solely a matter of circumstantial suspicion. In that realm, evidence was no longer necessary. The Red-Blood Duke admitted it without hesitation.
“That’s right. I killed her.”
“You admit it so readily.”
“Once I step outside, I will deny it. There is no evidence, so you cannot prove it.”
“What if Tir orders you to tell the truth?”
Refusing would be disloyalty, while accepting would be a confession. A test of loyalty. Caught in that trap, Valdamir answered without much hesitation.
“I have not yet received such an order.”
So suppositions were meaningless to him. I liked that.
There was no point in pressing him further. This was a truth I had been able to hear precisely because there was no evidence. Nothing would remain of this conversation. Confirming each other’s intentions would be the only result worth taking from it.
“Don’t you think you should be grateful to me? I broke the Blood Shackles.”
When I asked whether this was not what he had wanted, the Red-Blood Duke answered indifferently.
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“It was not the method I expected. Since I do not know what variables may arise, I will reserve judgment. But are you not anxious? If the Progenitor has lost her dominion, your position as her favorite will be shaken.”
“I’m the king of humans, so I can’t help it. Besides, isn’t that what the position of a favorite is like by nature? A position that can easily disappear because of someone’s change of heart.”
“You’re realistic.”
“Like you.”
Valdamir and I looked at each other and smiled like reflections in a mirror. Valdamir was a vampire, so that smile of his was fabricated. But was my smile natural? That was not the case either. Mine was fabricated as well.
Valdamir asked,
“What do you want?”
“I want all of you to want something. I don’t want those wishes to disappear simply because you are servants.”
“That includes me, then.”
“Yes. You’re human too. In a sense, you’re one of my people. Now, show us your will. Every Elder in this country has been freed from the shackles.”
He would do it even if I said nothing. The Red-Blood Duke had far too much to do. He stared at me intently before asking,
“Only the Elders have escaped the Progenitor’s influence. The Ain and Yeiling still remain, though?”
“Yes. For now.”
When I answered with a smile, Valdamir let out a sound—“Huh”—that could have been either admiration or lamentation.
The meaning of “for now” was that it would happen someday.
“As expected….”
Without the slightest trace of pretense, Valdamir spoke sincerely.
“You are dangerous.”
“But you wanted this too, didn’t you? You need me, don’t you?”
Silence was affirmation. Valdamir said nothing.
We had sufficiently confirmed each other’s intentions. The conversation that had taken place here would disappear. Just as Ruskinia’s death had faded away over the course of ten years.
I rose from my seat and, just in case, left him with one last remark.
“Leave Count Erte alive. I’m curious to see how he will act after the shackles are broken.”
“I’ll assign him as your personal attendant. Erte. Follow his orders.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I had told him to keep Erte alive, but was he telling me to confirm his life or death myself? I had not expected him to respond this way.
“You mean as a guard?”
“If he displeases you, kill him.”
Valdamir said it as though he did not consider it a waste, despite Erte being a loyal and capable subordinate.
He got me there. Well, having one attendant was probably better than having someone insist on escorting me every day, which would only be a burden.
I stood up. Count Erte followed me out at Valdamir’s command. As I headed outside, Valdamir’s belated farewell reached me.
“Welcome to the duchy, King of Humans. Your existence may be poison, but… poison is sometimes necessary to set a stopped heart in motion.”
The same went for me. I was dangerous too.
He was like me. We knew all too painfully that we were dangerous to each other. But because the directions in which we wished to move coincided, we tolerated each other while embracing that danger.
I walked along the dim street after leaving the alley. I was a famous figure in the duchy, but the foggy streets concealed my appearance well enough. In the fog that dampened my clothes with even a slight increase in pace, I thought.
Tir’s power was exceedingly close to that of the Demon God. In the old days, the Holy See had called her the Demon God’s seed the instant they encountered her.
That was why the Holy See killed Tir in an attempt to root out the seed, and Tir became a vampire and wandered the world. Tir’s power, which had not yet reached the principles of the world, did not scatter across it but remained contained within her blood. The principle of “blood” that Tir understood was limited solely to her own body.
Those who are already dead lose their perspective. With the boundary between the outside and inside blurred, Tir became the phenomenon itself and shared all of her true blood with everyone. Thus were the Elders and vampires born.
She had nearly become the Demon God, changing history all by herself, but… she had fallen one step short. She was still one step away from becoming the Demon God. Her power remained within her blood, after all.
If Tir had understood the bodies of others while remaining wholly alive—not as the limited existence known as a vampire—
“Hyu?”
At the front gate of the Full Moon Castle, I ran straight into Tir, who was returning with Kavila just as I was about to enter. Tir had been opening the gate and had started toward me in delight, but then she remembered what had happened last night, flushed slightly, and stopped short. Kavila’s gaze was blazing as though she found something displeasing.
Had I gone to Kavila and had a girl talk with her? It was difficult to call Tir the Progenitor of vampires anymore. The two of them added together would be twenty-three centuries old, so they could not fill even the first calendar year if they used the original calendar.
“Are you returning from an outing? What a coincidence.”
“Ah, uh, um. I see. Hyu, yes. Have you eaten? A-are you tired?”
“I’m pretty tired. Maybe because I couldn’t sleep well last night and went out two days in a row.”
“Is that so? You should go and rest quickly.”
Perhaps because she had never experienced fatigue before. The moment I said I was tired, she took it seriously and approached me. Even after regaining her heart, she was still careless. If she met a bad man, he might take full advantage of her and abandon her afterward.
Huh? Me?
“Yeah… yawn. Shall we rest a little?”
With a soft motion, I naturally draped an arm around Tir’s shoulder. When I suddenly closed the distance between us, Tir flinched, and sparks flew from Kavila’s eyes at the sight.
“Don’t touch Sister’s body so carelessly! How insolent! Even if you are her favorite, you should ask permission before touching her!”
“Kavila. Stop. I have already given Hyu permission.”
“Tch…!”
A fierce gaze turned toward me. I waved my hand ostentatiously in front of Kavila, who was glaring at me. From Kavila’s point of view, I must have looked like the favorite who could topple a kingdom with her beauty.
After stopping Kavila, Tir quietly scolded me.
“You are mischievous too, Hyu. You have not even set foot inside the castle, yet you touch me without hesitation. Even if I do cherish you, that only applies once you have crossed the threshold.”
“So once I cross the threshold, I can touch you as much as I want?”
“That is not what I meant!”
Tir quickly denied it, then continued while cautiously watching my expression.
“…W-well, if necessary, there may be times when you have to touch me.”
“Exactly. I finished your lips yesterday, so shall I work on your face today?”
“Let’s go inside and do it there, inside! Good grief. How indecent, doing this where everyone can see…!”
Tir was a special vampire. That was only natural, since she was the Progenitor, but unlike the other vampires, Tir had postponed her death through her own power alone. The homunculus’s dilemma applied only to the other vampires. If I, having recovered Tir’s heart, could restore her senses as well, Tir would gain life, and the stopped clock would begin moving again.
If the resurrected Tir took one step further based on her experiences in the twelfth century… she would become the Demon God.
I would do more than search for the Demon God.
I would resurrect even the dead Demon God.