Chapter 13: The Blood Banquet (1)
Left alone, Leotiz sat quietly in a corner of the hall, applying an ice compress.
As expected, the swelling had gone down and most of the pain had disappeared thanks to the treatment.
It was all thanks to Camula’s quick first aid.
Since she wasn’t here anymore, there was no real reason for him to stay, so Leotiz decided to return to his room.
Just then, a servant approached him.
“Lady Camula requests your presence in the rear garden.”
After delivering only that message, the servant disappeared into the crowd.
At first, Leotiz wondered why she had called him there, but the thought that something might have happened to her made him leave the hall quickly.
The ritual chamber was circular, with tiered walls surrounding it like an amphitheater.
As soon as Camula entered, the first things she noticed were the magic circle drawn in the center and the chalice said to have been passed down since ancient times.
Glancing around, she saw servants in robes standing at regular intervals along the steps.
The elders, also dressed in pitch-black robes, stood silently on both sides of the chalice.
The room was far quieter than she had expected.
The suffocating silence, where even breathing seemed absent, made Camula unconsciously hold her breath.
She felt tense, but in truth, the ritual itself was not particularly special.
Carefully, step by step, Camula walked forward and stopped before the magic circle holding the chalice.
Then she knelt before it.
Once everything was ready, one of the elders nodded, and a servant at the very top of the stairs placed his finger into a groove in a nearby pillar and opened a hidden panel, pulling a handle inside.
A mechanical sound echoed.
Soon, the ceiling opened, allowing moonlight to pour in.
A crimson moon hung in the sky, as if stained with blood.
All the vampires in the room bowed toward the red moon simultaneously.
The moon was the guardian deity of all monsters.
Even arrogant vampires were no exception.
After the bow, someone stepped out from behind the chalice.
Though his face was hidden by a hood, Camula knew who it was.
It was Blood.
Blood lifted the chalice and held it up to receive the falling moonlight.
Then, a red droplet suddenly formed in midair and fell into the chalice.
The droplet created a small ripple, and soon the previously empty chalice filled with red liquid.
Blood handed it to Camula.
“Drink. This is the blood of the Red Moon’s blessing granted to our clan.”
By drinking the blood, one would receive the blessing throughout their body and have the true name granted by the Red Moon engraved within them.
Camula accepted the chalice.
She hesitated for about a second, then drank it.
The blood slowly flowed down her throat.
At that moment—
“Ugh!”
Camula dropped the chalice, clutching her throat before collapsing.
It feels like burning.
It was like the first time she drank Leotiz’s blood—no, more than twice as painful.
An intense agony traveled down her throat and spread through her entire body.
It felt as if she were inside a fire.
As if every cell in her body were being destroyed.
Her body felt like it was drying out, as if all the blood inside her might drain away.
Camula curled herself tightly.
“AAAAH!”
But the unbearable pain forced her body to arch, and a scream burst out.
Her crimson eyes glowed brightly, while the whites turned black.
Strange characters resembling thorny vines appeared across her hands, neck, and face.
It hurts too much.
It hurt so much she felt she might go insane.
Then a low voice whispered into her ear.
“The Moon’s blood will replace all the blood in your body. Then you will be reborn as a true pureblood vampire.”
“This is a privilege and blessing granted only to vampires.”
Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!
At that moment, Camula hated Blood’s whispering voice more than the pain itself.
After several minutes, the burning agony suddenly vanished as if it had been a lie.
It disappeared so completely she could hardly believe she had been writhing in pain moments before.
“Haa… haa…”
As she caught her breath, the elders suddenly helped her to her feet.
Then they presented something before her.
A red book tightly bound in chains.
Its crimson cover and ornate decorations contrasted with the heavy chains sealing it, and it radiated an ominous aura.
It was the grimoire containing the true names of vampires, passed down from ancient times alongside the chalice.
By writing Camula’s true name in this book, her coming-of-age ceremony would finally be complete.
Only the Lord or a vampire of comparable strength could unseal and possess the grimoire.
Normally it should be kept in the Lord’s castle, but since there was no Lord, Blood was currently the only one capable of unsealing it.
Thus, it had been kept in House Tepes instead.
When Blood placed his hand on the book, the chains loosened and the pages began flipping on their own.
Pages filled with the true names of purebloods throughout history passed quickly until they slowed and stopped at the last entry.
Blood pricked Camula’s fingertip and dropped a single drop of blood onto the page.
The droplet wriggled before forming bright red letters on the black paper.
“This is…”
“Lady Camula’s true name,” one of the elders said.
As Camula traced the letters and was about to read it aloud, the elders stopped her.
“Why?”
“No one must learn a pureblood’s true name carelessly.”
“A true name is equivalent to one’s life.”
“Only the owner or their descendants may read it.”
“I see.”
Indeed, she could read others’ names, but for some reason she couldn’t read the true names beside them.
Later she learned it was the power of the grimoire.
True names were written in an ancient language now lost.
Only the owner could read it—not through understanding, but through instinct.
But Pietro is right above mine.
Since the ceremony followed birth order, she had expected Lamia to be next after Pietro.
Did I misremember?
Anyway, just finishing this dreadful ceremony made her feel relieved.
“Congratulations on becoming a true adult, Lady Camula.”
“Congratulations, Lady Camula.”
As the elders offered their congratulations, Blood approached holding something.
“Camula, this is your coming-of-age gift.”
It was a sword.
Beautifully crafted and powerful in presence.
The ruby embedded in the hilt was especially striking.
She didn’t particularly want it, but with so many watching, she had no choice but to accept it.
But as soon as she saw the emblem on the scabbard, she flinched.
A blood-stained lily.
The crest of House Lillith.
This can’t be…
She glanced up.
Blood was smiling strangely.
No.
It wasn’t strange.
It was a smile of victory.
Camula tightened her grip.
Stay calm. Don’t be shaken.
If she showed emotion, she would lose.
“Do you recognize it? It was your father’s sword. Damian won many battles with it.”
“How did this…”
“Before he left, he entrusted it to me. He asked his old friend to give it to you when you came of age.”
The words flowed too smoothly.
Entrusted? What a joke.
Anyone else might believe it.
But she knew.
On the day the flames consumed the castle—
That sword had been there.
To disguise plunder as a request.
This wasn’t a gift.
It was a warning.
A final warning that if she rebelled, she would share her father’s fate.
Calling this a gift…
Suppressing her anger, she expressed thanks.
“Thank you. Since everything is finished, may I leave now?”
More than her anger, she was worried about Leotiz, whom she had left alone.
She wanted to leave immediately.
But Blood stopped her.
“No. It’s not finished yet.”
“What?”
“There is still an important step remaining.”
Step?
Camula frowned.
Blood continued calmly.
“Now that you are officially part of our clan, you must learn your duties.”
Duties?
No…
Her crimson eyes widened.
“As a pureblood, your duty is to continue the pure bloodline.”
A sense of dread crept over her.
“So we must confirm whether you are prepared to fulfill that duty. That is the final step of this ceremony.”
Blood snapped his fingers.
The tightly shut doors opened and servants rushed in.
An older maid stepped forward.
“By special request of His Highness Tepes, and according to the ancient blood oath of our clan, we will now conduct a chastity examination.”
Camula’s eyes slowly widened.
Fear filled them.
Arriving at the rear garden, Leotiz searched for Camula.
But she was nowhere to be seen.
Just as he began to wonder if he had come to the wrong place—
Something suddenly flew past him.
Thunk!
A dagger lodged itself into a tree.
Turning toward where it came from, Leotiz saw masked attackers emerging from the bushes.
“Hah… what are these now?”
Just as he felt things were going wrong—
The attackers charged him all at once, swinging their swords.
