The Matriarch led Irina, Lilith and me back into the bungalow, or at least, what remained of it, and sat comfortably on the lead chair in the living room. Irina sat to my right while Lilith monopolised my left. Both of them were close enough that I could take a whiff of their equally alluring yet distinct fragrances.

Irina, who didn’t get a chance to shower before Lilith came barging in, still reeked of the built-up lust that I’d unleashed over a period of a few days. However, her unique, floral womanly aroma was still ever-present.

Lilith, on the other hand, had a fresh, citrusy fragrance. Her distinct aroma reminded me of the first bloom of Spring, as with every passing whiff, her allure exponentially grew. Perhaps it was the resonance of our souls, but I felt the same way that I did when I’d met Irina for the first time.

But unlike Irina, I didn’t feel a brotherly bond with the young woman. Far from that, in fact. The best way that I could describe my current emotions to her… Was from the fact that my heart beats faster just by taking in her smell.

It was odd…

I didn’t think that I would feel this way with another woman. I’d always thought that I was the kind of man to be faithful to one person.

Was this because of the souls within my body? Or was it because of my past relationships with the four women, two of whom I can’t even remember right now?

Honestly, that question wasn’t important right now. The more pressing issue was the white-haired ancient Vampire that sat before the three of us.

“Princess of the Moonreaver House. Would you mind explaining yourself?”

Matriarch Innocence smiled at Lilith, her lips clearly raised and her eyes shining brightly. But, even though there wasn’t any magic power added, and neither was there any hint of hostility, that one line sent a shiver down my spine. And Lilith should be no different. At least, that was what I’d thought.

“Matriarch Innocence, I apologise for showing up in your estate unannounced. The Moonreaver House tried contacting the Everwinter Estate multiple times, and our requests for a teleportation transfer had been rejected multiple times.”

“So, are you saying that it’s our fault?”

“Of course not! The Everwinter House has every right to deny our correspondence, however…”

The blonde beauty didn’t even falter for a second as she faced the five-thousand-year-old Vampire’s pressure face on. Rather, she smiled under the Matriarch’s influence, not once betraying her image of a flawless character.

“I have every right to search for my Bloodmate. Even if it means breaching the Everwinter’s defence by my own power.”_-.

“Hoho…”

The Matriarch blinked, somewhat taken aback by Lilith’s confidence. No, it was better to say that she was genuinely impressed. How many Vampires, let alone young Vampires such as Lilith, would dare stand up to her? No, come to think of it, I stood up to her once?

“You’re right. You aren’t a True Vampire if you don’t fight for what you want.” The Matriarch chuckled a little, unbecoming of her grandma’s status. But that innocent giggle soon turned into a fear-inducing snarl.

“Still, do you expect me to believe that a mere twenty-five-year-old Vampire managed to bypass all of our defensive barriers? We may not be as skilled as the Moonreaver House regarding dimensional and spatial magic, but the Everwinter House is still an ancient House. We don’t just allow brats to squirrel in undetected.”

The pressure from the Matriarch mounted, this time on all of us. It felt like the ancient Vampire was truly enraged now.

“Tell me, which one of your Elders helped you? Or is it your air-headed brother? If you tell me honestly, I won’t pursue your transgressions.”

But the person who assisted her wouldn’t be spared… Everyone, including Lilith, got the hidden message behind the Matriarch’s words. Although she was angry at the young beauty, it was unbecoming for a five-thousand-year-old monolith to seek revenge on a mere girl. No, judging by their ages, Lilith was a mere fetus, nay, sperm cell in her eyes.

Even if the Matriarch was in the right to punish her, no one in upper society would look fondly if one of the strongest Vampires in the world kills a mere upstart.

However, contrary to the Matriarch’s expectations, Lilith came back with an incomprehensible answer.

“No one helped me. I teleported to the Everwinter House through my own power.”

“… Girl, I don’t appreciate liars.”

“I’m not lying!”

Lilith pounded her chest and raised her chin in pride.

“So you’re saying that a mere twenty-five-year-old girl managed to find our exact coordinates within the Mist of Confusion, breach the spatial barrier we’d set up, bypass the jamming magic barriers, break through the teleportation restriction and teleport here all on her own?”

“That’s right!”

At this point, I was even impressed. I knew that the Everwinter House was heavily guarded, judging by the fact that no one had even attempted to raid the Vampire Nobles. But hearing it all laid out by the Matriarch made me gape in awe. No one in their right mind, even if they had an army of professors, magical researchers and barrier or spatial magicians, would even attempt to break into the Everwinter House.

And yet, this girl managed to do so.

“Give me a satisfactory answer, Princess of the Moonreaver House.”

“It’s actually quite simple, actually.”

Lilith folded her arms in akimbo and pivoted her eyes towards me.

“Fifteen years ago, due to an unfortunate incident, I was forced to split a quarter of my soul into my Bloodmate’s body. Ever since then, I was able to always coordinate his exact location, even if he was three thousand metres in the sky or ten thousand metres in the Earth’s crust.”

Wait… So I had a tracking device this entire time? Irina’s quirks aside, this Lilith seemed to be even more extreme…

“And so, even though he’s inside the Everwinter House, I could always pinpoint his exact coordinates.”

“I see; that explains how you could bypass the Mist of Confusion and teleportation restriction.”

Teleportation was complex magic. Particularly teleportation across vast distances. Usually, one would need a portal, an established link of sorts, for teleportation across those large distances to occur. And from what I understood, the Everwinter House had that link to help them move to each one of the Ten Guardian Houses.

That was what the Matriarch meant by bypassing the Mist of Confusion and teleportation restriction. The Mist of Confusion hid the Everwinter Estate’s coordinates from magical entities while the teleportation restriction prevented anyone from the other Vampire Houses from using the teleportation portals.

But Lilith didn’t need that portal; rather, by using me as a coordinate, she managed to teleport here all on her own.

“But that doesn’t explain how you breached the spatial barriers or bypassed the magic jamming protections.”

If all that was needed to breach the Everwinter defences was the ability to have a coordinate, then the enemies of this ancient Vampire House would have used this loophole aeons ago. They could have had an insider do the job or simply send a gift with a magical signal.

“That was the tricky part and the reason why I came so late… Somebody rushed to bring Jin here as soon as she could, and that really messed with my plan.”

Lilith glared at Irina, who looked away and failed to whistle.

Cute…

Both of them are so damned cute. Lilith’s face that seemed scrunched up like an indignant squirrel, and Irina’s adorable attempt to ignore the subject. I can’t help but feel that they behaved like sisters who had known each other for the longest time.

No, no, no! Focus, Jin!

“To bypass your defences, I had to research many books to find out which vulnerabilities your protection had. There weren’t many, and those weaknesses were so insignificant that it’s hard for anyone to take advantage of. But little by little, I sent my magic power through those small holes and attempted to establish a link with my soul within Jin’s body.”

“And once you managed to do that, you could teleport to where the boy was…”

The Matriarch finished Lilith’s explanation for her. The blonde beauty nodded and continued:

“That’s right. I was fortunate, for some reason, Jin’s soul became even stronger, and our link was established yesterday night. After a few hours of trial and error, I finally managed to conduct the teleportation.”

“I see, so this is a rarity among rarities.”

“That’s right.”

The Matriarch fell into a thoughtful position. It made sense for the leader of the House to worry about the vulnerabilities in their defences, particularly since it was done by a mere youngling that she wouldn’t spare a second glance at. But now that she knew that it was a one-off thing…

“HAHAHAHA!!! What a pity! Hah, if only Irina had half the brains you had!”

“!!!”

Irina jerked at her grandmother’s words, and it felt like she was ready to rebut at any moment, but the Matriarch didn’t give her a chance to continue.

“The Moonreaver House sure is fortunate! I now realise why you’re called a generational prodigy!”

“You’re flattering me.”

Lilith accepted the Matriarch’s praise with a smile.

“However, the fact still remains that you’ve trespassed my Estate… Not even your brother, that wet-nosed brat, can enter the Everwinter Estate as and when he wants. And for you to do so without my permission…”

The Matriarch wrapped her hands around each other, her eyes deeply glaring at the woman who had breached her defences. Even if she was impressed by Lilith, it was an undeniable truth that the girl was in the wrong. Hell, since they were two separate Vampire Guardian Houses, Lilith’s teleportation could be taken as an act of war.

Even if the Matriarch won’t kill her, something had to be done for the Everwinter House to retain its image.

“How about this? I shan’t pursue this issue if you do something for me.”

“… What is it?”

“Oh, don’t be so cautious! I won’t ask you to do something difficult!”

The Matriarch paused and alternated her eyes between the three of us. Most of the time, her gaze remained on the white-haired girl seated to my right.

“That final attack you used on Irina just now was a domain, right?”

“Yes…”

“For such a Vampire to possess a domain at that age, you sure are impressive!”

“Yes…”

“And I heard that the Moonreaver House had gifted you a dimensional domain, one that could help talented Vampires develop their domain at a faster rate!”

“… yes.”

At this point, even I could guess what the Matriarch wanted. Lilith was talented, so much so that she seemed to impress the five-thousand-year-old Vampire. But one of the reasons that Lilith had reached her level of power was due to the backing she’d got from her House. And that included all of the material gains that were provided to her.

And if my hypothesis was right…

“Let Irina train in that dimensional domain! If you do that, your breach on our Estate will be just a bygone memory.”

“…”

Lilith stayed silent for a moment. I didn’t know how precious a dimensional domain was but based on the words that were exchanged thus far, I could tell that it wasn’t something that was easily given over. Particularly to a rival Vampire House’s talent.

There might be backlash from her House, her supporters, and maybe the fallouts would have made Lilith lose her standing. But contrary to all of my guesses, the girl was more concerned about something else.

“… If I agree to those terms, will you return my Bloodmate to me?”

“!!!”

Both Irina and I snapped our heads to look at the girl. My eyes were filled with astonishment, while Irina’s were burning with hatred.

The Matriarch, clearly amused by the whole situation, simply laughed and replied:

“I don’t have rights over him, so I can’t do that. But…” The ancient Vampire’s sinister smile brushed past Irina and me. “I won’t interfere with your love. You can take that boy with you back to the Moonreaver Dimension. And if you manage to steal him away from Irina, I shall give my blessings.”

“Deal!”

The two Vampires, one twenty-five and one five-thousand years old, came to an agreement with a smile on their faces. I was flabbergasted while Irina seemed to be on the verge of apoplexy.

And somehow… Without me knowing… My next destination had already been confirmed.