Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Chapter 71

Rowland bowed, "Regardless, I am deeply honored and fortunate to have the master’s return fall during my lifetime. My Lord is always welcome in his own home."

Ruoxi right away rose to his feet when it was completely confirmed that this was indeed one of Dulce’s estates. "This is a far better sight than that dreary manor and uninspired castle. I’m going to have a look around." He announced, his gold eyes crinkling with glee as he drifted out of the room.

"Have four rooms prepared for tonight," Dulce directed, unaware of the chilly looks his words elicited. "And a large carriage."

"Right away, my lord." Rowland’s daughter was the one to respond, she marched out with straight shoulders to do as she was bidden.

"Amelia is the current butler, my role is to merely provide guidance." Rowland explained, carefully laying the sheet over the painting.

Dulce took this information in stride rising to his feet, he needed to return to the castle to collect the Hellhound he had left behind. "Can I have a look at my estate?"

"Certainly. Records have been meticulously kept, detailed ledgers that hold every transaction no matter how minor. There is also a backlog of letters addressed to Lord Montesserat."

Kath’tan thought of over a thousand years’ worth of documents, grimacing on his behalf. "It’ll take you forever to go through them."

"I’ll sort that out when I return," He said calmly, going through documents to find out how much wealth he had left in the manor sounded like a rather pleasant way to spend his night.

"I’ll come with you to the castle," Asael rose to his feet as well.

It was easy to see that whenever they directly made a request of the Vampire, he rarely turned them down, it had all the makings of a bad habit.

"Will you be having dinner tonight, my Lord?" Rowland asked of him, standing silently next to the silhouette of the covered painting.

"Yes. Have dinner prepared for my four companions and me." He agreed, starting for the door with Asael in tow.

Kath’tan didn’t so much as glance over when they left, staring out into the garden of roses. The manor was so lavish that it wouldn’t be unlikely if it owned enough money to outbid his father.

His lips turned down at the corners, the longer he was bound by contract to Dulce, the less he found he had to offer the Vampire. Even the shameless Incubus had his charms, in comparison, he was equally penniless and also bad-tempered.

He rose to his feet but it wasn’t to accompany them, Rowland, the old butler bowing to him as he walked out. Instead, he went exploring but with a different motive from the air-headed Incubus drawn to frivolous things.

After wandering down the umpteenth hallway without making much progress, Kath’tan had a deep scowl on his face. He had passed several servants at the start of his exploration but he ignored them, intending to do his findings on his own. Now that he needed the veritable help of a servant, they had all made themselves scarce.

At the next intersection, he bumped into the old butler’s granddaughter. "Does the manor contain an armory?" He asked directly, at the end of his patience.

"It indeed does," The lady butler curtsied politely to him. "Would you like me to lead you to it?"

"Yes." He replied shortly, not expecting much.

Despite the increased strength being a Vampire imbued him with, Dulce was completely uninterested in exacting violence. He didn’t expect the armory to consist of much, pleasantly surprised to find that the manor even had one.

The butler led him down more winding hallways, finally stopping in front of two unassuming doors. "Behind these doors is the armory." She explained, gesturing at the doors.

Kath’tan didn’t wait for her to go into more details, stepping forward to push open the doors. It opened into an indoor training ground, the sheer size of the room difficult to comprehend.

"That door leads to the arsenal, as well as that door." The butler pointed out two doors on opposite sides of the main room.

"Was your master a fan of weapons?" Kath’tan blurted out, stunned by his discovery.

"Truthfully, I couldn’t tell you. No one remembers much of what the master was like, not even my grandpa, much less me."

Kath’tan fell silent, still unable to see Dulce showing interest in weaponry. The most interest the Vampire had was the silver blade he used in his summons, one that he hadn’t hesitated to use to skin wild rabbits for the roast.

"Are you just looking or would you like a sparring partner, good sir?" Amelia asked, patiently attending to him.

"I’m merely having a look." Kath’tan said, stepping into the room. "Have someone sent to retrieve me when Dulce returns." He said shortly, walking in.

The one thing he did have was his fighting prowess but even that had little use, each Demon summoned after him stronger than the next. But unfair odds had always been Kath’tan’s lot in life.

If he couldn’t offer Dulce anything of use, then he could grow stronger and lend him his strength. It was the least he could do for the Vampire that had paid off his death debt.

Kath’tan walked around the training room, it was not unlike the facilities present in Threnval. He was well familiar with it because no one wanted to spar with a bastard and they made their stance very loudly known.

His father also didn’t care to teach him the basics of fighting, he had barely been educated. Tossed to a scowling nanny from birth and then ignored. He had taught himself to fight, so his methods were rather unorthodox.

Kath’tan walked to the training dummies, looking at them approvingly, they were made of solid metal. Clearly, the training armory had been built for one with great strength, it was difficult to believe that Dulce never used it.

He walked around with an expression close to a smile on his face. The armory was familiar, it was a place that held a lot of pleasant memories for him.