"Young Master Jones, Young Master Adelle is waiting for you."
Jones said nothing and simply led Dora inside. The butler quickly followed and moved ahead to guide the way.
There was no denying it—Adelle’s family castle truly looked like a castle. If one were to compare Jones’ family castle with Gray’s Salted Fish Port Castle, then the opulence of Adelle’s castle would rival that of Lion King Palace. Of course, it resembled Lion King Palace during the early reign of Benedict II. Jones’ family castle was always shrouded in darkness, with only the areas in current use lit by candles. But here, it didn’t matter if anyone was around or not; the entire castle was ablaze with light. One could only imagine how many candles were burned in a single day.
And candles weren’t cheap, mind you.
The key point wasn’t just the brightness—it was that there was actually something worth looking at.
Luxurious decor, intricate yet grand sculptures, exquisite paintings. The entire castle felt like a palace, brimming with an air of artistry at every corner.
This wasn’t hard to understand. In fact, the Blood Clan’s prowess in the arts far surpassed that of humans by many, many times. They had significantly longer lifespans to squander and to collect rare treasures from across the ages. If not for their generally dark themes, human aristocrats would likely have been their most fervent admirers.
Of course, the most significant asset was still "people." In the Blood Clan, wealth wasn’t measured by the number of gold coins or the size of one’s territory, but by the number of "people" under their control.
Along the way, Jones crossed paths with no fewer than a dozen Blood Clan servants of the Sambo family. There were even over a dozen human servants present, which startled Jones.
Dora, meanwhile, was completely dumbfounded.
Although Dora had been to Church Court Mountain, even that place couldn’t quite compare to here.
They passed through long corridors, walked across grand halls, and ascended a spiral staircase to the third floor. Finally, under the butler’s guidance, Jones and Dora arrived at a grand door inlaid with golden edges.
"Young Master Adelle, Young Master Jones has arrived."
"Very well, I know. Please ask him to wait for a moment."
The butler turned slightly, bowing respectfully to Jones. "Young Master Jones, I must apologize. Would you mind waiting for just a moment?"
"No problem." Jones took a deep breath and seized the opportunity to inquire, "Why are there so many humans here?"
"Because not everyone can be from the Blood Clan," the butler replied quietly.
Jones looked at him quizzically.
Noticing his confusion, the butler cleared his throat and continued, "There are some tasks we can’t delegate to zombies, goblins, or mummies. After all, they... are a little too filthy."
"Oh," Jones responded awkwardly, nodding slightly.
Well, the Jones family wasn’t that particular. Among Jones’ relatives, the highest-ranking individual was merely a Duke. So while they adhered to some standards, it clearly wasn’t to this extent. In the Jones household, for instance, there wasn’t a single human servant. Count Dracula believed humans weren’t cost-effective—they couldn’t handle hard labor, were expensive to maintain, and had short lifespans. Sure, they reproduced quickly but consumed too much in return.
Finally, after quite a while, Adelle opened the door, stepping out in a lavish suit to greet Jones.
"Ta-da! Welcome, my brother!" Adelle exclaimed as he embraced Jones. "To celebrate your induction, I’ve decided we’re going to do something entertaining today."
"Something entertaining? Like what?"
"Like a combat tournament. I heard you can summon Holy Light, so I’ve decided to let you establish your prestige before the brothers."
Hearing this, the corners of Jones’ mouth twitched noticeably.