House of Rose-1

"One can fake a smile, but one can't fake their feelings."

It was a quote that had been stuck in Adui's mind tonight. He had read it in a philosophical book ages ago, but somehow this dinner reminded him of the quote. It was a fine evening, Jarad, his wife Clair, and he were having a wonderful dinner.

There was a live orchestra in the back and the best food that Huston Town could offer was on their table, everyone around them was happy, even his companions were happy, but he wasn't.

"...And I told him, I hadn't seen that man since our wedding. Let's just go and surprise him, so we came" Clair said with a smile on her face while sipping wine.

"And you know me, whenever this one asks me something, I cannot refuse," Jarad said who was sitting beside Clair. "Of course, I would have refused… But she would have beaten me up later." Clair lightly slapped Jarad's shoulder and chuckled at his joke.

"It is really great to see you guys, especially you Clair. I heard you gave birth to two beautiful twins recently, I figured you would have gotten fat by now." With a fake smile on his face, he looked at the closeness of the couple in front of him with jealousy. He didn't like it, not even a little bit.

"Fat? I would never become fat. You haven't met Diane and Julia yet. Those two are like two little tornados that destroy everything that comes in their path. I get plenty of exercise cleaning after them." She then took another sip of wine and then asked "What about you? What is going on in your life?"

"Me? Nothing new or exciting." Then Jarad chimed in.

"Nothing exciting, Oh, Come on. We have heard the rumors as well. Come on spit it out" Jarad said, making Adui scrunched his face in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Adui asked.

"Gizelle of course." Jarad then took a sip of wine and waited for Adui's reply. But seeing his scrunched and confused face he realized that something was not right here. "Have you not met Gizelle recently?"

"Yeah… I mean met her like 5-6 days ago." Adui said, "At that time she had ascended like two Ranks. Is that what you are talking about?"

"No, she completed the First Ring." Flabbergasted, he almost spit his wine on them.

"The fuck are you talking about?" hearing his language Clair butted in. "Language Adui." Instead, she was ignored.

"It is true. This is the new topic of conversation in the capital recently. Some say she used some sort of black magic to raise her Rank. While others believe that she found some sort of inheritance while she was away… By the way, do you know something about her recent power-up?"

Adui didnt know what he was angry about, himself as he was sitting beside the love of his life, and yet he could make her, his. Or was he angry with Gizelle, that bitch got power so she discarded, just like that? 

To entertain his friends, he then acted mysteriously, " I may know something. But I don't think I am allowed to share the information." After all, everyone loved gossip. 

"Oh, Come on. It is us." Jarad said, "I will never tell a soul about this. So just spill it." seeing the eagerness in his eyes, he thought for a moment. He believed Jarad when he said that he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Well… She somehow was able to make her way into a Bloodborne family." Jarad's mouth gaped. Seeing his reaction Clair couldn't help but ask "What is Bloodborn family?"

"Bloodborne families are the old mana-wielders families that pass on their family magic with blood." Adui clarified.

"Pass on their magic by blood?" Clair asked in a disgusted voice, "Like how… Do you mean by giving birth to offspring?" 

Jarad then grabbed her delicate hands and replied. "No. Take the word literally. Bloodborne means born by blood. Bloodborne mages or warriors share their blood by sharing it with their people who want to join their family."

Horrified of what she heard, Clair covered her mouth with astonishment. "They have to drink blood?" To which her husband replied, "Yes they do."

"Is it worth it?" she asked curiously.

"You tell me." Adui said in a venomous tone, "That bitch was Rank-6 just two months ago. And now she had made a Ring and finally reached Rank-11. Most mana wielders could only achieve that in their dreams." Adui replied in a bitter voice. 

"And what does this.. Ring mean?" Clair asked.

Adui spoke, "Ring refers to the condensed form of mana that one mana wielder makes around their heart. One can make rings after every 10 Ranks. And in such a way, one can make up to 13 rings around their heart. The larger the number of rings around the heart, the greater the power the awakened one commanded."

"So how does the Ring signify the power level of an awakened one? I thought Rank was an indicator of power," Clair asked.

"Well, the Rank tells about the quantity of mana that one possesses. It is also an indicator of strength because mana nourishes the body, so the higher the mana one has, the higher would be their physical strength." Adui said,

Jarad who was sipping wine for at the moment suddenly stopped. He then started staring at him.

"Adui… Ulapas family?" Jarad asked, "Are they… Are they a Bloodborne family?" The nod from Adui was enough to answer his question. Then Adui deliberately changed the topic of the conversation, he didnt want to divulge any information in front of Clair. 

The rest of the dinner went by without any hitch. They talked about each other lives and the politics surrounding the newly crowned Queen of the kingdom, Jarad was very happy with her reign as according to him she was the most educated royal blood and deserved the throne. While Clair was happy that her husband didn't have a lot of work since her reign started.

After their dinner was over, Jarad fished out a very old book from the bag that he brought with him to dinner. Seeing that her husband and her friend were about to get to business, Clair decided to go back to their room. She kissed her husband good night and went on her way.

Seeing them so close together was very hard for Adui. But he maintained his fake smile through willpower. As he saw them kiss, his heart started aching, he felt like this was the worst type of torture that he could ever undergo. But he didn't let Clair or Jarad show what he truly felt.

The worst thing was that seeing them closer together, he remembered the day when he proposed to her. She rejected him. 

I love you Adui. But you will never be more than a friend to me. She just spoke a few words that day. But those words made a wound so deep that it still hurts to this day…

"What the hell is that?" Adui asked with a fake smile, pointing at the book

"An old archive from the Royal Library itself."

"Really? Are you allowed to take these books?"

"Nah! But this one is different. These records are so old that no one would care if they vanish someday."

"You sure?"

"100%… Now check this out." Jarad then opened the book and pushed it toward him. "This book was written by some historians of the old empire. When the Gorgon family started their conquest, they started destroying old journals and books that recorded history. So few of the historians of the old empire banded together and wrote a bunch of stuff about the houses and power of the era as a remembrance. There is no telling how accurate this book is, but it is the best thing that I could find." Then he pointed towards a particular part of a page.

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The Ulapas House is one of the ancient houses whose insignia is a flower called the Rose. It is a beautiful red flower that the men of the House wear as their coat of arms, it is a rare flower that is found in a valley surrounding their ancestral home. These flowers could only be irrigated by the blood and fertilizer made of flesh is used to grow these flowers. 

The Ulaspas family ideology could be understood from their instance of growing the cursed flower around the family estate. The House of Ulaspas were the fiercest battle mages and were known to butcher their enemies and preserve their blood and flesh to grow those flowers. They were one the ruthless and most dangerous houses in ancient times.

However as the years went by, the power and influence of the Ulaspas family diminished. But the last living member of the family proved why they were all considered the fiercest warriors of these lands. The last living descendant of the Ulaspas family was Franc Ulaspas, also known as the hero of the Ice Age.

A certain magical beast came to these peaceful lands that influenced the weather of the place. During that time, Frozen water started falling all over these lands, and all the rivers solidified and became thick and hard as a rock. This brought great famine in the lands which almost wiped out every living being on the Island. People who survived somehow started being hunted down by the offspring of the rabid beast.

In the time of need, Franc Ulaspas, who at the time was an eccentric old man came forward and vanquished the monster that brought the winter that lasted at least 7 summers to an end…

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