Chapter 675: 675

Roth did not flinch. He remained seated, hands resting calmly atop his book, as the disturbed mana brushed past him like a breeze.

"Calm yourself," he said softly. "This is not a judgment or damnation. It is something I’ve learned over long years of observation."

Ethan’s breath came unevenly, the edges of his anger colliding with confusion and hurt.

Roth’s voice remained even, almost detached.

"Your people could never be as the other godlings are, because from birth, you already differed. You were born from me hence hold most purity of divine blood, Unlike the others who came from you, inherting only but a scoop if the divine essence."

He paused, then corrected himself with slow precision.

"To be more exact... the first generation can be called half godlings. But the second generation, those born of your kind are already distant. Their divine nature is faint, drowned in human blood. Diluted, yet not erased."

He finally looked up again, his eyes locking with Ethan’s.

"And so, they end up what the others see them as... merely humans with a trace of something greater."

Ethan’s hands clenched, the air around him thick with restrained fury. But beneath that anger was something deeper, a quiet understanding he didn’t want to face.

Roth’s tone didn’t waver as he went on.

"The only thing the second generation shares with the other godlings is that they came about through natural birth. That much is the same. But the first generation..."

He lifted a pale hand slightly, gesturing toward Ethan.

"They were not born. They were made, fully grown adults, once human, bitten and turned by you."

Roth leaned forward slightly, the faint gleam in his eyes the only motion in the still air.

"Do you see the picture now?" he asked softly.

He didn’t wait for an answer.

"From the beginning, what you dealt with were grown minds — people who had lived entire lives as humans. People shaped by human fears, desires, and instincts. And then, suddenly, they were changed, given power, longevity, and a piece of something divine they could neither understand nor fully contain."

Ethan’s lips parted, but no sound came. Roth continued, his tone steady.

"Just that alone was enough to set your kingdom apart, to make your society grow in a direction no other godling race could ever follow. You tried to mirror the godlings’ ways, but your foundation was different. Flawed only in that it began with humans trying to imitate gods."

He closed his book again, the soft thud echoing through the quiet chamber.

"The other godlings were born into their nature. Their purity of mind began at birth, their instincts shaped by divinity before reason could interfere. But your people... they were already aware. Already scarred by the mortal world before you ever touched them."

Roth’s gaze lifted back to Ethan, cool and steady.

"So how could they ever truly be the same?"

His tone softened slightly, though it still came out cold.

"So, to answer your question. You did nothing wrong, Ethan. You did the best you could with the cards you were dealt."

He leaned back in his chair, his pale fingers resting atop the book once more.

"Besides, your so-called ’radical’ actions, cleaning up the court, humbling the noble families, establishing order where there was chaos, those were not mistakes. They are the reason you can now stand tall among the godlings, confident enough to host their competition."

For the first time, a small, uncertain smile tugged at Ethan’s lips. His expression softened, almost childlike as if he were a son hearing from a distant father that he had done well.

But Roth’s expression didn’t mirror his. His crimson eyes remained sharp and cold.

"And yet," he said suddenly, breaking the brief silence, "you, even more godling than most, are still plagued by human flaws."

Ethan’s faint smile faltered. His brow furrowed. "What...?"

Roth’s gaze didn’t waver.

"You find my presence in the mortal world a nuisance," he said evenly. "You believe I stand in your way, that my shadow prevents you from truly holding the vampire race in your hand."

Ethan’s face tensed. The accusation or rather, the truth hit too close to deny. He looked away, his silence more honest than any protest.

The quiet stretched long between them before he finally spoke. His voice was low, but steady.

"I do indeed find your presence... unwanted," he admitted. "And limiting for the picture I have in mind for my people."

Roth regarded him for a long moment, and then, to Ethan’s surprise, a faint, knowing smile curved his lips.

"You are learning quickly," he said softly. "Before, you would not have spoken such truth to me. You would have hidden behind your mask, that carefully measured civility you wear before your court and your peers."

He looked away, eyes half-lidded as if drifting into thought.

"It seems your meeting with the other godlings has done you some good after all."

Ethan stood there in silence, unsure whether the words were praise or rebuke.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered which Roth preferred, the obedient king he once was, or the one who had just dared to speak to him as an equal.

"Does it amuse you when I do that?" Ethan asked, his tone cold, the mockery turned inward, directed at himself.

Roth’s crimson eyes flicked up briefly from his book before returning to the page.

"It does," he said simply. "But it seems I’ll be denied that small amusement from here on."

Silence fell between them again, the kind that carried more meaning than words could. The faint rustle of a turning page broke it, soft and final.

Then Roth spoke, his voice quieter, almost contemplative.

"Don’t worry. My time in the mortal world is now limited. Soon I’ll be out of your neck, and you can do as you please."

Ethan froze, the words cutting through the still air. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak, to ask what Roth meant, but no words came.

Roth didn’t look up.

"Cherish your time with your fellow godling leaders," he said, turning another page. "They’re good company to keep in this long, immortal life. They might help you cling to your sanity a little longer... before you lose it."

And with that, Roth’s attention was gone, consumed by his book once more.

When Ethan blinked, he was no longer standing in that dimly lit room. He found himself outside the door to his own chambers, as though reality itself had quietly expelled him.

For a long moment, he stood there silent, unmoving, unsure whether the weight in his chest came from Roth’s words... or from the strange ache of knowing he would soon be gone.

Ethan stood before his door, hand hovering above the handle, yet he couldn’t bring himself to open it. The corridor was silent, too silent and for the first time in years, the air in "his own" castle felt foreign to him.

Roth’s words echoed in his mind.

"My time in the mortal world is now limited... Soon I’ll be out of neck."

It was a strange way to speak of departure, but that was Roth, always cryptic, always half in jest, yet never wrong. Ethan had never known him to lie, nor to speak without purpose.

He leaned against the cold stone wall, closing his eyes.

Roth’s presence had been like a shadow stretching over the kingdom, quiet, oppressive, but oddly reassuring. His existence alone had kept the more ambitious nobles cautious, the restless younglings disciplined. Even Ethan himself, for all his pride, had walked carefully in Roth’s sight.

Now, if that presence were to fade... what would become of them?

The vampire kingdom had long balanced on the edge of civility, a thin veneer built from blood, ambition, and the ghost of divine power. Roth was that balance. His word had been law before Ethan’s crown ever gleamed. His existence reminded every vampire that their immortality came from something greater, something terrifying and old.

And if that reminder were gone...

Ethan’s jaw tightened. Would they still obey? Would they still remember what they are?

For years, he had wanted freedom, the right to rule without Roth’s quiet gaze watching from the dark corners of the castle. Yet now that the possibility stood before him, all he felt was an unfamiliar hollowness.

"Freedom," he muttered under his breath, the word tasting bitter.

He could already see it, the noble houses testing his strength, the council whispering in secret meetings, the younger vampires drunk on the illusion of independence. Roth’s absence would not be a liberation.

And yet... deep down, a part of him stirred with something dangerously close to anticipation.

Without Roth, the path ahead was entirely his to shape or to destroy.

He finally turned the handle, stepping into his chambers. The mirror across the room reflected his image faintly in the dim light, red eyes weary but burning with a quiet resolve.

"Roth," he whispered, almost to himself. "You’ve ruled from the shadows long enough. If your time truly ends... then perhaps it’s finally time for me to stop hiding in mine."