The formal ceremony elevating Commander Thornfeld to Viscount status proceeded with all traditional protocols—ancestral oaths, blood ceremonies, and territorial affirmations conducted precisely as they had been for centuries. Only one element distinguished this elevation from all those preceding it: Thornfeld possessed no noble bloodline whatsoever.

  This elevation represented another carefully pced stone in the foundation Lucius had been building since Baron Cassian's promotion—his first experiment in merit-based advancement decades earlier. Cassian's elevation through military service had initially appeared as a singur exception rather than precedent, allowing traditional nobles to dismiss it as an isoted anomaly.

  Lucius's strategy unfolded with characteristic patience: each subsequent elevation spaced years apart, each recipient demonstrating undeniable merit, each ceremony conducted with impeccable adherence to tradition. The pattern emerged so gradually that many traditionalists failed to recognize it until multiple common vampires had already joined nobility ranks.

  "Commander Thornfeld's management of the northern resource regions has increased production while reducing mortality by unprecedented margins," Lucius stated during the ceremony, emphasizing practical achievement rather than ideological shift. "His elevation recognizes demonstrated capability rather than potential."

  This seemingly pragmatic approach allowed Lucius to frame each promotion as individual recognition rather than systematic change, preventing unified opposition while establishing persistent precedent. By acknowledging exceptional service through traditional noble structures, he maintained surface continuity while fundamentally altering vampire society's advancement pathways.

  These strategic elevations served multiple functions beyond their apparent purpose. Each rewarded exceptional loyalty with appropriate recognition, demonstrating that service to progressive values brought tangible benefits. Each new noble from common origins created an advocate for merit recognition within aristocratic circles, gradually influencing perspectives from within. Most significantly, each promotion incrementally normalized the concept that nobility could be earned rather than exclusively inherited.

  Traditional faction representatives attended these ceremonies with thinly veiled disapproval but limited ability to object. The recipients' qualifications were always unassaible, the procedures meticulously traditional, and the precedent of Cassian's earlier elevation already established. Their reluctant presence legitimized changes they opposed but could not openly reject without challenging an Archduke's authority to reward exceptional service.

  Through this measured approach, Lucius gradually reshaped vampire society's understanding of hierarchy without triggering the direct confrontation that immediate transformation would have provoked. Each individual elevation appeared as modest boundary adjustment rather than revolutionary change—precisely as he had calcuted.