[Hi all! I have a small announcement to make. Next week, there will be no chapters as I'm preparing for Christmas and the New Year. Chapters will continue until Sunday, and I'll take one week off from 19th to 25th December.

Also, I want to spend some good time storyboarding and planning the next act of the story. I am committed to writing this story to the end, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning it halfway through. However, I will need time to plan the story's conclusion adequately. The story will resume on 27th December.

Thank you for your understanding, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!]

The Matriarch's abode.

It's been a good year since I last stepped foot in this wretched place. The first time I arrived here, my life was in the grasp of Matriarch Innocence. Irina had just turned me into a Vampire, and the ancient Vampire was pissed off that her heir had actually attempted such a risky ritual.

I still firmly remember the insults the Matriarch hurled at me. Boy toy… Comedian… Fool… Those words echoed within my heart ever since we stepped foot in this place. Matriarch Innocence even spat in my face, saying she wouldn't even remember my name.

I was nothing but an ant who could be squashed at any given time, but now…

I was the giant doing the stepping.

I entered the room with Irina following close behind. Just as I have transformed, Irina is no longer the shy and timid child she once was. Throughout the year, Irina had constantly been honing her Winter Sovereign Aspect and had even developed a domain ability back in the Moonreaver Dimension. Not to mention, she was strengthened by my essence and had taken one step further in evolving down the Vampire tree.

The two of us were different people now, and it showed…

"Welcome home, my precious little granddaughter. You seem to have gotten prettier since I'd last seen you!"

"... Grandmother."

A timeless beauty welcomed us with her arms wide open as if she were a tour guide leading a group. Contrary to her cold and aloof look from before, Matriarch Innocence wore a rather pleasant smile. She no longer had that detachment from the masses, and she now resembled a businessman who was willing to negotiate for a good deal.

Matriarch Innocence greeted Irina first, but her true attention was me all along. Even as her eyes were on her granddaughter, I could feel her senses firmly locked onto me.

"And… Jin Valter. Or should I call you 'Your Highness' instead?"

"... I'm surprised you remembered my name," I scoffed in jest, drawing a slight shiver that was barely visible. The ancient Vampire clearly recalled the time she demeaned me to my face.

"But 'Your Highness', huh? Was that what you called Dracula?"

"Dracula… I guess you have the right to call him by name now." Matriarch Innocence shook her head and let out a bitter smile. "No, Dracula was an egomaniac. We weren't even allowed to look at his face when we talked to him, and we could only call him 'Lord' or 'Emperor'. Sometimes… He'll ask us to call him 'God'..."

"He sounds like a delight…"

I've heard many rumours and stories about the man called the First Vampire. Many called him a tyrant, a vicious emperor that forced the Vampires to do everything that he wanted. Some say that his madness had even caused much of the Vampire race to turn on him, which led to his eventual demise.

It was a fate that I wasn't looking forward to repeating.

"So what should I call you? New Progenitor of the Vampire race?"

Matriarch Innocence asked a simple question, and yet… It was layered with so many nuances. She was basically asking me… If I was going to be a tyrant like Dracula or a benevolent ruler who can lead the Vampire race to greater heights.

Alas… I'm not going to play your game, granny.

"Jin is fine," I smiled and presumptuously took a seat in front of the old lady. At the same time, I gestured for Irina to sit next to me without waiting for the Matriarch to offer us a chance to sit down. And to finish it off, I gestured to her with the same warm smile before I added:

"For now, that is."

"... I understand."

Unnerved, the ancient Vampire was the last person to claim her seat. Although she sat in the highest chair in her living quarters, it didn't seem like she was the room's owner.

The two of us stared at each other for an extended period of time. Vaguely, I could sense that she was trying to probe me, to test my strength. It was the same thing she did the first time we'd met, but the Matriarch was more benign this time. She didn't dare to tickle my ire and attempted to be more discreet about her senses.

But… How could a mere Vampire challenge a Progenitor's authority?

I didn't raise my magic power, and neither did I use any intangible magic. All I did was unveil the shroud that kept my soul hidden from those who dared to probe me. And just through that…

"Y-You…"

The ancient Vampire started to sweat. Her grey eyes dilated, and her back fell onto her chair. Was it fear? Or was it some other unknown feeling she'd never experienced in thousands of years? I didn't know, nor did I care to know. All I wanted to do… was show the difference between us clearly.

"Matriarch… Or should I call you Innocence? Because of your granddaughter, I won't take that blatant probe as an act of aggression. However, I request that you tone it down. Otherwise… We won't be able to have a proper conversation."

"... Okay."

True to her years of experience at the top, Matriarch Innocence quickly calmed down and regained herself. She coughed twice before saying:

"You've become stronger since the last we met. Who would have guessed that the young boy who came into my room claiming that he'll become the strongest in the world… Would actually do so in just a year?"

"I'm a high-achiever."

"Now that's an understatement!" Matriarch Innocence let out a defeated laugh. "Do you know how many Vampires dream of breaking that threshold? The gap between them and a Progenitor? Many have tried, me included! And yet… You, a former human, accomplished it! A high-achiever? No, you're the greatest achiever in the past thousand years!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Innocence. I came here for business."

"Business… Yes, business indeed!"

The white-haired Vampire held the temples of her forehead and rubbed them hard. She knew that the future of the Everwinter House lay in this conversation. One false move and the Matriarch would have lost the backing of the current Progenitor.

"So… What are your plans for the Everwinter House?"

Good… The bait has been set. Time to give the woman a crumb.

"I have no intention of laying waste to a Guardian House, Innocence. No, Matriarch. I'm not the tyrant that you've imagined."

"That remains to be seen…"

"Yes, words are cheap. I think I told you that before?" Back when we'd first met, I told the Matriarch that I would prove my worth not through words but through my actions. And till this day, I feel the very same way.

"I have become a Progenitor, but I have no intention of waging war against the entire Vampire race. In fact, I'm looking for the contrary. I want to help the Vampire race with my power, the Everwinter House especially. I can give you the key to endless energy and Nightmare realms that can never fade away. I can protect the Everwinter House as the war against the Outer Demons grows, and I can keep humanity's eyes away from the place you sought so dearly to protect."

"You would do that much for the Everwinter House?"

Matriarch Innocence looked shocked that I would promise so much. However, her surprise didn't last long as a serious and stern expression took over her face.

"Nothing in this world is free, especially when it comes from a Progenitor… What do you want in exchange for all of these benefits?"

I could extort the Everwinter House for all they had with my terms. I could ask for servants and gold. I could enslave their strongest Vampires and make them act as door guards for my Valter House. I could ask for anything that the Everwinter House could give, but… There was only one thing that I truly wanted.

"Irina."

"Huh?"

"Irina. In exchange for all those benefits, I want Irina."

Both the Matriarch and Irina looked at me with dumbfounded expressions. They couldn't believe their ears and dropped their jaws like they'd seen a UFO for the first time. Fortunately for them, I was going to give clarification. ????????????r????????????. ????????????

"I want Irina to be freed from the Everwinter House. She'll join my Valter House as my wife and no longer be chained by your rules. You won't have any say in what she does from this day to the end of all days. And… The Everwinter House will never again harm a single hair on Irina."

The two white-haired women looked at me, speechless. Eventually, it was the Matriarch who managed to utter the first words:

"... That's all?"

"That's all," I affirmed my stance.

"Wait… So you're saying that all I need to do… Is give Irina over to you? And you'll guarantee the Everwinter House's survival?"

"That's right."

"Haha… Haha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Unable to fathom what she just heard, Matriarch Innocence burst out in an uncharacteristic laugh, making her tether between the edge of madness and sanity.

"To think that the entire Everwinter House is of less value than one girl! HAHAHA, this is the best thing I've ever heard in my life!"

"You have a problem with that?"

"No, none whatsoever!!!" Matriarch Innocence couldn't stop her laughter. Meanwhile, the girl at my side was also experiencing her own seizure.

"Brother, you…"

With heart shapes in her eyes, Irina's face was quickly turning blushing red. If not for the time and place, I was confident that she would pounce on me at this very moment. Alas, as tempting as that might sound, my business with the Matriarch wasn't done yet.

"So, do we have a deal?"

"HAHAHA, I would be a fool not to take that deal!" The Matriarch controlled her laughter and gave me a firm nod. "The Everwinter House swears never to lay a finger on Irina Everwinter ever again. She will be freed from her duties as an heir-in-training, and she will no longer be bound to the rules of the Everwinter House! Are you satisfied now?"

"Do your words have any value, Matriarch?"

"Huh?"

"Do your promises bear any weight, Matriarch?" I pressed her again. "What happens if the members of your Everwinter House break that rule?"

"Nonsense! My words are law! There's no one in the family that…" Matriarch Innocence was about to give some grandiose speech, but she quickly caught herself. She shot me a long hard look before asking:

"You know something, don't you?"

"How astute," I praised the ancient grandmother.

That's when I played my trump card. I reached into my pocket dimension and pulled out the evidence that Rosa had provided to me. Stacks of documents, primarily images and paper trails, proving the scheme that Damien Everwinter had concocted. The plan to bring Irina back to the Everwinter House. Details on how they planned on kidnapping her and pinning the blame on the Everwinter House, particularly Matriarch Innocence. How they were going to lure me into a trap. And finally… The summoning of an Archangel by the Holy Church.

"A Vampire scheming with the Holy Church… I wonder how the esteemed Matriarch Innocence of the Everwinter House will handle this scandal."