Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 484: The 1 percent of the 1 percent

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The final security detail that was decided on was mostly filled with Mid-tier Hellsingers. Really, Gareth was the only Hellsinger of the lowest tier to come with and that seemed more to do with the fact that he had earned Alexia’s trust.

A single long carriage was all Alexia and Caius agreed to for transportation. An entire entourage just seemed too garish and overkill while also sacrificing flexibility of movement.

"So what’s the plan?" Caius eventually asked when they were far from the Estate and well on their way to Capital City.

"Plan?" Alexia looked at him and raised a perfect brow.

"Well, we have to have a plan, right?" He said like it was obvious, "Surely it won’t do well to just blunder through a High society Function."

Alexia shrugged.

"We attend. We listen. We leave," she said, "It’s really not that complicated."

"I see," Caius said. Really, that had been obvious enough. He was only trying to make small talk, and clearly not doing all that good a job of it.

It was clear to him now that it didn’t feel natural talking to Alexia. He hadn’t had this problem when she first arrived, and he was sure it started after the battle against Belron. If Caius were to shoot a guess as to why, he’d say Alexia coming at him with such powerful killing intent, cracking his ribs, and coming very close to slicing his throat had done a number on him.

It caused him to see her in a different light— To see her as a threat.

It wasn’t that Caius hadn’t been aware of Alexia’s strength before that moment. Hell, he had admired it. But to have it turned on hmm like that reminded Caius of all the reservations he had had when his father first talked about his Cousin visiting;

He had known it was a bad idea.

A vampire hunter—without the tolerance that his father had been building up to his existence—living under the same roof as him had seemed a recipe for disaster. And that incident at the underground hideout had only proven it to be true.

The thing was though, Caius at least somewhat understood why he was avoiding Alexia. But, why was she avoiding him?

Her tone wasn’t as leisurely as it had been when she first arrived and she could barely stand to exchange words with him for long stretches of time.

The little conversation they had at his door a while earlier was the longest they had shared in over two weeks.

Caius tried a few more times for idle chitchat and eventually just gave up. He felt like he was forcing it and didn’t see any reason to. He was fine with staying away from her. It made sense to worry about his own survival. This night was the one time he would have to be in her presence for much longer than he felt comfortable with and he was determined to get through it just fine.

"My Lord, my Lady," the driver said from up front, "We’re here."

Caius hadn’t even needed to be told. The entire atmosphere had changed when they arrived at this region in the capital. A massive courtyard paved with stones that seemed to gleam in the Moonlight. City Guards stood at attention all over the courtyard, their expressions focused.

At the center of the courtyard stood a massive building, tall and impressive, decorated with lights and other adornments that struck the perfect balance between showy and dignified. The entire location gave a visage of elegance and class.

Other Carriages were arriving just then as well, pulling right up to a long and wide pathway that led to the open doors into the building.

There was the same order to all arrivals;

The guests, usually with their security detail, would step down from their carriages, show their invitations, and be greeted at the wide open doors by the Event Staff who gestured them in. And after the Guests were past the doors and turned down a corridor, their Carriage would pull away, guided by other staff on where to park and wait.

Caius’s carriage followed the same order. He and Alexia, along with the Hellsingers stepped out. Alexia showed the invitation she held and the Staff bowed.

"Lord and Lady Von Helsing," they said respectfully, "Right this way."

Caius and the others turned a corridor that led them to an arch with double doors already thrown open to reveal a massive Hall that seemed to take up most of the space within the building. It was as elegantly decorated as the outside and had a very high ceiling.

There were hundreds of people already there, holding goblets of wine, chatting animatedly amongst themselves. Most were dressed in fine wears. The ones that weren’t, were in some kind of military uniform that identified them as security details.

"Seems we are among the last ones here," Caius said.

"There’ll be more," Alexia assured him.

Even though she didn’t live in the Capital and had only been here a few weeks, Alexia knew the Noble count was high. The Capital probably had the highest population of Nobles of anywhere in the Acheron Empire for one reason;

The Imperial Family.

Who doesn’t want to be in proximity with the most powerful family in the Empire? Rubbing shoulders, getting leg-ups, and whatnot.

As many as already were in the Hall, it actually looked scanty. Caius had a feeling that even with how many more were on their way and would join them, the scantiness wouldn’t change. And that was by design.

Even if Nobles are in abundance, it helps to stoke their ego if you still remind them that they are the 1 percent. And since only representatives were present at the Function, this bunch was the 1 percent of the 1 percent.

Caius and his family were a bit of an oddity as far as Nobles in the Capital were concerned because they didn’t have strong roots here and thus had very small—minuscule, really—numbers.

The Von Helsing Family’s actual roots were at the Von Helsing Duchy so the only Von Helsings living in the Capital were two; Caius and his father. They became three over two weeks ago when Alexia arrived.

So, unlike the small Von Helsing family residing in the Capital, the other Noble families had many more members. They had branches, spread out within the Capital with numbers always increasing with every generation as each branch member started their own family, carrying the Noble Family name and still under the jurisdiction of the Main family.

In short, the actual count of the families, who are represented here by two or three, numbered in hundreds of thousands.

And yet, as many Noble Families as there are in the Capital, and despite how much their numbers continue to grow with every generation, especially thanks to their longevity due to prompt Magical Advancements, the middle-class and commoners still outnumber them.

The Capital has a landmass that makes it practically a Nation itself. A massive Nation at that as it’s the largest single territory in the Entire Acheron Empire— as decreed and maintained by the Imperial Family itself.

The Capital has a population to match its landmass, numbering hundreds of millions. So even though the Nobles remain the 1 Percent because they are outnumbered, in truth that 1 percent of the hundreds of millions total numbers, is still massive.

And with their greater resources and greater Magical strength seemingly by default, the Nobles seemed to have secured their superiority for all time.