[Location: Morningstar Manor, New York]
"...Are you talking badly about , my king~"
The voice ca from behind .
Soft. Teasing. Absolutely unrepentant.
I froze.
Not taphorically. Not dramatically. I actually stopped breathing for half a second, because the temperature in the room dipped—not in the way Erebus did it, not with pressure or weight, but with presence. Like the room had just accepted a new constant.
Grayfia’s fingers tightened around the teacup in her hand.
Zeraphira’s eyes narrowed by exactly three millitres.
Selene made a delighted, borderline feral noise.
"Ooooooh?"
I turned—slowly, cautiously, as if I were afraid reality would punch if I moved too fast.
She stepped out of the shadow beneath just like Erebus.
A feminine figure wrapped in flowing blood-ink shadows, hair long and drifting like a silk banner in moonlight—rose-pink at the tips, but darkening into void-black at the roots. A cracked porcelain mask covered half her face, revealing only one glowing eye:
A golden eye.
I swallowed.
Hard.
"...Astra," I said carefully. "You’re—"
She tilted her head, the porcelain mask catching the chandelier light. The crack running through it shifted slightly, like it was alive, and her single visible golden eye curved into sothing very close to a smile.
"—Very happy to finally be acknowledged?" she offered sweetly. "Yes. Thank you, my king."
Selene slapped both hands over her mouth, vibrating in place."Oh my god oh my god oh my god she’s HOT."
"SELENE," Zeraphira snapped without taking her eyes off Astra.
"What? I’m being culturally appreciative!"
Gabriel stood up from her chair so fast that it almost toppled over.
"U-Um! Hello!" she said, bowing instinctively. "I’m Gabriel! It’s very nice to et you, Miss Shadow! Are you... ah... friendly?"
Astra turned.
She looked at Gabriel for a long mont.
Then she bowed. Perfectly. Graceful, precise.
"Designation: Astra," she said gently. "I am pleased to et you, Lady Gabriel. You sll... kind."
Gabriel blinked."...I do?"
"You do," Astra confird solemnly.
Gabriel smiled as she’d just been knighted.
Grayfia finally set her teacup down.
It cracked.
Not shattered—cracked. A hairline fracture ran along the porcelain.
"So who...were you before you beca... MY master’s... subject?"
The emphasis on my could have sliced diamonds.
Astra didn’t react to the possessive tone. Instead, she brought one shadow-gloved hand to her chest and gave a small, elegant nod.
"I do not possess a ’before’ in the way living beings define it," she said pleasantly.
Selene imdiately raised her hand like she was in class.
"Follow-up question! That is ominous as hell. Elaborate imdiately."
"Astra," I cut in, already feeling a headache forming, "just... the short version."
She turned her golden eye toward , and the air around my feet darkened affectionately.
"As you command, my king."
Zeraphira’s eyebrow twitched.
Astra continued.
"I was nad Mana Sangine, Head of the Elder Council, subordinate of the Late Vampire King, Alucard Dracul Tepes. Forr subordinate."
Zeraphira’s eyebrow twitched harder.
Selene’s hand was still in the air.
Gabriel gasped like Astra had just said she used to kick puppies for fun.
"...Elder," Grayfia repeated softly.
Not loud. Not dramatic.
But the air temperature dropped a few degrees anyway.
Astra inclined her head politely. "Forr."
"That’s not the reassuring part," Selene muttered.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay. Great. Fantastic. Love that for . My shadow is an ex–apocalyptic council mber. Sure. Normal Tuesday."
Eris, who had been sitting cross-legged on the rug with a cookie, looked up.
"Papa," she announced proudly, crumbs on her cheek, "you caught a boss monster."
I stared at her.
"...I did, didn’t I?"
Astra turned toward Eris imdiately and lowered herself to one knee, head bowed.
"Princess," she said with quiet reverence.
Eris bead. "Hi!"
Grayfia’s eye twitched now, too.
Zeraphira folded her hands in her lap. Calm. Regal. Absolutely not spiralling internally.
"Explain," she said.
Not loud.
But it wasn’t a request.
I looked at Astra. "Short version. Very short. Like... pamphlet length."
Astra nodded. "Understood."
She stood gracefully, hands folded in front of her.
"I once governed bloodlines, territory, and ritual law beneath the authority of the Vampire King. I was... efficient."
"That’s one word for it," I muttered.
Selene leaned sideways toward and stage-whispered, "Did you overthrow her? Is this enemies-to-servant trope? I need tags."
"Selene."
"Right. Quiet. Respectful. Serious."
She was vibrating.
Astra continued serenely.
"I encountered my king during a territorial incursion. I miscalculated his capacity."
Zeraphira’s eyes slid to .
I coughed. "She ans I got lucky."
Astra tilted her head. "Luck is rely probability kneeling before inevitability."
Selene slapped the table. "THAT LINE. I’m stealing that."
Gabriel raised her hand timidly. "U-Um... Miss Astra? Are you... still... um... evil?"
Astra considered that.
"I no longer possess independent ambition," she said. "My purpose is aligned with my king’s continued existence and emotional stability."
Everyone looked at .
"Why did you say that last part like that?" Selene asked.
I did not appreciate this group dynamic.
Grayfia spoke, voice cool as winter glass. "You ntioned emotional stability."
Astra nodded. "Yes."
"...Explain."
"When his will fractures," Astra said gently, "our cohesion weakens. If his spirit collapses, we begin to... dissolve."
Silence.
Gabriel’s eyes went wide. "L-Like ghosts?"
"More like spilt ink," Selene whispered, suddenly less hyper.
Grayfia’s gaze shifted to .
Not accusatory.
Protective.
That was sohow worse.
I waved both hands. "Okay! Cool! No fracturing! Very stable! ntally thriving! Let’s move on!"
Zeraphira watched for a long mont.
She smiled.
That politician’s smile that ant she was filing this information away for later emotional blackmail.
"How many," she asked Astra, "are like you?"
Oh no.
Astra looked at .
I looked at the ceiling.
The ceiling offered no assistance.
"...A few," I said.
Selene leaned over the table. "Define ’few.’ Ani few or military few?"
"Military."
She fell back into her chair. "Oh no."
Gabriel perked up. "Oh! So you have many friends!"
I pointed at her. "Yes. Exactly. Friends. That is the word we are using."
Grayfia was very quiet.
Too quiet.
Her teacup crack extended slightly.
"Astra," she said softly, "state your combat capacity."
Astra answered cheerfully. "Reduced."
Grayfia’s eyes sharpened. "Percentage."
"Approximately twenty-three percent of forr peak output."
Everyone relaxed slightly.
Then Astra added, "Sustained."
Everyone tensed again.
Selene squinted. "Is that good or bad?"
Ezravia adjusted her glasses. "It ans she is permanently operating at a level that would likely still erase most mid-tier threats."
"Oh," Selene said. "Casual."
Zeraphira tapped one finger against her armrest. "And your loyalty is absolute?"
Astra didn’t hesitate.
"Yes."
Grayfia’s gaze shifted to Erebus.
Erebus, who had been standing silently behind like a gothic statue, spoke.
"It is structurally enforced."
That did not make Grayfia feel better.
"Structurally," Selene echoed. "Love that word. Super comforting. Not ominous at all."
Gabriel tilted her head. "Does that an you like Master Dominic?"
Astra turned to her.
"I revere him," she said.
I choked.
"Revere is a strong word—"
"You pulled from annihilation," she continued gently. "You gave continuity."
Selene gasped. "HE ADOPTED HER."
I pointed at her. "NO, I DID NOT."
Eris looked between us.
Then she nodded very seriously.
"Papa adopts a lot."
Zeraphira closed her eyes.
Grayfia inhaled slowly through her nose.
"...Papa suits him, right?" Selene whispered.
Gabriel smiled brightly. "Yes, it suits him!"
"It does not," I said imdiately.
Astra tilted her head. "Designation acceptable."
"Stop enabling this!"
Eris tugged on Astra’s sleeve. "Can you call him Papa too?"
Astra looked at .
I stared back in horror.
She smiled softly behind the cracked porcelain mask.
"...If it pleases the Princess."
"IT DOESN’T," I yelped.
Selene was wheezing.
Ezravia was writing sothing down.
Ravvy raised a hand. "If he’s Papa, does that make us...?"
"No," Zeraphira said instantly. "It does not."
Grayfia looked like she was calculating murder.
I cleared my throat loudly. "New rule. No Papa. Absolutely not. I am too young for this title. I refuse."
Eris gasped. "Papa doesn’t want to be Papa?"
I deflated imdiately. "...You can say it."
Selene fell out of her chair laughing.
Astra nodded solemnly. "Understood. Public restriction. Private allowance."
"That is NOT— you know what, moving on."
"While we are on the topic, I presu Eris was also in the sealed dinsion?" Grayfia
Grayfia’s crimson eyes shifted from Astra to Eris with sharp, quiet focus.
"While we are on the topic," she said smoothly, though the air temperature suggested several blizzards were forming emotionally, "I presu Eris was also in the sealed dinsion?"
Every gaze in the room snapped to .
I had never wanted to beco wallpaper more in my life.
Eris, anwhile, happily raised both hands like she was in class.
"I was!"
"Of course you were," Selene muttered. "Of course, the child was inside the eldritch trauma cube."
I looked at her, Selene, not knowing how right she was.
"As a matter of fact, she was inside a treasure chest my shadow soldiers found while searching for loot on the fiftieth floor."
Silence.
Not the dramatic, thunder-crash kind.
The soft, stunned, processing kind.
Gabriel raised her hand slowly. "...Like... a present?"
Selene turned to her. "Yes. A present. A child. In a box. From a murder tower."
Gabriel paused.
"...Oh."
Zeraphira’s smile had not changed.
That was the most concerning part.
"A treasure chest," she repeated pleasantly.
"Yep," I said, nodding with the confidence of a man actively digging his own grave. "Very standard dungeon behaviour. Totally normal. You open a chest, you get—"
"A child," Ezravia finished flatly.
"Sotis!"
Grayfia’s voice was smooth as polished steel.
"Describe the chest."
Why did that sound like an interrogation?
"It was... wooden?"
Zeraphira looked at .
"Dominic."
"Yes?"
"Do not test today."
I sighed. "It was a high-grade relic chest. Nad Ancient Treasure Chest of the Vampire King. Exact words. The chest was massive, ornate, covered in dragon-blood tal and wrapped in cursed chains."
***
Stone , I can take it!
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