Volume 4, Chapter 6-3 – When Trouble Comes, Sleep It Off

Only the previous Dragon Attendant Commander, Lavinia, had barely managed to find a way to restrain Veronica while she herself was mangled and on the verge of death.

Unfortunately, Lavinia was already dead.

And no one knew how Lavinia had managed it.

If Veronica joined the encirclement against Stella, the entire Blood Demon Manor and probably half of Nightmare Street along with it would be flattened by her indiscriminate destructive power.

There was no need to let the Young Miss take action.

“Young Miss.” The Dragon Attendant Commander dropped to one knee. “The prey that does not know whether she lives or dies has already walked into her own grave. Tonight, there is no need to trouble you to act personally.”

“The terrain inside Blood Demon Manor is cramped and unsuitable for you to unleash your power.” The Dragon Attendant Commander continued reporting. “Please come with us to Nightmare Street, Young Miss. You only need to wait outside Blood Demon Manor for a little while. The five of us will go in, and we will soon bring back her torn-off head for you.”

Veronica said nothing.

Her golden vertical pupils stared fixedly at the silver-and-red-haired girl.

At times they held a demon’s eerie cruelty. At times they were filled with utterly unrestrained childishness. At times they were manic or icy-sharp. At times they overflowed with tenderness as gentle as water and honeyed affection.

Her heart was yearning.

Just what would it take for Stella to become her toy, to become her mommy?

The Dragon Attendant Commander said nothing more and turned toward his subordinates.

Dark-gold magical power surged around him. Scales began spreading across his entire body, while his bones gave off a dense series of shifting cracks.

The other five Dragon Attendants began transforming at the same time.

In the darkness, six pairs of broad dragon wings slowly unfolded.

The Dragon Attendants’ golden vertical pupils lit up in the night like six blazing flames.

“Now, let’s go to Blood Demon Manor.”

—————

The world inside the mirror was forever an endless expanse of pale white.

Stella pulled Lainia through the rippling mirror surface, and the mercury-like halo closed behind them.

The next second, the two of them were already standing in an entirely different space.

A scarlet carpet stretched from the entrance all the way to the end of the staircase. Crystal chandeliers hung overhead. The walls were covered in deep-red wallpaper and decorated with several enormous oil paintings. A long dining table stood to one side of the sitting room, covered with a snow-white tablecloth and set with valuable pottery, porcelain, and glassware. The patterns on the ceiling were extraordinarily intricate, and the lights seemed especially soft.

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This was the main hall of Blood Demon Manor.

Stella looked around and nodded in satisfaction.

Patolize and the others had done a good job.

In just a few watches, they had cleaned up a haunted manor abandoned for nearly a hundred years until it was presentable again.

There were still a few cardboard boxes piled in the corners that they hadn’t had time to clear away, and cobwebs still hung from the stair railings, but as a temporary place to stay, it was already comfortable enough.

“Wow…”

An awed exclamation came from behind her.

Stella turned around.

Lainia stood at the entrance with her head tilted back, her gaze wandering everywhere.

There was no doubt that she was the Holy See’s typical dirt-poor nun.

A novice nun who ate coarse scraps every day at the monastery and could only wash dishes in the cafeteria kitchen after arriving in the Abyss had probably never seen such an extravagant manor in her entire life.

“This… this is…” She stammered. “Master’s house?”

“More or less.” Stella replied casually. “Mom gave it to me.”

“Gave… gave it to you? For free?”

“Mm, more or less.”

“A house this big, for free?”

“Mm.”

Lainia fell silent.

She lowered her eyes, looked at her maid dress stained with grease, then looked at the expensive scarlet carpet beneath her feet. She instinctively took a step backward, afraid she might dirty something.

Stella was amused by how cautious Lainia looked.

“Alright, quit standing there.” She patted Lainia on the shoulder. “This will be your new home from now on. There are plenty of guest rooms on the second and third floors. You can pick one that’s already been cleaned and move in.”

Lainia blinked.

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“…New home?”

“Yeah.” Stella spoke as if it were obvious. “Didn’t you agree to be the gatekeeper? Of course the gatekeeper has to live here.”

Lainia’s eyes slowly widened.

“I… I get to live here?”

“What, you don’t want to?”

“I-I do!” Lainia nodded furiously. “I really do!”

Stella secretly felt rather pleased with herself.

She had absolutely no thought of asking Stella for wages.

Food and lodging alone had settled everything with ease.

Stella started walking and made a simple circuit of the manor.

Come to think of it, the more she looked at this house, the more pleasing it became.

Scarlet carpets, deep-red wallpaper, gilded picture frames, crystal chandeliers…

The colors were a little heavy, but it should be quite comfortable to live here.

Stella thought it over.

Since Dorothy’s Mirror Door could connect directly to Lilith School and make traveling back and forth extremely convenient, she might as well simply move into Blood Demon Manor permanently from now on.

How could the single dorm room Vice Principal Mara had given her possibly compare to living in Blood Demon Manor?

It was personal property that Vivian Valentine had assigned to her, after all.

As an outstanding Saintess of the new era, when faced with the decadent and luxurious lifestyle fired at her as a sugar-coated shell by an Abyssal Elector, wouldn’t it be far too wasteful if she didn’t enjoy it properly with a critical attitude?

“But the question is, where should I sleep tonight?”

Stella stopped beside the railing of the mahogany staircase and muttered unconsciously.

The manor was absurdly huge. There had to be at least a hundred rooms.

Click.

The moment she finished speaking.

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At the far end of the left corridor on the second floor of the hall, a door automatically sprang open to both sides.

The corner of Stella’s mouth twitched.

She had almost forgotten.

Blood Demon Manor had a ghost who granted every request.

No bell required, no wages required, listening to the entire manor at all times and responding to every request. The perfect ghost maid.

Stella walked straight to the doorway.

Inside was a room that had already been completely cleaned.

Dark red was the dominant color, and elaborate tapestries hung on the walls.

The most eye-catching thing was the absurdly enormous bed.

Stella estimated its size. Forget one person. Even five or six people sprawled all over it would still have more than enough room.

“Lainia, come up here.”

“Do you need something, Master?”

Lainia ran up to the second floor in a few steps and stopped in front of Stella.

“Your work location tonight isn’t the front gate.” Stella pointed at the door to her master bedroom. “You only need to guard the door to my room by yourself. Don’t let anyone come in. Understand?”

Lainia looked somewhat confused.

She clearly couldn’t understand why, on her first day working as Blood Demon Manor’s gatekeeper, she wasn’t guarding the front gate and instead had to guard a bedroom door. But in the end, she silently moved a chair over and sat properly outside Stella’s room.

Stella flopped directly onto the bed, resting her chin on a cushion while her lower legs kicked idly in the air.

Comfortable.

She had really suffered a lot today.

She had woken up in the morning and discovered that she had laid an egg. Then she went to the training grounds and beat Lainia up. After that, she went to Nightmare Street to fish Cheryl out. She failed to fish Cheryl out and instead brought Aetlana back. Along the way, she had even found time to eat a Lavinia. Then she rushed without stopping to the Electors’ banquet, got recognized by Franleya, got called mommy by Veronica, and then Remedios revealed that she was the Faust heir…

And in the end, Stella had somehow inexplicably become the sole contestant of the Darkfallen family, instantly turning herself into everyone’s target.

Stella let out a long sigh.

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All of that had actually happened in a single day?

Her schedule had been even more brutal than the Holy See’s grand Sunday service, and she had somehow gone through the entire thing without resting once.

Anyone else would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

Stella rolled over and shifted into a more comfortable position.

She spread open the palm of her left hand and raised it into the air.

The Chastisement Brand representing the White Tower’s highest wanted order was glowing brighter and brighter.

The Chastisement Brand clearly believed that since she was already lying in bed and completely defenseless, the ideal opportunity to strike had arrived. It was time to start gathering the Holy See’s Chastisement spirits to kill her.

The corner of Stella’s mouth curled upward slightly.

She wasn’t worried in the slightest. Instead, a strange sense of security began growing in her heart.

Outside was a pack of vicious demon assassins preparing to take her life.

And beside her bed, a group of Holy Light bodyguards who required no wages, possessed absurd combat strength, and absolutely could not harm even a single hair on her head were about to descend.

It was as though the stars slept upon the silent waves of darkness. Stella crossed her arms and rested her tilted head upon them. She lay on her side with her eyes closed, her long lashes covering her eyelids like butterfly wings.

The world outside was noisy and chaotic.

Here with her, there was only a light dream as soft as gauze.

‘Come on.’

‘Call all your white hunting hounds here.’

‘The more, the better.’

Translator Note

I won’t believe the battle will be smooth! lol