Chapter 43

Eva was born in the year of the Lord and this coincidence had already been the first sign of the appearance in the demon society of a particular, different personality; at the time, Karlheinz had been about a few hundred years old and had had a very developed intellect: knowing that Demon Lord Burai's firstborn had been born, the future Vampire King had immediately foreseen that her existence would have become important, not for her royal blood, or for the biblical woman whom she had been named after.

He had seen it right: reached the age of the first attitudes of awareness, her polemics directed at the demons' questionably reprehensible mentality had aroused not little surprise and perplexity, but above all great disappointment on the her father's part; certainly an anti-conformist in the same royal family wasn't considered good.

At one point, the little demon girl had to make do with her own upbringing: the teachers that Burai had assigned her had soon lost patience and had resigned to stop listening to her "superfluous" questions and "silly" considerations; many of them had been executed, since even the Demon Lord had become intolerant, seeing them as incapable cowards.

During the long period in which Eva's appearance recalled those of a twelve-year-old girl, an important meeting had taken place among the most powerful personalities of the magic world: Lady Fuchsia, at that time the delegate of wizards and witches, who had mostly always been the most willing to live with human beings, given the more marked similarities; Sir Mendilion, the representative of elves who for some time had decided to remain apart from everything and everyone, if not on special occasions; the head of the Tsukinami family, Giesbach; the Lord of Werewolves; the King of Viboras, known also as Echidnas; the head of the Eagle clan, a race tending to be more anarchic and solitary; obviously Burai, the Demon Lord; Karlile, father of Karlheinz and the Vampire King, even if not for long; at last, many other figures of lesser importance.

At such events, made festive to lighten any tensions and avoid clashes (and they had also leapt at the chance of celebrating the two-hundred-fiftieth and two-hundredth birthdays of Giesbach's sons, Carla and Shin Tsukinami), Eva used to present herself only for the formalities and stay in the surroundings for a while, quiet, then head for the garden, sitting in some remote corner and read a couple of parchments, seeking knowledge; the demon had the habit to always carry with her something from her father's library, hiding it inside a bag hidden by the scarlet hooded cloak she perennially used to wear.

The girl had behaved the same way that evening: after the pleasantries and having witnessed some talk about politics and the current situations both in the magic world and in the human one, she had gone out into the yard and had settled on the wall surrounding a basin reflecting the moon's rays as clear as her white curls; she had pulled out a voluminous manuscript, one of the first ones copied and bound by hand, and had begun reading it.

Fate had wanted Karlheinz to come out soon after, bored by the usual dialogues and their little wisdom, according to him, about government topics: he couldn't consider them worthy of the task they held, or at least his judgment had been aimed at the four sub-races' representatives derived from the Tsukinamis, including himself; recently, he had noticed how much their way of thinking was lacking something, some aspect that he himself couldn't identify.

He had therefore ventured out of the building, relaxing his facial muscles stressed by the continuous smile, and he had followed his instinct, approaching the demon's position: since he had seen her inside the building during the introductions, he had perceived the need to talk to her; something, since her birth, had convinced him that he needed her.

Moreover, the rumours about her had only increased his curiosity.

- Good evening, Eva, daughter of Burai, the Demon Lord – he had greeted her, bending over with his torso and head and placing a hand on his chest, at the heart.

Eve, who had sensed his arrival much earlier, had remained immersed in reading until the last second: as soon as the "d" of "Lord" had come out of the vampire's mouth, the girl had raised her eyes to him, impassive as everyone was used to see her as.

- Good evening to you, Karlheinz, son of Karlile, the Vampire King – she had simply replied back, returning to her book.

Silence had fallen and the young man had smiled, wondering whether to be amused, irritated or even awkward because of that reaction; he had opted to take a few steps to the left, absently examining a bush of red roses made silver from the moon, and then he had turned his attention back to her.

- You have no interest in the discussions of our parents and other rulers?

The demon had seemed thoughtful and had looked up at him again, still serious.

- I don't consider it fruitful to participate in their meetings if my word won't be taken into consideration or, even worse, I won't be allowed to expose my opinions.

The vampire had widened his smile more and had sat on the same wall, keeping a distance of about a meter not to make her uncomfortable and above all to avoid arousing any resentment or negative feelings towards him: he had needed to establish a friendly bond with her; antagonize her would have been disadvantageous for his plans.

- Let's change the subject: have you noticed that some members of the First Blood lineage look unhealthy? Sick, I'd say. Heh, that's bizarre: in strong creatures like us, a disease is very rare if not improbable.

- Not impossible, though - the demon replied, looking him straight in the eye with her aquamarine irises; Karlheinz had thought that they reminded him so much of some of the ancient Egyptian glass amphorae he had in his collection of historical artefacts.

- Of course - he had smiled - I wonder if it's contagious...? If it has contaminated the Tsukinamis, it could also infect the other races and with more important consequences - he had considered, deep in thought.

- We should investigate. I doubt they'll want to listen to us, however: they're too proud to admit a "miserable" disease is hindering them - Eva had returned to her book, admiring the parchment and the letters finely transcribed with meticulous care.

- Unless I replace my father - Karlheinz had looked up at the night sky, mentally and correctly recognizing the names of all the stars.

The girl had widened her eyes and, controlling her emotions of surprise, had looked at him questioningly; she had begun telling him that he would have hardly obtained the throne earlier than expected, since his father still looked quite healthy, his power still among the strongest ones, almost competing with the First Bloods, and...

Karlheinz had let out a short genuinely amused laugh, sounding cold and calculating to Eva.

- I'm afraid I will have to correct you on this, Demon Lord's daughter: it will happen very soon. Because my hands... - he had raised the aforementioned, examining them with eyes veiled with mystery, and also with thirst for power - will just as soon end his long life, as my father himself has desired for thousands of years.


The demon hadn't immediately believed that, though hesitant; she had later regretted not having relied on her doubts, as she had received the news about Karlheinz becoming the new Vampire King and that his first move had been the isolation of the Progenitors from all the other races, so that the Endzeit, the disease that had been exterminating them one by one, couldn't contaminate any of them.

He had started an in-depth research about that disease, studying the genome of the various races and the effects of a sample of the responsible pathogenic creature that hadn't been classified either as a bacterium or virus: he had discovered that all the sub-races generated by First Blood were at risk of contamination; there was a group of common genes that were found to be defective as a result of contact with the pathogen. He had tested the same on the genome of elves, wizards, demons and humans: while the damage persisted, it had affected a smaller number of genes and faced some resistance from the cells.

Karlheinz had been somewhat surprised by his discoveries, which he had sent to Eva herself to get her own opinion; moreover, his mind had been already planning how to kill two birds with one stone: for a long time he had observed all the species' behaviour, from First Bloods to human beings; he had realized an aspect of the latter that attracted him in particular and that he felt to be absent in all the other races, without considering witches and wizards, very similar, and the elves... already particular themselves. So, if he had hypothesized that crossbreeding them to obtain hybrids could have proved profitable to develop an Endzeit repellency, at the same time he would have taken advantage of it to create a new species, powerful and "sensible" as humans: he had come to the conclusion that feelings were what was missing, except for witches, wizards, elves and humans.

Eva had perceived an unpleasant vibe when the message had arrived: as she had learned about Karl's work, as he had allowed her to call him, she had only found evidence to her omens, and had prepared to meet him as quickly as possible.

They had looked like teens close to adulthood; however, their mind was much more mature than that of a centenarian intelligent and cultured man.

Their second meeting had been one of the most memorable events for the vampire, if not a further increase in his interest in the demon: as soon as they had found themselves in a library as planned, she had slapped him in the face for the first time in his life; she had done no harm to him, but the gesture itself had certainly moved his character.

- You can't treat people as objects, Karlheinz! – she had scolded him, crossing her arms to her chest and raising her head with dignity, severe aquamarine eyes reflected in his.

The Vampire King had blinked, still slightly dazed and surprised by her reaction, and then let out a short, amused laugh.

- Eva, I'm doing it for a good cause: we can't let the disease affetc the other races too - he had answered quietly, massaging the cheek apparently untouched; yet he had still sensed the impact of her white hand.

The woman had stared at him for a few minutes, before sighing and turning, thinking about possible solutions to suggest.

- Just the other day, Menae, Giesbach's sister-in-law, came to my palace looking for help. Knowing your father's hobbies, forgive me for being a little rude, maybe we could suggest her to him...?

The demon had looked at him coldly.

- Don't you dare.

- Why not, Eva? Do you have other plans in mind? From what has been known since the dawn of time, the only existing and surviving hybrids are those born of a wizard or witch and a human, or from a demon and a human; rarely there have been cases of hybrid offspring from the union of a demon with a wizard or witch... and you know that the sub-races have never been able to generate hybrids. First Bloods, to keep the purity of their race, have always married each other to avoid contamination, so we don't know what outcome would give the breeding between them and demons - Karlheinz had said, calm.

- Why a demon? Why my father? - the woman had looked at him with a still sharp and annoyed look.

The Vampire King had chuckled and explained that the Tsukinamis would have never accepted as spouses members of races so inferior as humans and witches and wizards, nor of races derived from themselves, since they considered them as "dirty First Bloods", weaklings; it was out of question involving elves, who were also very attached to race purity, so demons had been the last option.

Eva had been silent for a few minutes, then turned away.

- I certainly don't have the right to prevent you or my father from achieving your projects; provided that my father accepts your suggestion.

And she had left, letting the white curls dance on her back, observed intensely by the vampire who had smiled, pleased.


At the Cordelia's birth, it had taken a month for Eva to recover from the shock: Menae had died almost right after delivery, without transmitting the disease to the daughter.

Karlheinz had come to visit and see the conditions of the newborn, noting with satisfaction that the experiment had been successful; Burai hadn't been happy at all despite knowing that she was a powerful creature... but she wasn't a demon. Cordelia wasn't a hybrid: her father's blood certainly flowed in her veins, but the genes had only manifested the characteristics of the progenitors. The Vampire King had also convinced the Demon Lord to silence the child's origins: they would have led her to believe she had been born as a vampire.

As they had been talking in a room in private, Eva had taken advantage of it to sneak into the little room where her little sister was resting; she had approached the cradle quietly, crouching beside it, and she had observed the little creature in front of her, still awake: her eyes were green like their father, and the few hair on her head looked purple. Fascinated by the little girl's appearance, she had raised a hand towards baby's face, barely touching it: Cordelia had moved, shrieked in contentment, and grabbed her finger.

On Eva's lips, for the first time in her life, a joyous smile had appeared.

- Hello, my little sister... - she had whispered, gently rocking her hand.

- EVA! Move! - the thundering voice of his father had interrupted that moment, making her jump backwards and lose her first happy expression.

Just Karlheinz had seen it briefly and had perceived something anomalous in his chest; he hadn't paid much attention to it, interested in hearing what Burai had to say.

- Let's be clear, my daughter: I don't want you to put on her mind your strange ideas. Do you understand? – he had warned her, looking into her eyes with resentment.

Eva had blinked, holding his gaze, impassive; she had inhaled deeply and finally nodded.

- Yes, father.

Only the Vampire King had perceived a bitter crack in her voice and then he had widened his eyes as she had looked at him with a look full of hatred, while leaving the room: he would have needed to speak and clarify, thus taking his leave and following her.

They had resumed the same argument: as much as Karlheinz's methods might have been wrong, Eva hadn't been able to find any other way; she only had to understand the vampire's real intentions, aware that he had been hiding most of his plans.

- What will your next move be? - she had asked him.

- Find other possible combinations to get stronger and more immune generations to the Endzeit, right? - he had quietly smiled, almost amused.

- You... - she had stopped, reflecting, then turned away – If I may, you're a great idiot.

It was the third time he had been taken aback; only then he had realized that he was infatuated with the female demon.

Nevertheless, this detail hadn't stopped him from assuming a more and more incorrect attitude with the passing of the years, as Cordelia grew, splendid in appearance, but with the flaws of the environment in which she had grown up; the Vampire King had pondered that if Eva had been allowed to remain close to her little sister, perhaps the latter would have been more prone to be a better person, and had hoped to remedy by being gallant with her (and not only him; his younger brother had been deeply fascinated by the long-purple-haired woman).

Certainly that woman so admired by the noble men herself had fallen in love, almost obsessed, with the vampire: nevertheless this had only deepened the hatred and envy towards her older sister, whom she had been taught to harbour mistrust and contempt against; moreover, in order to conquer his love, she would have resorted to anything, even attempt at humiliating Eva or, worse, kill her: she had been well aware of their frequent meetings between and many had noticed Karlheinz's interest in the demon, who, at least in appearance, was only determined to continue their research and studies.

It was normal and also quite customary for two brothers to face each other in a duel to prove one's superiority over the other; it rarely occurred between two sisters, unless being the only direct heirs, as in the case of the Demon Lord's daughters: so it had happened, when Cordelia had challenged her older sister, at another gathering, although counting only on those few skills she had thought to own, unaware of her true powers.

That had been the day when Eva had been named as Glass Lady, coined by Karlheinz himself who, along with the rest of those present, had witnessed the clash between the two sisters: in truth, Cordelia, who had first raged verbally and violently towards the other, had had little time to use her powers, as the oldest sister had immediately raised around her dozens of glass cones with rough, irregular and sharp surfaces; at the youngest one's first step, after a first surprised reaction because Eva had never used her powers in public, she had raised some glass tips towards Cordelia, almost pricking at her heart, and given her a frosty and intimidating look.

Much more intimidating, however, had been the power which everyone had perceived coming from the firstborn of the Demon Lord, silent and overwhelmed precisely because of it; the second daughter had begun to fill her with insults again, protesting and calling her a coward as she had rushed out of the room, to escape from that environment which had not lovingly welcomed her since birth.

And she hadn't wanted for that farce to last even just one second longer.

Meanwhile, the Vampire King had followed her, struck by the intensity she had enacted with her powers, making sure not to being noticed by Cordelia: he would have hated for that woman to keep on persecuting Eva, causing other inappropriate performances.

Reaching the demon, who had been leaning on the balcony's marble balustrade, he had also placed a hand on it and raised his face to the sky, still untouched by the light pollution and therefore sparkling with stars.

- I wonder if you could have had the better of her... even without using her real powers - Karlheinz had considered with his usual smile.

- My little sister is stronger than me. And I didn't stop her out of fear and shame to show my inferiority - she had immediately clarified, turning so that her face couldn't be seen by the man, who had been observing her carefully.

- Are you crying, Eva?

Receiving only silence as an answer, he had added, slightly surprised:

- I'm curious... we're not creatures capable of experiencing emotions like these, or at least not up to this point - suddenly he had interrupted his sentence.

It was Eva! Eva was the right person to generate a lineage of powerful creatures and at the same time "sensibly human": how hadn't he thought about it yet? There was what had attracted him from the beginning! Moreover, if Cordelia had a First Blood as her mother and a demon as her father, she could have inherited the Endzeit immunity only from the latter, even though she wasn't of the same race: therefore Eva could have genetically given the same characteristic to her future offspring !

It was only necessary to find a worthy companion, who was just as strong as she or more, and possibly similar to her in conscience...

I should find her... an Adam? Adam and Eve, for a new generation!, he had thought.

He had looked at her: the demon had been watching him for a while, since he had left open the speech he had begun, wondering what other plans had passed through his mind; her aquamarine eyes were mirrored again the vampire's ones, arousing a strange and unknown feeling in his chest.

- Eva, would you become my bride?

Taken by surprise, the woman had been startled and, for the first time in her life, had blushed violently: after all, it had been the first time a man had proposed to her; certainly none of her kind had ever thought of marrying her, despite being the Demon Lord's daughter, due to her particular and unique personality, discriminated almost at the same level of a heretic.

However, she had to refuse: she didn't return his feelings, and it was too early, she was afraid of how her little sister would have reacted, she was sure that they didn't know much yet and that there were other fundamental steps to be achieved before...

- You and I could be the solution to everything! I was thinking that...

His words had entered and gone out through Eve's ears; at that moment, bitterness and disappointment had prevailed.

And perhaps it had been only because of a small misunderstanding: if Karlheinz had been more circumspect, he would have understood that his choice had been much more sincere and passionate than he had ever thought; therefore, as the vampire had gone on, the demon had abruptly interrupted him with a dry and cold:

- No.

The man had opened his eyes wide, noticing the glacial look at him.

- Why not…? Eva? Come on, it's a good idea...

- Karl, hybrids would never be born from us - she had cut him short, bending her head down and bringing her hands to her chest, starting to torture her fingers.

The other had remained slightly displaced by her observation, although being perfectly aware of it; he had let out a short laugh to play it down.

- It doesn't matter, Eva, you saw what happened with Cordelia: she's a First Blood, yet she's immune to the Endzeit; it must be something that flows in demon blood. And with your values-...

- Exactly, Karl: my values. Apparently we have few in common, starting from the reason that prompted you to propose to me. Give up.

Eva had turned away from him after bending her torso in a gesture of greeting and had moved away; Karlheinz had stared at her motionless, the smile fading from his lips and his eyes narrowing full of resentment and bitterness.


From that event on, their relations had ceased, if not for the usual formalities; moreover, Eva had begun to attend less and less meetings and parties, more interested in trying to live among human beings, or at least among wizards and witches who were more alike.

She had wondered if she would have ever made friends with them, one night during which she had been preparing the necessary to leave the palace and her "family", to make a change in her life; how many friends had she had...? Perhaps none: the only two people she had ever been more sociable with had been a blonde, expressionless vampire, with whom she had heatedly discussed about good manners (her name had been Beatrix, if she hadn't been mistake), and a white as a white rose vampire, as indeed she was called by everyone, the fair and splendid Christa, a timid and reserved presence that she had had the chance to meet in a garden among the rose bushes.

Suddenly, she had looked up at her little sister with puzzlement as soon as she had broken into her room, hands on her hips and a victorious expression.

- Karlheinz-sama... no, Karl, today he asked for my hand! - Cordelia had swollen her chest, staring at her older sister with her green and arrogant eyes.

Eva had raised an eyebrow and had whispered a "congratulations", returning to her business; the other, a little annoyed by the lack of reaction, had widened her eyes at noticing the luggage scattered here and there.

- Are you leaving? - she had asked, incredulous; she hadn't been able to explain whether it was out of pleasure, because it had seemed too good to be true, or out of slight and hidden deep sadness.

- This is my intention - quickly checking out that she had taken all the necessary, she had closed the trunks and summoned a portal to let them pass; she had turned to Cordelia and given her a smile, the one which everyone would have known her with forever afterwards - Give greetings to our father on my part, little sister. Farewell.


Karlheinz hadn't just married Cordelia.

He had imprisoned the brothers Carla and Shin Tsukinami, the last survivors of their family, in a dimension in the Demon World, inaccessible; unless a red moon eclipse had taken place, since it would have weakened the Vampire King's powers and therefore allowed the two to free themselves.

Cordelia couldn't get pregnant; it wasn't possible to understand what the cause was, but the Vampire King hadn't thought twice about marrying Beatrix, the daughter of one of the noblest vampire families; Shuu and Reiji were born from their union. Only later on, the first wife had managed give birth to the triplets Laito, Kanato and Ayato; and since then the two wives had begun behaving with hostility between each other.

Moreover, Karlheinz had wanted to experience what would have been born of the union with a member of his own family, that was his cousin Christa; from her he had the sixth son, Subaru, and lots of problems due to the mental damage that the poor White Rose had undergone at discovering his true goals.

Eva had even heard that the man had welcomed four human orphans who he had turned into vampires: she was sure that it wasn't due to compassion, but rather for some other bizarre plan of his; nevertheless, curiosity had urged her to meet them, perhaps because of an inherent desire to try and "save them" from the Vampire King's influence.

She had thus re-established her connections with Karlheinz; arguing from the first second, but at least the four young boys had taken a liking to her and she had loved them immediately, incited by the maternal instinct which she had never had the opportunity to experience, still unmarried and chaste after almost two thousands of years.

Probably because she would have needed to wait for other dozens of years before finding the man of her life.


- You'll burn yourself - she had heard a deep, grumbling voice behind her.

- Excuse me? - Eva had turned her head to look behind her shoulders and her eyes had widened at seeing that two meters tall wizard towering her.

The young man, giving her a tired look, had sighed and, muttering a "with permission", had moved her hand from the object she had been observing in that store of magic items.

The woman had felt the warmth of that big hand around hers, more petite and so white compared to the light tanned complexion of his skin.

- If your hand had lowered a little more, you would have burnt your fingers - he had calmly explained, examining her hands – It'd be a pity on such delicate hands...

Eva had stared at him, still wide-eyed, speechless and stupefied, and had blushed.


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