Chapter 270: Trust or Safety?

"I would rather fight the monsters," Vlad pleaded, his eyes filled with desperation.

"This condition is placed by the academy to let you, their student, join the Purging Order," Lucas said, shrugging his shoulders as if he had no say in the matter.

Vlad’s pleading eyes shifted to Aldric.

"You have attended fewer than ten lectures since you joined the academy," Aldric stated, pressing the bridge of his glasses. "Although your growth is commendable, as the Vice Principal, I cannot turn a blind eye to your neglect of your studies. Arcane Academy doesn’t train brutes without knowledge."

At this point, Vlad had completely given up trying. He dragged a weary hand across his face when Aldric rubbed further salt into the wounds he had just inflicted.

"I recommend that you not waste any more time," Aldric suggested, a hidden smile concealed behind his calm facade. "The midterm theory exams are starting the day after tomorrow."

"WHATTT???" Vlad’s loud voice almost deafened Aldric and Lucas. "But I have been away on a mission for more than twenty days. Surely, the academy should give me some extra time to study."

"It wasn’t the academy that forced you to join the quest," Aldric stated matter-of-factly. "You joined of your own free will."

Vlad didn’t argue any further. He could tell just by the look on Aldric’s face that he wasn’t going to cut him any slack.

He decided not to waste any more of his time there and return to studying. But before that, there was something he needed to discuss.

"Uncle," Vlad called out to Lucas, turning toward him. "I need to talk to you about something in private."

Lucas exchanged a glance with Aldric. The latter understood and left the open grassland through the wooden door he had entered through.

---

"So, what is it you wanted to discuss?" Lucas asked, taking a sip from the water bottle in his hand.

The duo were sitting on the slope of the terrain, the cozy breeze gently sweeping their long hair backward.

"I can’t hide the matter about Excidus and the Purging Order from Sera," Vlad said firmly, his eyes fixed ahead.

Lucas didn’t seem surprised by Vlad’s declaration, as if he had already anticipated this conversation. He would have been more surprised if Vlad had agreed to keep it a secret from Seraphina. He listened to Vlad calmly as the latter continued, "She cares for me deeply. As my girlfriend, she has every right to know what I’m getting myself into. Moreover..."

He tightened his fists as he revealed, "Sera told me about her mother and the condition you set for her to learn the truth."

Lucas’s dark eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Seraphina to reveal this to Vlad. This only showed how much his daughter trusted Vlad.

"How heartbroken will she be if she finds out that the man she loves and has decided to trust deliberately kept the very secret hidden from her that she has been trying to uncover for so many years?"

Vlad looked straight into Lucas’s eyes and declared, "I’m sorry, Uncle, but I can’t break her trust."

Lucas didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Moments later, he released a long sigh. "I was right to trust you with my daughter."

Vlad blinked. He thought he might receive strong opposition from Lucas, but the latter seemed surprisingly calm.

"But I still cannot allow you to tell her anything," Lucas declared.

Vlad’s brows furrowed. His lips parted in defiance, but Lucas continued, "Do you know why I told Seraphina to keep her identity as a Vampire hidden and why it has never been publicly revealed that Carmilla and I were married?"

Vlad shook his head. He didn’t want to make any wild guesses.

Lucas’s eyes turned distant, holding immense grief that he had always kept buried deep within him. His voice carried a hint of a crack as he revealed,

"Twelve years ago, Carmilla sacrificed herself to prevent something that Excidus could only accomplish by using her. Or more accurately, by using the blood of the Royal Vampire. As the only vampire with royal blood, her sacrifice put a permanent stop to Excidus’s treacherous schemes."

He turned his head toward Vlad, gripping his shoulder tightly as he demanded, "What do you think will happen if Sera learns that Excidus caused the death of her mother?"

No words left Vlad’s mouth. After Carmilla’s death, Excidus believed that no more vampires with royal blood existed. But if they found out that Carmilla had an offspring, they would do anything to get their hands on her.

At the same time, if Seraphina learned that Excidus was behind her mother’s death, she would undoubtedly seek revenge and might expose her Royal Vampire lineage to them. The fact that Carmilla Vesper, a Hero who had fought and slain dragons, had been forced into a position where she had to sacrifice herself was proof enough of how dangerous it would be if Seraphina’s true identity were revealed.

Vlad tightened his fists, feeling deeply conflicted. Her trust or her safety. It was a cruel choice.

Lucas patted his back and stated confidently, "I know that you will not do anything that will endanger her life."

Vlad’s lips parted, but no words left his mouth. Lucas rose from the ground and muttered as he stretched his arms, "Now I need to get back to training before that old hag decides to punish me for slacking off."

The memory of when he went to Lirien to report Vlad’s return from the Forest of Death was still fresh in his mind. Initially, she had seemed so relieved and happy that Lucas saw tears forming in her eyes. But when he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, her eyes were completely dry.

When he asked if she had just been crying, Lirien became so furious that she made him kowtow ten thousand times, which was the reason for his reddened forehead when he went to meet Seraphina in her room the next morning.

"Hah! As if that heartless old hag would cry for anyone," Lucas scoffed, tying the rope around his waist and beginning his training again. Only a hundred kilometres of dragging this boulder remained before he could finally return home.

As for Vlad, he remained seated in his spot for a few more minutes before taking his leave from the grassland.

He reached the office from where he had entered and moved through the exit door absentmindedly.

The next moment, he found himself standing on the roof of the main building, the pillar of bright light vanishing around him.

"Vlad~" Two arms gently wrapped around his waist from behind.

Vlad’s eyes rose upon hearing the familiar, soft voice of Seraphina.