RISE OF EROS

Andrew followed the vampire butler into a room with tall, well-detailed wooden doors and without announcing himself, he opened the wide doors. "Mr. Andrew has arrived," the vampire butler said bowing.

The room was large, but there was only one large table that could easily seat 20 people. Oliver, Aki, and Zany were sitting there, and next to them were Damon, Abigale, and three other people that Andrew didn't know, but they looked like Damon and Abigale.

"They must be their children," was what Andrew thought to himself, and as if reading his thoughts Damon stood up from his seat and with a smile said, "You had a lot to discuss, huh? Let me introduce you to our children."

"This is our oldest daughter Helga, our second son Jasper, and our youngest Layla," Damon introduced his family. The three young vampires, who really weren't that young stood up and according to noble etiquette bowed slightly as they said in unison, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Andrew."

Andrew was not rude and returned the greeting with a, "The pleasure is mine. I am sorry to have kept you waiting." Abigale stepped forward and with a gesture that denied her apology said, "Apologies are not necessary, the father needed to speak with you, so there is nothing to be done."

"Well, let us not stand still, please young Andrew, take a seat, the food is ready," Damon intervened preventing the cycle of apologies from continuing, and Andrew sat to Damon's left in front of Abigale.

Although the table was large, they did not occupy it entirely. Damon sat at the head of the table as the head of the family and his wife and children to the left. To the right sat Andrew, his wives, and Oliver at the end.

Shortly after they sat, the doors of the room opened and some waiters who were also vampires appeared guided by the butler who brought Andrew, pushing carts with several covered dishes.

The vampires did not say anything and just limited themselves to serving the food. After the table was set, the waiters left, but they did not leave the room, instead, they stood at a reasonable distance behind everyone.

They were there to assist or answer any questions that Andrew and his companions might have as guests. Among nobles, this is a common practice among any of the races.

The dishes on display were a combination of fish and vegetables. Being in the middle of several countries, many products came to this city, especially fish from the country of Rivers.

Although Andrew and the others had already tried the cuisine of this city, the dishes in front of them were new. "This fish is quite rare, so it is difficult to find it," Damon said as if he could read the thoughts of Andrew and his companions.

After explaining some of the food on display, Damon urged them to eat and then everyone tried the food. Andrew was surprised at how tender the fish meat was and how fresh the vegetables were.

It was not that the ones he had eaten so far were not, but there was no comparison. He thought this was due to the mastery of the Pixoy family cook and admitted that it was first class.

After finishing the meal, Andrew had to compliment the chef on the delicacies and Damon was pleased that he liked it and promised to pass the message along. The waiters cleared away the dirty plates and quickly served tea.

No one left the table and they enjoyed the tea while making small talk. Damon did not like to beat around the bush so he immediately addressed the topic at hand.

"I was informed that you are looking for an establishment in the pleasure district," Damon said looking at Andrew. Andrew was not surprised as they had already talked about this so he replied, "Yes, that is right."

"Have you had any luck?" he continued to ask and although Andrew knew this question was silly as it was obvious that Damon already knew the answers, he still replied, "The establishments for sale are either very small or very old."

Andrew paused and continued, "Your territory is quite privileged for my activities and I want to set up a larger business, but I don't want to spend too much time remodeling either."

"I understand," Damon said, and was about to continue the conversation when Jasper suddenly said, "Father, in the western area, the Los Lirios pleasure house is for sale. Its premises are spacious and well maintained."

Damon, upon hearing this, looked at his son with a strange expression, but it was Abigale who caught his attention, "How the hell do you know that?" Jasper, upon hearing his mother's question, began to sweat coldly, knowing that he had screwed up.

His two sisters laughed at seeing their brother panic and even Andrew's wives chuckled at the Pixoy family dynamics. They may be high-status ancient vampires, but like everyone else, they were still a normal family.

Damon, who saw Andrew's wives laughing, put on an apologetic expression and said, "I'm sorry you had to see this," but Andrew didn't care, in fact, he was pleased to see that these vampires were no different from them.

"Calm down Duke Damon, it's normal among young people, I don't think I should blame young Jasper for anything." Abigale, upon hearing her husband apologize to Andrew, realized her mistake in reprimanding her son in front of the visitor, but upon hearing Andrew's response, she relaxed.

Jasper, for his part, gave Andrew some nod as if thanking him for saving him, to which Andrew responded by smiling and asking, "However, I'm curious, do you prohibit your children from going to the pleasure district?"

Andrew's question surprised everyone and an awkward silence settled in the room. Andrew realized that he had asked an uncomfortable question, as it was somewhat personal and on a delicate subject.

He had gotten so carried away by the friendly atmosphere that had been going on that he didn't realize he was reckless and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry for being so impertinent," but Damon dismissed the apology saying, "No need, it's just that it's not an easy topic to discuss."

Listening to Damon, Andrew and his companions furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, as his words seemed to imply something special. Andrew wanted to ask, as he was curious, but he didn't dare.

Damon noticing this, smiled and explained, "It's not necessarily a secret, but we don't profess it openly either, so I hope you keep it to yourselves," to which Andrew and the others nodded assuring them that they wouldn't tell anyone.

Seeing their commitment, Damon explained, "I don't know how much you know about us vampires, but the stories and legends that are told are not very accurate." Damon paused and continued, "It is said that we are a race that lives by sucking blood, that we are vicious and many other barbarities."

"As you may have noticed, we are not very different, but it is true that we drink blood. For us, blood is like the most gourmet dish and although it is not necessary for our existence, we do drink it from time to time."

"And what does that have to do with the pleasure district?" Andrew asked, not understanding what Damon meant, and then Damon continued his explanation, "Going around sucking people's blood is not the most appropriate, besides, there are two situations in which blood is... How to put it, more delicious?"

Damon seemed a little embarrassed by those words and his family members were not in a better state, but neither Andrew nor his companions laughed or mocked that, on the contrary, they kept a serious expression.

This show of respect relieved Damon and his family and they looked at Andrew and the others with better eyes, then Damon continued, "These two situations are, the state of fear and the state of excitement."

Saying this, Andrew and the others understood immediately. Without waiting for Damon to continue, Andrew said, "So, you visit the pleasure district to take the second option."

"That's correct. In ancient times when times were more turbulent, vampires would usually take the blood of people in a state of panic, in fact, they would incite such a state, for enjoyment, but such practices are rarely used anymore, at least not in our family," Damon clarified.

"Although we visit those places to take blood, only young people do it, those who do not have a partner, since, in my case, I can take my wife's blood and she mine," Damon concluded.

This surprised Andrew and his group, as they did not expect that vampires could take the blood of each other. They thought it must be the blood of other races and Damon noticing this smiled saying, "As I said, the stories and legends are somewhat exaggerated."

"Certainly," Andrew said sincerely. The stories about vampires in this world were very similar to the fantasies told in his previous world, so hearing the truth surprised him greatly.

"Well, since things are like this, I can offer you some special passes when I open for business," Andrew said jokingly, lowering the tone of the conversation, which made everyone laugh. Find your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

Somehow, they had gotten along and were starting to get along as friends, which was ideal for both groups. The Pixoy family didn't judge Andrew for being a merchant in the pleasure industry and Andrew didn't judge them for sucking blood, which played in everyone's favor.

After that, the conversation returned to the establishment mentioned by Jasper and Damon assured Andrew that he would offer it as a token of friendship, which Andrew wanted to deny, but Damon insisted.

They chatted for a while about different topics, be it business, life stories and other less relevant topics, as if trying to establish a friendly relationship and so the conversation extended until quite late. Because of this, Andrew and the others were invited to sleep at the mansion.