Chapter 244: House of Duskmire
Elvira entered the mansion and was greeted by a man in a black tailcoat who respectfully bowed.
Despite clearly being an elf, Elvira nodded at him, her expression softening.
"Young lady, did something happen? You look flustered."
"I am alright, Alfred. How about mom?"
"Still in the same condition."
Elvira let out a sigh, her usual haughtiness disappearing, replaced by worry.
If anyone who knew her now saw this, they would be surprised. She was famous for her cold expression.
"My stupid brother?"
"As you ordered, still locked in his room. I guess you are looking for the master then; he is in his office."
"Alright, thanks, Alfred, nice work as always," Elvira said as she patted Alfred\'s shoulder.
Alfred looked at Elvira disappearing back with a worried expression; he could see her robe was dirty with some dry blood stains. But he knew better than to ask her what had happened.
\'Poor Elvira, so much burden on her shoulders,\' he thought to himself.
Entering the study room, she was met by a wrinkled old man buried in paperwork.
"Dad, I told you to take a break. Why are you still working so much? You should put Dylan to work."
"You know how your brother is, and he is still being punished now.
I am just doing my work anyway. So, what brings you here now?" The man asked.
He then turned his eyes upward, his eyes widening at the sight of Elvira\'s condition. "What happened?"
Elvira then told her father everything without omitting a word.
"If that incident hadn\'t happened, you would probably have killed them all. Just what were they planning by doing this?" Her father asked with a sigh.
"That doesn\'t matter; what\'s important is what we do now. So, what do you think about my plan?"
"Go for it. As I said before, the family will support you all the way, even if it all ends badly. There\'s no need to put all the responsibility on yourself.
But to think they would go this far, just what did that cold-blooded man, Vladimir, find out?
If I had known this would happen, I should have accepted his invitation; at the very least, we would know what he has."
"No dad, it\'s better for things to stay like this. You are staying in our land, so you haven\'t heard about it.
Those who come and refuse to join don\'t have a good situation now; they are pressed from all sides.
As for those who directly join, they are used on the frontline as sacrificial pawns. No one has died yet, but their wealth took a big hit."
"Start by taking their wealth and making them dependent; then, they will have no choice no matter what the order is. What scummy tactics.
Has every other house already chosen a side?"
"Not yet, Father, but there are only a few left; we are one of them. On the surface, we are all in the Alucard faction, but we know it\'s not like that."
"Those stupid geezers want to eradicate all of the Vladmir faction. Just where is the Grand Elder at this time?
That reminds me, I got a letter from Eldonia." Her father said as he took out a letter with a wax stamp.
The wax was uniquely made and mixed with the blood of the sender; this allowed them to find out if someone had tried to send out a fake letter.
"You haven\'t opened it?"
"Yes, since it\'s addressed to you, you must be the one to open it. We cannot take risks.
Who knows if I am out on some errand, and the maid tells you I am the one opening it. This way, we can be sure there will be no such thing."
Elvira didn\'t say anything more; this was her father\'s way of leading the family.
He was always careful, never taking risks. This allowed the family to survive.
Unfortunately, their family didn\'t have enough talented people; otherwise, in his father\'s way, they should still be able to rise, not stagnate like this.
She then opened the letter, breaking the seal.
Eldonia is the name of the capital city where all Sovereigns gathered; the chance of meeting one outside was very small. That is why she was very surprised when she saw Alex and MingYue.
\'Now that I think about it, I never see them at all.
I am sure I have memorized all the Sovereign\'s appearances.
Just who are they? Are they those rumored Sovereigns, people who never show up in public? But that is just a rumor.\'
Elvira shook her head then decided to focus on the letter. In the news she read, there would be a fight competition held in Eldonia; the fight would be between groups of sorcerers.
A single group needed to have at least three people. As for the reward, it said a way to turn into a Sovereign.
Elvira\'s heart skipped a beat; this was unprecedented, and never heard of it.
She didn\'t understand why the Alucard faction suddenly decided to make this. And this artifact, she was skeptical, but she knew this was not a hoax.
There is no reason for the Sovereigns to lie about this.
Meanwhile, a distance away from the mansion, Petricia was looking at what happened with binoculars.
She could easily hear everything they talked about from the bug Alex had put on her.
When Elvira opened the letter, thankfully, it was from an angle where she could read it. Petricia then forwarded all the information to Alex and MingYue.
Back at the cave, Alex and MingYue were busy with their own activities. Ming Yue was reading a novel on her phone after Alex recommended a new one to her while Alex was doing a shadow fight.