Volume 2, Chapter 25 – Clues and Desire

“Why wasn’t it me who died?”

Her voice filled with pain and unvented anger, Estelle lowered her head so deeply that Fia couldn’t see her expression.

Fia had no choice but to bring up what Estelle had said earlier.

“You haven’t seen Noreen’s body yet. Isn’t it too early to say for certain? Tomorrow, I will go back to the castle and clear out the chaos there first. Maybe Noreen is, like those dying people in the ruins, waiting for us to rescue her.”

“I know, I know… she’s beyond saving. The center of the disaster was in the castle. I already confirmed it when you fought the Despair Demon General, there are no living people there. Besides, if my sister were still alive, with her strength, she would definitely have been able to break out of the castle and find us. She wouldn’t be like those dying people in the ruins, waiting for us to rescue her.”

“Mmm…”

Fia was speechless for a moment.

She had indeed told Estelle that it was best not to hold out hope, but when this moment truly came, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.

All of her hard work was finally going to be put to good use, but just as her sister was about to become the lord, a disaster turned everything into a fleeting dream, not even leaving her a sliver of hope. Becoming a Count from a mere aide was something that should have made a normal person overjoyed, but for Estelle, it was nothing but a painful ordeal. She would probably be reminded of her sister every time someone brought up the word “Count” in the future—it was too cruel.

If the Despair Demon General’s actions were truly just to take pleasure in the despair of others, then this was undoubtedly a scene he would have wanted to see.

—Wait a minute.

As if a connection had been made, a thought flashed in Fia’s mind.

If Estelle’s current look of pain is what the Despair Demon General wanted to see, then that means Estelle’s survival was something the Despair Demon General deliberately orchestrated. Because only by letting Estelle escape would Estelle be able to take Noreen’s place and become Count Oro.

Taking it a step further, the Despair Demon General must have had a deep understanding of Estelle’s and her sister’s bond, and even known that Count Oro was going to hand over the title to Noreen, to have been able to carry out this plan.

This would explain why the Despair Demon General stayed in the castle even after the disaster had passed for several days. He was waiting for Estelle to overcome all the hardships and become Count Oro in her pain. He deliberately did not kill Estelle and let her fall unconscious on the balcony, all for that moment.

When the Despair Demon General suddenly appeared behind Estelle, he could have killed her with a single blow, but he didn’t. He simply wanted to spare Estelle’s life.

In that case, the Despair Demon General had probably foreseen that Estelle would one day make it to the castle. The only difference was that the Despair Demon General thought Estelle would get to the castle with the support of the nobles in the Bart Duchy, but in reality, she skipped the chaos outside and was brought to the castle directly with brute force.

As a person with the ability to create doppelgangers, would he go into action directly without leaving a body behind in a safe place?

The answer is no.

For the Despair Demon General, this was a “play” that he had planned and investigated in advance. Now that the actress was on stage, as the mastermind, he would surely be hiding in the dark, waiting for the curtain call. As long as he didn’t have a direct confrontation with me and remained hidden, his life would not be in danger.

This is disgusting.

Fia’s gaze moved away from Estelle’s trembling shoulders, and the hand on her knee clenched secretly.

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When I see the Despair Demon General again, I will not give him a chance.

I’ll kill him brutally, without holding anything back. ¹ u are done for smh

With this thought, Fia used [Wind of Exploration] to scan her surroundings.

Then, a few figures who shouldn’t have been there appeared outside the ice wall.

Fia frowned. Although the mana reactions of these few people were all very weak, it was now between three and four in the morning. For them to be standing outside Estelle’s ice house was abnormal. She had to remember that for safety reasons, the area around the carriage had already been cleared of people by the soldiers.

However, these people were not standing still, listening in. Instead, they were walking quickly towards the entrance of the ice house. Fia quickly warned Estelle that people were approaching the ice house and told Estelle to compose herself.

In just a few seconds, a total of seven people appeared at the entrance of the ice house.

Four soldiers and three men and women in patched clothes. Fia recognized the leader. The leading soldier was the young man who had guided Fia when she first arrived at the sanctuary. He was extremely loyal to Estelle. For the sake of Estelle’s reputation, he was willing to confront nobles.

This young soldier told the six people outside to wait at the door and came in to ask Estelle if he could bring them in. With Estelle’s permission, he called the six people in to stand before Estelle.

At this moment, Estelle had recovered her composure and was sitting behind the table with a solemn expression.

“What important matter do you want to talk about?”

The few people who were bent over exchanged glances, and then the young leading soldier answered on behalf of all of them.

“Lady Estelle, we… we saw Lady Noreen.”

The huge ice house was silent for a moment. Immediately after, the atmosphere around Estelle changed abruptly. She stood up at once, and an invisible wind swirled around the room.

“What did you say?!” With a loud bang as her hands hit the table, Estelle quickly moved around the table and came before the few people. “Where? When?”

The oppressive aura made the young soldier freeze. He stiffly turned his neck and pointed to the six soldiers and commoners at his side.

“I… I didn’t see her. I heard it from them when I was on patrol just now. Because I felt this was very important, I brought them here.” The young soldier turned to the six people, his tone full of warning. “This is the Third Miss. Be careful what you say.”

“I saw her the day before yesterday!” A man in a short shirt and shorts said with courage. “I was assigned by Lord Abel to guard the boundary. I was monitoring the black monsters outside the boundary when a gust of wind suddenly blew, and sand got into my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I saw Lady Noreen walking into the alley. Although it was only for a moment, the red hair and the pure-blooded vampire wings… it couldn’t have been anyone else but Lady Noreen!”

“Did you not chase her?” Estelle frowned.

“I did, but I couldn’t find her. Lady Noreen was as if she had disappeared. I asked the people guarding the other end of the alley, and they said they didn’t see anyone come out of the alley.” Seeing the look of suspicion in Estelle’s eyes, the man pointed to another man beside him and added timidly. “What… what I’m saying is true! If you don’t believe me, you can ask him. He was with me at the time!”

“I can testify for him. I also saw Lady Noreen. And I saw her more clearly than him. I saw Lady Noreen’s face. The Lady often walked in the city. I’ve seen Lady Noreen countless times. I can say with certainty that it was Lady Noreen. It couldn’t have been anyone else!”

Compared to the man who had fear in his eyes just now, the man who was testifying spoke with confidence.

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After this, Estelle asked the remaining four people one by one. The four people’s statements were all very similar to the first two: they all saw Noreen’s figure flash by in the sanctuary, but when they went to chase her, they couldn’t find her.

Especially the three soldiers. They had only arrived in Oro City with Estelle today. But on the night they were on watch, they all caught a glimpse of Noreen’s figure. Because she was only ten meters away, they had called out Noreen’s name and quickly chased after her. However, Noreen did not answer them and managed to shake off the three soldiers with just a single turn of a corner.

It was worth mentioning that all this had happened just a moment ago. They had initially thought that all three of them had made a mistake, that because they so desperately wanted Noreen to appear and lead them, they had had a hallucination. But when they reported the matter to the young soldier who was their captain, and the young soldier also heard the whispers of the people in the sanctuary during his patrol, they finally realized that they had not been mistaken. Everything was real.

It was one thing for one or two people to see Noreen and call it a hallucination, but for a group of people to see Noreen’s shadow, it was hard to call it an illusion.

Her delicate eyebrows twisted together, and all that was left in Estelle’s eyes was a look of seriousness.

“Only you six have seen her?”

“P-perhaps there are others, but I only know that the three of us have seen her.”

The eagerness in her eyes did not diminish with the man’s words. Estelle turned to look at Fia, who had stood up.

Fia understood what Estelle wanted to say without her needing to say it. The look of hope on Estelle’s face had already written the words “let’s go and see” on it.

Although she wanted to go with Estelle, the carriage couldn’t be left unattended. Now that Estelle had been targeted for assassination, she couldn’t afford to be careless. A pure-blooded vampire could resurrect even from a single finger, but elves did not have that kind of vitality.

Sure enough, Estelle said what Fia had expected.

“Fia, I want to go and see the place they mentioned! Maybe I can find something from the magical traces there!”

“…I can’t go with you. The carriage needs someone to watch it.” At this, Fia subtly glanced at the seven people who were standing. “But I can maintain my flight and watch you from a distance, to prevent any accidents.”

“That’s enough!” Although a look of disappointment flashed in her eyes for a moment, the urgency in Estelle’s heart quickly overshadowed it. She turned to the six people from before. “Take me to the place you mentioned!”

“Yes!”

At Estelle’s urging, the group of eight quickly left the ice house.

◇

As it turned out, Estelle did not find what she wanted.

Fia, who was floating high in the sky, could tell from Estelle’s pace. Unlike the anxious and hurried steps she took when she left, Estelle, after dismissing the seven people, walked back to the ice house alone with extremely slow steps.

Fia used flight magic to return to the ice house. After confirming that Anastasia and Liti were sound asleep, she sat back down on the stone stool she had been on before. A moment later, Estelle also arrived late, her face filled with fatigue and disappointment. She plopped down in a chair.

Although she had already guessed the result, it was better to ask.

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“How did it go?”

“There was nothing there.” Estelle’s voice was listless. “I went to every place they mentioned. I didn’t find a single thing related to my sister Noreen. If my sister Noreen had used magic, there should have been some magical traces left in such a short amount of time, but I didn’t find any signs of magic. This means that no magic had been used there. If my sister Noreen had climbed to the roof with physical strength, the soldiers who chased after her would have seen her. But everyone said they didn’t see anything. This is not logical.”

With her brows tightly furrowed, Estelle bit her lip, a look of unwillingness on her face.

Fia tried to explain.

“Calm down. If Noreen were alive, why wouldn’t she have come to find you directly? Maybe it really was a hallucination. When you’re under too much pressure and fatigue, mistaking a banner or a piece of cloth fluttering in the wind for a person is not strange.”

“It’s one thing for one person to have a hallucination, but that was a group of people! It’s not possible that a whole group of people all made a mistake. My sister Noreen must be in the sanctuary!” ² you dummy, the enemy is a doppleganger. tsk.

Estelle retorted loudly. She used her legs to try and stand up from her seat. However, just as her body left the chair, she collapsed back down like a kite with its string cut. If Fia hadn’t rushed over to support her, Estelle would have fallen off the chair.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Holding Estelle by the shoulders, Fia looked down at Estelle’s face. The latter’s face was terrifyingly pale, like a translucent candle, without a single trace of blood.

But even with such a pale face, the charm Estelle was giving off had become even more intense. At this distance, Fia could even smell the rich, feminine fragrance from Estelle. Especially at the moment when Estelle, with her golden hair as a backdrop, opened her blood-colored eyes after coming to her senses, the enchanting, alluring beauty made Fia freeze. Her gaze was as if it had been sucked into those eyes, unable to look away. The sensation of the soft and delicate body in her arms also made her heart flutter with strange thoughts.

Something is not right.

It wasn’t that Estelle had become prettier, but that something had happened to her.

“Ugh…”

A look of pain appeared on her pale face. Estelle’s eyes were half-closed, and her teeth were clenched together. The vampire fangs at this moment were exceptionally prominent—Fia realized the problem.

The reason vampires were called vampires was written on their name.

Estelle hadn’t replenished her blood in too long.

Just as Fia realized this, Estelle, who was being held by Fia, softly gave Fia the answer. It was clear that she had not lost her sanity yet, but her body had become exceptionally weak.

“I haven’t replenished my blood in too long… Don’t worry. I’ll be fine soon. This is what happens to vampires when they go too long without blood. I just need to find someone outside.”

She was probably too focused on maintaining order in the refugee camp all this time, so she forgot to replenish her blood. Fia guessed that the reason she had found Estelle so exceptionally alluring just now was also because of a vampire’s special trait: they become incomparably enchanting when they are in a state of hunger, to attract their prey.

Fia let out a long sigh.

“Hah, you should have felt this coming. Why didn’t you say anything?”

As she spoke, Fia took out the silver dagger from her waist. After thinking for a moment, she moved the blade from her fingertip to her left arm, trying to distract herself as much as possible. Then she lightly sliced a cut on her forearm.

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A sharp sting shot through her skin.

Blood oozed from the wound. She moved her forearm to Estelle’s mouth.

“Drink.”

Smelling the blood, Estelle’s pupils, which were illuminated by the firelight, instantly dilated. Fia could even see Estelle leaning forward slightly, her small tongue greedily licking her teeth.

But that was all.

Estelle did not move her mouth closer. She frowned, and her face, which was now raised, was full of dissatisfaction.

“Is this charity?” ³ goshhh… like… sigh.

“It’s a gift. Look at the time. Do you still care about these things? The book says that high-status pure-blooded vampires have a very high standard for the blood they consume. The more a person’s blood matches their liking, the better the blood tastes. I’m an elf princess; my blood shouldn’t taste too bad.”

“That’s true… Just the smell of it makes my heart stir.” Estelle glanced at the blood on Fia’s left arm again. “But I haven’t replenished my blood in a long time. The amount I’ll need will be a lot. You still have to fight chaos tomorrow. I should probably find someone else—”

“You don’t have to worry about that. My physique is different from others. My body will never run out of blood. Also, if you don’t hurry, the wound will heal.”

As she spoke, Fia moved her left arm, signaling for Estelle not to hesitate.

“If you say so, Fia…” Estelle stared at the blood on Fia’s arm again. The fragrance emanating from the elf princess’s blood was as if it possessed magic, and it had already made her breathing quicken. If she didn’t have a strong enough self-control, she would have lunged at Fia the moment Fia’s skin was cut. “Then I won’t be polite.”

No longer hesitating, Estelle bit down on Fia’s arm. Her fangs sank into the wound with perfect precision.

There was a sting for a moment, but that pain quickly disappeared with the action of the pure-blood’s saliva. Even though the fangs had sunk into her skin, Fia only felt a tingling sensation.

Logically, having one’s blood sucked should have been a frightening and disgusting experience. But at this moment, Fia felt an inexplicable sense of comfort spreading from her forearm to her entire body. Especially the moist and warm sensation of Estelle’s soft tongue licking the wound, it was like a materialized female hand constantly stroking Fia’s heartstrings, making her heart flutter with strange thoughts.

“Mmm…”

Not just a brief touch, Estelle, after draining the blood from the surface of the skin, greedily used her fangs to sink deeper into the arm. Her blood-colored eyes were exceptionally enchanting at this moment, but her expression showed a dazed look, as if she had been lost in the wonderful sensory feast.

As if she was afraid of the blood dripping to the ground and being wasted, Estelle, without thinking, raised her slender and soft hands to catch it. The sounds of her swallowing the blood in a continuous gulping sound and the sound of water mixed together. Estelle had completely lost herself in hunger and instinct. Like a beast, she had no hint of a noble lady’s composure.

This went on for who knows how long.

As the dazed look in Estelle’s blood-colored eyes gradually disappeared, and her vampire instincts were suppressed, sanity finally took control of her body.

Noticing this, Fia moved her arm.

“Are you done?”