Where should I start? Ah yes, I feel cursed. Yes, as vampires we were indeed cursed, we were imprisoned by our natural instinct to drink blood from the moment we are born. But over time we no longer find it sad. All living things need to eat. Such as animals that ate vegetables, or those who prey on other animals. Even plants feed on nutrients through their roots, and need sunlight to stay alive.

We vampires need blood to live. As simple as that. Even though the demons who created us hoped that we would become an evil and feared race, it turns out that we could refuse it.

Evil and good are relative things. I thought Florence's vampires were good people. But the Rasputins thought they were good. They only follow their instincts and destiny as a vampire and a predator.

But that was not what I meant about myself felt like being cursed. I was born in the Dubois family, as a Lady who was always pampered. My brother Jasper—even though he couldn't go out during the day without an umbrella—loves me. Mother and father, I think they love me too. But my brother's condition as well as his position as heir had brought me here.

Since I was born, they have taught me to be a perfect Lady. I did it obediently. But now, they were forcing me to throw away everything I had learned, and keeping me here.

Maybe other women could envy me. But the truth was I never had a life of my own. Father asked me to join as a knight. He insisted that I didn't need to stand out, and that it was unnecessary for me to do anything useful. He told me to be invisible and unnoticed until the war was over.

I lived it obediently in my previous life. But my ending wasn't good. Apart from a pleasant bite on the neck from Romeo—my life was wasted.

Then what do they want from me? I had failed to be the perfect lady. I also failed to become a knight. Now, I made a decision to make up for the failure in my past life. But, was this the right decision?

If I go back to Lapella, will they welcome me? Or even kicked me out again for disobedience? I did not understand. I still remember my father's gaze at that time. He never spoke loudly to me, he always complimented me on my beauty and how about I made him proud. But I shied away from his orders. In the second month as a knight in my old life—I escaped from the army barracks and returned to Lapella.

He scolded me as if he never knew me. He turned his face away and ordered the servant to get me into the carriage that was taking me back to the border.

Has my life been a lie? Father—never loved me?

Therefore, this time I will act alone. Once again, I will ignore my father's orders. I don't know if I will regret it again. But at least—I decided this myself.

I didn't like martial arts, I never thought I would actually fight Rasputin. I hate all of this. The lonely life of the knights, the baths I could only do at least once every two days, the dried blood on my hair and clothes, Being ordered and forced to kill. I didn't enjoy this.

Am I too confident? I wish I could reach the position of general even though I didn't really love this profession. I only rely on my memories of my past to be useful to the knights of Florence. I pondered. Do I have to do this? Shouldn't I just be a deserter and run away?

Dubois' name would probably fall because of it. But, my family didn't want me. Why couldn't I be selfish?

"Sir Julian?" Kyle rebuked me who was still shaking. For a few moments, I wandered in the realm of my mind. I pondered many things that raised my doubts.

It was my first time I murdered someone. I know, I had killed Shadows or injured a lot of Rasputin's knights in my past life. But I had never actually killed anyone. Let alone a civilian like a bar owner whose blood hadn't dried on my dagger.

Was I doing the right thing? What if it turns out I was wrong? What if the Rasputins' weapons lab weren't in this bar? That means I've become a bad person. I murdered a civilians.

I didn't really care if it was self-defense or not. Because actually I could avoid this incident. I shouldn't have followed him into a private room to discuss my false complaints. I just wanted to distract him. He asked me a lot and finally he shouted accusing me of being a Florence spy.

For all I know, I have to silence him before he complains to the guards outside. I didn't mean to kill him. That was my reflex.

"If you don't kill him, sir Romeo and Damian will be in big trouble," Kyle understood what I was thinking. He tried to comfort me.

Maybe it worked enough. I clenched my fists, trying to strengthen my resolve. My shaking stopped and I felt my heartbeat slow down. I'm fine. I have to complete this mission. I better stop overthinking. I am Julian, a knight who wants to become a general.

"I think there's another door in there," I pointed to a thin alcove in the wall of the room. I recognize it. Because in the Dubois mansion, my father built a similar room. It was a secret door.

Kyle and I walked into it. While being wary because we didn't know what we would face there. The Rasputins have built a huge dungeon there. No one guessed that this place was under an ordinary vampire bar that wasn't very big.

I smell the thick oil. There was a torch stuck in the wall. But not all turned on. I was still able to see even though it was faint. But Kyle was a human and he needed some light.

"Hold the hem of my clothes, Kyle, we can't carry torches," I said to which he nodded.

"I have pretty good eyesight, sir. At least I won't trip or bump into anything," he said smiling at me.

"We're here to scout, we're going to find sir Romeo and Damian. So hopefully we don't have to kill anything," I said.

"Even a rat?"

"Yeah, rats or bats, or snakes. Basically don't make unnecessary noises," I whispered to him.

"So what are we looking for here?"

"Weapons of mass destruction"

"What does it look like?"

"I don't know," I shook my head.

In my memory, the Rasputins sent their weapons in large numbers from this city. All packed in wooden boxes and carried on horseback to the human villages surrounding the Tavern. But no one really knows what it looks like.

What was clear, at that time the knights of Florence fell one by one, reducing the strength of our allies quite significantly. Lord Rutherford attacked us with something we couldn't see.

Daniel Rutherford was a scientist recognized by the vampire nation. He sided with Rasputin and it made everything quite difficult for us. He created many weapons, such as a machine that can shoot multiple arrows at once, as well as a flamethrower. Florence didn't have it.

***

POV 3

Romeo and his subordinate Damian entered the dungeon undetected. They were trained knights who were used to sneaking around. Now they were dressed in civilian clothes but their swords and daggers were not left behind.

The two men drew their weapons as they stepped deeper into the underground passage.

Lab 005

After searching for quite a while, they finally arrived at a large room with the nameplate written on it.

"So it's not just one, they have many Labs,"

"What kind of place is that?"

"I think this is the lab or workshop where they assemble their weapons," Romeo replied. He tried to open it but the door was locked.

"There are people!" Damian whispered. The two knights immediately hid behind the wall. They then saw people dressed as Rasputin's knights carrying wagons and unlocking the room.

“Hey, it reminds me of something when I heard of Dubois' name,” Damian said.

"Why do you have to talk about it now?" Romeo whispered back.

"No, listen I just find this funny. I remember my family once proposed to their lady for me," Damian said again.

"Oh really?" Romeo took half seriously. He was still observing the situation.

"They rejected my proposal, you know why?"

"What?"

"They said I'm not strong enough to protect their lady, isn't that a strange reason to reject someone's proposal?" Damian smiled amusedly.

"Dubois huh? Aren't their heirs weak? That's why they even had to send the Duke's nephew instead of Jasper Dubois," Romeo whispered back in response.

"Not really, you know, Jasper Dubois isn't weak. They're just deliberately spreading those rumors. Jasper once killed an adult pureblood vampire when he was only six years old. It's a secret, you better not share it," Damian said again in a mysterious tone.