Chapter 294 Settling in

Chapter 294 Settling in

Once again, my Grandfather transported us with his flames, but instead of a cliff I was now in front of a mansion. It didn't look especially fancy, but with how the rocks were carved, it clearly served as the home of a noble.

All in all, the entire place felt like an ancient ruin of a modern civilization.

Turning around to see where we were located in the city, I noticed we stood once more near the edge of a cliff. We had teleported to the opposite end of this underground city, overlooking it once again. It went to show that my Grandfather was the ruler of this place, and it's this same place that I would be expected to take over.

"Now, let's get you inside and acquainted with the place. I've been waiting for years to finally have this chance to take you back. Now I hope you won't be as foolish as your parents and run away from... responsibility." There was a murderous glint in his eyes as he looked at me, seemingly trying to see how I would react to my parents.

"I've been wanting to find out who I am, as I don't have much memory of what happened back then, so only time will tell what I decide." I restrained my real feelings the best I could, but I couldn't help myself and tried to show some bite back. If I tried to bottle things up too much, I felt an impending explosion would happen before I could even defeat my Grandfather.

He stared at me for a moment, seemingly shocked at my little declaration. However, it seemed to have worked in my favour, as he began to smile.

"The blood runs strong within you, I can't wait to see what kind of mistress you will develop into." He chuckled while opening the door to the mansion and leading me inside. Maids in red dresses and varying kinds of hair colours all bowed in perfect sync. Compared to the people I saw outside who seemed native to this place, my guess was that those in the manor were regular people who were kidnapped and were unrelated to this vampiric race.

"Welcome back, Master Teivel and our missing princess Elysia." Their voices were in perfect harmony as they greeted us, but they also spoke my Grandfather's name, which I had yet to hear.

"Prepare one of the guest rooms for Elysia to stay in. You have 10 minutes, otherwise you'll become my next meal!" Fear filled the maid's faces, prompting them to instantly rush up a set of stairs, where presumably my room would be.

'That's one way to say they will be killed. It can't be pleasant to get your blood sucked... Although I feel like Shaman would say otherwise.' I felt bad for the maids, as they were being forced to work here with the expectation of perfection. I could guess that if one of them made a single mistake, Teivel would instantly murder them.

"Feel free to command the maids to do whatever you like. I wouldn't stoop as low as to have sex with them, but if you truly desire to use their body to satiate that feeling, go right ahead. If they displease you in any way, kill them if you wish." Teivel was clearly aware of the kind of person I was, but it pissed me off to think he would assume I would just fuck any random girl.

However, being given power over the maids worked in my favour, as it allowed me to show the cruel side of me. There was no doubt that Teivel was looking for it, and there was no better way than to act disgusted at "lowly" beings. Sorry maids!

"Tch, I wouldn't lay my hands on some lowly peasants." Despite taking on a cruel persona, these were close to my real feelings about the situation. I didn't like talking about them as if they were bugs, so I tried to walk a fine line using social status as an excuse.

A smirk appeared on Teivel's face, satisfied with my response.

"Follow me, I'll give you some things to read about our past and let you settle in for today." Teivel then started to walk, and I followed him up the stairs.

Right at the top, there were hallways going either way, and where they met lay a double door that screamed of its importance.

"Behind this door is my office, where you will find me the majority of the time." Teivel opened the doors and entered, prompting me to go inside as well. The room was lined with many weapons with plaques under them.

After a quick glance, I noticed they all had the same last name, Dahlia, which made me think that these were my ancestors' weapons.

"To quickly answer, these weapons are made of your ancestors' bodies. They were specifically crafted after their weapon of choice and are forbidden to be wielded." Teivel took a seat at the desk and pulled out a journal of some kind.

"I see." I didn't care too much about my ancestors, and without knowing the names of my parents, there was no way to see if one of them was theirs. I also doubted traitors would be turned into weapons, as it seems this is how we preserve the history of older generations.

"Now take this journal and read through it tonight. It has about 1,000 years worth of entries, but I revised it to be more condensed and readable." He threw the thick journal towards me, and I tried to catch it, but the weight of the book caused me to trip back. Despite looking small, it had a tonne of weight behind it.

Placing the book in my inventory as there was no way I was carrying it, I got off the ground and dusted myself off.

"This all feels a little too fast, how come you are accepting me back so easily?" It had been a thought in the back of my mind, but everything was going too smoothly. I know I came back willingly, but to be handed something that most likely contained secrets about our race felt surreal.

*Sigh* "It looks like your intuition is sharp. Let me assure you, I do not intend to treat you like my real granddaughter until you've proven yourself. I am gracing you with hospitality because of how you came with little to no resistance, but don't think for a second you're not being watched." Teivel's face turned dark, and his red eyes glowed, increasing the pressure in the room.

It became hard to breathe, although not enough to straight up suffocate me. It seems the "warm" welcome I was getting wasn't really him accepting me, just a courtesy for not being a pain.

'Looks like I still need to earn his trust, but I guess I need to learn about my past before I can do that.' I began to feel the weight of responsibility that was being put on me, added on top of having to put up an act. I needed to become the model granddaughter that Teilvel desires in order to stay here.

"I understand. I'm guessing this book contains information I need to know in order to become the granddaughter you want?"

'Cruel villainess route it is.'

"You catch on quick, if you can prove your worth, then I might give you the slightest amount of attention to prepare you to inherit my position." A smile that I could only describe as insanity appeared on Teivel's face. I thought there was a semblance of humanity in him when we first met, but it's obvious now that it was all just an act.

Everything he has done has been calculated and curated to get things going his way. There was no doubt that he accounted for this situation, and it was yet to be decided who was really playing whom.

"Now, go on, little one. Grandfather needs you to do a bit of catching up." Clapping his hands, one of the maids opened the door and bowed.

"Please follow me to your room Miss Elysia." The maid did not dare make eye contact with anyone, her eyes trained on the ground as if she feared getting punished for the slightest of mistakes.

"I'm sure you won't be saying little one for long, Grandfather." I returned the smile with my own crazed stare while I walked out of the room with the maid. If we were going to play, then I had better do it right.

'Must run through the family.' I didn't know if it was something I should be proud of, but being crazy was something that naturally came to me.

I heard Teivel chuckling as I took my leave, up until the large doors shut behind me. I followed the maid down the hall and came to a room where nine maids were awaiting my arrival.

"Please enjoy your stay. Yumi will be your personal maid, so if you need anything she will do everything in her power to grant it." One of the girls, whom I assumed was the head maid thanks to her slightly more complex maid dress, introduced Yumi, a petite girl.

She had mossy green hair, which was quite messy, and right off the bat I could tell she was shy. Her hands were slightly shaking as she stared at me, showing just how afraid she was.

"Please excuse her, Yumi is a new maid, so if she isn't to your liking, we can exchange her." The head maid began to sweat as she noticed Yumi seemingly wasn't following proper etiquette.

'Fucking hell, how high is the standard here.' I couldn't believe it, just from her slight shakes and staring, she was already considered to be replaced.

"It's okay, I find her cute, so I'll excuse it." I patted Yumi's head, trying to provide reassurance, but I also made sure my words sounded like I wanted Yumi for my own pleasure, as no doubt Teivel was watching.

'Let's hope I can keep this up, the last thing I want is to become Teilvel's puppet.'