The First Vampire

Inwardly, Colin wondered. Out of those he had made acquaintances with, only Duke St. Gregorian came to mind. Her attitude towards Anna was somewhat strange, which might serve as a breakthrough point to try and change her stance…

But Colin fully understood the difficulty of this.

Duke St. Gregorian had just suffered a heavy blow from the fall of the Westlands, and the direct culprit behind this tragedy was Marquis Garcia.

It was unclear whether Duke St. Gregorian would vent anger at Colin as a result.

As for the other two Holy Knights… Prince Lexie was nothing to Colin, and as for Mr. Ji, well, Colin would rather avoid him at all costs.

Wait!

Colin suddenly realized that he no longer had to avoid Mr. Ji.

On the contrary, now that he had a Holy Warrior blood slave, Colin could even use himself as bait to ambush Mr. Ji.

If this strategy could succeed, the crisis at Storm Fortress would naturally be resolved!

But the question was, after the last failed attempt to assassinate him, would Mr. Ji come to kill him again?

Moreover, Mr. Ji clearly had a more important plan at Storm Fortress this time and might not be distracted by Colin. If this were the case, how could he lure Mr. Ji to come to kill him?

Colin fell into deep thought.

Scholar Yerug mistook Colin’s problem-solving for pondering how to persuade the three Holy Knights and said:

“Count Angler, I will ask Duke St. Rands to personally persuade Prince Lexie himself. They are related by marriage, so it might work.”

Hearing this, Colin remembered that Prince Lexie’s wife was indeed the legitimate daughter of the St. Rands family, which meant Duke St. Rands and Prince Lexie could indeed form a connection.

However, his focus was elsewhere at this point. He smiled and nodded in response, saying:

“Good, I will also try to persuade Duke St. Gregorian.”

“Great, then I shall take my leave first. Should there be any progress, feel free to contact me at any time.”

After saying this, Scholar Yerug hastily left.

After a moment’s hesitation, Colin inquired a guard about the location of Duke St. Gregorian’s room and then headed there.

He hadn’t figured out how to set a trap for Mr. Ji yet, so he decided to meet Duke St. Gregorian first.

While not very hopeful, if he could actually persuade Duke St. Gregorian, and if the Duke of the South Border succeeded in dissuading Prince Lexie, the crisis at Storm Fortress would naturally be resolved.

As he walked down the quiet hallway, Colin remembered Queen Midela’s inscrutable demeanor.

Colin always felt that the Empress was plotting something, and it’s very possible that Mr. Ji was a helper she had found this time.

After all, Mr. Ji has had connections with the Queen for a long time.

When Emperor Reinhardt turned a blind eye to Mr. Ji stirring up the North Territory and, with Mr. Ji’s help, successfully expelled Prince Lexie in exchange, the real string-puller should have been Queen Midela.

Emperor Reinhardt simply didn’t have such a mind.

Hence, this time, the plan to sacrifice the Storm Fortress could very likely be a joint scheme between Queen Midela and Mr. Ji.

Recalling how Queen Midela persuaded Marquis Garcia to leave and consistently teased and enticed him to cooperate with her, Colin increasingly felt that this dangerous woman must be plotting a shocking conspiracy!

So… should he go probe the queen first?

Colin stopped in his tracks.

After hesitating for a moment, Colin shook his head and continued walking.

No, he wouldn’t go.

Queen Midela was too cunning, and he wouldn’t be able to probe anything from her. Colin felt that the most important way for him to break the current situation was not to be led by the nose by her.

He must have his own course of action.

In the midst of his thoughts, Colin arrived before a crimson wooden door.

“I am Colin Angler of the North Territory, is Duke St. Gregorian here?” Colin asked the knight standing at the door.

The Westland Knight gave Colin a complex look but nodded nonetheless, saying:

“The Duke is in her room, I’ll announce you, please wait.”

“Thank you.” Colin didn’t know this Westland Knight well, but he felt that the look in his eyes was somewhat strange.

Soon, the Westland Knight returned and said:

“Count Angler, the Duke invites you in.”

Colin nodded at the Westland Knight and then entered the room.

The room was not overly spacious, the windows tightly shut, blocking out the sunlight.

The air was dense with the smell of herbs along with a faint scent of blood.

“Count Angler, I didn’t expect you to have the nerve to come see me.” Duke St. Gregorian was wearing a white velvet shirt, leaning back on a sofa.

Her face was ghastly pale, her breaths uneven, with faint traces of blood on her face.

“Your wound… it’s not serious, is it?” Colin asked awkwardly.

Duke St. Gregorian’s gaze made him somewhat uncomfortable, because, after all, the fall of the Westlands and her injury were both partially Marquis Garcia’s responsibility.

“I’m fine.” Duke St. Gregorian replied flatly, then quickly changed the subject, asking Colin a question that caught him off guard,

“Did you use the Mistletoe?”

Colin’s pupils contracted sharply, he almost thought Duke St. Gregorian had known all along the real use of the Mistletoe for him.

But he quickly realized he had thought too much.

Duke St. Gregorian was clearly asking if he had used the Mistletoe for reproduction…