My name is Jododam Blutrot, once an orphan and now a vampire. My power could rival the two major kingdoms' most powerful beings, being the kings of Antrite and Antral. Not only was I as powerful as kings, but I was both of their closest advisors.

In my early years, when I became a vampire from the chosen festival, something which happened every twenty-five years, I was immediately acknowledged to have potential which outrivaled everyone at my age except one, the man who would become the king of demons.

Jekyll Königshaus, the heir to the demon throne, the only other person my age which could beat me. I was thirteen when I became a vampire, and immediately my adoptive father Rosarott went to see the demon king with me. It turned out it was just a meeting about something, and I was handed to some maids who tried to take me away.

I hissed at the thought and wandered around the castle. It was massive, made out of marble and platinum, a sight to behold to the demons eye. I wandered around endlessly until I came across the king's garden.

My father most likely made this garden in his image. Roses and plants, all prickled with thorns, but their beauty was immense. I walked through the gardens amazed by what to behold, it was only then when I saw a boy, about my age, Jekyll.

He had platinum-blonde hair, red eyes, wearing black attire. I walked up to him, and before that, he noticed me. Standing up quickly, a white crack in the air appeared between us, most likely his ability. The boy who was Jekyll, renowned for his power, was afraid of me.

“I’m sorry that I startled you,” I bowed my head, “I am Jododam Blutrot, a chosen vampire of the Blutrot household, may I ask for your name?”

The white crack in the air disappeared and the boy began talking, “I am Jekyll Königshaus, the heir to the demon throne, the one who tremors the sky,”

“That… skill you have, most impressive,”

“...These gardens were done by your father, correct?”

“My Adoptive father, then yes, after I became a vampire, I left my old life behind,” I walked towards Jekyll and picked up a dark rose which he was looking at.

“That’s a crimson rose, it’s such a rare sight, I was surprised when I saw them for the first time,”

“Do you know why they’re rare?” Jekyll shook his head, “No… it’s because of this.”

I placed the flower petals on my right hand and closed my eyes. I slowly used my demon ability on the flower, extracting the liquid from it, I could tell Jekyll was watching. After a while, I opened my own eyes and witnessed the miracle myself.

I extracted the liquid from the petals, each one falling slowly onto the floor. Looking at Jekyll's face, he was amazed at what I was doing. I dropped the stalk, and we both stared into my right hand, which was now holding a red liquid.

“The crimson rose is the flower of war, known to sprout of where carnage once stood, growing on the corpses of fallen soldiers, they can’t survive on the water no, they have to be drenched in blood so that they grow,”

“I never knew that, such an interesting adaptation,”

“How old are you?”

“I am twelve years old, and I’ll be going to the human world soon, as I will be going to school there in the capital Onsice,”

“I see, shall we take a walk?”

Jekyll and I walked through the gardens talking, and a friendship quickly bonded between the two of us. It wasn’t until my father called me, so both of us followed the voice. After coming out of the gardens, a man who was a spitting image of Jekyll if he was older was behind him, the demon king.

“Father!” Jekyll walked up to the demon king.

“Son, and it seems that you have met Jododam,” The king said.

“Yes, I am Jododam Blutrot, adopted son of Rosaroot Blutort, at your service,” I bowed staring at the floor.

“What superb manners, I was hoping you would do something for me,”

“And what would be your majesty?” I looked up.

“To accompany my son, to go to school with him in Antrite,”

“I-i would be honoured, sir.”

Two weeks later, Jekyll and I would be sharing a dorm, going to school for five years together. Antrite was the other world, which was connected through a series of portals. During those years, we befriended the first prince of Antrite, Nicholas, who would later become king as well.

We all graduated, and in those five years from when I was at school to a fully-fledged adult, many things changed. My father had died due to a poison hidden in his wine glass at a banquet, and I was appointed as one of the youngest leaders of a vampire household ever to exist.

I buried myself in my work since my idiot of a father had perished, I could create a new and stronger household for the Blutrot family. During that time, I began to research into something else at the time, a new science which I had called: 'Cloning'.

As my household grew in power, so did my experiments. That all changed on a normal Sunday afternoon, two years after I became the head of the family, I got a knock on my study door. It was Jekyll, all grown up, I hadn’t seen him in four months, and he was crying.

I stood up from my chair and embraced him, there were tears in his eyes.

“Jekyll why are you crying,”

“It’s my father,” He sobbed.

“What about your father…” I then realized what it might've been. “Don’t tell me, is he?”

“Yes, and I wanted the first of my inner circle to know,”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

His father had died due to an assassination attempt, which didn't kill him, but made him bleed out. Nicholas was already the king of Antrite at that point, he also sent his condolences, despite him unable to attend Jekyll's coronation.

When he became king, I revealed to Jekyll about my experiments, and he agreed with my plan. Stronger soldiers without mothers, ancient generals resurrected, and even, moving the soul to another body.

Seven years had passed, and my research team had finally cracked the code. We made a child in a test tube and named her Sashal. My right-hand man, Wilhelm, soon took over the project, as Jekyll did something, no one saw coming.

He called me into his personal chambers, where only Jekyll, his wife, and child Quinn were allowed to enter. He called me into his chambers, to hand a pamphlet, which I opened and read.

“Why?” I looked up.

“Somehow he found out, and is now asking you to do your research in Antrite as well,”

“... But why?”

“We don’t know, but Jododam, Nicholas’s mind was never the clearest, so just do what he wants for now… kings orders, understand?”

“I understand your majesty, and since I probably won’t see you for a while, can I ask a favour?”

“Of course,”

Jekyll led me to the cemetery of the royal family, a place where every member was buried until only a skeleton remained. I scoured the graveyard for hours, finding one skeleton, which I took one rib from and gifted it to Wilhelm, and told him to name him Adlif, as well as telling him my farewells.

I left Antral only returning very rarely for some matters with the household. Nicholas wanted powerful soldiers made from orphans, those who didn’t have a family. He even offered up his eldest child for the experiments.

Human bodies were different from demons, and so for seven years, I experimented on hundreds of subjects, until again, I cracked the code, three hundred and twenty-seven deaths, for one soldier, and for my research to continue.

In the matter of thirty-three subjects, only five of them didn’t make it. I was given a house and watched over the teenagers, as my research continued in other ways, trying to make their bodies stronger, more durable, more powerful.

It took me another three and a half years to get that many human subjects, and Wilhelm sent me a letter, saying that someone tried to steal my research. I was angered, but he also said it only saw the base of it, so they had to figure most of it out for themselves.

After I read that letter, I was notified of another orphan, but this one was different. He had destroyed a house out of anger and was being questioned why he did it. The adolescent was fifteen, his mother was killed in the fire, and I went to see him.

I heard the king talking to him, something that Nicholas had never done. I was listening in, hearing what the child had to say, and something I heard piqued my interest.

"I don't know how I survived, I went flying when the explosion happened, but I was knocked out when I hit the hill,”

An impact like that would’ve killed a man, of his age, but not a demon. I entered the chamber and told the king to leave, as I would handle the situation. I talked to the boy and learnt more about him. His name was Dyne, he had no last name and was from Daishin, he had remained calm, only to fight back when angered him.

I called him a lowly peasant since that's what he was. He flipped over the table and tried to hit me, so I punched him in the stomach lightly, making him hit the wall, leaving a dent in it. I focused on where I hit him, and I realized something, something that even Dyne did not know.

A demon's soul in a human body, I was brimming with joy. If this child was more powerful, he could’ve become a chosen vampire like me. I had to have Dyne, so I mentioned my experiment which I never do and he immediately took an interest, taking the bait which I laid out, like a moth to a flame.

He had no home and no family, and I opened a pathway to him which he could not refuse. I put out my right hand to Dyne, he hesitated at first, but then shook it. That handshake was the most important event ever in my life, as I did not know how Dyne would've changed the world.