"Eh… I thought it would be more magical."
Lucius laughed.
"Haha, it's more practical this way."
He extinguished the lantern and guided Trevor toward the center of the enormous underground archive.
There stood a stone pillar, and on top of it rested a large, thick book lying open.
"This is the index."
Lucius pointed to the book.
"Everything down here is cataloged."
The book was enormous, heavy, and filled with names Trevor didn't recognize.
While Lucius spoke, Trevor began observing the place around him.
There were shelves packed with ancient books.
Glass jars containing potions with strange colors.
Skulls from unknown creatures.
And even complete skeletons of certain monsters.
Trevor felt an enormous sense of curiosity.
So he began walking around the place.
That was when he noticed something curious.
There were several paintings hanging on the walls.
Old portraits.
Portraits of members of the Belmont family.
Trevor started examining them one by one.
And then he noticed something that completely surprised him.
Some of those faces were extremely familiar.
Leon.
Trevor Belmont.
Christopher.
Simon.
Juste.
All the Belmonts he knew from the games.
If before everything had seemed like nothing more than fantasy to him…
Now it was reality.
Lucius walked up and stood beside him.
"This is the history of our family."
He looked at the portraits.
"Each of them faced Dracula and protected humanity."
The two remained silent for a few minutes.
Watching the heroes of the past.
After a while, Lucius spoke again.
"Come."
He pointed toward the other side of the archive.
"What I wanted to show you is over here."
Lucius walked to a bookshelf.
After searching for a few seconds, he found a large leather-bound book.
He picked it up.
"This is our family's bestiary."
And handed the book to Trevor.
"I thought that now that your studies are progressing, you would need something more detailed than just slides and lessons."
Trevor held the book carefully.
"Thanks, Grandpa."
He opened the bestiary.
But soon frowned.
He couldn't understand absolutely anything.
"What's written here?"
Trevor flipped through a few pages.
"What language is this?"
Lucius smiled when he saw his reaction.
"Latin."
Trevor sighed.
"Why not English?"
He looked up.
"And how am I supposed to read this?"
Lucius explained calmly:
"In the past it was customary to write everything in Latin."
He crossed his arms.
"Over time Latin became a dead language."
Lucius continued.
"So it was decided to keep the bestiary this way."
"It prevents the text from needing updates if modern languages change."
Trevor already knew what was coming next.
And he wasn't disappointed.
Lucius said naturally:
"Of course… you're going to start taking some Latin lessons."
Trevor's eyes widened.
"More classes?!"
He was not excited about the idea of losing even more of his precious free time.
Trevor definitely wasn't the biggest fan of studying.
Lucius laughed.
"Haha, relax."
He began walking toward the stairs.
"You'll like it."
Then he added:
"Now let's head back. It's almost time for dinner."
After that, the two returned to the mansion.
And the routine continued.
The lessons became a little harder.
Mr. Hans began teaching Trevor how to throw daggers.
And also how to fight using them.
Trevor also started his Latin lessons.
And, surprisingly, he quickly became interested.
Of course, that had absolutely nothing to do with the beautiful teacher his grandfather had hired.
But somehow, Latin suddenly seemed far more interesting now.
Meanwhile, Lucius continued the whip training.
And it was impressive how quickly Trevor was improving.
It almost seemed as if using a whip truly ran in the Belmont bloodline.
There was only one small incident.
If it could even be called an incident.
One night Trevor couldn't sleep.
So he did what he usually did in situations like that.
He got out of bed.
And went to the mansion's library to read for a while.
Normally that helped him relax.
But as he approached the library, something caught his attention.
The lights were already on.
Trevor frowned.
When he entered the room, he saw a man sitting in an armchair.
He was a tall man.
He wore an elegant black suit and a black tie.
In his chest pocket there was a red handkerchief.
His black hair reached the back of his neck.
And his eyes were brown.
Trevor became alert.
He didn't recognize that man.
He wasn't one of the servants.
And he didn't seem to be one of his grandfather's hunter friends either.
So he asked:
"Excuse me… what are you doing here?"
The man took his eyes off the book he was reading.
And looked directly at Trevor.
For a brief moment…
A look of recognition passed across his face.
But soon he returned to his calm expression.
"I'm a friend of your grandfather."
He closed the book.
"He allowed me to stay here."
Trevor didn't remember Lucius mentioning any visitors.
But he decided not to question it.
He simply grabbed another armchair and sat down.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Trevor."
The man smiled slightly.
"The pleasure is mine."
He replied:
"My name is Adrian."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Young Belmont, what brings you here tonight?"
Trevor replied:
"I couldn't sleep."
He picked up a book from the table beside him.
"So I decided to come here and read for a bit."
Trevor shrugged.
"That usually works."
Adrian observed Trevor for a few seconds.
"Trouble sleeping?"
he asked calmly.
"Did something happen recently?"
Trevor didn't know that man.
But strangely he felt calm around him.
So he decided to vent a little.
He would probably never see him again anyway.
"I… have been dealing with some problems lately."
Trevor looked at the floor.
"Sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders."
Adrian smiled with understanding.
"Don't worry about that."
he replied.
"Being the heir of a clan like the Belmonts is no small thing."
He continued:
"When I was younger… I also felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders."
Adrian looked down at the book in his hands.
"I thought I had to deal with everything alone."
He sighed.
"That everything was my responsibility."
He then continued:
"I ended up isolating myself from everyone."
Adrian looked back at Trevor.
"But later I learned that it didn't have to be that way."
He smiled.
"There were other people I could rely on."
Trevor nodded slowly.
"Yeah… I guess you're right."
He stayed silent for a moment.
Thinking about whether he should ask the question.
But he decided to ask anyway.
"There's something else."
Trevor took a deep breath.
"I'm not sure what I should do."
He continued:
"I know bad things are going to happen."
Trevor looked at Adrian.
"But I still have doubts in my heart about whether I should interfere or not."
Adrian remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he replied calmly:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
He added:
"Edmund Burke."
Adrian then looked directly into Trevor's eyes.
"Young Belmont… I know you have a good heart."
He continued:
"So don't let those doubts interfere with your decisions."
Adrian smiled slightly.
"Deep down… you already know what to do."
Trevor nodded.
His face no longer showed any doubt.
"Thank you again, Adrian."
he said.
"You're really a good advisor."
Adrian replied:
"You're welcome."
He opened the book again.
"Whenever you need to talk… you can come to me."
Then he added:
"Remember what I said."
"You're not alone."
Trevor stood up.
"I think I'm going to sleep now."
He yawned.
"That conversation helped a lot."
Adrian nodded.
"Good night, young Belmont."
Trevor returned to his room.
And finally managed to fall asleep.
The next day he asked his grandfather about Adrian.
But Lucius didn't say much about him.
He only said that Adrian was an old friend of the family.
And that Trevor should treat him well.
Curiously…
After that day, whenever Trevor had trouble sleeping…
He went to the library.
And Adrian was always there.
The two eventually became good friends.
Sometimes they talked about books.
Sometimes they simply discussed their opinions about the stories they were reading.
And many times Trevor simply vented while Adrian listened patiently and offered advice.
Trevor had been wrong to think he would never see that man again.
But he was glad to have met him.
Even so…
There was something strange.
Something that bothered him.
A strange feeling.
It was as if…
He had met Adrian before.