My Blood Legacy: Reincarnated as a Vampire

"How are things around here?" Dante asked as he walked alongside Morgana, his hand intertwined with hers.

Alice, the Queen of Witches, led the way with firm and assured steps, leaving traces of magic in her wake—a subtle, invisible aura that every witch in proximity could immediately feel. The witches they passed bowed in respect, some murmuring quiet words of reverence.

"As always," Alice replied without glancing back, her voice soft yet brimming with authority. Your next chapter awaits on empire

"We issued an alert, monitoring the entire kingdom for any trace of negative energy, as you instructed after the last meeting." She paused briefly, and Dante noticed her eyes were slightly closed, as if she were sensing something beyond the physical realm.

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while," Dante began, his tone carrying an underlying weight. "But where is he?"

Alice stopped abruptly, her steps interrupted by the question. She knew exactly who Dante was referring to—the name hanging unspoken in the air between them. Letting out a faint exhale, almost like a sigh, she responded. Yet her voice carried an undertone Dante couldn't immediately place.

"He's training," she said with a calmness that didn't align with the gravity of the situation.

Dante, undeterred by the evasive answer, raised an eyebrow and pressed further. "I'm not talking about Musashi," he stated firmly, the seriousness in his eyes revealing that he wasn't asking aimlessly. "I can sense him from here. Where is Sasaki?"

An invisible tension filled the air. Morgana, walking beside Dante, squeezed his hand tightly, her gaze turning meaningful. He understood her immediately—she was silently warning him, her slight shake of the head urging him to let the matter rest.

But Alice, fully aware of what Dante was getting at, didn't reply right away. She resumed walking, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the stone corridor. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, laced with an unexpected melancholy.

"He likely died in one of the rifts he created with that damned dimensional slash he used to wield," she said distantly, as though recalling something painful. "I'm not certain, but... we believe he perished since his blades were found."

Dante felt a cold chill run down his spine at her words. Sasaki, the master of blades and manipulator of dimensions, was a man of many layers. Yet no one had imagined he could be lost in such a way, swallowed by a dimensional void of his own making.

Alice didn't look back, but Dante knew she felt the loss far more deeply than she let on. The Witch Queen, for all her unshakable majesty, had always shown a closer connection to those under her protection. And Sasaki... well, Sasaki had been more than an ally. He had been almost like a brother to her, much like Musashi.

Morgana, her expression somber, tried to steer the focus away from the heavy topic while Dante felt the oppressive weight of loss settling over the atmosphere. They continued walking down the corridor until they reached a large, imposing door adorned with ancient runes and spells. Alice stopped in front of it and, with a single gesture, dispelled the magic that sealed it shut.

"Here," she said, turning to face Dante and Morgana. "What we need to discuss lies within. But before we proceed, I hope you understand that what we are facing now is anything but simple."

As the door closed behind them with a muted thud, the atmosphere shifted. The air seemed to compress, wrapping them in a blanket of tension. Dante felt a brief moment of discomfort, but before it could settle, a soft glow began to emanate from the walls.

Golden and welcoming, magical lanterns lit up one by one, their ethereal light casting a warm hue throughout the room. The space, though grand in scale, carried a strangely homely touch, an unexpected contrast to the tension that lingered just outside.

The atmosphere was surprisingly welcoming. Instead of the cold, impersonal room one might expect from someone of Alice Arcano's authority, the space felt like a sanctuary. The furniture, crafted from dark wood and adorned with floral carvings that seemed to come alive under the glow of the lanterns, exuded a sense of comfort and tranquility. At the far end of the room, a magical fireplace burned softly, its flames casting dancing shadows across the walls. Books were stacked haphazardly on shelves, alongside a few armchairs and a large, plush rug that added a stark contrast to the regal aura Alice carried with her.

Alice walked to the dark wooden table and seated herself, her movements graceful as she settled into a chair that, while simple, seemed perfectly suited to her commanding presence. She adjusted the hem of her robes slightly and looked at Dante and Morgana with an expression that blended seriousness with a faint exhaustion, as though preparing to reveal something she had grown tired of keeping hidden.

Dante, who had been taking in the room with keen eyes, finally sat down beside Morgana, who was unusually quiet. He gazed at Alice for a moment before breaking the silence with a calm, almost casual question:

"Sorry for bringing him up... I figured something like that might have happened. But I don't believe he's dead." Dante's tone was light, a small, knowing smile playing on his lips. "That romantic old fool is way too stubborn to go out like that."

As he spoke, a quiet chuckle escaped him as memories of the past surfaced. He recalled the time he first met Sasaki—a man with a sharp tongue, a mischievous grin, and an aura that demanded respect. One particular memory stood out:

"Listen," Sasaki had said, a sardonic smile tugging at his lips. "I know the urge to fight is strong, but don't you two think this was a little too dramatic for the students to witness?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was from a time when Dante and Sara had nearly destroyed the Kryoris arena before the opening ceremony even began. That man always had a way of delivering sharp remarks with a serious, yet carefree demeanor. Sasaki had been unwavering, bold beyond measure—a quality Dante admired deeply.

"Well, I hope you're right..." Alice said, interrupting his thoughts with a faint smile. "But for now, let's focus on business, shall we?"

She opened a thick book resting on the table, and the room's attention shifted entirely to the simple, deliberate action.

Flipping through the pages with precision, Alice finally stopped on one, and something curious happened. A figure of paper, as though it had leapt from the pages of a fairy tale, rose into the air, hovering for a moment before landing softly on the table.

Dante raised an eyebrow, watching the spectacle unfold with fascination. "Paper magic? That's a new one," he remarked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

The figure began to take shape, its details forming with startling clarity—a prisoner, a witch bound in a symbolic prison of paper. Her eyes were hollow, her expression weighed down with profound sadness. Each crease and tear in her paper cell seemed to hold a story, a purpose woven into its folds.

"Is this our prisoner?" Dante asked, leaning forward to examine the figure more closely.

Alice regarded the figure for a moment before answering, her voice steady and low, laced with a faint bitterness. "Yes. She was caught attempting to assassinate Lira. Honestly, I know Lira could have defended herself, but..."

"You sensed the negative energy. Got it," Dante interjected, his intuition sharp as ever. He had suspected as much; after all, Alice had been personally mapping the kingdom for any traces of such energy.

"Yes," Alice confirmed, her tone firm. "I stepped in directly before anything could happen."

"And here I thought Lira would spend the whole day at home sleeping... Was she on a mission?" Morgana asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. It was hard for her to imagine her sister, Lira Arcano, actually working.

"Despite your sister being... peculiar," Alice began, almost breaking into a laugh, "she has been working quite hard lately. Though, to be fair, I may have been pushing her a little too much..." she murmured, her tone softening.

"Is she alright? Isn't she the airhead?" Dante asked Morgana, who almost burst out laughing.

"Pfff...~" Morgana barely held back her laughter, shaking her head as she chuckled quietly. "Not an airhead, but sometimes she acts like a lost child—only with more strength and deadly skills. The only difference is that her 'head' is sharper than it seems."

Alice, having heard this with the expression of someone long accustomed to her daughters' quirks, raised an eyebrow.

"Lira is not an airhead. She might be impulsive and a little... unstable, but she's not foolish." She turned to Dante with a more serious smile, as though addressing a more pressing matter.

"She just needs more focus. Besides... the war is approaching, isn't it?" Alice asked, cutting straight to the heart of the situation.

"It's already at our doorstep, actually. If this woman really is the Sin of Envy, then that means I'll have five of the Seven Sins," Dante said, clenching his fist.

"Then I think we'd better go see her. I imagine your time is quite limited," Alice said before snapping her fingers.

In the next instant, Dante felt all the mana in his body vanish completely, and the walls of the room dissolved, replaced by smooth obsidian stone.

"Anti-magic?" Dante questioned, his senses heightened.

"A witch's prison *has* to be, doesn't it?" Alice replied with a knowing smile as she stood, a passageway opening before them.

"Come. I'll take you to our guest."