Chapter 302: He could have asked for my number, you know?

"Why is House Veyr being so... kind to me?

What is it that you want?"

Lucian asked directly and the instant he did, Aurelia’s face changed. For the next few seconds, she remained silent, which made Lucian chuckle.

"You don’t plan to deny that, do you?"

He asked, looking into her eyes.

"House Veyr’s Blood Mark, it’s worth quite a bit, isn’t it?"

"Are you only realising it now?"

Aurelia questioned back.

"I knew it was valuable."

Lucian shrugged.

"But I will admit, I underestimated its value."

Lucian was no fool. He saw how Garrick reacted to it.

The Warden Seat instantly backed down the instant Aurelia mentioned the Blood Mark, the surprised look on his face made it painfully obvious.

And...

It wasn’t just Garrick who reacted to it.

Most of them did not hear it and those who did suppressed their reactions, but Lucian still noticed it.

He saw how those Vampires reacted, how they looked at him with subtle envy, some even showed greed.

Of course, Lucian did know what a Blood Mark was when he took it from Silvian, or more specifically, he had the theoretical knowledge.

He just did not know what having the Blood Mark of House Veyr meant in Vampire Society.

"I gave Silvian one Waymark in exchange for it."

He mentioned, recalling that time.

"Sure, I needed one myself, so I was practically giving him what I could have had, but... the Trial had just started, both he and I could have found many more Waymarks on the way.

To exchange one Waymark for a Blood Mark...

It was a terrible trade."

Aurelia stared at him in silence for a few more seconds, then she shrugged lightly.

"It took you time, but at least you noticed eventually."

"So he knew?"

Lucian tilted his head.

"Of course."

And Aurelia nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucian stared at her. Aurelia walked inside and closed the door behind her. It seemed like this conversation was going to take a little longer.

"Silvian isn’t an idiot, Mr. Cross."

She spoke.

"The Waymark was certainly useful, but it wasn’t worth a Blood Mark.

He overpaid."

The Vampire admitted openly.

"Why?"

Lucian asked. Aurelia thought about it for a moment, then—

"Investment."

"Huh."

That answer made Lucian pause.

Aurelia, on the other hand, walked towards one of the couches and sat down.

"Come."

She invited him, Lucian sat in front of her and Aurelia began explaining.

"Silvian told me about you, about that girl who was with you."

"Naomi?"

"Yes, Aevrienne’s Contractor."

Aurelia nodded.

"Of course, at that time, he did not know the Ancient Spirit favoured the girl. She was, after all, only an ordinary human. He believed she favoured you."

"Me?"

Lucian was surprised.

He had demonic blood, the last person a Spirit like Aevrienne would have favoured was him.

"Your group had far more Waymarks than any other Silvian had encountered till then. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

Isolde Verraine in your group was well known, she was remarkable, yes, but not remarkable enough to be favoured by Aevrienne. The Relic Hunter was unremarkable and then there was a Human with no power.

The only one who stood out in your entire group was you. A Human with... unreasonably pure demon blood.

So he made an educated guess."

"Really?"

Lucian raised an eyebrow. Aurelia laughed.

"Well, Rhydan Greyfang’s words did help."

"That makes much more sense."

Lucian nodded.

"The Wolf isn’t particularly subtle when he finds someone he likes."

"He has good taste."

Aurelia chuckled at those words.

Then she continued—

"When he praised you so openly, Silvian became curious, especially when the said being was only in his twenties."

"There was no way to know how old I was back in the Trial. I may be popular right now, it wasn’t the same before."

"Silvian noticed you were especially close to Naomi and placed you two in the same age bracket."

"That’s a long guess."

Lucian couldn’t help but comment.

Aurelia shrugged.

"He had a wide cushion to fall back on, you were strong enough to be acknowledged by Rhydan, you were favoured by an Ancient Spirit and you had strangely dense demonic blood in your body.

So he trusted his instincts and made the decision."

"The decision to invest in me?"

"Indeed."

Aurelia nodded, then a smile appeared on her face.

"And look at it, the investment paid off."

"How do you know it did?"

Lucian asked curiously.

"A twenty-year-old boy who, in just a few months, has become strong enough to face Rhydan Greyfang. An Enclave Prodigy who is being trained by Vivienne Everhart and a close friend of Aevrienne’s Contractor.

I think it paid off, unless of course, you die in the next few years."

"Wow..."

Lucian was speechless.

Talking about his death was not his favourite topic.

"If Silvian actually considered everything you mentioned, he is quite exceptional."

To think through all that while participating in a Trial that could easily be called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it showed how far-sighted the man was.

"He is our Heir.

This is the least we expect from him."

"Talk about living with the weight of expectation."

Lucian shook his head as he sighed.

Then, he looked at Aurelia and—

"So he looked at everything and thought I might become useful."

"Important."

Aurelia corrected. Lucian glanced at her.

"There is a difference.

Useful things are used.

Important people are befriended."

Aurelia explained.

That made Lucian stare at her for a moment.

Then he laughed.

"So that’s what this is? He gave it to me to befriend me?"

"Think of it as an excuse to meet you again. There will be a day when you use the Blood Mark, when you do, you will need to come to House Veyr."

"And I would need to meet him."

"Correct."

Aurelia nodded.

Lucian laughed again.

"He could have asked for my number, you know?

I usually don’t give it to guys, but I would have made an exception."