Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 570: Twice is a pattern

There was a moment of silence during which Arlette tightened her grip on her arms but made no more attempts to take the ladies away.

Having seen that Arlette and the ladies were a lot more open to staying so she could have her questions answered, Lady Victoire looked satisfied.

”Excuse us, will you, Julian?” She asked but there was nothing particularly polite about her tone.

”Why should I leave?” Julian blustered, ”This involves me very much. If there’s anything to be revealed, I want to be here for it.”

Julian pulled himself to full height and had a stubborn look of one who would not be hushed away no matter how much his sister’s blue eyes pierced him in an attempt to make him uncomfortable.

Kaya, Delia, Eloise and Aylin shared looks, and it was so clear they were wondering exactly how to broach this topic. So they turned toward Aurelius who seemed actually a lot less confused or stumped than they were.

”I was attacked,” he said.

”Yes, that much is obvious,” Lady Victoire said, ”What I want to know is ’by whom’? And just how much these lovely young ladies have to do with it.”

”I called to ask for their help and they came,” Aurelius said, skirting the first part of his mother’s inquiry.

”How did you contact them?”

”My Loqui-Link... before it was destroyed,” Aurelius answered.

”Why not contact me?” Lady Victoire asked.

”No reason,” Aurelius answered.

”Did you not trust that I could help?” Lady Victoire pressed.

”That wasn’t it,” Aurelius said, ”I just didn’t want to trouble you.”

”Trouble me?” Lady Victoire said and her eyes flashed, ”You think ensuring your wellbeing would trouble me?”

She sounded offended but Aurelius kept his expression calm. His mother always did this; Always doting and never understanding that sometimes something about him might not be about her.

Like when he was growing up and had very little interest in playing with his age-mates, and she kept making playdates with every Noble house that had a child his age willing to play. And when he still had no interest, she began to allude that she might have coddled him too much and stunted his ability to socialize.

But it hadn’t been about her; From an early age, Aurelius had been burdened by feelings and thoughts that made him very impatient with children his age. He spent a lot of time with his mind swarmed with thoughts and complexes of the Arcane that he didn’t understand but was always fascinated by.

He couldn’t tell his mother about any of it though because he couldn’t properly articulate what he was experiencing so he had to spend so much time hearing her blame herself.

It was a similar case here; As powerful as his mother undoubtedly was, she couldn’t help him with his challenge. To help him would be against the terms laid down in the deal between Aether and Hell. To be honest, the involvement of Caius, Delia, Kaya, Aylin and Eloise also went against the terms but it was a more manageable transgression.

But how to tell his mother any of this? Much less in the presence of his glowering Uncle?

How to tell them about matters of potential world destruction that he was bound by Aether to keep to himself?

”You were attacked by a Demon, were you not?” Julian cut in to ask before Lady Victoire could gather herself after her son’s ’betrayal’.

”I suppose,” Aurelius answered slowly.

”You suppose?” Julian sneered.

”Well, it didn’t introduce itself as a Demon,” Aurelius said with a shrug.

That was true. Klever might have alluded to it by associating itself with Demonkind and Demonic techniques, but as far as it didn’t actually say the words ’I am a Demon’ to Aurelius, no lie had been told here.

Also, the questions he was being asked were about what happened today and not about what he might have inferred from a previous occurrence.

But how long will that be the case?

”I saw the footage of what happened at the Mid-Semester Tests when you fought that Demon,” Julian said, annoyed, ”And the same structure, that infernal cube, was erected in my backyard. But you ’suppose’ it was a Demon?”

Not long apparently.

”Uncle, what exactly do you want me to say?” Aurelius asked with a tired sigh.

”You have been attacked twice by Demonic forces. Coincidence?” Julian asked.

”Probably not,” Aurelius admitted with a shrug.

Julian looked shook like he somehow hadn’t expected that.

He rallied himself quickly enough.

”So you’re a target of Demonic attacks,” he said in a low voice.

”Most likely, yes,” Aurelius admitted.

”And you’ve brought that harm to my home?” Julian said and there was a sliver of a smile on his face now, ”You endangered the lives of loyal Mages and members of the Aristide family...”

”Julian, don’t be an idiot!” Lady Victoire cut in.

”Your son is a risk!” Julian rounded on her and let out a cackle, ”How can one who can bring such risk within our walls be entrusted to lead?”

”That’s what you’re thinking about right now? Not the fact that your nephew almost lost his life?” Lady Victoire looked disgusted,

”What matters to you is securing your title? You’re that pathetic?”

”Call me whatever you wish, Sister,” Julian said the word like it was a slur, ”But one attack might have been a coincidence. Twice, at two completely different locations, is a pattern.”

Lady Victoire just shook her head.

Julian didn’t care. His eyes looked almost crazed.

”Yes, yes. The Council of Elders must convene on the matter. It can be of no doubt that young Aurelius spending another night within this Manor is unwise.”

And with that, Julian swept out of the room.

Rolling her eyes, Lady Victoire waved her hand, snapping the door shut with magic.

”Sorry you had to see that,” Lady Victoire said, ”Julian has always loved his tantrums.”

”You call that a ’tantrum’?” Aylin said immediately, ”He looked stark raving.”

Lady Victoire smiled at Aylin’s words.

”Not everything has gone as Julian would like. Even when he gets what he wants, it’s never exactly as he would like it,” she said

”You don’t sound worried,” Eloise noted.

”About his threat?” Lady Victoire waved nonchalantly toward the door, ”As I said, things never quite work out as Julian would like and I have no reason to think that’s going to change.”

Lady Victoire turned her eyes back on Aurelius who looked even more unbothered by his uncle’s outburst than she did.

”Still, Julian might be ’stark raving’ as lovely Aylin put it, but he does make a good point?

This isn’t the first of this kind of attack? And just like the first, you had the help of your schoolmates. There’s a pattern here...”

”Mother, you know I’d never be willfully reckless. I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing,” Aurelius said.

”Do you know what you’re doing?” Lady Victoire said, ”The blowback of that explosion injured Seventh Circle Mages. When I went in, I had very little hope I’d find you whole...”

”But you did,” Aurelius said, ”Because we made it.”

Lady Victoire squared her shoulders.

”Aether has something to do with this, doesn’t she?” She asked.

”Yes, she does,” Aurelius answered.

That made Lady Victoire pause and the ladies, including Arlette, saw a look of reverence creep onto her face and a dimming of the questioning look in her eyes. As though the mention of the Goddess made things make sense.

”Ah,” she said, looking around at Delia, ”And I suppose she was the one who let you into Cube.”

”That was Nyx, actually,” Delia said. Aurelius mentioning Aether had made the gods a viable topic to discuss and not keep hidden.

”Nyx?” Lady Victoire looked confused at first and then her eyes widened a bit as the colloquial name sparked the goddess’s true name in her head,

”You mean Anyxyl? That Dark bitch helped you in?”

Aurelius flinched at the insulting venom in his mother’s words. Delia grinned like she took particular pleasure in it.

”A matter that involves two gods as opposing as the Divine Sisters...” Lady Victoire mused and her eyes seemed to glow with understanding.

She turned toward Arlette.

”Thank you for your patience. I know all I need to now.”

”Alright,” Arlette answered with an acknowledging and respectful head tilt.

”Lincoln will lead you to your carriages,” Lady Victoire said, ”I thank you once again for saving my son.”

”We promised we would,” Kaya noted.

”You promised you’d try your best,” Lady Victoire said, ”I have no doubt you did even more than that.”

The ladies all bowed to Lady Victoire and, together with Arlette, they walked toward the door which Lincoln already held open with a bow of his own.

As they left, and before the door closed, Delia turned back and saw Aurelius giving them a wave and a look that showed his gratitude more than words could.

But Aurelius also looked troubled; Twice now he had had help with a challenge he should have faced alone. Klever, the Effigy-creating Demon, had been the answer to his first case of ’cheating’ when he fought Belron alongside Caius and Delia.

But what would be the answer to this one?

How much worse of a challenger did Hell have in store for him?

As much as Aurelius wished he would just get to face Aether’s mission to him alone, did he even have a choice not to do it with allies anymore if Hell was going to be sending even worse next time?

The door closed without a resolution to Aurelius troubled thoughts.