A quiet pulse flickered behind Lucifer's eyes.
He stood still in the middle of the throne room. Luna remained at his side, but her attention had shifted to the shadows around them. Valecar said nothing, simply returned to his seat, legs crossed again like nothing had happened.
And then—
A voice. Calm. Old.
"So you've finally met him."
Lucifer didn't react outwardly. He barely blinked. But he heard it—deep, layered beneath thought. Not from the room.
Damaris.
His father's voice settled inside his skull like a whisper that had always been there.
"Valecar. My first creation. Before the clans, before the bloodlines… he was the prototype. The first vampire born from my will alone."
Lucifer said nothing, not even in his mind. He just stared at the vampire king seated across from him.
"I made him loyal. Pure. Not corrupted by demonic blood or diluted through generations. But I made one mistake."
Lucifer waited.
"I gave him a heart."
