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"A kind man, huh?" Vlad wondered, his eyes filled with curiosity about who the Emperor truly was. However, his Avatar's personality as Vlad also showed something different than just the Player's intention—furrowed eyebrows and a face full of resentment.
"Don't resent him, Vlad. It's thanks to him that we have a city to govern, people to protect, a home, and food on our table," Teressa said.
"No, it's thanks to our hard work that we do. He gave us a rotting city full of crime, and we had to work our asses off to just clean it," Vlad said. "I'm not going to thank him for that. We would have been better off building our own house in the damned wilderness or living in your village, Mother."
"My son! Enough with those words. You will not speak ill of your father at this table!" Teressa defended the Emperor, despite how she, deep down, agreed with her son's words.
"…Sorry," Vlad sighed, looking down at the empty plate. "Thank you for the meal; it was good."
He quickly walked to the kitchen, washed the dishes, and headed out of the manor with a pensive expression, though Teressa stopped him.
"Vlad… don't you want to learn more about who your father is?" Teressa asked. "I—"
"No."
"Eh?"
"I'll get to meet the real deal soon, I'm sure of it," Vlad said. "And once we see each other face to face, I'll get to know who he truly is… And I'll tell him everything I have to tell him."
The vampire prince's eyes shone bright red with determination, a mixture of both Paul's indignation over Vlad's conditions and the in-game character's true, genuine emotions.
"I… see…" Teressa nodded, sitting down as Vlad walked outside.
Camilla and Alitheus stared at her and then glanced at the open door in silence, awkwardly… They didn't really know what to do in such situations to begin with.
"Um, it was tasty! Thanks for… the meal, Lady Teressa… Um, Camilla! Right, shall we wash the dishes?" Alitheus wondered nervously.
"Y-Yeah!" Camilla nodded. "Let's do that… Mom, let me wash yours too…"
"Ah, thank you, dear," Teressa said. "Uh, your brother really got intense… He's usually well-behaved…"
"Hmm… Sometimes he's like that," Camilla said.
"Do you also hate your father, Camilla?" Teressa wondered.
"I… don't know…" Camilla said. "I don't really know him. I don't have any reason to… Um, to like him or dislike him."
"Ah… Well, I suppose so…" Teressa nodded. "I guess you don't really know him like I did… Maybe I was rude there, demanding Vlad respect him when Vlad never had any reasons… I taught him about how strength is important and even the pride of a vampire, and then I demand he throw that away just to pretend to care or respect a man he has never seen in his entire life. I was being unfair."
"Maybe…" Alitheus rolled his eyes. "But don't overthink it! Vlad is probably testing his skills or something right now. For… um, the little time I've known him, I know that he's not a resentful person. He's… very kind." The half-incubus smiled lightly as Teressa noticed how much he cared for her son.
"I see… I'm glad he found you, Alitheus," Teressa suddenly said, patting his shoulders. "At first, I didn't really like you that much. I thought you were trying to take advantage of my naïve son or that you were a gold digger, but… you're a great friend for him. Please continue supporting him. He really needs you by his side."
"E-Eh?! Okay, I mean…" Alitheus muttered. "Sure…" He was too embarrassed to admit he was happy Teressa was saying that.
Despite this being "just a game," it felt much more than that for the two of them. It had been an amazing experience and playing it together and interacting with the world itself had become a great thing in itself. It had also brought them closer together.
Virtual Games were a whole different thing from normal games. They were simulated realities that one could interact with. In this game in particular, every person in this world felt like a real, living, breathing person.
"What do you mean by just 'sure'? You better respond with confidence!" Teressa said angrily.
"Okay, okay! I'll do it! Please don't get angry…!" Alitheus cried, realizing that he wasn't just talking with some random video game NPC. Characters in Fantasy Story Online were as smart as real people in every single way.
This was also part of why Alitheus thought of this game as something amazing—a wonderful world that had to be protected and loved.
"Hmm, for now, we should get prepared. Let's go to the walls. It's still quite early today, but I'm sure we'll need to be there early," Teressa said.
"Okay," Alitheus nodded.
The group walked outside, finding Vlad talking with Ermelinda, Queenie, and Insecta.
"So everything is ready?" Ermelinda wondered. "Ooh, I'm nervous! I didn't go through this big event; it's going to be hard, right? But it'll be so fun! I love games because of this feeling I get. And playing this game in particular has always been a blast, from progression to challenge, to the action and the story!"
"Yeah," Vlad smiled. "Though it would be better not to call it a game. It's real to the people of this world… and, well, right now, it is also real to us."
"I guess so~" Queenie shrugged. "Though I don't get it, they really don't react when we talk about the game like that, huh?" She glanced at Insecta, who seemed clueless.
"Master, the King of the Neburias Kingdom might be coming soon. I can feel some disturbance in the energies within the territory and nearby areas," Insecta suddenly said, her antennae twitching.
"Alright, I suppose it's about time…" Vlad nodded, unsheathing his sword. "Mother, Sister, Alitheus, time to go."
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