Two years later.
"Stab your lungs."
I commanded the ten slaves in front of me. They did as they were told, stabbing into their ribs before pulling out the knife and doing it again repeatedly.
No normal human would stab themselves without any reaction, but it was happening in front of me.
The slaves were bleeding through their mouths and their breathing was becoming difficult as blood flooded their lungs and trachea.
This was it, the results that had taken three years to achieve. Absolute control. I had managed to override the mechanics that the obedience spell had.
The one I had created only belonged to me. By destroying small parts of the cerebrum and then reconstructing it with my imprint and commands in the parts, I allowed myself full control of my slaves.
Unlike the obedience spell that was attached to the collars, my new modification didn't require anything. Just a small command from me and they would do anything. Disobedience was not an option.
The advantage was that no one, not even a God, could override my commands. I had inserted myself too deeply to ever be pulled out without them dying.
"They're dead master."
Luna's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. All of the slaves had died with wounds only in their lungs.
"Make sure to bury them well. We don't want a repeat of last time. Is there enough holy water?
I asked her. A corpse buried carelessly would turn into the undead. We had learnt that the hard way when we buried the last slaves. They had come to life after midnight, but the guards had killed them before they could.
Zombies weren't the only thing to worry about. Ghosts were the worst kind to be formed. A resentful ghost to be exact. Those things will chatter like canaries just for attention.
The best way to prevent this was to bury the bodies in the church's graveyard or to pour holy water on the dead body before burial.
It released the ghost so that it could go through nirvana or hell.
"Yes master, everything is ready."
Luna answered. She had grown taller but so had I. I was ten while Luna had just turned nine.
.....
"How do your new fangs feel?"
Sister asked me excitedly. My fangs had developed the moment I clocked ten. It wasn't a painful or even as big a deal as Seraph had intentionally made it.
The two normal canines had fallen off, as if the root holding them had let them go. The fangs' growth had not been that painful, but time-consuming. I had to wait for two hours before they could grow on their own until they reached the desired length.
The canines were a bit longer than my normal teeth but they fit perfectly in my mouth. I liked it.
"Strange. It's taken a while getting used to them and eating without biting myself."
I answered cordially. We were in the dining room with our mother listening to our conversation.
"You'll get used to it. Have you had your first feeding?"
My sister pushed on. I glared at her but she smiled innocently back at me. Our sessions were still going on behind Mother's back. Every time she had a school holiday, she would run home for her dosage of blood.
The side effects were just as written from The Vampire Diaries, but they were milder than I had anticipated. But it was still a joy that she could not survive for a long time without blood. She will always come crawling back to me.
"No, I'm not in a hurry."
I said, shutting down any idea she would come up with in her mind. She rolled her eyes and turned to mother.
"I decided to be a professor at school after graduation."
She declared to mother. I held my breath as I observed her reaction. Seraph was supposed to come home after her graduation but she seems to be trying to stay away.
I was unsure if she had not taken my blood, she would have gone back to rarely visiting.
Mother set down her fork softly, the sound of metal landing on ceramic was amplified in the tension-filled room.
"Why did you think of telling me this now?"
She asked coldly. I could feel the air becoming colder as her pressure covered the whole dining area. The servants waiting on us fell on their knees while others lost consciousness.
I held onto the table and looked at the sweat-sodden Seraph. She turned to look at me, her eyes pleading for me to do something.
"Mother, what sister meant was she was going to do it part-time since you are still young and a better ruler for the duchy. Becoming a professor would be the best way for her to gain more experience in management...." An idea came up mid-speech. I smiled evilly at my bewildered sister.
" How about you take this as a test mother. Just cut off most of her allowance and let her survive with the salary from being a teacher. It is a lowly job, but as the heir, she must be able to adapt. You don't want someone defective mother, do you?"
My sister was now fully looking at me with a look of pure betrayal but she was the one who asked for help. I did my best. Mother's pressure had risen and she was now drinking blood.
"Seraph do not embarrass the Bloodmoor household while at the academy. Your brother will soon be going there. I need you to look after him."
She said to my sister.
" Mother, I do not wish to go to the academy this early."
I said before Seraph could respond. No one wants to teach their own little brother. I would probably be a stain on her clean record. Despite how childish she was sometimes, Seraph was a model student at the academy.
"Why, you have four years before the official enrollment, I do not see a reason for your delay?"
She asked. I couldn't tell her I still wanted to conduct more experiments, the academy would place more restrictions on me. I met my sister's eyes across the table.
"Mother don't stress yourself, we'll discuss this when brother comes of age."
Mother was silent for a bit before she nodded. Now I owed Seraph a favor. I just hoped she wouldn't ask for anything too drastic.
"Mother, I developed a potion that might be helpful for the flowers ."
I said cutting through the suffocating silence. My family was involved in almost every trade in the kingdom, both legal and illegal. The flowers I was talking about were specially cultivated and were only produced by the duchy.
"Those flowers are too important for you to play with them Lucian."
Mother shut me down. I had not expected her to accept it directly. It would take a bit of convincing and results.
"This is not one of my childish muses mother, it has taken me four years of testing and rationing before I could come up with the potion. It's no different from the potion you use but this will increase its effects tenfold."
I held both my fingers up to make sure they got what I was pitching. I felt like a salesman. After hearing this, the mother stopped eating and looked at me. Her interest was clear.
"Continue."
She commanded.
"Since a pinch of it will have the same effect as a teaspoon of the now-grounded flower. We'll be able to earn more and the effect is tenfold."
I explained enthusiastically. The flower I was talking about was Ilustor flowers. They were only planted in the Duchy, and getting them in the wild would require someone to go to the Demon Continent.
The flowers were very addictive and anyone who took them was doomed for life. This was one of our largest money makers, but the kingdom had no knowledge of its origins, or we would have gotten a lot of complaints.
Only the selected few and the testers were allowed into the growth area. Breeding and taking care of the plants was hard. They matured every three years, and now we were in the planting season.
"You have to at least show me the results."
Mother said calmly, she was slowly agreeing with the idea. I just had to show her my results and get her to accept my potion.
"Brother, you won't accidentally kill the plants?"
Seraph said chuckling. I turned to glare at her. She was trying to turn mother against me again.
" Don't listen to her nonsense, mother. Yes, I have samples." I turned to Luna, who was standing behind me against the wall like the other maids," Bring them both."
Luna bowed before leaving the dining. The other servants cleared the table while we waited.
" Will it be really effective, I don't want sudden deaths that will affect our credibility?"
My sister asked. I knew she was interested despite acting all arrogant. I pulled out a small tin from my space ring and pushed it towards her.
"Take a look at it. You'll notice the difference without even trying. I wanted to use it for testing so you can see the result directly but you don't seem to trust your own brother."
I said condescendingly. Sister brushed off my tone and opened the tin. She gasped and pushed her mother, who looked at it before touching the power inside.
One of the servants brought a wet towel for her to wipe her hands after she finished touching it.
"It's whiter than I expected."
She said while still looking at it. I could see the surprise in her eyes. The former illustrator powder was creamish in color since the flower was cream yellow in color.