Chapter 289: First Steward of House Arcelis.

"...they call this a House?

Someone needs to give them basic English lessons."

Lucian spoke as he stared at whatever rich-people thing he was seeing, Garrick standing beside him looked impressed as well. Though, of course, he was much calmer.

"The name is historical."

"They need to update it."

"To what?"

"Nation."

That made Garrick chuckle.

"You haven’t seen the truly great Vampire Houses yet."

"This doesn’t qualify!?"

Lucian couldn’t believe it.

Garrick only looked at him with a smile.

"Arcelis is ancient and wealthy."

He took a small pause, looking at the estate he was standing in.

"But age and wealth aren’t the same as power."

Those words made Lucian think of Silvian and the House Veyr he belonged to.

If a ’not so powerful’ House looked like this, what did House Veyr look like?

Lucian couldn’t even imagine it.

’Whatever.’

In the end, he stopped imagining completely, he just returned to his car with Garrick, this time, Arcelis guards joined them.

The convoy moved and as they drove deeper into the compound, Lucian saw even more Humans.

A lot more, actually.

Gardeners, drivers, servants, administrative staff. Some wore ordinary uniforms, others wore specific collars, bracelets or markings, some laughed freely with the Vampires around them, some kept their heads lowered, some looked so wealthy that calling them servants seemed ridiculous.

Clearly, there were different kinds of relationships here.

Employment, dependence, affection, ownership, all of this was mixed together. Lucian watched it all with... a strange look on his face.

"I expected there to be... more Vampires in a Vampire Estate."

Garrick chuckled at that.

"Ancient Houses don’t survive for thousands of years because they personally handle everything. They have other people do more than half of the things here."

"Why humans though?"

Lucian asked with a curious look on his face.

He hadn’t seen any of the other supernatural races here till now.

"We are the most available."

Garrick shrugged.

"And the cheapest."

Lucian did not like the sound of that.

But he could see it as well, out of all the races, Humans could reproduce the fastest, it was one of Humanity’s strengths, something that had kept them alive despite having the greatest disadvantage.

So yes, he could see humans being the cheapest.

Though he still hated it.

Garrick could see that and he started explaining how things worked.

"Arcelis has existed in this land longer than the nation that it’s now part of. They have practically shaped Human Society here.

The Arcelis Vampires aren’t just powerful supernatural beings hiding amongst the people here. They have a proper history, infrastructure, money and political influence.

Entire generations of Humans have lived and died while serving these people."

Lucian nodded at those words.

He understood that Arcelis didn’t actually have to ’buy’ humans, humans simply worked for them since this was the place they were born in.

He also understood how that fact made removing a House like Arcelis practically impossible. It wasn’t just about killing a few Vampires, this place’s entire structure existed around them, with them gone—

The place would turn into a giant mess.

That gave him some insight as to why the Enclave dealt with such powers politically rather than simply hunting everything down. Of course, their strength played a major role in that as well, the Enclave didn’t exactly have the strength to take down all of House Arcelis.

Lucian shook his head, he kept staring out the window as the convoy moved and soon, they were near the centre.

Lucian stared at the central building, he saw it from far away, but now that he was seeing it up close, something seemed... odd.

The difference between various sections of the building was... quite distinct.

Anyone with an eye could easily sort them from the oldest to the newest ones. The oldest portions were made from dark grey stone, they had tall windows, carved pillars and narrow towers, giving them the appearance of an old European castle.

Then there were the newer wings.

Larger windows, modern lighting, glass corridors, even an underground vehicle entrance wide enough for several cars to move through at once.

"I expected more commitment."

Lucian commented with a disappointed look on his face.

"To what?"

Garrick glanced at him with a curious look on his face.

"The aesthetic."

Lucian shook his head.

"You cannot spend thousands of years building a terrifying ancient Vampire castle and then attach a modern conference centre to it."

"I’ll make sure to submit your complaint."

Garrick chuckled.

"Please do."

And Lucian nodded.

He was very serious when it came to aesthetics.

Soon, the vehicles slowed.

Lucian looked outside and saw several Arcelis attendants already waiting near the entrance.

By now, Varek was already separated from them, the Null Cradle and the Enclave team responsible for it had been redirected towards another section of the estate.

Now only Lucian, Garrick and a smaller Enclave escort continued towards the main residence.

When the cars finally stopped, Garrick stepped out first, Lucian followed and the moment he did—

He glanced at the attendants.

Seven Vampires in total.

Four looked like attendants or guards, two wore formal black clothing bearing the Arcelis crest, and standing at the centre was an older-looking man.

He had dark brown hair that had begun to show a little grey, pale skin, deep crimson eyes and was wearing a dark wine-coloured suit beneath a long black coat.

Lucian looked at him.

Strong.

He was quite strong as well.

Just... how many people of this level was he going to meet?

It was... terrifyingly interesting.

The man stepped forward once Lucian and Garrick were close enough.

"Warden Vale."

He showed a formal smile.

"House Arcelis welcomes you."

"Lord Hadrian."

Garrick returned the greeting.

Lucian noted that Garrick knew the Vampire, that meant he was important. That would explain his strength.

Lucian studied the Vampire carefully and surprisingly, the Vampire was doing the same.

"So this is Lucian Cross."

Lucian seemed surprised by the sudden attention. Still, he showed a light, respectful smile as he bowed.

"Lord Arcelis."

"Hadrian Arcelis."

The Vampire introduced himself.

"First Steward of House Arcelis."

And Lucian—

He wanted to announce his title as well.

Would Mother of Dragons work here?