Red Fang II

Chapter 45 (C-Arc): All That Glitters

We last read Chapter 44, in which Prince Boripedes uses a Weakening Sphere spell from his newly-constructed spell book to quickly exhaust his niece Mavis Ladair a.k.a. Red Fang and cause her to become fatigued very quickly in order to gain the upper hand against her in a chase; she eventually stops against a large rock, where Boripedes and four Virulis-model blood warriors effectively trap her in place. Though Lord Balfort Ladair, Lady Amber Ladair, and Theo Ladair—and later Lily Ladair and the Talking Skull—save her by "draining" the last remaining warriors of their blood and dispatching Virulis as a whole for good, Boripedes then unexpectedly restrains every member of the royal family except for Red Fang—even Agnes's steward and Agnes herself—with blackened, charred skeletons with red auras around them, wanting them to watch as he utterly demoralizes them by destroying Red Fang right before their eyes.

However, Cristian Dumitru, his wife Alina Dumitru, and Mavis Ladair a.k.a. Red Fang's husband Garson are quick to come to the rescue, with Cristian and Alina maneuvering their motorboat so as to give Garson a clear shot at Boripedes with a crossbow, which the former stole from Chef Cedric's bistro kitchen. Garson succeeds in fatally shooting Boripedes and impaling him in the heart with the bolt; while most of the royal family holds no sympathy for him, Balfort and Red Fang both share some final words with the treacherous prince before he finally passes away, putting his revenge plot to a decisive end.

Red Fang then hugs Garson out of gratitude and relief, to which Garson immediately starts apologizing for killing Boripedes, as if he needed to. Red Fang quickly disregards his words—stating that he did what he needed to do to save her—while also implicitly implying that she would've done the same thing had the roles been switched. The chapter ended with Garson taking out the recovered Bloodstone from his pocket before informing his wife and the rest of the royal family that they need to reinstall it.

This time, the Bloodstone is officially returned to the Vermillion Enclave, Lily Ladair and Theo Ladair finally reap the rewards of their intrepid expedition, and the Talking Skull learns what is next for him following his adventure with the secretly-incestuous siblings.....

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-Bloodstone Focus, Vermillion Enclave, Transylvania-

Later that same evening, after the entirety of the Ladair royal family had time to rest and recover following the intense confrontation on Prince Boripedes's island, the Bloodstone was officially returned to its rightful place within the Vermillion Enclave's walls.

First, Lord Balfort Ladair ensured that the gem's security protocols were back online, before deactivating the runes momentarily to ensure that neither he nor any other innocent vampires were inadvertently vaporized by the upwards-shooting lasers. Then, as Mavis Ladair a.k.a. Red Fang and her husband Garson watched with warm happiness, Balfort placed the gem back into the center of the Focus, where it began to—once again—return to its perpetually-floating state, with Balfort re-engaging the surrounding runes soon afterward.

Balfort then backed away to about the same distance that Mavis and Garson were from the Focus, standing next to his wife, Lady Amber Ladair.

"I remember when our objective was just to locate this again," Balfort reminisced as he stared at the Bloodstone with wonder. "Who knew the truth would be so close to home.....?"

"Yes," Amber seconded. "I wasn't expecting to hear from Boripedes ever again after his banishment.....but, now that I think about it, he always had a way of bouncing back."