The First Vampire

“Your Grace, I regret to inform you… Marquis Adams… has returned to the arms of the Lord…

The words of the Archbishop plunged the atmosphere of the entire venue into icy silence.

For a moment, everyone couldn’t believe — Marquis Adams was dead?

The second son of Duke St. Hilde, the first in line to inherit the North Territory, was dead?

And he died at a banquet in his own castle!

This was too absurd!

However, reality frequently transcends absurdity.

The nobles widened their eyes and covered their mouths, not even daring to let out a terrified gasp, fearing they might upset Duke St. Hilde.

The Duke just stared blankly at the Crystal Magic Chandelier on the ceiling as if the person declared dead was not his son, but an irrelevant passerby.

Only after an unknown amount of time passed.

Finally, a voice punctured the suffocating silence. “Archbishop, how did Marquis Adams die?”

It was Queen Midela who asked the question.

“Your Majesty, I am unable to conclusively determine the cause of the Marquis’ death at this moment. It will require a thorough autopsy to reach a conclusion. However, based on my experience, I believe the Marquis was likely poisoned to death. ”

The Queen immediately turned to a knight behind her, commanding, “Arrest all the attendants that prepared food tonight. Interrogate them all!”

“Yes!”

After a brief disturbance, all the attendants present were taken into custody.

The ancient butler of the St. Hilde family was no exception.

The death of Duke’s second son by poisoning at a banquet in his own castle was an unimaginable disgrace!

Especially since this second son was now the first in line to the Northern Duke inheritance.

Even though Duke St. Hilde remained silent, everyone could already foresee the impending disaster.

Regardless of who the murderer was, the Duke would not let this pass!

Colin looked at the blood-soaked Marquis Adams with a distorted face on the ground, then back at Duke St. Hilde, who was still staring at the Crystal Chandelier. Finally, his gaze shifted to an equally silent Marquis Garcia, a sinking feeling growing in his heart.

Yes, Colin’s first suspect was Marquis Garcia.

Because his motive was too compelling.

Charles had already been stripped of his succession rights, and now Adams was dead.

So, if Duke’s youngest son, Joyce, should meet with unfortunate circumstances, wouldn’t Vera end up being the first in line to inherit the Northern Duke’s territory?

Could it be that this was Marquis Garcia’s retaliation for his brother’s broken promise?

But…

Though Marquis Garcia was the most suspicious according to logical deduction, Colin felt it unlikely for Garcia to be the perpetrator.

Becauese from their past interactions, Colin had figured out Marquis Garcia’s temperament — he was not a man who played tricks and was into conspiracies.

Using such a base method as poisoning didn’t seem like something Garcia would do.

Colin would rather believe that Marquis Garcia would lead the Dark Cavalry to attack Winterfell City, than believe that he would poison his own nephew.

Could it be…

that someone poisoned Marquis Adams intentionally to sow discord between Duke St. Hilde and Marquis Garcia?

After all, with Adams dead, Marquis Garcia was the most suspicious…

NO!

Colin immediately realized he had neglected a crucial factor.

That was, Duke St. Hilde’s promise to Marquis Garcia years ago was a secret only a few knew.

In addition, the fact that Garcia was Vera’s biological father was a secret that very few people knew!

Therefore, even if someone wanted to instigate conflict between the two brothers, unless they knew these two secrets at the same time, they would not employ this method.

At least Prince Okamoto wouldn’t.

Colin did not believe that these two secrets could be uncovered by a troll and thus plot this poisoning scheme.

Furthermore, even if he did learn about these two secrets, assassinating Marquis Adams by poisoning, let alone doing so at the banquet in the Lion Roar Castle, would be extremely difficult.

Moreover, it was a precise poisoning targeted solely at Marquis Adams.

Colin could not figure out how it was done.

While Colin was trying to learn from that certain primary school student in order to solve the murder case, Duke St. Hilde finally spoke.

His voice had become exceptionally hoarse and low, but he was not overly agitated, even appearing somewhat too calm.

However, everyone could hear the rage that the Duke was forcibly suppressing from his voice!

“Prince Okamoto, Prince Topaz, although both of you want to marry Vera, Vera cannot possibly marry both of you. So, I can only choose one of you.”

Surprisingly, Duke St. Hilde did not mention the death of Marquis Adams again, as if it was no longer significant.

He stood up from his seat and walked to where Okamoto and Topaz were standing.

The corpse of Marquis Adams was right next to his feet, but he did not even lower his head to glance at it again.

“Prince Okamoto, I want to know, if Vera does not marry you, would you still be willing to reconcile with the North Territory?”

Prince Okamoto felt a sinking feeling in his heart, but still replied helplessly, “Of course, Duke! My aspiration for peace will never change under any circumstances.”

In fact, he had no other options.

Could the Troll Empire afford another war with the North Territory now?

As long as the North Territory agreed to reconcile, he could accept any terms.

“Good.” Duke St. Hilde turned around and called out to the crowd, “Nala, come here.”

A tall and beautiful young lady quickly walked to Duke St. Hilde’s side.

Although she was not as stunningly beautiful as Vera, she was still quite attractive.

Duke St. Hilde took Nala’s hand, pushed her to Prince Okamoto, and said, “This is my niece, Nala, a noble of St. Hilde too. Is she worthy of you, Prince Okamoto?”

“Of course! Marrying Miss Nala would be my honor!” Prince Okamoto made a formal bow to Nala and then extended his right hand.

Nala was clearly still confused.

She had never expected that she would be given to a troll by her uncle just like that!

However, looking at Duke St. Hilde’s expressionless face, Nala could not muster any thoughts of resistance.

So, she slowly put her hand into Prince Okamoto’s hand.

At this point, a slight smile finally appeared on Duke St. Hilde’s face.

He immediately turned around and called out to Vera again, “Vera, come here.”

Vera, who was still grieving for the sudden death of her brother, was taken aback. Then, with confusion and hesitation, she slowly walked to the Duke’s side.

The Duke took Vera’s hand, looked at the half-elf prince in front of him, and said, “Prince Topaz, tell me, will you treat her well!”

Prince Topaz was stunned for a good while, evidently shocked by this huge surprise that descended from the sky!

After a long while, he finally stepped forward with a flushed face, exclaiming with excitement, “Duke! I swear that I will never let Vera down in this life, otherwise, let me go to hell after death, to endure endless torture forever and ever!”

“Father, I…” Vera was also stunned.

She never thought that she would just be married off by her father.

And it was to another country, to a stranger whom she had barely met before.

She was about to struggle free from the Duke’s hand, but suddenly froze.

Because, she saw the Duke’s gaze.

It was a look she had never seen before.

Fatigue, disappointment, anger, and even… fear!

At this moment, Vera suddenly discovered that the once seemingly omnipotent father, the Duke who held power of life and death in the North Territory, was already old now.

In a trance, she felt as if she was back to ten years ago, when the Duke wanted to send her to Yevir to study Arcane.

At that time, she had tried to resist.

However, the Duke had made her kneel in front of the family’s twelve Holy

Knight statues for a day and a night, and then told her –

You are a St. Hilde. Don’t forget the burden you need to carry when you enjoy the glory that this surname represents!

At this moment, faced with a similar situation, she had words of refusal on the tip of her tongue, but Vera just couldn’t bring herself to speak them out.

All she could do was to watch the Duke lead her hand and slowly walk towards Prince Topaz.

But just as Vera’s hand was about to fall into the hand of Prince Topaz,

A voice abruptly sounded:

“Duke, I object to this marriage!”