Volume 2, Chapter 25-1 – The New Saintess

Lilith School, late-night cafeteria, SVIP private room.

This luxurious establishment had been opened specifically for higher demons who slept by day and emerged by night. Even during the First Watch, it was still brilliantly lit, with the rich aromas of countless delicacies drifting through the air.

Roast suckling pig, baked escargot, pan-seared scallops with foie gras, parchment-steamed fish, steak, stewed potatoes, fruit salad, flambéed crêpes, chocolate lava cake…

An array of dishes was arranged on exquisite porcelain atop a purple-black U-shaped dining table more than ten meters long and carved with ornate patterns.

“Ugh…”

“That hurts.”

Riko clutched her bandage-wrapped head. Her trembling hand could barely keep a firm grip on her knife and fork.

“My god, who exactly is responsible for maintaining Lilith School’s pipelines?”

Her memories were somewhat blurry. The last image she could recall was frozen at the instant of a deafening explosion.

“Can a simple magical-dust pipeline leak really produce a shockwave of that magnitude? It felt like getting hit head-on by an ancient dragon…”

“I keep feeling like some terrifying monster beat the hell out of me.”

“Just because the school development fund was two months overdue, maintenance failed badly enough to cause an accident like this?”

“When I get back, I’ll have to subtly remind the Family Head to pay up. The money the Family Head saved almost became my death benefit.”

“…Strange. I’m just a Blackthorn Guard responsible for doing dirty work. Why would I even think something like that?”

“Captain, stop complaining.” Another Blackthorn Guard sitting beside her mumbled indistinctly as she stuffed a bloody piece of steak into her mouth. “We were rushing for efficiency and hadn’t slept for three days and three nights on this round trip. We were already in poor condition, and our reactions were half a beat slow. On top of that, we weren’t wearing heavy armor. Getting caught in a magical-dust explosion of that magnitude and still making it out alive is already incredibly lucky.”

“Look on the bright side. Whether it was assassination or protection… Whatever the mission was, at least there definitely wasn’t any mix-up this time. Didn’t the messenger say so? The Family Head withdrew the previous order. We don’t need to make a move anymore. It’s been changed to covert protection and surveillance. At least we didn’t make the same blunder as last time.”

“And besides… Young Miss is paying for everything right now. Might as well eat as much as we can.”

Riko’s movements paused.

She raised her eyes. Her gaze passed over the candlesticks in the center of the dining table and landed on the two people seated on either side of the head seat.

On the left was their assassination target, Stella Darkfallen.

The rumored illegitimate daughter was completely focused on dealing with the roast chicken on her plate.

Her table manners could hardly be called elegant. In fact, it would be more accurate to say she was sweeping through everything like a raging storm. The knife and fork in her hands turned into silver afterimages, and every time a piece of meat entered her mouth, her cheeks puffed up blissfully like a tiny hamster stockpiling food for winter.

With that level of concentration, that pure desire for food, it was difficult to connect her with the shameless and despicable figure from the rumors.

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On the right was their legitimate mistress, Cheryl Valentine.

Their Young Miss had not touched her knife and fork at all. She merely rested her cheek on one hand, gently swirling the wineglass in the other while quietly enjoying Stella’s eating show.

“Slow down, Elder Sister.” Cheryl said softly. “It’s not as though we’re short on money for this meal, but if you choke to death at the dining table, it would really spoil the serious business that comes afterward.”

“Mmph… gulp.”

Stella swallowed the last mouthful of chicken, then casually grabbed the untouched lemonade beside Riko and drained it in one go.

Alive again.

Although she was eating on her bargain-bin little sister’s dime, this free meal… really tasted amazing.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Stella wiped her mouth with a napkin, trying her best to look at least a little reserved, as a Saintess ought to be.

She glanced at the row of Blackthorn Guards opposite her, all of them with bandages wrapped around their heads and casts covering various parts of their bodies.

Under Professor Katerina’s flawless Cognitive Overwrite, these unlucky women were now utterly convinced that they were victims who had been blown away by the school’s illegal construction.

Riko had even specifically come over just now to raise a glass to her, repeatedly apologizing for almost failing to protect Miss Stella, the target of their mission, and nearly causing her a fright.

Unfortunately, Lainia was still undergoing treatment for her serious injuries and could not attend the banquet. That made Stella’s conscience ache… for a little while.

“Now that you’re full, we should get down to business. If I’m not mistaken, this letter should be…” Cheryl snapped her fingers. “Bring it over.”

The messenger looked as though she had just received a pardon. She practically rolled and crawled her way over to Stella, then raised the secret order high above her head.

“Y-Young Miss Stella! This is a handwritten letter from the Family Head… that is, Lady Vivian herself.”

Stella hesitantly accepted the roll of parchment.

The parchment felt thick and heavy, with tiny grains of blood scattered across it like shattered red agate fallen upon snow.

“What is this?” Stella asked. “A bill? Or a contract selling me into slavery?”

Truthfully, she had developed a bit of a psychological shadow toward any kind of paper document.

“No.” Cheryl stood up and walked behind Stella. She gently rested both hands on Stella’s shoulders, then bent down and whispered beside the rim of her silver-haired ear, “If my guess is correct, this should be an invitation.”

“An invitation? An invitation to what?” Stella blinked in confusion.

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“Mhm. Open it and you’ll know.”

Curious, Stella opened the letter.

【To my wild rose, lost beyond my reach and blooming alone in the wilderness,】

【I hear that you have grown astonishing thorns in the mire of the Abyss. SSS+ talent. What a delightful surprise. Across the long years, I have briefly crossed paths with countless beings amid the pleasures of desire. I can no longer remember which frenzied night it was, or within which passing lover’s belly I left behind the seed that became you.】

【But that does not matter.】

【Valentine does not question birth. Valentine recognizes only power. Since my blood flows through your veins, and since you possess aptitude that even the legitimate line cannot reach, then you are a treasure the family must reclaim.】

【I have already ordered the dust wiped clean from the Corridor of Blood, so that the family’s most ancient stage may be offered to you. When the fourth quarter of the blood moon reaches fullness and the tides of the Abyss rise to their highest point, the Laxia Ritual will officially begin. I will also come personally.】

【Return, my daughter. Bring your ambition, your fangs, and that talent of yours which has aroused my curiosity. Dance to your heart’s content upon the stage. This will be a coronation ceremony belonging to you alone.】

【——Vivian Valentine】

‘The fourth quarter of the blood moon…’

‘Isn’t that coming up very soon?’

But…

“Mm… What’s the Laxia Ritual?” Stella instinctively asked.

“Strange. You don’t know?” Cheryl looked at Stella oddly. “I specifically told you about it before.”

Stella shook her head vigorously.

“…Fine.”

Cheryl bent down. Her red hair fell across Stella’s shoulder and intertwined with her silver strands.

She opened Stella’s hand and slowly wrote several words across her damp palm.

——Lakhsia Rite.

“The Laxia Ritual,” Cheryl said very, very softly, “in the ancient demon tongue, it means… the only blood.”

“The only… blood?”

Stella frowned, instinctively sensing something bad.

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“That’s right.”

Cheryl’s fingers tightened around Stella’s neck, then loosened. They slowly slid upward, trembling slightly as they stroked her cheek.

“The Valentine family does not need two heirs, much less a cowardly coexistence.”

“The ritual is very simple. You and me. We will be thrown into the family’s most ancient Sacred Blood Pool.”

“No rules, no referee, no time limit.”

“Only when one person’s blood has completely run dry and she has been utterly devoured by the other will the exit descend once more.”

“Are you prepared?”

Stella was dumbfounded.

‘Devoured?’

‘Blood… running dry?’

‘The only blood…?’

‘This doesn’t sound anything like a touching reunion between sisters!’

Stella had originally thought that, at worst, it would just be a simple acknowledgment of kinship, perhaps mixed with a little melodramatic prestigious-family infighting. As long as she obediently played along, maybe she could even pass herself off as some wealthy family’s young lady, collect a little allowance every month, and peacefully survive in the Abyss until her mission ended.

But now… this so-called coronation ceremony was actually asking her to participate in this bizarre heretical ritual?

She was just a Saintess. Although she occasionally did a tiny bit of something not particularly respectable, she was still fundamentally a member of the clergy.

They wanted her to participate in this kind of bloody slaughter?

No way.

“…I refuse.”

Stella immediately shoved the parchment back.

“It’s already too late to refuse.” Cheryl extended a finger and lightly tapped Stella’s palm. “My dear Elder Sister, from the moment you opened that letter, you no longer had a choice.”

“I thought you’d already agreed before, so I didn’t specifically remind you.”

Stella lowered her eyes.

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A blood-colored pattern was winding and intertwining between the lines of her palm, eventually converging into a dim yet sinister thorned-rose emblem.

The family crest of the Valentine family.

“…What is this?”

“Once it becomes completely bright, like a flower in full bloom…” Cheryl’s voice was very close, so close that it felt as though she were whispering directly into Stella’s ear.

“Then the ritual will automatically begin. No matter where we are, no matter whether we’re willing or not, the laws of the Abyss will forcibly drag us into that Sacred Blood Grail that belongs to us alone.”

Cheryl withdrew her hand and sat upright.

She raised her wineglass, the scarlet liquid reflecting Stella’s face.

“I hope, my dear Elder Sister, that you’ll be prepared.”

“Because…”

A smile curled at the corners of Cheryl’s lips.

“I’m truly looking forward to the arrival of that day.”

Stella slowly drew in a deep breath and quickly calmed herself.

After being baptized by one chaotic incident after another, her heart had long since grown accustomed to all sorts of bizarre things.

But could someone please tell her…

‘Why is everything involving Valentine always such a mess?’

Translator Note

So Stella once again trapped in a deadly situation TvT

But still… I feel bad for Cheryl… Uhh, the author won’t kill her, right…?

The only thing that I hate from comedy stories is that sad moment can come so suddenly without warning TvT