A Cynical Principle - Episode 1.1.3

Episode 1: Watchdog of the Dark City (Part 1.3)

Of course, Univale appeared to be older than Rothschild, but this also involved the difference in their ranking. Partita’s Lord had a hand on his chest as he reverently welcomed the guest as he stood upright. 

The fire was lit in the fireplace and candlesticks on the table. 

Univale gestured as he invited the young Lord opposite to him. He brought a candlestick to the corner on his way towards his seat. As soon as he crossed his long legs, he asked the clever, young vampire, “So, I will ask frankly. What business do you have with me?” 

“Lord Univale, have you ever loved someone?”

Partita had been carrying an empty wine glass, upon hearing this question she had to look at the face of the Lord who had been asked by a sincere face of a young fellow. She desperately tried not to blow out. 

Univale’s face stiffened as if the pigeons had been eating bean guns on his face. 

As always, the one with a slack face that was elegantly standing around was that man! (T/L: Who tf is this man?)

She put the wine glass in front of her Lord, somehow appeasing her trembling shoulders. He never forgot to see him, but what would it be?

“… It’s not like that,” Univale answered with a forced smile. 

Whether he heard it or not, Lord Rothschild raised himself up to his waist as he leaned over and said in a loud voice, “Then you should be able to understand my heart! My wife was taken away by a stranger one night, and I was probably killed by the same man too! I ended up being such an abominable being as a vampire! But the other day, I heard a strange rumor── it was a rumor that my wife was married to a man. Of course, we had exchanged our promises, but she was not legally my wife… I thought it was unavoidable. But I was astonished when I heard of him. The man robbed me from my wife and killed me, so I was sure he was the man!”

Lord Rothschild said it with such haste. As the hot air cooled down, Univale interrupted calmly, “And then?” 

“I want to get my wife back, Miraille Chardonnay. I also want to know the truth behind why I had to be killed!” －Precisely, the one who was going to be his wife. 

Partita poured red wine into Lord Rothschild’s glass while she asked the Lord her question, “The one who will be your wife──Miraille Chardonnay and you were in the same place at the time of the case?”

“No. My wife was in her house while I was in my own house. But later, I found out that my wife was kidnapped and I was killed at about the same time.”

“…” Univale rested his hand on his chin and silently pondered.

He suddenly blurted out, “What do you mean by getting her back? I’m taking you back to Vis Splandeur. No man has ever entered that city, as a kindred, that is.” 

“…” Even the eyes of that Lord, which could cause loathing to a man, were further diminished. 

Vis Splandeur was the name of a city. A place full of light that received the radiance of god in the Vatican, where the Pope, an apostle of god, reigned. It was the apex, City of the Dark, that dominated the darkness.

A city where ghosts, devils, vampires, werewolves, witches, magicians, dream magicians, dead men, beastmen, soul eaters, an eater, a curse master, a berserker, and countless variants formed a group.

Deep into the Black Forest covered with conifers, the entrance lied hidden beneath the surface and was never visible. 

But under the cover of the night, the wagons of the inhabitants fell through the Black Forest. They were coming to the towns with fear and horror, in order to get the protection of their God.

They attacked people, increasing their number, scattering death, and lastly to return in the freezing dawn. There is no such life for a mere human in the city. 

It was like rabbits plunging themselves to a pack of wolves. 

However, they were tolerant towards their own kind.

“Lady Miraille Chardonnay would also be a vampire?”

“Love is what it is. We are half permanent. It would be an exaggeration to say that it is permanent, especially in that city. I can’t stay away from her.”