My Stepmom Is A Vampire & Her Entire Bloodline Wants To Breed Me

Chapter 183: Unanswerrd Questions

Seamus slipped his hands into his pockets as he walked toward Madeline’s domain. The space was always vast, an endless library that should have felt cold, yet never did.

Warmth lingered in the air, subtle and familiar. Light poured down from the circular ceiling, filtered through stained glass that shifted colors with Madeline’s moods.

This time, the glass depicted ’The Creation of Adam’.

He let out a low whistle, appreciating the detail, the near-touch frozen in light. Madeline’s voice echoed across the shelves before he could say anything.

"What do you need, Seamus? If you want to return to the North, my mirror is not ready." Her tone sharpened. "That damn wench keeps asking for the impossible."

"You mean Isolde?"

He turned and spotted Madeline in her usual place by the window. Tea and dessert rested neatly on the table beside her.

Sunlight filtered in lazily, stirred by a gentle breeze that made the curtains sway. She was reading, posture relaxed, expression unreadable.

Seamus walked over and sat beside her.

"Well, who else would dare order me around?"

Madeline rolled her eyes and shut her book, setting it aside before turning slightly toward him.

"And you always end up doing what she wants anyway. I truly wonder why."

"Oh? You are taking her side now, after sleeping with her?" She clicked her tongue. "Was she really that impressive in bed?"

Seamus chuckled. "Are you jealous?" He shook his head. "It is not like that. It is simply the most logical option. Traveling to Lilium alone takes more than three days."

"And waiting also takes three days," Madeline replied, crossing her arms. "You could have stayed in the North until the investigation concluded."

He shrugged, his gaze drifting to the book she had closed. Most of the titles stacked nearby were classics, worn but carefully preserved.

"I thought the same," he admitted. "But I think she wants me to take another Crest. From the two Houses my father destroyed."

His eyes lifted to meet hers. "Do you know anything about them?"

Madeline didn’t answer immediately. Her expression shifted, subtle but deliberate.

"I cannot tell you," she said at last. "I am not allowed to."

She reached for her teacup, voice calm but final. "If you want those answers, Seamus, you should ask your father."

Seamus took a slow breath, conceding the point. "Alright. Then let me ask something else. Aconite said that the younger a Covenant is, the more imperfect the Emblem becomes. Does that mean a House’s power is determined by the order of the Covenant?"

Madeline looked genuinely surprised for a moment, then her expression twisted into irritation.

"Good grief. Aconite really cannot keep anything to herself, can she?"

She shook her head. "No, Seamus. It doesn’t work like that. That order is determined by which House held the most influence during the age of chaos."

She paused, her gaze drifting forward as if recalling something unpleasant. "Those Houses were not stable or righteous. They were destructive, greedy, and obsessed with control. They didn’t want balance. They wanted dominance."

"I see," Seamus said quietly. "Then the two Houses my father destroyed, which ones were they?"

Madeline did not answer immediately. The silence stretched longer than before, heavy and deliberate, until she finally spoke.

"They were Nycteris and Cinera." She turned her eyes to him. "If you want to know why, you need to ask your father."

Seamus blinked. "That does not add up. Two Houses want me, and they turned out to be the weakest ones. Should that not be the strongest Houses instead?"

"I already told you," Madeline replied firmly. "It isn’t about the order. Any House can still sow chaos, and a calm House can still hunger for power."

She leaned back slightly, her voice lowering. "Those who already think they are sitting at the top won’t bother looking down."

"You might be a trigger for evolution, but claiming you would expose too many of their secrets. They need preparation first."

She gave a faint, humorless smile. "You don’t add a sprinkle before baking the cake."

Seamus fell silent. Her words made it clear that sooner or later, they would need him. Just not yet. Something else had to be completed first.

But what?

He rubbed his chin. "Does this have anything to do with the Corvane experiment? There are still unanswered questions."

"I don’t know, Seamus," Madeline replied coolly. "That is for you to figure out."

She stood up. "And if that is all you came for, leave."

She clapped her hands once.

In the next instant, Seamus found himself outside, still in a seated position, crashing unceremoniously onto the ground.

The library doors shut behind him as if nothing had happened.

"That was rude," Seamus muttered as he stood up and brushed dust from his pants. "But I suppose it cannot be helped."

He exhaled slowly, already reorganizing his thoughts. "Looks like I have to ask my father or maybe Vincent first."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and typed out two short messages, one to each of them. After sending both, he shrugged lightly.

"Whoever replies first gets interrogated."

Their answers would probably be different anyway. One was a man who thought what he did was right. The other stood firmly on the side of vampire hunters. Perspective mattered.

His phone buzzed almost immediately.

Vincent.

[Meet me at Bar Z in Midtown tonight. You are coming of age already, right?]

Seamus let out a short laugh. "Coming of age? What is he living in, the twenties?"

Still, he typed back a reply.

[Yeah.]

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. Waiting until nightfall was manageable. For now, at least, he could let his thoughts settle.

---

In the North, Ulrich arrived first.

Traveling from the North to the East usually took time, but the terrain was the real obstacle. Once that was no longer an issue, speed became irrelevant.

By turning himself into smoke and riding the wind, Ulrich reached the site in just two days, far earlier than expected.

"So," he asked calmly, "what did you find, Andrew?"

"Not much," Andrew replied as he lit a cigarette. He gestured toward the ruined structure ahead.

"Too much damage. This building is deep underground, and recovery becomes a nightmare."

"So they are all buried inside?"

"Yeah. But Bianca’s ability makes investigation possible." Andrew exhaled smoke slowly. "Her doll can travel through the wreckage and relay everything it sees."

Ulrich nodded. "Right. I almost forgot about that invaluable talent. Can I meet her?"

"Of course."

Andrew led him inside, through narrow corridors and half-cleared rooms, until they reached Bianca.

She sat upright on a chair, eyes closed, posture rigid with concentration. Her eyelids twitched as if tracking movement only she could see.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and let out a quiet sigh.

"I think it is very likely they are working together," she said.

Ulrich’s expression sharpened.

"Latros," Bianca continued, "and Bjorne."