Darkness.

  The first thing Alexander registered after death. Eternal, undying, and tenebrous. He knew himself as Alexander, yet he strangely felt himself being familiar with this place. With... death.

  Like a sixth sense, he felt himself move, more accurately, drift, out of his own control. He had no idea what he was, if he was even anything corporeal, anyway. He couldn't do anything, like always.

  Out of his own control, Alexander continued to drift, and he expected death. Perhaps his memories would be erased, stubbornly enough, however, he was angry at that idea. Not only that, at himself. Without a fight, he was letting himself die.

  Alexander wanted... to live. To be happier than his life as Alexander. Now that his life is over, he realized how foolishly he lived his life. If he wanted to be free, then he should fight for it. If he wanted anything, he should strive for it.

  After all, a man is only worth as much as his ambition.

  Precisely, that's what he lacked. Ambition. He remembered his life as Alexander, and due to his unique constitution, he even had the ability to replay said memories. He wasn't exactly playing them like a movie, but his perfect memory gave him an ability similar.

  Alexander Cromwell. His life wasn't bad. Most importantly, he lacked ambition. He had no desperation in his heart as he never experienced much hardship. There wasn't any, to begin with. He was locked in a mansion, but at the same time, he was sheltered by it.

  Alexander was by no means a crybaby, but experience is not something that the greatest of geniuses can cross without any difficulty.

  The concept of time was completely gone, and these memories gave him hope, life, and ultimately kept him sane. However, he also realized how easy his life really was.

  He fully realized what he wanted. He wanted to live for himself. It was selfish, but he couldn't care. Strangely enough, the very mansion that sheltered and fed him held back his ambitions of life.

  'I... want to live.' That was the only thought he held.

  ~~~~~

  "My Lady, just a little push!" the midwife exclaimed; excitement evident in her tone. "I can see the head!"

  Whilst she was of low social position, her beauty was breathtaking. She has elongated fangs, which was hard to miss with her smile.

  She had lustrous blonde hair that complimented her red eyes. More so, her pale skin had no blemishes and looked effortlessly smooth.

  For such a woman to be reduced to the status of a mid-wife showed the power of those she served, after all, beauty was also a power.

  The mood in the room was awfully tense, as a new child was being birthed, more so, into such a family.

  The Umbra Dukedom was one of the spearheads in the War of Dawngrave. They were one of three dukedoms in Duskarna, the large region which rarely experienced sunlight habituating vampires.

  The Umbra's were led by Duke Arcin and his wife, Agnes Umbra. They were revered as peerless vampires, and as a couple, many outright considered them unstoppable.

  In Duskarna, they were only under one banner, to be exact, vampiric royalty. The Dralic family. Nonetheless, even compared to the other two accompanying dukedoms, they were special in this era.

  They held the blessing of the hero, although their race of vampires, were the last of all races, the fact their Dukedom carried it, was of great virtue.

  The daughter of Duke Arcin and Agnes Umbra was seen, even in this golden era, as a prodigy, revered by the entire world.

  Elaine Umbra, although, she was most commonly known as Elaine Vunne Umbra now.

  Yes, someone of such status was giving birth.

  Her face was slightly contorted in pain, although her expression was expectant, as if the sweet release of her pain was imminent.

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  Thankfully, it was. The tense room, which was filled with moans of pain, turned awfully silent. Those waiting outside became even more anxious, as a result.

  "Madam... it is a boy!" Christina, the trusted midwife, quickly exclaimed in happiness, sharing the joy Elaine experienced.

  "Christina, quickly, hand me to him..." Her voice trailed off quietly, although Christina heard her clearly. Elaine was, naturally, tired but the birth of her child slightly revitalized her.

  She simply couldn't let the opportunity of holding her baby go. There was no chance in hell.

  The baby was carefully laid down into the embrace of Elaine, the experience was nearly flawless, although, the newborn didn't cry, which startled the healers.

  Fortunately, these great healers quickly realized that nothing was wrong with the newborn, instead, his physique was, honestly, scary.

  He had the physicality of a child, all in the small, and very easily breakable body of baby. The blessings of the Primordial Goddess of Light through the Hero were simply groundbreaking.

  That said, Elaine bore a smile that easily froze all the people in the room. She was a fearless, and that said, a scary warrior... nonetheless, her beauty seemed to erase that notion.

  They all shared the same thought, 'No wonder Elias fell for her as deeply as he did.'

  The small cohort of people waiting outside, ushered in, as all the healers left shortly before.

  They saw Elaine carrying the small child, who held a certain radiance. The newborn had illustrious white hair that seemed to carry light itself, and his red eyes, from his mother, bore deeply into the faces who just entered.

  Elaine herself was slightly disappointed that he didn't have her raven black hair, although she was more than happy to see that they at least shared a common feature, being red eyes.

  "My daughter, how is he?" Duke Arcin, standing at an intimating height, towering over the two women who entered before him.

  "You can tell, can't you father?" Elaine stared at his eyes, gleeful for her own son.

  "He's a man of great providence," Agnes, her mother responded in relief and happiness.

  The third, however, wasn't nearly as calm and collected as the other two.

  She ran to her sister and quickly embraced her, careful not to even touch the newborn.

  Elaine chuckled, happy to see her sister, "Lucia, careful."

  Lucia's smile was radiant, and her joy was very evident. Her family was introducing another, which caused her to stop her journey and return, and thankfully, she did in time.

  Although she turned slightly gloom, thinking about the baby's own father and grandparents.

  Truthfully, Lucia wasn't her blood-related sister, but her in-law. Although, their genuine connection was anything but short of that.

  Her expression, however, was a small reflection of what all four of them felt, however.

  'How sad it is... to not even be here for the birth of his son.' Lucia was down, not only because of Elias, but because of the baby.

  For his father to not be here, when he was for all of his other children, was something she could only hope wouldn't impede him.

  "It is all well, Lucia, after all, it was out of our control." Elaine didn't allow herself to feel anything short of happiness, especially when her son was here with her.

  She didn't have any more reason to be in a good mood.

  'I'll give those scoundrels a good beating...' She thought, thinking of her brother and her in-laws.

  ---

  'What the fuck?' Alexander was in pure disbelief.

  The entire time, similar to his past life, Alexander was immediately conscious, except this time, he understood everything going around beside him.

  The woman he knew as his mother and her family was very obviously speaking in a different language, he was sure of it, and yet...

  He understood it completely! They weren't speaking English, nor was his brain somehow translating it.

  For whatever reason, he understood, and he could speak the language they were speaking. Another difference he found, was not the feeling of weakness he felt as Alexander when he was born.

  He felt somewhat sleepy; however, he could easily stay awake this time around. He felt... strong. Which was very contradictory knowing how easy the body of a baby could be broken.

  For good reason, though, that wasn't even his main focus. His vision of the world was so starkingly different to what he was used to.

  He could spot blemishes with his eyes without the need to focus, and the floating motes, differing in color took the real attention from him.

  There was red, green, yellow, blue, and most commonly, black.

  "The son of a hero really is different. By now, you were drooling in your sleep, Elaine." Agnes spoke; slight disbelief evident.

  Alexander wasn't given any room to calm down.

  He died and reincarnated, more so, he died by the very person who confessed to him seconds before.

  Although, he had absolutely no right to complain. Not only was he given an entirely new life, but he was also the son of a hero?

  So where was he? Unless... don't tell me...

  The old man over there...

  No that can't be, my mother already called him father. So... that's my grandfather? He looks kind of young. With relief, Alexander shrugged the feeling of having a father 50 years older than his mother.

  The woman directly above him, with light blonde hair and eyes reminiscent of gold, asked, "Have you already decided a name?"

  Elaine, his mother smiled.

  "We have."

  At that, Lucia grew anticipant, although slightly worried...

  Her brother never had a naming sense.

  "His name is Azlan, Azlan Vunne Umbra."

  ---

  The light that brings people hope and strength. It seemed to intertwine with this woman. So much so, that it was difficult to see what it was even surrounding.

  Of course, if you even had the ability gaze on her. Which not many have.

  The woman on the other side of the room, however, has had the pleasure to, for a long... very, long time.

  She was the darkness, the one that brought despair and weakness. The one that signified defeat.

  She was the end.

  "Another try? Let's see how far you get this time, my sweetest treat."

  The woman stared at her. However, as hope, she didn't give up.

  She couldn't.

  She merely smiled at the one in darkness.