Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 179: Krobridge shall not fall!

Chapter 179: Krobridge shall not fall!

"Young miss, your tea." A young Vampire dressed in white and black maid clothes remarked while serving a cup of milk tea on a silver tray.

Claudia revealed a warm smile as she replied. "Thank you, please leave it on the table."

"Alright." The maid replied as she placed the cup of tea and then stepped aside with the silver tray.

Glancing at Claudia, she inquired. "Is there anything else you’d like, young miss?"

"No, thank you," Claudia replied before adding. "But do inform me the moment my father arrives."

"As you wish, young miss."

With that, the young maid excused herself and left Claudia alone in her father’s study.

Due to the curtain being let down, the rays from the Lightbringer were unable to penetrate the large room, in its place, gas lamps placed at strategic locations sufficed for lighting.

The study, which was large enough to fit over a hundred people, was filled with various academic books with a few written by the master of the manor.

Seated on a crescent-shaped couch placed at the center of the room with a table before her, Claudia couldn’t but let out a sigh after the door to the study was closed.

"Is something going to happen?" She muttered as she glanced at the ceiling, her eyes harboring faint traces of fear.

Arwen’s words still echoed in her ear, causing her to tremble involuntarily.

She had known the young Mystic long enough to know a bit about her.

Though Arwen wasn’t one to share her past with anyone, Claudia was well aware of her ability to foretell death.

Which was why she was shocked after learning about the fate of Krobridge.

Letting out yet another sigh, she dropped her head and reached for the cup of milk tea placed before her.

Taking a sip, she savored the sweet taste of the milk as it flowed down her throat.

As a Vampire, she did not need such sustenance but it was her way of reminding herself never to succumb to the bestial desires that came along with her transformation.

It didn’t take long before she finished the cup in a bid to calm her nerves but even then, there was hardly any change.

With nothing to do, she stood up from the couch and began to stroll around the study, surfing the large number of books placed on the shelves.

Apart from her, very few others had the right to walk so freely in the study, considering it was the office of Nikolas Bathory otherwise known as the 1st Duke.

But Claudia always knew she was special, not because she felt that way, but because Nikolas treated her differently from the others.

As she walked, she suddenly came to a stop with something hanging on the wall catching her attention.

She glanced at it and even though she had seen it several times before, couldn’t stop herself from letting out a wistful sigh.

It was a painting, an old one considering how faded it looked.

Regardless, one could easily tell who the figures in the picture were.

It was a black-haired man dressed in a black suit with a slackened jaw, a head filled with black oily hair, and on his lap, sat a young girl with a beautiful smile, looking no older than 12 with an uncanny resemblance to her.

The man in the painting was very familiar to Claudia, after all, she had spent the better part of her vampiric years with him.

Staring at the smile the man had in the painting, it reminded Claudia of a certain story she heard when she first arrived at the castle of the 1st Duke.

It told of a humble commoner that dreamt of imparting knowledge to those without it.

The commoner had suffered a lot in life, what with losing his wife due to poverty and ignorance as well as hardly having anything to take care of his only child.

Desiring to ensure that no one else ever has to lose anyone due to ignorance, he attended a university to pursue a life as a scholar.

Despite the backlash he received, he managed to graduate with flying colors and after serving as a scholar for several years, ended up winning honors as a noble.

Of course, the pure-blooded nobles looked down on him and never saw him as an equal.

It was the same for all those that gained nobility through hard work.

And just like those people, he ended up suffering so much at the hands of the nobles.

However he persevered due to his love for academia... at least, that was until he was falsely accused and a certain noble family attacked his home to seize his estate.

A battle ensued and in the clash, his daughter perished and the man was left for dead.

But he didn’t die...instead, he gained a second chance at life from a rogue Vampire.

With his newfound powers, he killed those that took his family away from him and after that, lived as a vagabond for years until he found himself in Krobridge.

Though he remained a Night Creature, his desire to teach never died and more than that, his desire for a family blossomed.

Claudia could still recall the words said to her on the day she was brought into the dukedom.

’You are only here because you bear similarities with his dead daughter. Never forget that.’

And naturally, she never did.

There was a reason she was regarded as Nikolas’s daughter despite not even being sired to him.

Instinctively, Claudia reached for her cheek and felt something wet.

Glancing at her fingertips, a sad smile emerged on her lips.

No matter how many times she saw it, it always evoked emotions in her.

In a world where she thought herself alone, the 1st Duke saved her and protected her like his own.

He became a father to her.

"I can’t let anything happen to what he has built," Claudia muttered with a resolute gaze as she clenched her fist.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door, accompanied by a voice.

"Young miss, the Duke has arrived and is currently in the sitting room."

"Alright... I’ll be with him shortly."

"Understood."

As the voice faded, Claudia took one last look at the painting before turning to take her leave.

Unlike when she arrived, she left with a simple desire.

No matter what may come, Krobridge can’t fall!