The First Vampire

The usually mild-mannered Buso was now red-faced with anger, raising his voice to question.

As the butler to Prince Lexie, Buso was quite a substantial figure in Dragon City. Even the nobles of the Imperial Capital would greet him with smiles. But now, he was being treated with cold indifference by a military officer of the city defense force, a man who didn’t even hold the rank of a knight.

“Mr. Buso, I am sorry for putting you in this predicament.” The young officer said flatly, without any visible sign of remorse on his face. “But this is an order from His Majesty.”

With that, he unfolded a scroll and placed it in front of Buso.

Buso’s face turned ashen as he read the imperial decree. It was as the rude officer had said, Prince Lexie was stripped off his nobility for the alleged murder of Lattom, the governor, and all his immediate family members have been expelled from Dragon City.

Even the prince’s manor has been ordered to be returned, and all the servants in the manor were to be forcibly dismissed.

Buso nearly fainted, feeling dizzy as his legs gave way beneath him.

Luckily, someone supported him from behind at that moment.

Buso turned around trembling, and seeing Sallya, he couldn’t help but croak, “Miss Sallya… could there be some misunderstanding! How can the master be responsible for Governor Lattom’s death?”

Sallya’s eyes welled up. She shook her head and said, “I just came back from the Holy Light Cathedral. Father… he couldn’t clear himself of the murder suspicion… but I believe, Father did not kill Governor Lattom!”

Sadly, such words wouldn’t touch the stone-hearted young military officer. He simply said coldly, “By His Majesty’s command, this manor must be emptied today!”

Seeing the anxiety of his betrothed, Count Evan felt a pang in his heart. He couldn’t help but say:

“Officer, it’s always wise to leave some room when handling matters. There are still many doubts about Governor Lattom’s death, and it may be overturned in the future. If you don’t show any consideration now, the future… Humph!”

Unfortunately, the young officer didn’t care. He simply raised the royal decree and said, “I am just following orders!”

Count Evan sighed and stopped arguing with him.

He knew that the man before him was thick-headed, probably specifically assigned to fulfill this displeasing task.

Sallya also ignored the cold-hearted officer, instead helping Butler Buso into the house, asking him, “Where is Father? Hasn’t he come back yet?”

Butler Buso shook his head: “I haven’t seen the master.”

However, as they entered the living room, they saw a familiar but solitary figure.

“Father!”

“Master!”

“Your Highness!”

The ex-Prince Lexie slowly turned around, quietly looking at the three.

There was no expression on his face, as if the current situation couldn’t provoke his anger or concern at all.

“Buso, you arrange, dismiss all the servants.”

“Master…” Butler Buso stuttered, “Are you really giving up like this?”

Sallya also promptly asked, “Father, I know for sure that you didn’t commit murder! Can’t you find the real culprit who framed you?”

But ex-Prince Lexie did not respond to his daughter, instead he ordered Butler Buso, “Do not question my decision, go now!”

“Yes, master.” With no other choice, Butler Buso had to walk out of the living room in a daze.

Then, ex-Prince Lexie turned to Count Evan and asked, “Evan, I am no longer a prince of the Empire now. If you want to call off our marriage arrangement, there’s still time.”

Count Evan paused, myriad thoughts flashing through his mind.

He understood, this was going to be the most critical decision in his life.

Whether to bail out in time or help in times of crisis, it was directly related to Count Evan’s future development.

Count Evan was well aware, even though his father had planned to let him replace his brother as the Marquis of Eastern Territory and inherit the Duke of the Eastern Territory in future, such a change in successor was not solely decided by his father.

His brother had been the Marquis of Eastern Territory for thirty years, and he had gathered a considerable number of followers. These people would not want to see their years of investment go down the drain. They would definitely stop Count Evan from succeeding.

Therefore, Count Evan must seek powerful external support.

The engagement with Sallya, the daughter of ex-Prince Lexie, was a prelude to his father’s supporting him to succeed. He had thought this marriage alliance could be the greatest assistance to Count Evan, but unexpectedly, things had taken a sudden turn and this marriage had now become a burden.

Perhaps it would be the wisest choice to distance himself from Prince Lexie at this juncture, but as he stared at the unperturbed prince before him, Count Evan gritted his teeth and said resolutely:

“Your Highness, I am not one to curry favor with the powerful! My engagement to Sallya is not out of a desire for your influence, but out of true love! Moreover, I firmly believe in your innocence and that you will inevitably clear your name!”

Prince Lexie took a deep look at the young Earl of the East Territory, as if seeing him anew.

Then, turning his gaze to his daughter, his face finally showed some changes, he spoke with a hint of guilt:

“I’m sorry, Sallya, I can no longer protect you for now. So, you should go east with Evan first and wait for me to understand the truth before coming to find you.”

“No! Father, where are you going? I want to be with you!”

Prince Lexie shook his head, “I am going to seek the truth, there may be some danger, so I can’t take you with me.”

Count Evan’s eyes lit up, seemingly realizing something and quickly asked: “Your Highness, do you have a lead?”

Prince Lexie nodded, “I just went to the residence of the Governor Lattom and investigated the assassination scene, I found something interesting.”

Sallya perked up, “Father, what exactly have you found? Can it help exonerate you?”

Under the hopeful gaze of the two, Prince Lexie slowly shook his head, his eyes deep. “I only sensed a faint familiar aura, but I can’t yet recall where I’ve felt it before…”

Halfway through, Prince Lexie suddenly stopped speaking, and for the first time, there was a dramatic change in his expression, no longer the previous indifference.

“Father? How come…” Sallya just began to ask but was stopped by Count Evan at her side.

Count Evan guessed that Prince Lexie must have thought of something crucial, so he immediately held his breath and focused, afraid of disrupting Lexie’s thoughts.

Prince Lexie indeed thought of something, that familiar aura, was actually an arcane fluctuation!

And it was the arcane fluctuation he felt when he had killed Mr. Ji!

Though by the time Prince Lexie arrived at the murder scene, the arcane fluctuation had already become very weak, probably intentionally cleaned up, but Lexie managed to detect its presence keenly.

At that time, he didn’t realize what it was.

Now it dawned on him, Prince Lexie recalled the incident over a month ago, when he swung three swords at Mr. Ji outside the dwarf camp in Winterfell City, the sudden appearance of a subspace and that eerie green eyeball behind him.

“Hahaha!”

Prince Lexie suddenly burst into laughter.

Now he strongly suspected that his three-strike attack might not have killed Mr. Ji at all!

His opponent somehow dodged his attack using some arcane magic and even managed to retain some of its power before releasing it on Governor Lattom.

That was the setup for this framing!

“Interesting! Very interesting!” Prince Lexie seemed to have become immersed in some exuberant emotions. “Mr. Ji! You really are a genius!

But, I will surely kill you myself!”

A dazzling holy light erupted from Prince Lexie, suddenly filling the whole place.

“Father!” Sallya couldn’t bear such a light and had to close her eyes.

But when she opened her eyes again, her father was completely gone from sight.

Sallya stood in place in a daze, then she realized her father had left.

Count Evan sighed, stepped forward, took Sallya’s hand, and comforted her, “Sallya, Prince Lexie must have gone to track down the real culprit. You should go back to the east with me first.”

“No!” Sallya shook off Count Evan’s hand forcefully, running out, “I’m going to find my father!”

Count Evan hurriedly followed, shouting, “But do you know where Prince Lexie has gone?”

“The North Territory!” Sallya replied without turning back, “I heard the name of Mr. Ji, that evil mage died in the North Territory, so my father must have gone to North Territory!”

“The North Territory?” Count Evan couldn’t help but stop, a struggle emerging on his face.

But after a brief hesitation, he quickened his pace to catch up:

“Wait for me, Sallya! I’ll accompany you to the North Territory!”