| ⚠️SPOILER ALERT⚠️ |
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| This page contains information about plot points and future story developments so read at your own risk! |
Vlad Basarab Dracula is a love interest in Dracula: A Love Story.
About Vlad[]
Vlad appears as a character in two different timelines: as an adult in present-day Romania and the United States, and as a young man at the time of the 15th-century Ottoman Empire. During the course of the story we learn that the two are the same, as Vlad is immortal.
Present-day Laia, the main character you play as in this book, meets Vlad in Bucharest, Romania, where she had travelled first on holiday with her sister and then on behalf of the art gallery she works for to acquire some 15th-century paintings. Vlad, presenting as a wealthy, mysterious businessman with an interest in art, buys such paintings and hires her to restore them. He invites her to stay with him in his castle while she does so.
Lale - Laia's past life incarnation - meets Vlad at the court of the Ottoman sultans, where he is kept as a hostage. A prince of Valahia, a medieval princedom that occupied the territory of modern Romania, Vlad was captured by the Ottomans when he was 16, and was kept at court for four years, together with his brother Radu. He enlisted in the Ottoman army where he bonds with Aslan, an orphan living at the Sultan's court after his own homeland was also conquered.
Pursuing a relationship with Vlad will affect romantic relationships with other characters. If you decide to romance him, certain scenes/options with Leo/Aslan and Sandra will be affected, or not be available. If you decide to romance both Vlad and Leo/Aslan, in Season 2, Episode 6 you will be asked to take a final decision between the two.
The Vlad we meet at the Ottoman court is a studious, reserved and fiercely loyal young man. At first, he refused to form any kind of connection with the Ottomans nobles, but when he started getting close to Lale and Aslan, the three of them became bonded together by a strong friendship. Depending on your choices, Vlad and Laia can start a romantic relationship or they can remain as close friends.
Present day Vlad is constantly struggling between balancing his desires and the reality of his existence on the border between worlds. He is still deeply connected/in love with Laia, a sentiment he carries since she was Lale 600 years prior, but the two cannot touch because Laia's inner light is such a polar opposite to Vlad's deep darkness that if he tries to touch her, his body gets covered in blisters and he starts bleeding. He worries about hurting Laia, yet he is unable to stay too far away from her as his desire to protect her from himself and his desire to be near her are constantly at war inside him.
Please note: Your romantic choices in the present affect the past and vice versa. You cannot romance two different people in the two different timelines.
Vlad Basarab Dracula is a young prince and the son of the ruler of Valahia, a medieval princedom that occupied the territory of modern Romania. Once the Ottoman Empire conquered his homeland, he and his younger brother Radu were brought to the Ottoman court, where they remained for four years. By tradition, as a son of a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, they were required to spend several years at the Ottoman court. Although some saw this act from Sultan Murad as generosity - allowing them a chance to study alongside young Ottomans and train in the army - in reality their freedom was limited and they were hostages.
Young Vlad has conflicting views about his stay at the Ottoman court. He considers Laia and Aslan as family and doesn't blame them for the faults of the Sultan, however he feels like a prisoner and is very much looking forward to the day in which he will be able to return to his homeland. The fact that his much younger brother Radu hardly remembers it and feels more at home with the Ottomans is a cause of grief for Vlad, although he understand the reasons why this came to be.
In Season 1, Episode 12, during a diamond scene with Noe, we discover that evil spirits appeared in the 15th century, the lowest caste of dark society, and they kept fighting and playing tricks on each other and on humans. As a result, humans started mass persecutions of witches, with also noble dark creatures being affected. A human king in the Carpathian mountains - which is very much implied is Vlad himself - was tasked with solving the problem. He gathered all the lower dark spirits, organized them and gave them law and rules. Then he redirected their bloodlust towards a foreign army that was threatening his country at the time, defeating the enemy and calming the dark forces at the same time. As a result, he became well respected both amongst humans and dark powers. When he died, he was given a choice: becoming a vagabond among humans for ever, living but hiding his identity, or leave for the world of dark powers, where he would be respected and celebrated. But he chose neither path and remained as a 'non-being' in between worlds. His body was put in a crypt in the forest where he remained for centuries. Sometimes he would get out to drink blood and slowly he forgot his original identity, turning into a savage monster - a vampire. But when Laia arrived in the country, and Vlad, in his vampire form, accidentally saw her picture on Millie's phone, he remembered his past and rushed to Noe, begging him for help returning to the human world. Noe, a Master of Illusions, helped him by giving him human semblances again, believing he would soon grow bored of the girl and come back.
We also learn that Sandra, who is gifted with supernatural powers of divination and beyond, was tasked with being at Vlad's service once he woke up.
In Season 2, Episode 8, during a phone call between MC, Sandra and Ilinca, it is revealed that MC's fate is connected to Leo and Vlad by the Threads of Fate. This bound was not created by a magic ritual but it was born on its own due to the deep devotion between the three of them.
In Season 2, Episode 10, Noe speaks of his relationship with Vlad. When in the Dark World, Vlad was kinder and more just than most towards the lowest ranked dark spirits, the imps, and this impressed Noe and they became close friends. A law against the killing of the imps was passed thanks to Vlad's influence. In the same episode, Noe also reveals that the details of Vlad's curse are unknown and it's not known how MC can help him, so Noe thinks that they might have to wait for the circumstances needed for the curse to be lifted to happen on their own. To make sure they will know when/if this happen, Noe has built a magical sphere: when the necessary events will happen, the energies will change and the rays inside the sphere will change from blue and orange to dark red.
In Season 2, Episode 13, Noe reveals that thanks to the immense power inside him, Vlad is an exception among "procurators", as usually humans can only raise to the status of "aumildars" - soul collectors. Vlad suddenly became The Dark King in December 1458, pushed by his unexplained rage. He then came to an agreement with the dark ones, his rage placated and he became king of the Carpathians.
In the same episode we also learn that the reason Vlad cares so much about Mica, the young mavka, a type of spirit, is that we have met in the story, was Vlad's adoptive daughter when she was alive. She was ill and died before having a chance to be baptised. This is why her soul is still trapped between worlds.
In Season 3, Episode 1, the sphere created by Noe to track the status of Vlad curses reacts to MC's words, and Vlad recites the prophecy that was tied to the curse:
- If you are on a Vlad romantic path, the prophecy will read: "Three steps after she sees your true dark being… First. She’ll recognise her beloved in the monster. She won’t push him away, but will love him as before. Second. She’ll spend the night voluntarily holding him in her arms. Third. She’ll offer to release him from the dark brand herself."
- If you are not on a Vlad romantic path, the prophecy will read: "Three steps after she sees your true dark being... First. She'll spend the night in the same walls as you voluntarily. Second. She'll recognize her friend in the monster and strain him to her heart sincerely. Third. She'll offer to release you from the dark brand herself."
During the course of Season 3, we learn that the dog brand on Vlad's chest was given to him by a demon called Mephis, as a mark of the fact that Vlad was at his service in the demon world. lad was the one who asked Mephis for the contract, although we don't know yet why as the contract itself prohibits him to talk about, but Vlad implies that Mephis lied when he made the contract, as if he already knew the brand was going to act differently on Vlad than it usually does with other people. Vlad's power and darkness, in fact, proved to be a lot larger than usual and Vlad started to wreck havoc in the demon world. Mephis was held responsible for creating a threat to the demon world by branding Vlad, and subsequently trialled and imprisoned. Vlad was supposed to die, due to the amount of darkness inside him, but the light coming from his relationship with Lale and Aslan kept him alive. Once Mephis was imprisoned, the demon Septentrion introduced him to Noe, as he knew Noe had more experience with humans than most, due to his family's past.
In Season 3, Episode 5 we learn that Mephis has escaped his prison by having Noe's grandfather, Procul, take his place. This leads to Procul's death. Now Mephis is free in the world and Vlad is worried about what might happens next.
In Season 3, Episode 7 Agnes shows Laia a memory that reveals the previous owner, Sotet, of The Black Castle discovered a ritual to break Vlad of his curse without involving Mephis. With Sandra leading the ritual and with the help of Laia and Leo, Vlad is finally free of the curse and human again. Unfortunately, his humanity is short lived because it's quickly discovered that the group went wrong somewhere in the ritual and Vlad is about to combust just like Sotet did. In Season 3, Episode 12, the group can see no other option than to put the darkness back in Vlad until they can figure out how to safely remove it without him dying.
In Season 3 Episode 13, a ritual is performed to return Vlad's darkness to him. However, due to a misunderstanding, Vlad ends up receiving a double dose of darkness which transforms him into a monster. During a vision, Laia sees a day in 1459 where Vlad impaled twelve members of the Boyar families for betraying him and later found out that one of them was innocent. In present day, Vlad impales the members of the Vambery Community in a similar manner. However, in Season 3 Episode 14, it is discovered that the members of the Vambery Community were actually monsters and did not in fact die. It also discovered that the innocent man Vlad killed in 1459 was actually Yustin's father and that Yustin has been seeking revenge ever since.
In Season 4 Episode 2, Vlad is being held in the Sleepy Barren until his fate is decided by Tetra. Noe takes Laia to visit him before he is transferred out of the Sleepy Barren as even Noe doesn't know where Vlad will be taken or for how long. In Season 4 Episode 3, Vlad reappears to represent Romania at the art and culture event Laia has been asked to attend in Turkey. He is seemingly recovered for the time being, however, Raphi appears to be chaperoning him for the time being.
The story is ongoing.
Relationships[]
Present day:
- Laia: Friend/Love interest
- Leo: Friend
- Noe: Frenemy
- Sandra: Friend
- Ilinca: Follower
- Mica/Fiona: Adoptive daughter
Ottoman court:
Quotes[]
- "Ah, so I'm honored to talk to the Sultans niece? What a turn of events, your highness." (S1E2, Past)
- "Did you think it's a county of dumb barbarians? It's a normal thing for an educated person to know several languages." (S1E2, Past)
- "That is not going to happen. I won't let you close to her, to them...ever again!" (S4E3, Present)
Trivia[]
- Vlad loves animals, especially dogs.
- He used to study acting and allegedly met Noe while studying theatre in school. This will be proven to be a lie later on.
- He speaks more than one language including Turkish.
- He hates lies and thieving more than anything else.
- He loves swimming.
- The ages of historical figures such as Vlad Dracula and Şehzade Mehmed were adjusted slightly for the sake of the story.
- Vlad learned about the modern world from Noe while retaining the honor, nobility, and sense of duty to others he developed as a king six centuries ago.
- Everything Noe told the heroine about Vlad when he first met her was a fabrication.
- Lale is younger than Vlad and Aslan. Vlad is a year and a half older, and Aslan is two years older.
- Mica appeared during one of the darkest times of Vlad's life. Mica is not a name: it's a nickname that means "little one" in Romanian.
- Historians attest to Vlad Dracula's execution of the boyars on Easter. Despite allegations of thousands of victims, records indicate there were actually twelve.
Character development[]
The Romance Club dev team shared the process of the creation of Vlad on their official VK account. [1]
They also posted about the changes in vampire appearances on their official Facebook account.[2]
Romance path[]
All interactions that improve your relationship with Vlad have been clearly marked on the walkthrough, but here is a summary. Note: some options will only be available to you if you have chosen previous romantic scenes with Vlad or if your relationship with him is good enough. Respect points have been added among his romance path to ensure that you do not miss out out on important plot development with Vlad in the past.
Season 1:
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Ep 2 · The New Heir to the Throne
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Ep 3 · An abrupt move
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Ep 4 · The First Night in the Castle
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Ep 5 · The Crime
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Ep 6 · Childhood Friend
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Ep 7 · Improper Guest
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Ep 8 · Rain
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Ep 9 · Moaning Walls
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Ep 10 · Sacrifice
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Ep 11 · Liberation
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Ep 12 · The King
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Season 2:
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Ep 1 · Sky. Plane. Girl.
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Ep 2 · Black Figures
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Ep 3 · Philanthropist
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Ep 4 · Punishment
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Ep 5 · Castlemates
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Ep 6 · New Lodgers
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Ep 7 · The Return
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Ep 9 · The Motive
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Ep 10 · Fire And Water
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Ep 11 · The Veil
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Ep 12 · The Invasion
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Ep 13 · Light And Sword
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Season 3:
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Ep 1 · The First Half
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Ep 2 · The Time of Answers
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Ep 3 · The Brochure
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Ep 4 · The Sleepy Barren
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Ep 5 · The Prisoner
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Ep 6 · Message From Sotet
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Ep 7 · Solomon's Ritual
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Ep 8 · The Victor
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Ep 9 · The Prize
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Ep 10 · Fire and Oil
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Ep 12 · Tricks Of Darkness
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Ep 13 · The Return Of The Darkness
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Ep 14 · The Night Of The Ball
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Season 4:
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Ep 1 · The Fall And Rise
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Ep 2 · The Apparition At Sunset
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Ep 3 · The Turkish Gambit
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Ep 4 · The Black Sea
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Ep 5 · Dark Past
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Ep 6 · The Tower
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Ep 7 · The Trap
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Ep 8 · Night
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Gallery[]
Sprites and items
![New outfit unlocked in S3 Ep9: Casual look (💎18) [❗Your relationship with Vlad has improved!]](/wiki/File:VladS3ep9outfit1.png "VladS3ep9outfit1.png (4.78 MB)")
![New outfit unlocked in S3 Ep9: Elegant look (💎31) [❗Your relationship with Vlad has improved!]](/wiki/File:VladS3ep9outfit2.png "VladS3ep9outfit2.png (4.59 MB)")
CG images
Additional content
