Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine
Chapter 91: Meeting Ophis’s Father.

Chapter 91: Meeting Ophis’s Father.

"F-Father?"

A single word trembled from her lips, barely louder than a whisper.

"Oh? Now you remember you have a father?"

Dracula’s voice was calm, almost eerily composed, but it carried the weight of cold indifference.

He sat on the couch, one leg draped over the other with a leisurely elegance that contradicted the simmering tension in the room. His eyes, sharp and impossibly crimson, locked onto his daughter—the same daughter who had vanished like a coward after the war ended, without a word, without a trace.

Ophis fell to her knees as if her bones had collapsed under the pressure. Her body bowed forward, forehead nearly kissing the cold floor as she trembled uncontrollably.

"P-Please... forgive me, Father!"

She pleaded, her voice cracking, her breath short and uneven.

But Dracula’s gaze didn’t soften. It sharpened.

He didn’t move, didn’t blink. His stare alone was enough to drain the warmth from the room. Forgiveness?

That word didn’t even exist in his world... Not for failure.

His cold, predatory eyes drifted away from her and toward the young man standing beside her.

Leo.

Dracula examined him like one might examine an insect that dared to land too close to royalty.

Leo, in turn, looked down at Ophis. Her shoulders were shaking. Her arms trembled. Her fingers dug into the floor like she was trying to hold onto something that was no longer there.

That fear—he could feel it radiating off her skin like heat.

Leo swallowed. His instincts screamed at him that this man was dangerous. Not metaphorically, but deeply, terrifyingly real.

The kind of danger that didn’t just hurt you—it erased you.

He shifted his eyes to Dracula—the man who had coldly said he’d kill Ophis if she failed to retrieve the relic.

Back then, Leo thought Ophis was being dramatic... maybe exaggerating. But now, looking at the way Dracula sat with that emotionless expression, as if her existence barely even registered—Leo realized she wasn’t exaggerating at all.

He reached out, trying to pull Ophis to her feet, but her body was frozen. She didn’t budge. Not even an inch.

She was terrified. Completely paralyzed.

Leo inhaled slowly. Then, with deliberate steps, he moved forward and sat on the couch opposite Dracula—calmly, directly, and without hesitation.

"Hello, sir," he said, his voice firm but respectful, his posture relaxed yet alert.

Dracula’s head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing.

"You’re still alive? Strange," he asked, not hiding the surprise in his tone. It wasn’t rhetorical. He genuinely sounded like Leo’s existence contradicted some rule of nature.

Leo’s brows drew together.

"That’s... a pretty rude thing to say when you meet someone for the first time. Especially when you’ve barged into their house without knocking."

Vampires weren’t supposed to be able to enter uninvited—or so the stories said.

But this wasn’t a fairytale... Fairytale did have some lies.

Ophis, still kneeling, was sweating as if she were in a furnace. Her skin glistened, her breathing shaky. Leo could see how terrified she was just hearing him talk back to Dracula—like she expected him to get ripped apart any second.

Even the Mages would shit themself just seeing Dracula... yet... Leo didn’t understand what kind of dangerous he was in.

Dracula regarded Leo with a blank expression. A strange silence passed between them. Then, very faintly, a smile curled at the edge of his lips.

It wasn’t kind.

"Interesting," Dracula muttered, then added with politeness, "Where are my manners? Ahah...

"Vlad Dracula. Father of Ophis Dracula.

I didn’t come here to be polite. I came because my daughter disappeared after promising me results. And not only she didn’t come back but also empty-handed."

His crimson eyes began to glow—dangerously.

Ophis shrank even further, her head dipping low like a guilty child facing judgment. Leo’s eyes remained locked on Dracula, and his mind raced.

This man wasn’t here to talk.

"Well," Leo said, his tone calm but edged with steel, "My name is Leo. I’m a friend of Ophis. And I’m the one who brought her with me... because her father threatened to kill her."

The moment those words were spoken, something in the air shifted. Even the shadows seemed to hold their breath.

Dracula arched an eyebrow, amused.

"Friend, you say..." He leaned back slightly, his glowing eyes sliding back to Ophis, who hadn’t raised her head since the moment he entered.

"She not only failed to eliminate worthless humans like you," he said with deliberate venom, "but she also... lost my champion. Do you have any idea what that means?"

His lips parted into a grin, sharp and fang-baring.

"Tell me, Mr. Leo... how should I feel about that?"

Ophis’s shoulders convulsed.

Leo’s voice lowered. "She did what she could. We all fought. She didn’t run away."

"Didn’t she?" Dracula replied coldly. "And now... she hides behind a human? How low she has fallen. So pathetic. So weak. A daughter who brings shame to my name."

He stood, slow and graceful like a blade being unsheathed, and looked down at them both.

Leo flinched slightly—not out of fear, but instinct. The man’s presence alone distorted the temperature in the room. It felt like winter had crept into his lungs.

"Wait? Your champion...?" Leo asked again, confused.

"Of course," Dracula said. "Do you really believe a failure like her was ever worthy of having a Champion? Don’t make me laugh. She was a cup holder at best. Even her others siblings have achieved more than she ever has."

His voice dripped with disdain. Each word stung Ophis like knives.

"Anyway, I didn’t come here to debate. I came to retrieve my daughter." He stepped forward elegantly, raising a hand to take her by the arm—but Leo moved faster.

He raised his own hand, arm outstretched, and blocked Dracula’s path.

A silence fell.

Dracula’s eyes moved to Leo’s hand, then to his face.

"Is there... a problem?" he asked, his voice still calm—but a thunderous chill crept into the tone.

Leo’s heart skipped a beat. The air itself seemed to thicken. The temperature dropped so fast the walls could’ve frozen.

His throat dried. His breath caught. But still, he stood firm.

He looked at Ophis, still trembling.

She needed someone... Anyone.

And if not him, then who?

The way she smiled today... the way she laughed and teased him.

This was Ophis.

"She’s not going with you," Leo said quietly.

Dracula didn’t move. His eyes slowly turned back to Ophis.

"Oh? Is that so?" he said smoothly. "Tell me, my dear... is that what you want?"

"... s..."

"Ophis."

The single word rippled through the room like a dark spell, vibrating in the walls, in the air, in Leo’s skull. His ears rang with the force of it. Even he clenched his head as the pain throbbed behind his eyes.

"N-No, Father..."

Dracula smiled again... sharp, cruel, pleased.