A Modern Guy in the Lesbian Vampires' Court 7 (Patreon)

A Modern Guy in the Lesbian Vampires' Court 7 - or ‘My business as the treasurer is surely a troublesome one among those ‘supposed’ world-conquerors’ (Castlevania Animated Series, Vampire!SI)

The second ‘day’ at Dracula’s Castle was quite intense considering that the shared sleeptime gave Lenore and I the chance to study the situation the Prince of Darkness was dealing with.

As we woke up, we took a moment to ‘kiss’ good day to each other, before preparing and refreshing for the first meeting of the day. Before that, we looked a bit into the papers we had drafted before falling asleep, sharing some more thoughts and then finalizing the plans we were to offer.

Yes, plans, not a single one as we had both wanted- but there is a reason why we were still fine with what we came up with. As breakfast was being served, we noticed Dracula interacting with his wife.

While it may not feel too odd for the two to be a bit at odds, it was more about Dracula being uneasy about being completely calm around the woman. He was giving us some passive attention, a guarded glance and a bit of a scowl here and there.

His son noticed this like the rest of the table, but nothing was done to rectify this circumstance. After breakfast, two individuals were added to the list of occupants- humans, the two Forgemasters were here too. Hector and Isaac, the ‘naive one’ and the ‘loyal one’.

Both were deemed by Dracula as worthy humans to keep around and ‘provide some opinions’. It was a rather forced way to introduce the Forgemasters, but it was rather helpful for the introduction of the ‘most controversial’ of the plans we had to offer.

Still, with all presentations done and delivered, it was time for some formal exposition.

“The first draft we created is the ‘Anti-Ottoman Crusade’ scheme,” I introduced with a small smile on my face, presenting the papers by the makeshift whiteboard I had prepared for the occasion. “As the name suggests, it revolves around the idea of coercing a war against the Ottoman by drawing forth a Crusade for Romania to become the principal springboard for.”

“I thought the plan was to avoid a confrontation with the Ottomans,” One of the Romanian Coven leaders whined and I nodded.

“Not necessarily in terms of a conflict for you to deal with- but rather an opportunity to cause changes and prepare the country to expel all those corrupt church members- the plan itself is in fact the fabrication of documentation that the current Prince of Romania, Peter III Aaron, is planning to switch side to the Ottomans and thus gain an opportunity to expand into Lithuania.”

“And the end result is?” Dracula asked.

“Remove the current Prince and allow the rightful heir, the more popular Stefan, to take over. From there deals can be made to first start a war and have Lithuania’s support on the matter, and use the war as a cover to then remove all corrupt church members from their positions and put them on trials.”

“What about the war?” Lisa asked. “Wouldn’t we still struggle against an invasion from the South?”

“Not if it is a Crusade of sorts,” I argued confidently. “The reason why it has to be pushed as a Crusade is to actually get Lithuanian support- The Battle of Varna is still fresh to Wilno and they will try their best to outmatch the Ottomans this time around- plus, it has come to my attention through some conversation with merchants before reaching the castle, that the Ottomans are busy battling the Egyptian Mamluks so most of their armies should be stuck between Syria and Egypt at this point.”

There were a few nods.

“I can confirm I heard these rumors too,” Another coven leader added. “The Ottoman Troops are mostly fighting near Jerusalem.”

“So, while there would be bloodshed, it wouldn’t be too excessive and it would be mostly aimed at the Ottomans. If everything is executed flawlessly, that is.”

With Plan 1 revealed, it was time for Lenore to speak.

“In a similar view, we also thought of a different scenario- what if instead of attacking the Ottomans it was Lithuania?” The redhead offered. “The plan is to accomplish a change of government such like in the previous plan, but it involves trying to avoid a Lithuanian full intervention by trying to ally with Poland and broaden the front with them.”

“What would prevent an Ottoman intervention?” Dracula pressed on and Lenore nodded.

“The fact they are mostly occupied away from the Balkans means that we could technically match their current forces. Meanwhile Lithuania’s troops can be slaughtered by using the mountains in the region as formidable defenses to hold. It would be like presiding over numerous Thermopilae at once. From there we can just patiently wait to force Lithuania to sign a peace deal favorable to Romania while also seeing the Church’s scum removed from these lands.”

A slow nod came from Dracula and he looked at me.

“There’s a third option.”

“There is,” I admitted nervously.”

“And… you don’t seem too keen to bring it up. Why?”

Lenore was giving me a smug look, knowing I was going to have a difficult time selling this pitch compared to the previous plan.

“It’s because of an element. But I can say that it is not entirely bad- in fact, it is the one with the highest rewards-”

“And highest risk rate,” Lenore childishly interjected, leaving me even more uneasy.

“Which is?”

“I call it ‘The Broad Coalition’ option,” I answered truthfully. “Up to this point the plans have relied on 1) The actions to take to be held within the dark and 2) the only ones involved being either Vampires or creatures conjured by the Forgemasters but… what if we involved other humans in this?”

Eyes were narrowing at this.

“What kind of humans?” Dracula pushed forward, curious to know what would make this

“Outcasts,” I quickly replied. “Individuals that, after the events that happened, have been targeted as your ‘agents’. One of these groups are the Speakers-”

“The Speakers are a bunch of pacifists with no affiliation to me. How could the church mess that much?”

“Well, your wife is a kind soul and yet she was passed as the wife of Satan,” I quipped swiftly, causing the count to frown angrily at this. “That’s to say that the Church doesn’t need proof to condemn these people- they are on their way, they are nice scapegoats for their current issues and thus hunt them down to slaughter them.”

“What would they bring with a potential ‘understanding?” Lisa spoke up, sounding intrigued by this group. “I have heard of the Speakers once but never once got the chance to meet them.”

“It’s possible because they keep away from most people. Not everyone likes to speak of or show magic, so they are constantly on the run while preserving arcane knowledge and means to ease up lives with their spells,” I answered truthfully. “If they were to be helped, they would bring forth magic users that would assist in various support-related things such as logistics, handling food reserves and… ingratiating humans that would need to be proven that Lord Dracula is not the ‘True Face of Satan, the Cause of All Horrible Disasters and the Primary Reason for all Wars’. By rallying those people plus other groups that would be willing to a benevolent take over”

“I see the use of it. But I can tell it is not what should infuriate me. So, speak at once: what is ‘bad’ about this plan?”

My lips twitched. “It involves putting an end to the feud with the Belmont.”

Dracula stood up right as I brought up the B-word.

“What?!”

“Dear-”

“Do you have any idea of what you just asked? Allying with the Belmont Clan?!” Dracula snarled. “Why would I try to approach that family?”

I flinched a bit, yet refused to let go. “Could it be really considered a family anymore since there’s just one alive?”

Dracula looked ready to rebuke but… paused.

“One? What do you mean by ‘one’?! I know there were more than two dozen no less than ten years ago.”

“That was before the church deemed them Satan’s worshipers and had all but one killed,” I argued calmly. “So, the only Belmont alive, someone that had his vision and tenets shattered by the very people that he was taught to protect. He lost all of that at the age of 15, he is alone, driven into the world of poverty, hunted by church members, rejected by others- I am willing to bet my life he would be easy to convince to take part to any mission that doesn’t involve a needless waste of innocent blood.”

There was a lengthy silence about it and then Lisa raised a curious question.

“What is his name?”

“Trevor. Trevor Belmont.”

“Are you sure he can be trusted?” Lisa pressed on the topic, ignoring her husband’s discouraging gaze.

“He is not Leon Belmont and he has nothing but just old tales that are ready to be dispelled about his family’s past.”

“He is still a Belmont,” Dracula argued.

“And your son is a Tepes, Lord Dracula. But I would be foolish like others to say that you two are the same individual?” I half-snapped much to his surprise. “Lord Dracula, if we were to condemn others by their parents or ancestors, no one would be safe from brutal scrutiny. At the very least giving it a try wouldn’t hurt.”

“Why?” Dracula asked dryly. “What do we gain from gaining the Belmont as an Ally?”

Matchmaking Reasons.

But I couldn’t tell him that without getting brutalized.

“First, it is to have him allied and not manipulated by someone to think you are waging a war against humanity or similar excuses,” I spoke up as honestly as I could. “Second, his skills may bolster the ability to wage wars. After all, Leon Belmont was a formidable warrior during the crusades.”

Dracula nodded slowly. I could tell that my thoughts of him being Mathias Cronqvist were correct- so, that bit of lore was also correct.

“It could be thought about. But it wouldn’t be impossible to exclude the Belmont in case this doesn’t work.”

“It would not,” Lenore confirmed.

“I am glad to hear that,” Dracula mumbled. “Your plans will be reviewed with proper attention.”

The day wasn’t over yet, but I could feel that the worst was over… for now.

—------d-d-d-d—-------

AN

Trouble beckons as the duo returns to Styria. Carmilla is plotting, and it will end in a political spar of grand proportions.