The Villainous Noble’s Father - Chapter 15

“One day, you’ll meet someone too. Someone so important, you’d give up anything for them. You won’t be able to think about anyone else. You’d do anything to have them, no hardship would stop you. Actually, you’ll stop even thinking of it as a hardship.”

That’s what Mother always told me. But back then, I didn’t really understand what she meant. She would smile mysteriously whenever she said it.

“Don’t worry,” she’d add. “You’re a daughter of the Sederholm family, after all.”

The House of Sederholm is a noble family passed down through the women. Most of our leaders have been women. It’s not forbidden for men to inherit, and some have, but somehow, it’s usually the women.

Actually, if I’m being honest, it’s not so strange.

We don’t talk about it much outside the family, but there’s a reason. Sederholm women have a tendency for obsessive, overwhelming love.

They literally go mad from love.

Looking back at our family’s history, the men they’ve fallen for have come from all walks of life.

Commoners, slaves, even non-humans. One of our ancestors even had a child with someone from the royal family, though they were never officially married. That connection is likely why our house holds such an unusually high title for our station.

Still, regardless of who he is, each Sederholm woman finds one person to love with complete, all-consuming devotion.

They have children with him, many children, even. But with anyone else? They react with disgust, like they’re poisonous. They won’t even let others touch them. This trait is… problematic for nobles.

Because we can’t marry off our daughters.

It’s fine if she happens to fall for a noble bachelor. But what if it’s a commoner, or a slave? Or worse, someone already married? That’s why we usually send the sons off to marry and make the love-mad daughters the heads of the family.

As long as the child is born from the head of the house, it doesn’t matter who the father is. Even if he’s another species, well… we nobles can usually deal with it.

And that’s how the strange legacy of the Sederholm family has continued all this time.

At first, I hated Master Leonard. We first met at his 10th birthday party, our family isn’t very social to begin with, and Mother has only made that worse.

Mother and my older sister both suffer from a rare condition, their skin blisters and burns horribly in sunlight. So out of concern for their health, I’ve always lived in the dim, shadowy halls of our estate. But then, one day, we received an invitation.

As antisocial as we are, we couldn’t very well turn down a party from one of our closest allies, the future head of House Finster.

Luckily, it was an evening party. That helped.

It was the first real social event for a nine-year-old me. I remember how excited I was as I stepped into the grand estate of the Finster family. I saw him for the first time sitting in the middle of a wide hall, looking completely bored.

Everyone around him was showering him with praise.

They said he’d written a paper impressive enough for a scholarly society. That he could best adults with swords or magic. They called him a genius. But he didn’t seem to care about any of it. With those cold, dark eyes of his, he simply replied that he still had a long way to go.

I felt a sharp stab of jealousy.

Born into a talented family, blessed with abilities that made everyone admire him, surrounded by light… and yet he didn’t value any of it.

And me? I was nothing. Ugly and pitiful in comparison.

The things he dismissed so easily were the very things I could never reach, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even talk to him that night. I left the party feeling humiliated.

For the next five years, I barely stepped foot outside, not even into our territory. I stayed in that shadowy house the whole time.

Then, about four months ago, Mother, pitying me, suggested I go learn proper manners as a guest of House Finster. I didn’t want to see Lord Leonard again, but I was tired of being trapped in that dark place. So I agreed.

But the Leonard I met five years later, was nothing like I remembered.

He had become a lazy, gluttonous pig, shouting over trivial things, living a disgusting life. And when I saw him like that, I felt a dark pleasure rise inside me.

Like stepping on untouched snow. Like destroying something beautiful just because you can. The dazzling boy who once stood so far above me had fallen into the shadows where I lived.

Just seeing that filled my filthy heart with wicked delight.

Yes! More! Fall further! Become even more wretched, even more pathetic, become a monster like me! I’ll do anything to make that happen!

But then… Leonard changed again. It was in that sunny garden gazebo where he apologized to me. Those black eyes looked at me, and only me.

“I’m sorry… about last time.”

He bowed his head, I didn’t know how to react.

Why? You already fell! You’re already as ruined as me!

“If it’ll help you feel better, you can hit me. As many times as you want. I really am sorry.”

Hit him? Me? Someone as dirty and ugly as me… raise a hand to him? No way. He may have fallen, but now he’s trying to rise again. And I’m still just wallowing here, in the dark. How could I ever strike someone like that?

That’s when I realized… I’d lost. I had no place here. It was time to leave. And strangely, when I made that decision, my heart felt a little lighter. I thought, if this is my last chance, I want to speak to him just once.

So I did. I talked about one of the few things I like, magical tools. And then… he hugged me.

“Ah, Yulia! My goddess! You’re amazing! Thanks to you, everything’s going to work out!”

I couldn’t make sense of it. My head was spinning. My heart was pounding.

Goddess? Me? Someone like me?

I didn’t understand his words, but a quiet, warm joy began to spread in my chest. Maybe that’s when Leonard broke me, or maybe he fixed something twisted inside me.

“Don’t worry,” Mother had said. “You’re a daughter of Sederholm.”

I remembered her words.

Ah… so this is what she meant. This is what she and the other women of our family felt.

As I watched Leonard run off, full of hope and excitement, I knew… I would give everything to him. If he moves forward, I’ll be the one to push him ahead. If he falls, I’ll fall with him, no matter how far. Right and wrong don’t matter.

The only thing that matters… is the way my heart beats for him.

Moonlight spilled over the Finster-Heréol family’s garden. It was a peaceful night, like the whole world had gone to sleep.

I was alone in that gazebo. There wasn’t really a reason. I just couldn’t sleep, and my feet carried me here, to the place where I became me.

Where Leonard held me.

I placed my hand on the gazebo’s pillar and smiled to myself.

“Leonard…”

Bang! A sharp sound rang out. I looked down.

My right arm… was gone.

“…Huh?”

Blood gushed like a broken faucet. I collapsed, not understanding what had just happened. My nightgown, the ground, everything was soaked in red. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

Oh… no. This is bad…

“If Leonard ever got seduced by a demon, I always figured… the demon would be someone close to him.”

A cold voice. I looked up with blurry vision… and saw glowing red eyes in the dark.

Master…!

“It just doesn’t add up. You kept pace with me earlier when I was fully in red-eye state. No human could ever do that.”

His merciless crimson eyes stared down at me.

No! No no no no no!!! The blood! I can’t hold back anymore!!

My own eyes turned red, deep and bright, like fresh blood. Power surged through me. Blood from my severed arm bubbled and twisted, instantly forming a new one. My fangs grew, cracking as they stretched.

And tonight… was a full moon. My blood was at its peak.

“Ah, I knew it… I knew it all along. You’re a high-ranking demon…”

Yes. I carry demon blood.

The blood of an ancient master of the night. An immortal creature hated by the sun. A monster feared even among demons…

“A vampire.”