The hunter has left the capital and is currently residing in the northern mountain range. He has yet to make contact with that region's Lord; it appears that their party is dealing with the local beasts. 

The report was brief, written on a single piece of parchment that had been rolled up and delivered by owl. Rainer placed the scroll on his desk and returned the trained familiar to the windowsill, watching the bird flap its wings before soaring high into the night sky. The Prince shut his study window and pulled the navy curtains back into place. It was the third report he had received since he tasked his spies with tailing the troublesome hunter, though now that Vynx was out of Rainer's territory, he could care less about the man's activities—as long as the brute didn't kill another Vampire Lord.

Rainer du Randt had borne witness to the rise and fall of kingdoms many times before. He had seen dynasties end and new eras begin from the shadows of their palaces and cathedrals. With each new century, there were new monarchs, new families, new houses—each vying for the same power and lands as the generations before them. Human nature was locked in this endless cycle, and tragically, such nature had also sculpted the foundations of vampire society.

The key difference between their civilizations was one word: unity. There was only one ruler among the denizens of the night. Even the lowest of thralls, whether they were conscious of it or not, were tied to their maker, and their maker, in turn, to the maker before them. In the end, they all traced back to the progenitor of vampirism: the immortal ruler of the night. In serving one King, their kind had stood united against the test of time, bound eternally to the Vampire King's will. 

At least, that was the ideal that the Royal Family was meant to uphold. Reality was far from harmonious, especially after a certain Hunter had thrown their entire kingdom into chaos. It had been over fifty years since a single man had slain several members of the Royal Family and wounded their King. While His Majesty naturally overpowered him in the end, the Hunter had escaped in his final moments, and the Vampire King was left with a grievous scar—a sickness of the soul. His father had never been the same since receiving the affliction. 

The human Hunter should have perished from his injuries, given the many years of silence after their bloody battle. Now, it seemed that a new hunter had taken his place, one that threatened to upheave their order once again. Rainer knew the rumours. He had received the reports about the deaths of Lord Walter and Lord Conrad, along with several other lesser nobles, within the last decade. After encountering the hunter in person, Rainer had a suspicion that the similarities between Vynx and the previous Hunter was more than met the eye. Rainer had spent quite a few nights speculating what that thing he had fought at Lord Jaunus' manor was, but all he could definitively conclude thus far was that this new hunter was no human.

"Your Highness, I've brought your tea." A cordial, feminine voice interrupted the Prince's musings. Charlotte, his dutiful maid, set down a tray with several porcelain cups and a teapot. With trained grace, the maid poured warm, spiced blood into one of the cups before setting it on a matching floral saucer and placing it before him.

"Thank you, Charlotte." Rainer allowed his stern expression to melt into a faint smile. He brought the cup up to his lips and took a long drink of the heated crimson fluid. The taste of fresh blood reinvigorated his senses, washing away the fatigue that had been building since the night before. Keeping an entire society in check with the absence of the Vampire King was no simple feat, and Rainer preferred handling delicate matters personally rather than leaving such tasks to his underlings. While the Prince had no shortage of loyal followers, there were few whom he could fully trust. 

Charlotte bowed before glancing over the mountain of paperwork that sat at the Prince's desk. "Do let me know if you require anything else, my lord," she said. 

"I shall. Do not let me keep you from your other duties, my dear," Rainer chuckled. His eyes scanned over Charlotte's lithe form clad in the traditional maid's uniform that hugged her curves in all the right places. The Prince had always found her to be a rare gem among his harem of servants—efficient, discreet, and possessed of a quiet beauty that he had come to appreciate. It was too early in the night for him to indulge in her company, though he let his gaze linger on the back of her skirt as she left his office. 

The letters and summons on his desk seemed to pile higher with each night as lesser nobles and families sought guidance in uncertain times. After the fall of a Vampire Lord, their followers were left with two options: turn rogue or seek refuge in another noble's territory. The Prince had been forced to accept a handful of new staff since Conrad's defeat, and they were beginning to run out of space in the servants' quarters. More bodies meant more mouths to feed, and their supply of blood donors would run thin if they were not mindful. Rainer reminded himself to check the list of household servants once again and assign a few of the more charismatic ones to acquiring fresh 'volunteers.' 

While most in the human kingdom feared the vampiric nobility, there were also many humans eager to be turned. Blackbeak Manor welcomed them as both blood donors and staff, with the promise of vampirism should they serve the household faithfully. Charlotte had been one of those humans long ago, though it had been a few decades since she was turned and rose the ranks to be Rainer's personal maid. The routine at the manor hardly ever changed. With their master dictating their schedules and managing all of their tasks, the maids and servants knew their duties by heart. None dared to upset the system the Prince had established. To live in symbiotic harmony with humans was a rare achievement for their kind, one that allowed them to withstand the passage of time in each new era. 

As Rainer sifted through his mail, he stopped upon a decorative black envelope with the family crest embedded on its wax seal. A letter from Elise. The Prince let out a long sigh and tore into the envelope, bracing himself for whatever news his sister deemed to share with him this time. If only the letter had been just her ramblings on the state of her territories. To his dismay, the Princess was eager to pay another visit to his estate and had already chosen a date. Rainer quickly checked the calendar at the corner of his desk and then the letter again. 

"Gods be damned," the Prince muttered. "She'll be arriving tomorrow."