In the quiet hours between midnight and dawn, a small team of Valerian's soldiers moved through the Eastern district of Orlov's domain. Their objective: extraction of a mid-level administrator named Thorne, whose efficiency in resource management had made him valuable to Orlov's governance structure.

  This careful removal represented just one operation in Lucius's long-term strategy to weaken Orlov's power base from within. Using Valerian's uniquely capable soldiers who could operate during daylight hours, they systematically identified and extracted key middle-tier vampires from traditional territories, creating pusible cover stories for each disappearance—a blood criminal fleeing justice, an unfortunate hunting accident, a quiet territory transfer.

  The strategic brilliance y in the operation's pacing—just one or two disappearances per decade, too infrequent to establish a recognizable pattern, yet consistent enough to gradually erode Orlov's administrative capabilities. Each extraction targeted vampires with specific knowledge or skills that would take decades to repce within Orlov's rigid hierarchy.

  For the extracted vampires themselves, the transition proved transformative. After initial disorientation, they entered sophisticated rehabilitation programs addressing the trauma from Orlov's oppressive system. Re-education followed, introducing sustainable practices and developing skills forbidden under traditional rule.

  Former administrative clerk Helia, extracted sixty years earlier, now oversaw integration for new arrivals. "You'll find opportunity beyond anything permitted in Orlov's domain," she expined to a recently extracted group. "Your talents were deliberately suppressed there. Here, they will be cultivated."

  Most significantly, these former Orlov vampires provided invaluable intelligence about traditional territory operations—mapping administrative structures, documenting resource management procedures, and identifying vulnerabilities that would ter prove crucial to rger strategic objectives.

  After nearly a century of these calcuted extractions, Lucius reviewed comprehensive reports showing their cumutive impact. Orlov's middle management tier had been subtly but significantly diminished, creating administrative gaps that forced the Archduke to rely increasingly on a smaller circle of trusted nobles—exactly as Lucius had intended. The foundation was being methodically id for developments that would not become apparent for centuries to come.