The Shadow Over Blackwood Manor
The grand parlor of Blackwood Manor had not felt warmth in over three centuries.
E.g. ：I couldn't believe what I saw when I opened the hidden room in my grandmother's mansion.
- 1、The Shadow Over Blackwood Manor
- 2、The Patriarch of the Blood Moon
- 3、A Web of Lies and Captivity
- 4、The Secret in the Silence
- 5、The Flames Awaken
- 6、The True Master Revealed
- 7、The Dawn of Vengeance
High vaulted ceilings caught the bitter mountain draft, carrying the faint scent of old parchment and dying embers across the polished obsidian floors.
Five-year-old Leo stood motionless near the dark oak table, his small boots barely making a sound against the freezing stone.
In front of him sat a single tallow candle, its thin yellow flame dancing nervously in the drafty air.
Leo pressed his lips together in intense concentration, his tiny hands balled into white-knuckled fists at his sides.
He focused every ounce of his spirit onto that tiny point of light, trying to make the flame bow to his command.
Yet despite the fierce determination in his bright green eyes, the stubborn yellow flame did not budge an inch.
A soft, melodic laugh echoed from the high archway behind him, dripping with centuries of cold superiority.
The Patriarch of the Blood Moon
Lord Julian stepped out from the velvet curtains, his towering frame casting a long silhouette across the candlelit chamber.
His pale skin gleamed like polished marble under the dim sconces, contrast against his dark silk coat.
Julian was the absolute master of the estate, an ancient vampire whose very name struck terror into the surrounding mountain villages.
For five years, Julian had watched his young son closely, searching for the first spark of the boy's rare hybrid bloodline.
Leo was born of a secret union, possessing both the dark essence of vampire nobility and the radiant magic of his human mother.
Julian believed that if he could break the child's spirit and harvest his magic, he would finally unlock absolute invulnerability against the sunlight.
He approached the boy with fluid, predatory grace, his boots making no sound as he closed the distance between them.
The vampire lord lowered his towering height, kneeling on the cold floor until his crimson eyes aligned with the boy's tired gaze.
A Web of Lies and Captivity
"You are straining yourself over a tiny spark, my small prince," Julian murmured, his voice sounding like silk dragged across glass.
Leo lowered his hands, breathing heavily as tears of frustration welled up in his eyes.
The child looked down at his shoes, feeling the sharp sting of disappointment heavy in his chest.
Julian reached out a pale, manicured hand and placed it gently on Leo’s shoulder, though the gesture possessed no real warmth.
"Tell me, Leo," Julian asked smoothly, leaning closer to the child's small ear.
"Why do you want to control your power so desperately?"
The question hung heavy in the silent room, carrying the weight of Julian's hidden agenda.
Julian had spent years lying to the boy, telling him that his mother, Clara, suffered from a mysterious wasting illness deep in the vaults.
He had promised Leo that only a child who mastered the ancient magic of light could break her severe affliction.
In reality, Julian kept Clara imprisoned in silver chains beneath the mansion, draining her life force day by day to fuel his own dark rituals.
The Secret in the Silence
Leo took a slow, shuddering breath and looked directly into his father's glowing red eyes.
"So I can protect Mommy," the boy whispered quietly.
Julian smiled, a chilling expression of triumph flashing across his sharp features.
He believed the boy was completely gullible, driven entirely by naive affection for a mother he barely remembered.
"A noble desire," Julian purred softly, standing back up to his full height above the child.
"But desire is nothing without absolute mastery."
To intimidate the boy and force his latent power to break through out of fear, Julian decided to show him true domination over the elements.
The vampire lord casually raised his single pale index finger into the chilly air.
The Flames Awaken
Without warning, the single candle on the table leaped six feet into the air.
Across the entire gothic mansion, hundreds of candles lining the grand staircases and dark corridors tore free from their iron holders.
