Chapter 238: Blood, Screams, and Etiquette

The interrogation did not take long to become disturbingly compatible with a vampire ball.

The musicians started playing again.

That might have been the strangest detail.

While six werewolves remained suspended above a shallow pool of blood in the center of the hall, with crimson chains wrapped around their arms, legs, and torsos, a small orchestra resumed its performance as though the scene had simply been added to the evening’s program.

Servants went back to circulating with glasses, nobles pulled their chairs closer for a better view, and some of the oldest Valentines began quietly betting on which prisoner would speak first.

Chysis looked especially comfortable.

She remained seated with one leg crossed while controlling hundreds of microscopic needles inside the werewolves’ wounds.

Whenever one of them started losing consciousness, the needles moved, compressing blood vessels, stimulating nerves, and forcing the body to keep functioning.

It was not enough to kill them.

Quite the opposite.

It kept all of them alive.

"That one can take more," Eleonora commented, pointing at the leader.

Dahlia studied the man like a doctor examining a patient.

"Blood pressure is still good. The second one from the left is starting to go into shock."

Chysis moved two fingers.

The werewolf in question arched his body with a scream as dozens of threads of blood pushed deeper into his abdomen.

"Fixed."

Dahlia nodded.

"Excellent."

Yvonne, leaning near the table, looked at the three of them.

"You’re sick."

Nera walked past her carrying a small glass.

"You say that like you aren’t watching."

"I’m ensuring security."

"Of course."

On the other side of the pool, Mirella held the device found on the werewolves while asking simple, repetitive questions.

Place of origin.

Number of units.

Objective inside Valentine territory.

What Blake was supposed to steal.

Who would receive the object.

The questions repeated in different orders while Eleonora slowly altered gravity over specific parts of the prisoners’ bodies.

One of them had already completely lost his courage.

Even so, their training was good.

No one revealed the objective.

Victor watched everything from a nearby table, resting his face on one hand.

Outwardly, he seemed to be merely following the interrogation.

Internally, he was talking to Rowena.

’This device.’

Her voice appeared inside his mind.

’Let me feel it again.’

Victor discreetly picked up the small device Mirella had left on the table and passed a little energy through it.

Inside the ring, Rowena remained silent for several seconds.

’I don’t know it.’

’Great.’

’I’ve been sealed for two hundred and eighty years, idiot. Don’t expect me to know modern technology.’

Victor held back a laugh.

’But it looks familiar?’

’The foundation, yes.’

Her attention sharpened.

’The werewolves of my era already used natural energy to mark objects, territories, and even people. Not like this. This is much more refined, but the principle hasn’t changed.’

Victor rolled the device between his fingers.

’Can you track it?’

Rowena hesitated.

’Not like this.’

’Like what?’

’Trapped inside that ring.’

Victor became more serious.

Rowena continued:

’In my wolf form, my connection to natural energy is much stronger. If this message really traveled through a natural current and there is enough residue left, I can probably follow the path back.’

Victor looked at the object.

That was useful.

Very useful.

’Even after a few hours?’

’Depends on the distance, the weather, and how much energy was used. But these idiots were too close to the Capital to use a weak transmission. If they sent it all the way to some distant Central, there should be a trail.’

Victor placed the device back on the table.

’I’ll talk to Serafall about keeping this.’

’She’ll ask why.’

’I’ll make something up.’

Rowena snorted.

’You make things up a lot.’

’It works.’

’Until it stops working.’

Victor did not answer.

If the werewolves were willing to infiltrate someone inside the Royal Palace during an event of this size, the objective had to be extremely important.

And now that he knew there might be a way to locate the origin of the message directly, his interest had increased considerably.

He was about to stand when someone appeared beside his chair.

Nera.

She looked at Victor.

Then at the chair.

"Move back."

Victor frowned.

"What?"

"Move the chair back a little."

He obeyed more out of curiosity than anything else.

Nera immediately turned around and sat on his lap.

Victor stared at the back of her head.

"What are you doing?"

"Sitting."

"I noticed that."

"There’s nowhere to sit."

Victor looked around.

There were three empty chairs less than two meters away.

Nera pointed at his lap.

"I saw an open seat."

Victor remained silent for a few seconds.

"Fair."

Across the table, Rakshasa stopped drinking.

Her eyes slowly moved toward Nera.

The small vampire noticed immediately.

Without even fully turning around, she raised one hand.

"Don’t misunderstand."

Rakshasa kept staring.

Nera spoke with complete seriousness:

"I’m just a child."

Victor closed his eyes.

This was going to turn into shit.

Nera finished:

"You wouldn’t get jealous of a child, right?"

Rakshasa slowly set her glass down on the table.

"You’re seven thousand years old, you bitch."

Several nearby people turned their heads.

Rakshasa pointed at Nera.

"You use that childlike appearance to pretend you’re young, but the only child among us here is Victor."

Nera slowly turned her head.

Looked at Rakshasa.

Then at Victor.

And answered with the same seriousness she would use to discuss any military matter:

"Don’t call him a child. I’m sure he’s fucked you so many times that you know perfectly well he’s an adult. Show your partner some respect."

The hall stopped.

Not completely.

But close enough.

Dahlia froze mid-motion.

Liora widened her eyes.

Liria opened her mouth.

Mirella turned her head.

Even Chysis lost control of one of the needles for half a second.

Rakshasa went still.

Victor stared at Nera.

Nera took a grape from a nearby tray.

"What?"

The silence continued for a few more seconds.

Then a werewolf let out a groan of pain.

Another growled.

Reality returned.

Rakshasa slowly brought a hand to her face.

"I hate this little bastard."

Nera chewed the grape.

"Seven thousand years old."

"Exactly."

Victor merely shrugged.

His gaze moved toward the prisoners.

"You could just talk already."

No response.

Victor raised one hand.

A drop of blood appeared over his index finger, stretched out, and took the shape of a small nail, thin and perfectly straight.

Black Lightning began running across its surface.

Grace, standing a few meters away, recognized it immediately.

"Victor..."

He threw it.

The nail pierced one of the werewolves through the thigh.

In the next instant, black electricity exploded inside the leg.

The man arched his entire body.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

His muscles contracted uncontrollably as the lightning traveled only through the wounded limb, prevented from reaching the heart by Victor’s precise control.

He rested his face on his hand again.

"Talk already."

The werewolf was crying.

Victor pointed at Nera sitting on his lap.

"This is getting embarrassing."

Nera raised another grape.

"I’m comfortable."

"You aren’t the problem."

Rakshasa pointed at herself.

"I am?"

"Not you either."

"Then who?"

Victor indicated the six werewolves.

"Them. We’re at a ball. There’s music, food, a bunch of important people, and you’re all sitting there wasting everyone’s time."

Mirella laughed.

"Finally someone said it."

The werewolf leader raised his face.

Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

"You... don’t understand..."

Mirella immediately approached.

"Then explain."

He closed his eyes.

Chysis moved her fingers.

The man screamed as the internal needles touched nerves near his ribs.

"You won’t stop..."

Serafall, watching from farther away, became serious.

"Stop what?"

Silence.

Anette had also stopped pretending to be uninterested.

The leader breathed with difficulty.

"Blake... only needed to confirm..."

Mirella leaned closer.

"Confirm what?"

The man clenched his teeth.

Eleonora snapped her fingers.

His jaw was forced open again.

"None of that."

He breathed desperately.

"Location."

Serafall approached.

"Of what?"

The werewolf closed his eyes.

Dahlia watched his vital signs.

"He’s going to pass out."

Chysis artificially increased his blood flow.

"No, he isn’t."

The man cried again.

"The... vault."

The hall became quieter.

Serafall frowned.

"Which vault?"

No answer.

Eleonora increased gravity over his shoulder until the bone began to creak.

"WHICH ONE?"

"ZERO!"

The word came out with a scream.

Several expressions changed throughout the hall.

Victor noticed.

Chysis did not.

Serafall did.

Vlad, wherever he was hidden, probably did too.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

"Vault Zero?"

The leader realized too late that he had said too much.

Mirella smiled.

"Well, look at that."

Serafall walked up to him.

"What is inside Vault Zero?"

The man closed his mouth.

Eleonora did not allow it to remain closed.

"No."

He groaned.

Serafall stood in front of him.

"Blake entered the Palace to confirm the location of Vault Zero?"

A tiny movement in his eyes.

Natasha saw it.

"Yes."

Serafall continued.

"And you came to retrieve its contents."

Another movement.

"Yes again."

Victor looked at Chysis.

She was serious now.

Much more serious.

That finally awakened his real curiosity.

"What’s in there?"

Chysis did not answer immediately.

Anette was the one who spoke.

"Something that should not interest werewolves."

Victor looked at her.

The Princess had abandoned all of her childishly irritated demeanor from earlier.

She was watching the prisoners carefully.

Victor turned back to Chysis.

"That didn’t answer the question."

"Because it is not something to discuss in the middle of the hall."

Nera raised a hand.

"The torture can happen in the middle of the hall, but the contents of the vault are secret?"

Chysis looked at her.

"Yes."

"Strange."

"Welcome to politics."

Victor looked at the device on the table again.

Rowena spoke inside his mind.

’Victor.’

’Hm?’

’If they know where that vault is, someone told them.’

Victor slowly lost his smile.

’I thought the same thing.’

This was not merely an infiltration.

Someone had provided inside information.

And from the way Chysis and Serafall had reacted to the name Vault Zero, that information did not seem like the kind any ordinary soldier should know.

Victor picked up the device.

Now he definitely wanted to discover where that message had been sent.

Mirella clapped her hands once.

"Great. We have a name."

Dahlia smiled at the prisoners.

"Now we need to find out who told you."

All six werewolves went pale.

Nera took another grape.

"Is this part going to take long?"

Victor looked at her, still sitting on his lap.

"Probably."

"Great."

She settled in more comfortably, completely casual.

Rakshasa closed her eyes.

"I’m going to kill someone before this night ends."

Victor smiled.

"Just don’t kill the wolves."

"I wasn’t talking about them."

Nera kept eating as though she had not heard.

And in the center of the hall, while the music began playing again and six prisoners started to understand that revealing the name Vault Zero had only been the beginning, the Valentine Ball continued.

In a deeply vampiric way.