"I'll just feed on you, and if you happen to be useful, I might not throw you away afterward."

Those were the words of salvation Glaciel heard after being pulled out of the orphanage. He did not care that the child— man— Devil? That the Devil that pulled him out of this hellish place could forsake him. There was a chance, a gleam of hope that the Devil wouldn't leave him. He'd just need to be useful.

So Glaciel worked hard, harder than anyone else within Aku's manor.

He'd learn to read and write. He would take up fighting classes if necessary and chase supernatural beings whose strength far surpassed his. Glaciel would strive to become useful, and if his blood and eyes were his only redeeming features in his Lord's eyes, then he'd cherish them more than anything else.

"Oh, Reiji, was it?"

The said boy pushed the rim of his spectacles back. Looking like a fifteen-year-old, Reiji Sakamaki gave the Demon a slight curtsy as he voiced his greetings.

"How may I be of service to you, My Lord?" the Vampire asked, tone polite and words rolling off his tongue at an unhurried pace. "Are you perhaps looking for someone?" he queried, his magenta eyes lidded as he kept his gaze in a lowered, submissive position.

Aku hummed, his golden eyes sizing the second oldest with minute interest. To this day, Reiji appeared the most cold-blooded of his brothers. Blood already coated his hands the way it once dripped from Aku and his brothers', which only made the Founder more interested. To Aku, there existed a fundamental difference between those who killed and those that didn't, and undoubtedly because the First Blood's previous King, Giesbach, was known for his bloodthirstiness, Aku found himself drawn to those who spilled blood.

Especially when the individual was part of royal lineage like himself.

"Yes, in fact, I was looking for you, Reiji," Aku admitted, his lips twisting into an inviting kind of smirk. Aku's features as a First Blood were sharp and intimidating, and for this reason, the moment he softened his expression or willed it to be more welcoming, his face would turn more alluring.

There was a reason why species such as Incubus and Succubus came to be, and as the roots of all Demon species, it was expected that all First Bloods would boast such seductive features.

Reiji's eyes momentarily widened as he lifted his gaze to look at the Founder. There was a mild sense of pride in his chest from the feeling of being acknowledged, and the curvature of his lips turned slightly more genuine.

"It is my honor, My Lord," the younger Demon uttered with a bow, the look in his eyes softening for a short moment while out of sight before he straightened his spine to look at the Founder in the eyes. "Shall I have the servants prepare some refreshments?" he rhetorically asked, the familiar standing a few feet away waiting for the moment he'd give them orders.

"Please do," Aku agreed. He swept his gaze over the long corridors, feeling familiar and foreign presences behind doors and walls as he subconsciously mapped out the manor and its inhabitants' position.

Reiji smiled. From the corner of his eyes, he took note of a maid, and after half a second of reflection, her name came to his mind. "Hilde, prepare the library for my guest and me," he ordered before turning back to Aku.

Aku's eyes trailed the woman's figure for a short instance, feeling the smell on her to be slightly familiar before he brought his attention back to Reiji.

"I heard that you liked science?" Aku began as he followed behind Reiji, down the corridor, and to the main library. As he received a nod from the younger Demon, Aku's smile stretched. "What are you working on at the moment?"

Perhaps because he felt flattered by the attention or because the subject was one of his most prominent interests, Reiji's expression turned more genuine, losing some of its cold and stoic edges as he began to talk about his latest researches and projects.

"I am working on drugs at the moment. I finished developing a healing salve not so long ago," Reiji explained, voice rippling with well-concealed pride. "So I wanted to try something more offensive this time."

Aku hummed. He was no scientist himself, but he had received some teaching about drug-making while living in Banmaden castle. "A drug that could work on Vampires and their affiliated clans, or were you thinking about another Demonic branch?" he asked, genuine interest coating his voice.

They took another turn and reached the extensive library.

Reiji paused in thoughts as he entered the room and led the way to the neatly arranged table with snacks and drinks laid out for them to enjoy. "I was thinking about Vampires, since experiencing on other species while in the manor would be complicated. But I'd like to extend my project to other clans if possible," he admitted.

Nodding, Aku took a seat. He watched Reiji's tea etiquette with minute attention, taking note of the angles of his limbs as he poured them cups of tea.

"Well, Vampires are one of the four main branches. Creating effective drugs against them is an excellent way to start."

Reiji grinned. "I believe so as well."

In this fashion, Reiji accompanied Aku during the entirety of the day. Their talks mainly centered around drug-making and its process, with Aku sometimes giving his insight on existing drugs or the propriety of Demonic species that came into the conversation. As he was no scientist, Aku could not explain how to brew medicine and poisons, but Aku knew more than anyone about each Demonic Clan and their peculiarity as someone who studied diplomatics and anthropology.

The day went on, and Aku found himself satisfied by the Sakamaki's second oldest. He was ambitious and lacked attention, grooming him would be easy enough. There was no need for excessive coddling. If Aku created a sense of respect and pure acknowledgment, that would be enough. What's more, he seemed proficient in drug-making. Give it a few centuries, and maybe he'd be able to create a counter to Endzeit.

Aku did not begin to exchange letters with Reiji, but he sent him a few rare ingredients he gathered during diplomatic outings. He had no use for them, and sending them to Reiji to cultivate this blooming bond seemed like a wise investment.

If later, with the use of this one herb he brought from the Adler Clan, Reiji managed to create a poison strong enough to trap his mother before having a Vampire hunter kill her, Aku did not care.

It was a matter for a later date, and truthfully so long as it did not hinder his goal, nothing was stopping the Founder.

Adam And Eve project?

Aku blinked, a bemused expression adorning his face as his golden eyes went back to the beginning of the letter to read the paragraph once again.

This was not a letter received from Cordelia, but it was something that resulted from one, nonetheless. It was the consequence of one line in Cordelia's previous letter, a couple of words evoking a project whose name involved founding biblical figures.

Adam and Eve, supposedly the first man and woman to have walked Earth.

Aku did not believe in such myths, but he found enjoyment in learning about them, if only for the cultural aspects and what you could learn of the people that followed those teachings.

And because he was a Founder, the last of his kind, Aku had a particular affinity for knowing other Demon Lords' minds and interests. It was something that came with the position and the power it brought. He could assert without hesitation that Karlheinz was no believer. The only thing the Vampire Lord believed in was himself, his philosophy, and indeed science.

Before taking over as the youngest Vampire Lord, Karlheinz was known for his prowess in the scientific domain. He was a demon of science, as they called them.

So, of course, when Aku discovered that one of Karlheinz's projects had such an oniric name, he found himself dubious.

What could the Vampire Lord mean by naming a project of science with names straight out of fantasies?

Therefore, like every sensitive demon would do, Aku ordered his people to investigate the project and its entails. It was an excellent opportunity to put Glaciel, his new addition, to work and see if he should be kept or discarded after going through the first stage of his demonic transformation.

Glaciel, as a human, was fated to die early, so to keep him by his sides, Aku would need to change him from the essence of his being first before binding him with a familiar contract the way he chained Alpha and Omega at their birth.

There wasn't a lot of things that human could become. Of course, Ghoul was an option, the easiest as it meant being subjected to a large amount of miasma, but Aku found this kind of lowly Demon distasteful. As a proud First Blood, he couldn't allow one of his familiar to belong to the lowest race of the Demon realm.

So after careful consideration, eliminating the main subclasses that would turn Glaciel into a half-baked Demon, Aku opted for a ghost. Or spirit. The process wasn't complex, but it required careful preparation and a sense of detail lest it went wrong.

It basically consisted of cutting off most of the boy's food intake while subjecting him to the purest form of moonlight, preferably always under the same weather, to guarantee a smoother transformation and more stable assimilation.

At this point, Glaciel's transformation into a Moon Spirit was almost done. He only needed to bask in the moonlight one last time to complete the process before Aku definitely tied him to his Demonic form through a familiar contract. The nights had been cold and followed with morning dew and even early frost, granting the boy limited control over water particles.

Aku digressed but reading over the report, he supposed that Glaciel could become a permanent addition to his people, if only for his pair of crystal-like eyes.

"Kagamine," he uttered in the emptiness of his office.

His shadow flickered, and from it emerged the said Demon.

"Prepare for Glaciel's final moon basking," he ordered, not lifting his eyes from the report as he began to approach the end of it.

Kagamine gave a deep bow, whispering words of promise and acknowledgment. He melted into the shadow and went away to prepare for the now-ghost boy's last ceremony.

Left alone in his empty office, Aku focused on the document in his hands once more. It was a rough overview of what the Adam and Eve project was and what Karlheinz planned. Information on the latter was a bit more blurry as tracing the Vampire Lord's movement was complicated. Still, it was enough to give Aku a brief overview and understanding of the situation.

What was the Adam and Eve project?

In a few words, it was the promise of salvation.

Aku wasn't sure of all of its details just yet, but the project's goal was to change the world through formidable descendants— undoubtedly, the most formidable should be a Founder? At least he hoped so.

Aku carefully took in the information.

He noted that Karlheinz had supposedly recently built a new manor, away from his principal and other temporary residences. The estate housed children, males, and the goal was to groom them into Adam.

Aku wasn't sure what Karlheinz planned on doing with Adam once he got him, but he honestly didn't care because he began to sense a glimpse of hope for his kind in this project.

The only thing needed to succeed apart from Adam was Eve. Eve was the key as she would choose Adam, or so the report specified.

To this day, there could only be two Eves because there existed only two daughters of Demon Lord. One was the daughter of the Adler Clan, and the second was the daughter of the Vibora Clan.

Eve had to be a human with the heart of a Demon Lord's daughter.

Aku's lips stretched into a maniacal grin, eyes glinting and eery light as scheming thoughts invaded his mind.

He really had nothing against Cordelia. She was an excellent piece to have in his hands. But like every pawn, she was meant to be discarded at some point. Aku would make her sacrifice worthwhile. He'd allow her to help the Founders rise from the ashes by gifting her heart to a human girl.

For that, he simply needed to have her eliminated.

The idea of killing her himself flashed through Aku's mind before he reminded himself of his dearest nephews and their lovely relationship with their beloved mother.

He chuckled.

For someone as glib tongued as Aku, inciting others to murder was a piece of cake. He wasn't the former head of Founder's Foreign Affairs for nothing.