Harem System In A fantasy World

Dorian’s towering form flickered as he reappeared in Dreadmoor Hollow. As usual, he did not bother announcing his presence.

He always came and went as he pleased, and this time would be no different. But this time, a deep frown marred his strong features.

Three weeks.

He had spent three weeks searching the entire kingdom for the boy called Elion, and he had found nothing!

The thing he hated most about this fruitless endeavour was not the wasted time, nor the humiliation of failing to find a single academy student.

It was the fact that he had let down his brother. Coming back empty-handed like this left a sour taste in his mouth.

Dorian grit his teeth.

"Where could the boy have gone?" he muttered in a low hiss. It was almost as if Elion had vanished into thin air.

And considering how those he had questioned described his disappearance, perhaps he really had.

The worst part was that Dorian had not found any useful information on him at all. There was not even a single trace of the boy’s whereabouts!

"It cannot be that the boy left the kingdom, right?"

He had already had that exact thought multiple times. At this point, it was the only reasonable explanation.

Otherwise, it made no sense for someone of the boy’s strength to disappear without leaving even the faintest trail.

Perhaps he was simply that afraid of being caught. The worst-case scenario would be if Dawncrest had found the boy first and quietly gotten rid of him.

That would make things difficult.

Regardless, Dorian would report back to Lucius before heading out again to the next place he suspected the boy might have gone.

Outside the kingdom.

To the Empire of the Goddess of Light’s church.

At first, he had assumed the boy would never go there. After all, after being branded a heretic, it should have been the worst possible place for him to run.

But if the accusations were false, as Dorian suspected, then perhaps the boy had gone there seeking asylum. In his mind, it made a certain kind of sense.

"I will go there next," he decided.

With that thought, Dorian strode through the dark halls of the castle. Dreadmoor Hollow was as cold and solemn as ever.

The servants who saw him lowered their heads as he walked past. Dorian ignored them as he took heavy, slow steps. Before long, he reached the council chamber.

Inside, his sister, the Queen, was presiding over a small gathering of high-ranking noble vampires.

The moment Dorian entered, several eyes shifted toward him.

The Queen sat at the head of the long obsidian table, her posture elegant and unmoving. Her raven-black hair flowed over one shoulder, and her eyes rested calmly on the nobles before her.

She had been speaking when Dorian entered. But at the sight of him, her words came to a natural pause.

"Brother," she said as a light smile found its way onto her features.

Dorian gave a faint nod. "Your Majesty."

The gathered nobles exchanged brief glances.

For Dorian to use honourifics instead of speaking casually meant that whatever brought him here was not a simple matter.

Lilith’s gaze sharpened slightly. "You have returned."

"I have."

"And?"

The matter of Elion had not exactly been kept secret among the high-ranking nobility, and that included the few of them who were here.

Lilith had grown tired of being asked if the boy had been found or not, so this was a good chance to update not just her, but the ten or so people in the room with her. At times, she even thought these people were more eager to meet Elion than she was.

Dorian’s expression grew solemn. "I have found nothing as of yet."

Even saying the words felt humiliating to him, especially with so many people present. But their clan was tightly knit, unlike the other races; while competition was still rife, that was because it was encouraged, but they didn’t let it fester and separate them.

It fuelled them to grow stronger and support each other, but of course, there would always be a few exceptions among them, even in a small clan built on generations of history and mutual respect.

Regardless, following Dorian’s grim words, a long silence ensued, punctuated only by the quiet crackle of the crimson lamps.

The answer had been unexpected, to say the least.

To say they were shocked would be an understatement. Who among them didn’t know Dorian?

He was essentially their Monarch’s right hand, and the most capable person in their whole clan.

If any of them had been told that he had returned empty-handed after being assigned a task, they would have never believed it.

If they hadn’t heard it coming from his own mouth, they would never believe it.

More so since it was a task to find a relatively weak human boy, with Dorian’s famous eyes, the task should have been simple... And yet.

Every one of them frowned. How was that even possible?

Lilith leaned back slightly in her seat with a frown on her ghastly beautiful features as well. "Nothing at all?"

"Nothing useful," Dorian said. "The boy vanished from Grimholt, and every trail after that is either cold, false, or nonexistent."

One of the older vampires seated along the table frowned. "You searched the entirety of Grimholt?"

"I searched more than that," Dorian said coldly, and the noble immediately closed his mouth.

"I looked around the entire human kingdom." Dorian continued, "Cities, ports, border towns, known safehouses, I tried black-market informants. Even a few Dawncrest contacts, though most were too frightened to say much." His expression darkened. "There is no trace of him."

Lilith watched him for a few seconds before she asked hesitantly, "Do you believe he is dead?"

Dorian did not answer immediately. That question had been gnawing at him for days. If Elion was dead, then all of this would become meaningless.

But somehow, Dorian did not believe it. "No," he said at last. "I don’t believe so, but the lack of any trace of him is unsettling."

Several nobles looked at him with interest. Lilith’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you think he is not dead?"

Dorian crossed his arms. "Instinct."

A few nobles frowned at the sentimental answer. Lilith, however, did not dismiss him.

Dorian was not a man who relied on baseless feelings. If his instinct told him something, it was usually because he had noticed something others had missed.

"The boy disappeared too mysteriously," Dorian continued. "If Dawncrest killed him, there should be signs, but even that greedy man is still looking for the boy, meaning he hasn’t found him either."

The Queen tapped one finger lightly against the table. "Perhaps he escaped the kingdom?"

"That is my current suspicion."

"Where?"

"The Empire of the Goddess of Light."

A faint stir passed through the gathered nobles, and one of them even scoffed softly. "A boy branded a heretic running to the Church? That is absurd."

Dorian turned his head slowly toward the speaker, his enigmatic eyes making the lanky vampire flinch uncomfortably. "Absurd things often become reasonable once every obvious path has failed."

"You think the accusation against him is false." Another asked.

"I think Dawncrest had every reason to make it false," Dorian replied. "And if the boy knew that, then seeking protection from the very people meant to condemn heretics would not be as foolish as it appears."

Dorian looked back toward Lilith. "I will report to Lucius, then leave again."

"To the Empire?" Lilith asked.

"Yes."

His sister studied him for a long moment.

Under the curious gazes of the others, she got up from her seat and pulled him aside to speak privately in a quiet corner of the room, putting up a thin barrier to stop any sound from escaping.

"You are tired." She said, her voice filled with concern.

Dorian’s expression became softer; he managed a small smile. "I am fine."

Lilith’s eyes moved over his tired features. He was quite obviously lying.

Moving across a whole kingdom, searching every inch of it thoroughly within a space of three weeks was no easy task, even as a peak sage mage.

But she decided not to push the matter further. Dorian could be really stubborn at times, and she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t listen to her words of concern just because she said so.

"Your recklessness always frustrates me." She sighed.

Dorian’s gaze sharpened. "I am not reckless."

"No," she said smoothly. "But you are stubborn."

Dorian said nothing.

The corner of Lilith’s lips curved faintly. "Rest for one night, report to Lucius, and then leave. Can we agree on that at least"

"I do not need rest."

"You do if your next destination is the Church’s territory."

Dorian’s frown deepened, but he did not argue further. She was right.

The Empire of the Goddess of Light was not a place a high-ranking vampire could enter carelessly, even one as powerful as him.

Especially one as powerful as him.

The vampires and the church were not exactly in a cordial relationship. In fact, they had never been, mostly thanks to a not-so-savoury history.

Lilith’s expression softened by the smallest degree. "Go to Lucius." They exchanged a short embrace before Dorian bid farewell to his fellow vampires.

Without another word, he turned and left the council chamber and headed toward the throne room.