Chapter 270: A Resurrected Soul

In Ivan’s study chamber, Viktor handed him the weathered, leather-bound book, containing pages filled with the history of the royal vampire lineage. His eyes scrutinized the young vampire who received it from his grip and was presently going through the pages, as if searching for something.

When Ivan had asked him for his family’s history book, Viktor didn’t think he was being specific until he mentioned the history books that had been kept in Vesunard. Knowing he couldn’t defy the orders of a king, he had asked someone he trusted to fetch the book for him, and now that he had brought it in front of the vampire who seemed to have been expecting him all this while, he couldn’t help but be weighed by curiosity concerning why Ivan would need this book out of the blue.

Ivan on the other hand, skimmed through the pages, portraits and passages detailing his family’s lineage. Most of the things in the book he already knew, his family’s history had been lectured to him a dozen times, but he has never held the book to actually go through it, unlike Duncan who had gone to Vesunard to learn about their family’s history in person. If Duncan says he saw a name similar to Marius in their family’s history book, then he knew he was telling the truth.

As he continued to flip through the pages, glancing at every battle his family has ever encountered in the past, he finally came across the name that grasped his attention instantly. Lifting his head to look at Viktor, he placed the book on the table and pointed at the name for Viktor to see.

"Who is Marius?" He asked, "you must be familiar with the owner of this name, as you were present in the war this adversary has once brought. I want to know who he is." Demanded Ivan.

"Marius is not a name to be spoken so lightly, Your Majesty." Viktor’s eyes darkened with knowledge, and then he sighed before leaning back on the chair he sat on, arms crossed. He suspected a day like this would come, and truth be told, even the deepest of secrets will be revealed at their own timing.

"Marius is like any other enemy this Kingdom has to face. Why do you ask?"

"The fact I don’t know about him up till this day is enough to leave me curious, don’t you think? Unless you’re hiding his identity which I believe is not the truth, is it?" He pushed on.

"Marius is a demon that was cast down to Earth with a dark purpose." Viktor explained, his voice filled with an eerie seriousness, eyes distant, as if he had ventured into the past. "Centuries ago when the world only knew about expanding their Kingdom, Marius was sent to fulfill one goal– to sow chaos and turmoil, to manipulate the hearts of both vampires and humans, and ultimately, to bring world domination. His presence was a menace to both vampires and humans alike, and he’s most probably, one of the best manipulators you can ever come across. He has the highest record number of soul stealing, and when he targeted vampires to achieve the domination he sought, no one refused to go down without a fight."

Lord Viktor’s gaze bore into the focused ones of Ivan, "the war lasted up to many months, close to a year. He was extremely powerful, and asides his demon soldiers, he possessed the mystic orb that had been his weapon into attaining destruction."

Lord Viktor paused, and then he continued, "When Marius was finally brought to his knees by your antecedents, he was killed, bringing the war to an end, but the Orb remained– that was how we had our hands on the mystic Orb from the beginning. When Marius was no more, the Orb became a proof of our victory, but as time moved on, everyone started to see the Orb’s significance and not the destruction it could have brought. It helped in different ways, so your family decided to keep it, harnessing it into their Kingdom, and the progress was always positive until it became a target to those who wanted the power it had."

"So what happens if Marius returns?" Inquired Ivan, and Viktor’s lips twitched at the question, "if he ever does return, then we’ll need to prepare for another war, cause he will come back for the Orb, as I’ve heard. His possession towards the mystic Orb is rather maddening, one cannot fathom if it is because of the powers it possesses, or if there was something more to the Orb that always made him want to cling onto it. He was killed, I witnessed the scene myself, he can’t be brought back unless resurrected."

"I see." Ivan nodded his head, feeling a newfound weight sink upon his shoulder. He remembered every word of Mr Dufort, and how his Father had been compelled to end his life in order to avoid a second world domination. His Father’s death suddenly made sense to him, he must have known about Marius’s quest for world domination, and knowing the Orb wasn’t going to be safe in the Palace, he invited Mr Dufort over, the only man he could trust to keep the Orb safe from harms way, and now, that Orb has become the woman he fell madly in love with.

"Wait, if I’m not mistaken, you said he can’t return unless his soul is resurrected?" Ivan knew he heard something similar to that, and when Viktor nodded, something entirely different dawned on him.

Who resurrected Marius??

Later at night, Ivan held on to the history book and decided to read about the documented war between Marius and his antecedents. He leaned his back against the headboard, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, whilst his sapphire-blue eyes tremor through the pages. His forehead creased into a concentrated frown as he read about the plight that happened way before his Father was born, and clicked his tongue upon reading about the plague Marius had caused.

Recalling someone as dangerous as Marius was in his wife’s chamber at midnight, his heart grew concerned. Ivan’s attention was side-tracked when Samantha stepped out of the bathing chamber, all refreshed and ready to head to bed in her nightgown.

She climbed onto the bed and went into the arms of Ivan.

"What are you reading?"

"It’s nothing serious." He answered, unable to bring himself into telling her about Marius. He felt she had the right to know, but for the first time in his life, he was quite frightened to tell her about something that would ruin the sunshine smile on her lips.

"If it’s not important then keep it aside," she took the book from his grip and dropped it on the side table, "you’ve dedicated your time to your duties all through the day, won’t you spare some for me tonight?" Her round emerald-green eyes sparkled with a tinge of gold when she gazed at him, and Ivan was defenseless in the hands of his wife.

"You sound jealous of my duties," he squeezed her cheek lightly, "did you forget that you’re on the top of my priority list? If you ever need me for anything, don’t hesitate, even if I’m in a meeting with the Ministers."

His love for her in his sapphire-blue eyes held an unwavering devotion that transcended time, a tender warmth that melted her heart. He kissed the top of her head before pulling her into a soft, loving hug while she closed her eyes to sleep.

—-

Meanwhile, the astrophysicist who had been watching over the blood moon eclipse and calculating the day it was gonna arrive, seemed to stiffen as he observed it from his lunar telescope. As if he couldn’t believe it, he looked at it again, and his eyebrows shot up upon realizing he hadn’t imagined what he just saw.

"It can’t be...." He mumbled in a daze.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read