Chapter 120: First Interactions!
For a moment after Lilian hugged Albedo, the world seemed to freeze in reaction.
The tension of Morgan’s outburst, Celeste’s crushing authority, and Dorne’s quiet restraint—all of it was swept aside like kindling before a storm as Lilian, the Daughter of the Grand Duke BloodHaven, one of the oldest vampire clans still allied to the Demon Throne, openly embraced a Human before the assembled delegations.
Her arms wound around Albedo’s frame with casual familiarity, her crimson eyes half-lidded with delight, her lips curving in a smile that belonged to someone greeting an old friend... or something more, she intentionally made it vague, maybe to make others overreact.
The silence that followed was not soft. It was jagged, suffocating, as if every word unspoken was a blade pressing against the throats of those present.
And then came the whispers that immediately filled the entire field, echoing constantly as dozens of people chatted with each-other.
"She knows him?"
"How in the Abyss does a Human have her greeting him like that?"
"Impossible..."
The Humans and Elves were shocked, but it was the Demons who reacted with the most turbulence, shock rippling through their formation.
For them, Lilian wasn’t just a student. She was basically royalty like Celeste, a close friend to the Royal Family and member of the 2nd most influential family in the Demon Kingdom.
Most of them hesitated to even approach her without rightfully proper reasoning, and yet here she was, pressed against a Human in full view of her people, with not a trace of shame that left a-lot of them deep in thought.
The various Professors who were still standing and chatting on the platform, could feel the collective heart of the gathering skip a beat as they saw the sight.
Raphaeline in particular was intrigued, smirking faintly as her gaze glinted with recognition. Unlike the others, she wasn’t that shocked. She had lived long enough to know when threads of fate tangled in unexpected knots, "So that’s how it is..." she murmured, almost amused.
The whispers had barely begun to settle into an uneasy rhythm when another voice cut through them, cold, imperious, and sharp enough to slice the field in half.
"So this is the great spectacle the I’ve been brought to? What is this ridiculous farce?"
The words came from the Demon delegation’s left flank, where a tall figure stepped forward. His mere movement was enough to hush his peers, as if he carried with him a weight that demanded silence.
The student’s skin was pale as frost, his hair a sheen of midnight black bound neatly behind him, and his crimson eyes glowed with aristocratic arrogance.
His uniform had been tailored to emphasize his lean, noble build, the black-and-scarlet sigil of his House embroidered boldly across his chest: a bat devouring the moon.
Valerian Duskveil.
Albedo recognized him from the scouting Seraphyne had done about the Demons he’d need to be aware of during the Exchange Program.
Valerian was the Heir to House Duskveil, a Vampire Lineage only a breath beneath the Grand Ducal BloodHaven Family and the Demon Royal Family themselves, their influence vast and far reaching.
House Duskveil had been simmering constantly over the past few years according to Seraphyne, and Valerian was the key to their plans, as for years, rumors had clung that he had been seeking Lilian’s hand in marriage.
Every banquet, hunt or gathering, he pursued Lilian as hard as he could, and he made sure no other men could get near her. Anyone who dared to ignore his warnings would be found to have came upon bad luck in their future.
Now his gaze burned with something ugly. Not just insult, but humiliation, like a man who had been robbed in front of his entire world.
Valerian’s lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "A Human?" he said, letting the word drip like venom. "All these years, and it’s this? You cast aside every noble suitor, every warrior worthy of your station... for a Human nobody?"
Gasps rippled through both Human and Elf contingents. Even some of the Demons shifted uneasily, knowing where this path would lead.
Lilian didn’t even flinch. Still nestled lightly against Albedo, her crimson eyes slid toward Valerian with a teasing glint. "Valerian," she drawled, as though greeting an old hound, "still barking at shadows. You should take care, you’ll make yourself sparse."
A snicker burst from a few of the Demon students nearby, quickly smothered when Valerian’s killing intent spiked. His aura unfurled like black silk, heavy with vampiric malice, forcing nearby Humans to grit their teeth as the oppressive mana weighed on their lungs.
But Albedo stood untouched. His blue eyes met Valerian’s with calm indifference, and the sight only seemed to enrage the vampire heir further.
Valerian’s aura thickened, a storm of bloodlust rippling across the field. The faint shimmer of his fangs caught the dim light as he leaned forward ever so slightly, his voice slicing the silence like a dagger.
"A Human worm," he spat, the word dripping with scorn, "clinging to her like a parasite. Do you think you’ve earned that touch? Do you think someone like you could ever comprehend what it means to stand beside her? No, your kind isn’t meant to be with her,"
His words rang with cruel certainty, with centuries of noble pride steeped into his blood. Around them, the whispers surged again like wildfire, echoing between the gathered races.
But Albedo didn’t falter. If anything, his expression shifted, just faintly. A smirk. Cold. Knowing.
He had already realized that Lilian hadn’t hugged him simply for affection, nor even mischief. She was cold and calculating, and had chosen him as her shield. A move to provoke, to bait, to tear open Valerian’s pride in front of everyone without any of the consequences falling onto her.
Albedo would be the one to bear all the anger and wrath, but Albedo just chuckled internally as he realized that.
If Lilian wanted a shield, he’d give her a wall of iron.
With a single smooth motion, Albedo hooked an arm firmly around her waist and drew her in closer, his touch deliberate, his stance unshakable.
Lilian’s body tensed in the slightest fraction, her crimson eyes widening a hair’s breadth at the boldness before her lips curved again into a smirk, though it didn’t quite mask the flicker of surprise.
Albedo’s voice carried out across the hush, even and sharp as steel.
"You speak," he said, his blue eyes locked onto Valerian’s blazing crimson, "as though she’s yours. But she isn’t. And she never was."
He let the words hang, twisting the blade deeper. His smirk sharpened. "Tell me, Valerian... if she were truly yours, would she be standing here, with me?"
The effect was immediate.
The Demons erupted in gasps and sharp murmurs, the Humans watching in wide-eyed disbelief, the Elves stiffening as though they were watching the birth of a war. Even the professors on the platform leaned forward, caught in the spectacle.
Valerian’s composure shattered. His face darkened with a fury too wild for his noble mask to contain, his aura flaring high and violent. His killing intent screamed across the field like a storm of blades.
"YOU DARE!"
His voice thundered, but Lilian only pressed closer into Albedo’s side now, crimson eyes half-lidded, her lips quirking faintly upward as though daring Valerian to try.
Albedo, calm amidst the tempest, didn’t so much as blink. His arm still around her waist, his smirk carved itself deeper into Valerian’s pride.
And the message was clear to everyone present.
Lilian BloodHaven was not Valerian’s.
She had chosen to stand with a Human.
And Albedo Neverwinter had just mocked one of the most powerful Vampire heirs in front of the entire Academy.
The silence that followed cracked with tension, every heart on that field waiting for the inevitable explosion to come.
Valerian eventually caught himself, his voice dropped to a growl, reverberating with challenge as he threw a glove towards Albedo, "You. Human. Albedo, was it? You dare stand there, as though you belong at her side? Then prove it. Face me, here, now. I challenge you."
The words crashed across the field like thunder.
The whispers ignited instantly, a roaring wildfire.
"He challenged him?"
"Valerian Duskveil against a Human? That’s insane!"
"No, it’s suicide. Valerian’s a prodigy. He’s been at Gold Rank since 15."
"But that Human, he didn’t even flinch. Does he even know what he’s walking into?"
Even among the professors on the platform, reactions flared like sparks.
Raphaeline’s lips parted in a sly smile, her crimson eyes narrowing with ancient amusement. "Oh, Valerian... you poor fool. You’ve just written your own epitaph."
Back on the field, the tension was unbearable. Every pair of eyes had fixed on Albedo, waiting to see if he would refuse, or if he would stand.
And Albedo... simply adjusted Lilian’s arms slightly from around his torso, peeling her back with calm gentleness before stepping forward, meeting Valerian’s glare without hesitation.
His voice was steady, smooth, carrying across the silenced crowd:
"...Very well."