"Which part did you not understand?" Helena asked, looking mischievous.

"Not understand? All of it! Tier three undead? A vampire? You have a girlfriend?" He answered, clearly agitated.

"Hey, what is so surprising about me having a girlfriend? You sound just like dad!" Helena replied.

"That was not the biggest issue! A vampire! Vampires are dangerous!" Derrick exclaimed.

"Indeed. But I can assure you my powers are used to keep your sister safe. Do not worry about it." Hatsumi assured him.

Derrick looked at her. "This is a prank, right? This maid, covered in snow and playing around with you, is not actually a vampire?" He asked.

Hatsumi opened her mouth, showing off her teeth. "I can assure you I am a vampire."

"She is totally a vampire." Skadi confirmed.

"We all worked together creating her! She is awesome." Cassie added.

"Meow." Nyx commented.

Before Derrick could reply the door opened and Hans emerged. "Son! You are back! A lot has happened. Your sister was quite busy."

"Father… please tell me Helena is pranking me?" Derrick said.

"Huh? What has she done?" He asked.

"Nothing! I just told him what he has missed. He has a problem with vampires…" Helena explained.

Hans nodded. "I too was surprised at first. But Hatsumi is alright. Come, let's discuss this with some hot tea. I am surprised you arrived in the morning. Let's go inside and share stories!"

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Derrick just nodded and got off his horse. While the servants took care of the animals and his luggage we moved inside. We gathered in the dining room and a maid started serving tea. Hatsumi stayed with us since she was a part of our story. Then Helena began talking about our first year.

He mostly just listened as Helena kept talking. I added a few things as did Cassie and Skadi. Hans smiled, being proud of his daughter's achievements. Nyx was now lying on the table curled up, close to Hatsumi, who occasionally petted the feline.

Derrick rubbed his forehead as we finished our story. "That is a lot to take in." He said.

"Ah, but it's mostly good news!" Hans pointed out. "The attacks on Helena and her friends are concerning but the main agent from Ilestria has been dealt with. Turning her into a vampire is truly fitting. Now she can watch over them!"

"Indeed. I shall use this body to protect them!" Hatsumi said.

"Good news…" Derrick sighed. "Sure, it does make our county a lot stronger. Koyuki's presence makes us a powerful force. Her dual affinity is even perfect for the region. That also means we become a threat to Duke Winston. It also destroys any plans of other nobles to marry either Helena or Koyuki. That means they might become more hostile. I have no idea how the crown will react. It does not seem that they had any plans for Koyuki's marriage. Maybe they will be pleased by this. It keeps Koyuki from being influenced by another faction…"

"You worry too much." Helena said. "Koyuki is valuable, the princess backs her and she will be an archmage in time. Once she controls a true undead army anyone having a problem with us will just get crushed!"

"It's talk like this that causes problems! You don't want the dukes to think that Koyuki is coming for them. Payton and Ashfield already think the crown has too much power!" Derrick complained while rubbing his forehead again. "There have been some skirmishes at the border with Ilestria. They have publicly denounced Koyuki, like they do with any necromancer, but they claim a rogue agent attacked her. They also claim they had nothing to do with the poison that threatened Leo. It remains to be seen if a real war breaks out."

"If there is a war, they should give Koyuki the bodies!" Hatsumi suggested.

"The army has their own necromancers. They might not be as powerful as Koyuki but they will certainly use any corpses on the front." Derrick replied, then he added: "And let's be honest, Koyuki having two tier three, including a vampire, will already scare some people in power. They are unlikely to hand her even more power. Not until necessary or unless they are convinced she backs their faction."

"Eh, we are talking too much about politics. How come you arrived in the morning? Where did you spend the night? Anyone in town? Anyone I know?" Helena asked.

"What? No. We spent it at Kalden. We were not fast enough to reach Rovik before dark so we decided to stop there. The journey was interesting. There is talk about the vampiric nightshades you mentioned. Actually, a group of mercenaries has disappeared in Baron Ridge's territory. But we heard rumors that they picked a fight with a necromancer so…"

He looked at me.

"It's probably the nightshades. We warned them." I replied.

Derrick sighed. "So you were the necromancer…"

"They started it. They harassed Hatsumi." Helena said.

"They should not have messed with a vampire." Skadi added.

"But we did not do anything to them. They said they were hunting nightshades but were unprepared." Cassie shrugged. "So they are probably plant food by now."

"Nasty business, those nightshades." Hans said. "We might have to increase our own patrols. We can't have them spreading in our forests."

"We could help look for them! I can make bombs with those seeds." Cassie suggested.

"Bombs?" Derrick sighed.

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