Seamus was invited once again to one of Draemir’s occasional tea gatherings. This time, only Aconite, Dahlia, and Lulu were present.
Fleur had never involved herself with them, and Lulu was far too uneasy about Isolde’s presence to be anywhere near her. The absence itself said enough.
Seamus leaned back in his chair, barely touching the tea in front of him. His thoughts drifted restlessly, circling the same unresolved problems.
Viviane, Isolde, the lingering mess in the North, and then there was Vincent.
Vincent had given him his card, yet Seamus had never contacted him afterward. Digging into his father’s past felt unnecessary now.
Vampire hunters and shattered covenants could no longer reach him. Still, the unease lingered like a dull ache.
’Next time we meet, I should mark him. At least then I would know where he stands.’
"Seamus? Are you alright?"
Lulu’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He straightened slightly and shook his head.
"I am fine. Just thinking too much."
"Oh." She hesitated. "Was what happened in the North really that bad?"
"Not exactly," he replied. "I did not see the worst of it myself."
Lulu sighed softly. "I wish I could help you somehow."
Her shoulders slumped, disappointment clear in her expression.
"Oh, Lulu." Dahlia gently brushed her back. "I honestly don’t understand why you still have not slept with Seamus. Has it not been over a month since you joined Velstrath?"
She tilted her head. "I met him less than a week after arriving and already had outdoor sex with Aconite."
Seamus choked on his tea, nearly spraying it across the table. Lulu’s face turned bright red.
"B-but the schedule!" Lulu protested.
"What schedule?" Dahlia waved dismissively.
"Seamus will be in the North three days a week. That plan is meaningless. Who even follows it?"
"I do," Seamus said calmly, taking a breath.
"Lulu is not ready yet. Some people need time. Even Aconite ran away at first, did she not?"
"Huh? Me?" Aconite blinked, clearly lost. "What are you talking about?" She smiled warmly. "I just like everyone being here. The house finally feels alive again."
"Oh, sister Aconite," Dahlia sighed. "That is exactly why you need hobbies. Also, we are talking about having sex with Seamus."
"Oh." Aconite’s fingers fidgeted. "My body feels strange. I don’t think something that big could fit inside."
Her cheeks flushed, and Lulu looked just as embarrassed, clearly understanding her meaning.
"If it fits inside me, it can fit inside you," Dahlia replied casually.
"Well, I am different," Aconite said quietly. "I am imperfect."
"Imperfect?" Seamus widened his eyes. "But you are beautiful."
She shook her head slowly. "I told you before. It is because of Sarah."
After a brief pause, she added in a softer voice, "I was born without a face."
The table fell silent.
Aconite’s statement was so unexpected that Seamus instinctively frowned. Lulu froze as well, her expression openly stunned.
After all, an Emblem was supposed to be perfect, flawless by design, something closer to an ideal than a person.
"Then... what did you actually look like?" Lulu asked hesitantly.
"I was born without a face," Aconite replied after a short pause, as if sorting through distant memories.
"My body was small, like a child’s. My hair was long and transparent, and my limbs felt stiff, almost like a doll with visible joints."
"Huh?" Lulu blinked. "So all Emblems were born like that?"
Aconite shook her head. "No. It was only me. The younger the Seven Great Covenants, the more imperfect the Emblem becomes."
She lowered her gaze slightly. "It feels as if the False God put less thought into creating us as time passed."
"Or," Dahlia added, leaning forward with interest, "maybe it took lots of power to make the Emblem of Enigma."
Her lips curved into a knowing smile. "There is a belief among vampires that the False God is asleep and weakened. That is why the Seven Great Covenants grow stronger while the Emblems slowly lose their authority."
Seamus’s brows knitted together. He remembered X’s gradual disappearance, and how the Bears had used half a Crest without another Emblem even notifying X. Something about that imbalance felt deeply wrong.
Weren’t they supposed to stand together?
The question lingered uncomfortably. Perhaps the situation was far more complicated than he had assumed.
"But how do you know this, Dahlia?" he asked. "Information like that is not exactly public."
"Gossip," she replied lightly. "Vampires love parties and reminiscing about their so-called glorious pasts. It is boring most of the time, but gatherings like that are fertile ground for information. They talk too much."
"I see," Seamus nodded.
His thoughts drifted to the private party in the North and the incident that followed. Has the investigation progressed at all? Has the perpetrator already been identified?
"If something like that happens again," he asked, "would you bring me along?"
"Of course," Dahlia replied eagerly. "I am quite good at gathering intelligence."
She rested her chin on her hands. "We could even stay at a nearby hotel and enjoy ourselves afterward."
Seamus swallowed, memories flickering unbidden. "Sure."
He then turned to Aconite. "Can you tell me which Covenant is the oldest, and which is the youngest?"
She nodded. "The oldest is House Latros. Second is House Corvane. Third is House Bjorne."
She paused, thinking. "Fourth is yours. Fifth is ours. Sixth is House Nycteris, and the last is House Cinera."
"Wait," he cut her off. "Wasn’t the first Patriarch of Corvane a Crown Prince? If the order follows the siblings of the Kingdom of Morum, shouldn’t they come first?"
Aconite shook her head. "Adler’s era was peaceful. The Emblem was born only after Morum became the Empire of Noctis, during the age of chaos."
She sighed softly. "I was very young then. I only remember fragments. I’m glad Ulrich was kind to me, not like the second Patriarch threw me into a dungeon."
Seamus blinked. "They could do that?"
"Yes," she replied calmly. "It was not difficult. I was a child." She sipped her tea.
"Still, my eyes could see their sin. I punished them properly, so everything turned out fine."
She said it as if it were nothing.
Seamus remained silent, fingers tapping lightly against the table. He already knew someone he needed to speak to about this.