The territorial wars erupted mere months after the Evolution Day, as newly-turned vampires quickly organized into competing factions fighting for control and resources. While the transformation was still recent enough that some humans remained in denial about the fundamental change to their world, vampires had already begun establishing domains through force and intimidation. While most battled for immediate dominance without strategy or foresight, Valerian—already using his chosen name rather than Eli—moved with different purpose entirely.

  In the chaos of colpsed human governments and rampant vampire spread, he systematically rescued orphaned children from the ruins of human settlements. These frightened, traumatized survivors found themselves gathered by a being who moved with military precision, evacuating them to a hidden sanctuary deep in what would eventually become his Northern Border Territory.

  "You are safe now," he told each child with the same measured tone. "But safety requires discipline."

  The sanctuary he created became more than mere refuge—it transformed into a training facility unlike anything that had existed before the Evolution. His approach was methodical and unyielding. Every orphan, regardless of aptitude or personal inclination, underwent rigorous military training from their earliest years.

  "Combat instruction begins at dawn," he informed a group of newly arrived children, some as young as five. "Academic education follows in midday. Technical skills in the afternoon. This schedule remains consistent every day without exception."

  The children who initially cried for missing parents soon found themselves too exhausted for tears, their days filled with intensive training that left no room for anything but sleep when night fell. As weeks passed, these same children began developing discipline and skills far beyond their years—executing combat maneuvers with precision, absorbing academic knowledge at accelerated rates, and building technical capabilities that would serve Valerian's long-term strategy.

  "You train them too harshly," observed one of the few adult survivors Valerian had permitted to join his compound as support staff. "They are just children."

  "They are soldiers in development," Valerian corrected without hesitation. "In this new world, only the strongest survive. I am ensuring they become the strongest."

  Months passed, and the first group of orphans approached adulthood. On their eighteenth birthdays, Valerian presented each with their only options—a choice that was barely a choice at all.

  "You must be transformed and join us," he expined to the first candidate, a young woman named Isabelle who had arrived as a teenager and was now of age. "Permitting you to leave would compromise our security and necessitate your elimination. Your only choice is between military service or support duties after transformation."

  The young woman understood—after months under Valerian's training, she comprehended both the logic and the necessity. "I choose military service," she replied without hesitation. This decision would set Isabelle on a path that would eventually lead her to become Valerian's right hand for nearly a century, and ter, his First Consort.

  The transformation process Valerian used differed crucially from standard vampire creation. Rather than using his saliva to trigger the change, he used his blood—a method that created vampires with abilities far closer to his own. Each newly transformed vampire discovered they could walk in daylight, consumed regur food alongside blood, and possessed strength exceeding that of ordinary vampires.

  As their numbers grew from dozens to hundreds, a practical problem emerged—feeding. Initially, Valerian implemented a carefully managed rotation system where his transformed orphans provided blood for each other. Since they consumed regur food alongside blood, they could donate to one another without serious depletion.

  "The rotation ensures no individual provides more than is safe," Valerian expined to his growing command structure. "Battalion A provides for Battalion B, who provides for Battalion C, and so forth."

  However, as their numbers continued increasing, this system proved increasingly impractical for a military force requiring peak performance at all times. During one of their secret monthly communications, Valerian presented this challenge to Lucius.

  "The internal feeding system cannot sustain our current numbers," he reported with military precision. "Yet acquiring human resources would reveal our true nature and compromise our strategic position."

  Lucius considered this problem alongside another concern they had been discussing—the need for meaningful consequences for vampires who might threaten their long-term pns.

  "Perhaps these challenges solve each other," Lucius suggested. "What if your territory became the designated punishment zone for vampires who break vampire w?"

  Valerian immediately recognized the elegant symmetry of this solution. "The wbreakers become our blood resources."

  "Precisely," Lucius confirmed. "Those who threaten vampire society's stability become the sustenance for those who maintain it."

  As vampire society stabilized and formal ws were established, Valerian implemented this pn with characteristic directness. During a formal council meeting, he made an unprecedented announcement that stunned the other Archdukes.

  "Vampires convicted of serious crimes against our society will be sent to my territory," he decred without preamble. "There, they will serve as blood resources for my forces."

  The announcement initially met with disbelief and confusion. No vampire had ever suggested consuming another vampire's blood—it seemed to viote some unspoken taboo. Yet when questioned, Valerian provided a rationale that resonated with vampire values.

  "Those who threaten our ws forfeit their protection under those same ws," he expined with cold logic. "They become resources for those who maintain order."

  After initial hesitation, the other Archdukes recognized the practical benefits of this arrangement. It provided a clear, severe consequence for breaking vampire w—a deterrent far more effective than mere destruction or imprisonment. The system was formalized in vampire legal code, creating a structured pathway for convicted criminals to be legally transferred to Valerian's domain.

  What none outside Valerian's immediate command structure realized was that this feeding system served multiple strategic purposes beyond mere sustenance. It created powerful incentives for vampires throughout all territories to follow established ws, knowing viotion meant becoming another vampire's food source. It provided a convenient solution for other Archdukes dealing with problematic elements in their domains. Most importantly, it maintained perfect truth while concealing deeper secrets—visitors to his territory might witness vampire blood farms, but they never discovered his vampires' unique abilities or true numbers.

  Vampire criminals arrived with formal documentation of their crimes and sentences, often including stripped titles and positions for those of noble status. Lord Constantine became among the first high-ranking nobles to face this fate, followed years ter by Marquis Devereux. These former aristocrats found themselves in a precisely managed system designed to extract maximum blood yield while maintaining them indefinitely—a fate that created ripples of terror throughout vampire society and ensured compliance far more effectively than any written w could have achieved. And much ter on, in a twist of profound irony, Archduke Orlov himself would suffer this same fate after his constitutional removal—the ultimate advocate of traditional vampire superiority becoming a resource for the very system he had opposed for centuries.

  The combination of unique vampires, legally acquired criminal blood sources, and highly restricted access made Valerian's territory appear far more poputed and dangerous than it actually was. His border forces executed perfect security protocols, ensuring that only authorized diplomatic visitors ever returned from visits to his domain. These carefully managed diplomatic tours showed exactly what Valerian wanted seen—disciplined military forces, vampire blood farms that confirmed his territory's feeding practices, and an atmosphere of rigid order that discouraged casual curiosity.

  The first Blood Oath Ceremony occurred during the early territorial conflicts, establishing a tradition that would define Valerian's forces for millennia to come. Each transformed individual, regardless of whether they chose military service or support duties, knelt before Valerian and spoke the words that bound them eternally:

  "I pledge to be eternally loyal to Archduke Valerian's brother."

  This crucial provision—loyalty to Valerian's unnamed brother—created a direct connection to Lucius without ever specifying his identity. Even among Valerian's inner circle, this brother remained undefined—a deliberate ambiguity that protected their true retionship while establishing the chain of loyalty that would prove essential in centuries to come.

  Over decades, this system evolved into a sophisticated military force unlike any other in vampire society. Valerian's army developed specialized capabilities, training methodologies, and combat doctrines that made them virtually undefeatable within their territory. Their success in repelling every challenge to their borders created a reputation for invincibility that further discouraged incursion or interference.

  In the present timeline, after decades of development, Valerian's territory stood as the most secure and least understood domain in vampire society. The perfect integration of unique vampires, legal blood acquisition through criminal sentencing, and absolute border control created a strategic asset of incalcuble value to the brothers' long-term pns.

  Centuries ter, Valerian would begin pcing portraits of his brother throughout his closed territory. Given that no outsiders were ever permitted within his domain except under the most exceptional circumstances with limited access to designated areas only, these portraits posed no risk of exposure. Valerian never identified who the portraits depicted, allowing his forces to draw their own conclusions about the mysterious figure prominently dispyed throughout their leader's domain. Only Valerian himself knew with certainty that these were images of the brother to whom they had all unknowingly pledged eternal loyalty.