Chapter 125: …Master

Lucian silently stared at the Duchess’s distorted smile while listening to her mad, unhinged laughter filling the chamber and echoing against the walls.

Yet despite the noise being loud enough to deafen his ears, Lucian didn’t move away, nor did his gaze leave her.

Then, after several long seconds—

Her laugh slowly died down.

“You… you really are intriguing,” she muttered, an amused smile still tugging at her lips.

Her eyes slowly closed as she leaned back into the throne, tapping her fingers rhythmically against the armrest, the sound strangely matching Lucian’s heartbeat.

The soft taps echoed through her silent bedroom.

After a few moments, the Duchess slowly opened her eyes once more, meeting Lucian’s crimson eyes without wavering.

“Well…” she said softly.

“Fine.”

Kanna, who stood a short distance away from them, was left shocked, genuinely thinking she had heard her wrong.

A small smile immediately lit up Lucian’s face, but before he could get even a bit happier—

The Duchess continued.

“I’ll make you my disciple, but remember one thing…”

The instant those words left her lips, the pressure inside the room increased drastically once again, crashing down onto his shoulders without any warning.

His balance was nearly thrown off, and his fingers immediately tightened around the armrest as he steadied himself.

The material beneath his grip groaned faintly.

“Training under me will be torturous… and you might even wish you were dead.” The Duchess spoke with a dangerous glint in her gaze.

Kanna’s body unconsciously stiffened at those words as she remembered her own training, which had been more like trying to keep herself sane and not break completely.

But Lucian didn’t react the way Kanna had expected.

The smile on his face didn’t disappear in the slightest.

Instead, it turned even more anticipated, almost eagerly.

His crimson eyes trembled as his lips curled upward even more, revealing his sharp white teeth.

“Good… good…”

The words slipped from his lips almost unconsciously.

Seeing the twisted excitement on his face, the Duchess’s own expression widened as well, until the looks on both their faces began to resemble each other.

Lunatics.

That was the only thing Kanna could think of while watching them stare at one another.

“I’ll be under your care…” Lucian muttered quietly.

Then—

His expression suddenly softened, and the excitement in his gaze faded into something strangely gentle.

“…Master.”

The words naturally left his lips, carrying an unfamiliar yet strangely familiar warmth he didn’t understand.

Even his voice came out so gentle that he himself was surprised by his tone, much less the Duchess, who instantly noticed the change.

Slowly, the madness on her face began to soften.

“From today onwards, you are my disciple… the disciple of Valentina Scarlett.”

Her voice sounded almost gentle, almost affectionate

But then, her face darkened ever so slightly as her voice turned sharp.

“…So don’t you dare disappoint me.”

Her words sent a chill down Lucian’s spine.

Yet—

The smile on his face still didn’t fade.

Both of them remained silent for several seconds.

Their crimson eyes glowed faintly within the dim chamber, reflecting one another like mirrors stained in red.

But just then—

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY MOTHER, YOU BASTARD…!!!”

Their moment was shattered as a loud shout violently echoed from behind him.

Lucian’s pupils shrank as his instincts suddenly screamed in warning, his head abruptly snapping backward—

Only to see a large fireball hurtling straight toward him.

The flames roared violently through the air, illuminating the chamber in a burning orange light.

Lucian’s eyes widened.

The attack was too fast, and he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time.

The blazing heat already reached his face before his mind could even properly react, but before it could hit—

Valentina suddenly grabbed him by the collar, and Lucian’s vision distorted, blurring as his body was pulled effortlessly to her side.

The next second, she casually raised her hand.

The moment the flames approached her, she lightly snapped her thumb against her finger.

Whoosh…!

A terrifying gust of wind exploded outward. The flames flickered wildly before dispersing into countless sparks and vanishing into the air completely.

Lucian’s eyes widened slightly as he stared at Valentina.

She had erased that attack with nothing more than a flick of her fingers.

And there wasn’t even the slightest visible effort behind it.

“Vivienne, what do you think you are doing…?” Valentina asked with a soft sigh, unbothered by the sudden attack thrown toward her.

Lucian slowly turned his gaze toward the woman standing at the entrance of the chamber.

Her appearance resembled Valentina’s greatly.

Long crimson hair cascaded down her back, slightly messy, with a few strands hanging over her forehead as if she hadn’t even bothered fixing it—or perhaps she had only just woken up.

She wore a flowing silver Victorian-style nightgown, and despite the slightly loose fabric, it did nothing to conceal her beautiful figure or the slender waist outlined beneath the dress.

Her golden eyes burned fiercely with anger as they remained fixed on Lucian.

“Mother, what were you doing just now?!” Vivienne demanded furiously.

Valentina blinked slowly. A faint look of confusion appeared on her face.

“What are you talking about…?”

Her genuinely puzzled expression only made Vivienne even more frustrated, though Lucian could tell she was only pretending.

“And why did you suddenly attack me?”

Valentina’s voice dropped lower, a dangerous calm creeping into her tone.

“My daughter… are you already thinking of overthrowing me?”

A shiver ran down Vivienne’s spine. The fiery anger on her face froze for a split second.

“It’s nothing like that…!” she immediately denied, shaking her head furiously.

“But… what was this man doing to you?!”

She pointed directly at Lucian, finally turning her head toward him.

“And who is he in the first place…?”

A faint frown formed between her brows as her golden eyes stared at him in disdain.

Lucian narrowed his eyes as the temperature in the room began increasing again.

Then suddenly—

Kanna stepped forward before Vivienne.

“Young Miss…” she spoke flatly.

Her expression remained as emotionless as ever while her dark eyes met Vivienne’s burning gaze directly.

“Young Master Lucian is the newborn vampire… created by Lady Amelia.”

Vivienne paused. Her brows furrowed as her gaze flickered toward Lucian, then toward Kanna again.

“So… a fledgling?” she muttered slowly.

Kanna hesitated for a brief moment, but eventually, she gave a small nod.

Lucian was slightly confused by the sudden commotion, then slowly, he shifted his attention toward his side.

Valentina sat lazily upon her throne with one leg crossed over the other, her cheek lightly resting against her knuckles, looking clearly unbothered.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you…?” Lucian suddenly asked.

Valentina’s brows rose slightly as she glanced toward him.

“How did you know…?” she asked calmly, a curious smile slowly tugging at her lips.

Lucian was a bit stunned by the question.

Even he didn’t fully know why he assumed her unreadable expression meant amusement.

It just… felt obvious somehow.

As though he had seen that exact look countless times before.

His brows furrowed… a strange feeling of déjà vu surfaced again.

“I don’t know…” he answered honestly.

Seeing the faint frown on his face, Valentina quietly stared at him for a moment longer, then her gaze slowly lowered… toward the blood spilling faintly down his chin from earlier.

Her golden irises flickered to blood red before instantly returning to normal, shifting her attention back toward Vivienne.

“Mother…” Vivienne called out in a sharp tone.

“What were you doing with that fledgling? And why was he so close to you?”

Lucian couldn’t help but notice the unhidden dismissal and disdain in her words when she referred to him.

‘Fledgling…’

He didn’t clearly understand what the term meant, but judging from her tone alone, it sounded like she was talking about something beneath her.

‘Analyse her.’

He internally gave the command.

Until now, he hadn’t bothered using his analysis on anyone, but now he couldn’t suppress his curiosity any longer.

[Analysing…]

[Analysis complete.]

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name – Vivienne Scarlett

Race – Vampire(Noble)

Rank – S

Titles – The Burning Rose, Scarlett-Blooded Princess, Daughter of the Strongest Vampire.

Bloodline – Scarlett Bloodline

Affinity – Fire

Talent – Transcendent

[Affection: –2%(Dismissal, Disgust)]

— — —

Lucian silently skimmed through her entire status window.

‘Noble…’

Looking at the word beside her race, he slowly understood.

It was something like a category for a race, maybe a hierarchy within the vampires themselves.

‘Then I’m a Fledgling?’ He narrowed his eyes as the thought crossed his mind.

Without any delay, he brought up his own status window to the side.

Meanwhile—

Valentina calmly looked at her daughter’s questioning gaze.

Her lips curled into a slow smile before she answered.

“Nothing you need to know about.”

Then, she casually added more.

“Just know that I took a new disciple.”

The words instantly made Vivienne freeze in her spot.

“What…?” she muttered unconsciously, blinking a couple of times.

“I took a new—”

“I got that…!” Vivienne immediately cut her off before she could repeat herself.

Valentina merely shrugged lightly in response.

Lucian, meanwhile, was slightly distracted, as the section where the rank of his race should have been present instead showed only a few question marks.𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

By now, he really disliked those question marks, as they always kept the most important information hidden.

But…

That meant the rank or hierarchy of the vampire race was something special… or Akasha was just fooling him.

Though the second possibility didn’t feel like something she would do.

After pondering it for a second longer, his gaze instantly lowered as he looked at the new section that had appeared beneath her status window.

Something he had gained after his Analysis skill had upgraded.

[Affection: –2%(Dismissal, Disgust)]

He stared at it for a long moment, and the more he reread it, the deeper his frown became.

He understood what this meant almost immediately.

If his assumption was right, then this new feature could determine how people felt toward him emotionally.

But still—

‘Negative?’

That was what genuinely both stunned and confused him.

He had never met this woman in his life until today, and yet she already seemed to feel disgust toward him.

But he didn’t linger on it for long, and with a thought, the translucent screen disappeared from his vision.

Only then did he see Vivienne staring directly at him with visible confusion and disbelief.

Her lips twisted as she spoke.

“How did a Lesser Vampire become my mother’s disciple?”

200 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter.

Yeah, I know I increased the number of Power Stones but I’ll run out of ideas if I rushed myself too much, so bear with this lazy author.