Vampires possess a special ability, they can control blood.
This differs from magic, which relies on natural forces.
This blood-bending ability relies on a person's mental fortitude. They must be able to sense in their mind what blood looks like, what its essence is, how it flows, its scent, taste, and so on.
Much like elves and dwarves, who are known to have their own special abilities, not all vampires possess blood-bending abilities.
Most of those who can do this are nobles.
However, it's actually more of a talent, as not even all nobles can do it.
They can control the blood within a person so that they obey their commands, but this is limited to one or at most two people.
They can also manipulate their own flowing blood and transform it into a weapon, but there's a time limit.
As for heroes? There's no limit to their abilities.
A hero could even control all the blood of the vampires in the kingdom if they wanted to, but they would still be exhausted. Fortunately, no hero has ever done so.
So, what about the rumors of immortal vampires?
Actually, the lifespan characteristics of vampires are quite similar to those of elves.
They aren't immortal, but they have a longer lifespan than any other race.
However, there's one difference.
Elves are long-lived, but they still age over time, albeit slowly.
This is different from vampires.
Vampires have a much longer lifespan than elves.
While elves age over a long period, this isn't the case for vampires. Compared to humans, vampires stop growing after they reach their thirties.
Vampires also possess a unique ability that other races don't possess, a high level of regeneration.
Even if they are seriously injured, or have their heads cut off or even their hearts pierced, as long as even just one part of their body remains intact, they can recover.
Isn't that a complete cheat?
With such abilities, they don't even need to fear war or even death.
And if that were the case, wouldn't the entire continent be filled with vampires?
So how can they win against vampires?
Even though their regeneration is very high, they can still die.
How?
If vampires could regenerate because some of their body parts were still intact, then the way to do that would be to completely obliterate their entire bodies.
By burning them to ashes, eliminating them with magic, exposing them to sunlight, or whatever. Obliterate them completely.
But even so, wouldn't the vampire race still be superior to the others?
What if they didn't fight or get hurt?
If they simply lived silently, wouldn't they be considered immortal?
Those with excess must have lack. Those with strengths must have weaknesses.
Yes, vampires could be called immortal, they needn't worry about death.
But unfortunately, they are living beings with thoughts and emotions.
Wouldn't a long life be tiring?
Wouldn't they get bored and tired?
Wouldn't such a life feel empty and meaningless?
For others, that's nonsense.
Who wouldn't want to live, especially for a long time? Yes, that's true.
However, only those who have truly lived for a long time can understand it.
Therefore, to maintain the balance of the world, the vampire god prepared something.
A tradition that all vampires must follow.
An 'Eternal Sleep'.
Eternal sleep?
Some say sleep is another name for death.
A sleeping person looks similar to the dead.
So if someone who cannot die is put to sleep forever, wouldn't that be death?
A vampire over three hundred years old is placed in a specially crafted coffin with various secret spells and buried in a crypt specially made for burial.
But those vampires don't die immediately while inside the coffin.
They close their eyes as if they are in a deep sleep.
The spell on the coffin was designed to prevent them from leaving.
If so, wouldn't they still be alive?
For a while, yes. If the coffin was opened, they would come back to life.
So what? Well, the ritual held some secrets from the gods. So it wouldn't be that easy to open the coffin.
Then the vampires who had fallen asleep would sleep forever until their bodies were destroyed without a trace.
That's why it was called eternal sleep.
If they were going to die anyway, why were vampires created that way? Well, no one knows.
Cyan understood the advantages of the vampire race very well, and he also understood the power he possessed.
He sometimes wondered, why did the heroes of the vampire race exist?
Was Cyan truly lonely all his life? Not really.
Although his interactions with others were limited by a 'mask', he was good at controlling his emotions.
The Rosemoon Kingdom currently had two princes and a princess.
Judging from the leadership system, it was clear that the prince would not inherit the throne.
So were they jealous? Of course they felt that way.
But they couldn't just oppose it because it was the policy of their ancestors.
But what if the hero sided with one of the princes?
A hero is expected to be neutral and act only in the interests of the kingdom.
Cyan knew this.
However, there were still one or two noble families who tried to impress Cyan. But Cyan never cared about these things.
One day, the first prince began interacting with Cyan. Contrary to what Cyan thought, the first prince never discussed anything about power and the throne.
In fact, he had almost the same thoughts as Cyan, the life of a noble was tiring.
The second prince, although he seemed arrogant and haughty, he was not a bad person.
Although Cyan had never interacted directly with him, somehow he knew.
The second prince always tried to show his superiority and show that he was also worthy of inheriting the throne.
And the princess of the Rosemoon kingdom who was confirmed to inherit the throne, Vyonne vyr Rosemoon.
A graceful and beautiful princess. In contrast to her cold facial expression, she had a warm and friendly personality.
Since childhood, Vyonne, who had been appointed heir, received a fairly strict education. She felt suffocated by the constraints of her status.
One day she secretly left the palace in disguise. During her little adventure, she met various people and experienced a different life.
Then, as time went by, Vyonne began to wonder about the outside of her kingdom. Because she knew there was no way she could just leave, little by little her adventures began to move away from the center of the kingdom.
And one day, a chance encounter changed her destiny.
The princess of the vampire kingdom, Vyonne vyr Rosemoon fell in love with a human young man.
Wasn't interracial marriage forbidden?
Of course it was, even though there were those who violated it, but they were still ordinary people, not members of the royal family.
A love that could never be destined to be together, but even so, the two of them did not waver.
But what if the queen and the other nobles found out?
The secret would not be revealed if no one but the two of them knew. But unfortunately, the people around Vyonne were not that stupid.
Cyan, who was in disguise after meeting with the other heroes, saw all of it.
It wasn't intentional, but as someone with abilities above others, his instincts for recognizing someone who was also in disguise were very sharp. He could easily recognize Vyonne.
News of the hero's disappearance had shaken the Rosemoon kingdom. But that wasn't something Cyan needed to worry about.
For his tired self, this was quite enjoyable.
Curious about what the princess was doing, Cyan secretly followed her.
The love between two different races that he had only heard rumors about was now before him. And it even involved a member of the royal family.
Cyan knew what would happen if the entire kingdom found out.
Would Cyan report it? Of course not.
For Cyan, it wasn't something that would endanger the kingdom.
In fact, Cyan quite liked it, because seeing different races together was fun.
But still, he was also quite worried about what would happen if the princess's secret was revealed.
The worst that would happen was, Vyonne could be sentenced to death.
Wasn't that too much?
Of course, in the eyes of ordinary people, but not for the royal family.
Cyan could have protected Vyonne from people who suspected and approached her outside the palace.
But, Cyan would never know who Vyonne would confide in.
And no one can ever predict what tomorrow will bring.