Chapter 252 Helmer

"Your Majesty, during tonight's ball and revelry, Fernan and his cronies have already begun their covert operations," the man sitting to Herlo's left reported.

"We have already discovered traces of their activities."

After that report, the next person spoke: "We discovered..."

Herlo sat at the head of the table, listening intently to the report with a blank expression.

But actually, he was always thinking about Jiang Liyue, who was sleeping in the room.

Did she turn over? When she did, her fair little legs would peek out from under the covers and slide onto the blankets, like soft, white little cakes.

Did she murmur sweetly? Did she exhale a few warm breaths from her red lips?

Herlo recalled the soft touch of her arms when she was held earlier, and felt even more bored now.

In his opinion, even Jiang Liyue's curled eyelashes fluttering slightly when she was asleep were more interesting than the boring content of the meeting.

While Herlo was missing Jiang Liyue, the meeting had already started to escalate into an argument.

"I think we can solve the problem by just grabbing that guy Fernan and getting all his accomplices to confess."

"Pah! That's utterly reckless! Do you really think Fei Nan is a fool like you?"

Who are you calling an idiot?

"I'm talking about you. Do you really think His Highness the Duke's ball is just a simple ball? His Highness has prepared for so long, are you just going to let a reckless person like you ruin everything?"

With each side sticking to their own version of events, the vampires, who appear gentlemanly and elegant in front of outsiders, are now arguing so fiercely that their faces are red and their image is completely ruined.

Just as the argument was about to escalate into a physical fight, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Calm down, the king is still here."

As he spoke, the man looked at Herlo, who hadn't said a word from beginning to end.

The other person sat on the throne at the very top, and in the dim light, only half of his face could be seen in profile, making it impossible to discern his mood at that moment.

This is the Duke of Terence Castle, and also their king.

No one present could have imagined that the seemingly unfathomable Herlo was not thinking about their argument at all, but only about the sweet and soft little girl.

When everyone turned to look at him, Herlo finally raised his eyes, his gaze filled with displeasure.

(Actually, he was unhappy because he was disturbed and missed his wife.)

His voice was deep and imposing, carrying an irresistible authority, and his tone was mocking: "Is this the quality of the top vampires? We should really let Fernan and his men see this, maybe they wouldn't have to go to so much trouble to come up with any ulterior motives."

"After all, they probably didn't expect that their opponents were actually just a bunch of useless trash."

The other vampires present: ...

They all lowered their heads in shame, somewhat stunned by the scolding.

However, they have gotten somewhat used to it.

After all, their king has an unpredictable personality, and sometimes he's particularly venomous, like he is now, hurling insults at them mercilessly.

Sometimes they are unusually silent, but they always exude a terrifying pressure, making them feel that if they dare to say the wrong thing, they will be turned into vampire fragments in the next second.

Therefore, faced with Herlo's sarcasm, they all dared not utter another word, just like quails.

They were nowhere near the point of almost coming to blows just moments before.

Seeing this, Herlo sneered, "Now you know what you should and shouldn't do?"

He wasted so much of his time with Yueyue, he deserves to die!

All the vampires said in unison, "We understand."

They were even more obedient than elementary school students.

Herlo then gestured to the butler standing behind him to tell him the next steps.

Vampires: ?

Why wasn't this planned from the beginning? Was it just so they could have a fight here and I could give them a piece of my mind?

However, after receiving the order, the vampires bowed respectfully and left.

Until only Herlo and his butler remained in the office.

Herlo then sprawled unceremoniously on his throne, pressing his temples in slight frustration.

"And Hermer?" he asked casually.

The butler replied respectfully, "His Excellency the Duke should be on the top floor of the main castle."

Besides the Duke, the Duchess was also on the top floor.

Herlo knew what the other party was doing as soon as he heard this. His expression shifted, and a smug look appeared on his face.

"I knew he was an idiot."

"Your Majesty, please don't forget, the Duke is your elder brother," the steward reminded him helplessly.

Herlo chuckled: "That doesn't stop him from being an idiot."

“Besides, he’s clearly the Duke, yet he keeps asking me to chair meetings all the time. I don’t want to deal with these troublesome things at all,” Herlo said matter-of-factly.

The butler had no choice but to remind him again: "Actually, you are also a duke."

Furthermore, another point that the butler hadn't revealed was that Hermer usually chaired the meetings, while Herlo, when present, mostly just stared blankly, aside from scolding the attendees.

"To everyone else, you and Lord Hermer are the same person."

That's right, Herlo also has an older brother named Hermer; the two of them are twin vampires.

They possess the same power and look exactly the same.

Aside from slight differences in personality.

Vampires don't have twins; they are actually the same soul that was split in two.

In the prophecy, this is a curse from the devil, that twin vampires will one day turn against each other and die.

Therefore, before his death, the former duke decided to let them appear before everyone under the same identity so that others would not discover the truth about the twin vampires.

The butler had watched them grow up since they were little. Although they had different personalities, they had a very good relationship and never argued.

It's as if the prophecy of turning against each other didn't happen.

Until a hundred years ago, that girl appeared...

Hermer grew increasingly silent, while Herlo, though seemingly unchanged, was also sinking deeper into suffering each day.

The housekeeper could tell that they had all gone mad.

Although the two brothers were not at the point of life and death, they were essentially enemies and had rarely communicated for the past hundred years.

To outsiders, Terence Castle still has only one Duke, and the vampires still have only one King.

It's only because they all still remember that person's instructions... Otherwise, a hundred years ago, there probably wouldn't have been any vampires in the world.

The housekeeper felt a pang of sadness as he thought about this.

Herlo, however, seemed to have thought of something interesting and suddenly stood up from his throne: "By the way, Xilan, could you please not tell Hermer about the girl I met at the ball tonight?"

The butler paused for a moment, then remembered the beautiful guest that Herlo had taken away earlier that day.

He was actually shocked at the time, but seeing Herlo's expression now, he suddenly realized: "So that lovely lady is actually..."

Herlo smiled and said, "That's right, I knew she wouldn't lie to me."

The butler was even more shocked. He paused for a moment before saying, "No wonder, no wonder..."

No wonder he felt that the girl was exceptionally kind and lovely when he first saw her at the gate.

"But, are we really not going to tell Lord Hermer?"

Herlo snorted: "Isn't it better to just let him continue doing his stupid things?"

The butler did not reply.

Herlo glanced at him lightly: "Xilan, I hope you won't secretly hint to him. You know, I finally got to see Yueyue. If someone dares to take her from me, I don't know what I'll do."

His eyes were lowered, his thick, long eyelashes obscuring his expression, but not the danger emanating from them.

The butler could only lower his head and say, "Yes, sir."

Herlo looked even happier, as if he had thought of something interesting. He hummed a song, transformed into a bat, and flew away through the window.

He'd been away for too long and now he especially missed Yueyue's embrace.

Honey, I'm here!

Only the butler remained, staring at the empty conference room, feeling bitter inside.

You think you're the only one going crazy? Is it possible that your brother is even crazier than you?

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the main castle, in a huge, magnificent room, layers of gauze curtains and expensive handmade carpets on the floor were enough to show the owner's dedication.

On the large bed in the very center lay a pale-faced girl with her eyes closed and her chest not rising or falling, as if she had fallen into a permanent sleep.

Sitting on the edge of the bed was a handsome man who looked at the sleeping girl with deep affection: "Don't worry, baby, you'll wake up soon, very soon..."

Moonlight shone through layers of gauze curtains onto his face, revealing a face that was exactly like Herlo's.

He is Herlo's elder brother, the Duke in everyone's eyes—Hermer.