“Is this the child?”
Lu Li looked at the girl Mira had brought. Her tiny body was hidden behind Mira, only poking her head out cautiously to observe him.
Mira nodded. Lillian was the child she had picked up. Her parents had died of an inherited family illness, and the child herself hadn't been expected to live long either, but fortunately, she had run into Mira.
“When this child saw me, she mistook me for the Lord.” A soft expression appeared on Mira's face. “She said, ‘Lord! Have You come to take me away?’”
She still remembered the situation back then. A light rain was falling from the sky as the girl dragged her tiny body, crawling through the mud.
Perhaps the child had simply mistaken a passerby for the omnipotent Lord, or perhaps she was desperately clinging to a final straw of hope.
Whether it was because she had lived too long and grown tired of a lonely life, or because that dead, frozen heart of hers had truly felt a trace of pity, Mira had paused in her tracks.
She had asked, “Do you want to live?”
The girl was stunned. A sudden spark of light burst from her withered eyes, and a liquid—whether tears or rain—poured from her long-dried eye sockets.
She nodded frantically and reached out a hand while sobbing, yet she didn't dare touch the woman's brand-new coat with her mud-stained fingertips.
Mira sighed, reached down, and lifted the little mud ball up from the ground.
Just like that, Mira took her in, and the two lonely souls found solace in each other.
“The child had a high fever at the time. The hereditary disease tormented her so badly that she was probably hallucinating, trembling uncontrollably and rambling continuously.”
Mira pulled the girl out from behind her and gently rubbed her head. “She said her name was Lillian and that she would faithfully serve the Lord in the future to repay His grace.”
“Honestly, I was the one who saved her.”
Mira complained insincerely. Yet thinking back on it now, it was indeed true—if the Lord had not saved her from the stake, she would never have had the chance to save Lillian.
“Mira, I'm already grown up. Don't rub my head anymore,” Lillian muttered softly in dissatisfaction, looking up at Mira, who was a good deal taller than her.
Her voice stood in stark contrast to her appearance. Though she looked like a cute porcelain doll, she spoke in a cold, icy tone, much like a little block of ice.
Slap!
Lillian immediately received a gentle swat to the back of her head from Mira.
“Grown up where? Compared to me, you still have a long way to go!” Mira said, puffing out her proud chest.
Hearing this, Lillian's face instantly turned sour. This was a painful topic she, as a woman, never wanted to face.
She gritted her teeth and said, “You old hag!”
“Oh, you'll become an old hag in the future too, and a flat-chested one at that,” Mira said, completely unfazed.
Lillian ground her teeth in frustration, yet had no way to refute her.
Lu Li found the interaction between the two quite amusing. One had been lonely for too long and couldn't hold back her tongue now that she finally had a companion, while the other had suffered since birth, destined to die in an unknown corner, yet had unexpectedly survived.
The two together truly felt like a mutual salvation.
“Your Holiness, after I leave, may Lillian stay by your side?” Mira looked at the boy and asked.
Julia was swamped with official duties and had left the Bureau of Heresy Inquisition early on.
At this moment, only Anthelia was accompanying Lu Li. Hearing that Mira wanted to thrust a dangerous individual beside His Holiness, she immediately grew anxious.
“No!” the young woman's voice chimed in the room.
Seeing everyone's eyes turn to her, Anthelia said with a stern expression, “She's a vampire, isn't she? How can we allow a vampire to stay by Your Holiness's side?”
As the Commander of the Holy Knights, Anthelia felt it was her duty to eliminate any potential threat around His Holiness.
Hearing this, Lillian's eyes dimmed, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hem of her clothes.
“Miss Anthelia, I cannot state the reasons behind this, and I hope you can forgive me, but please believe that neither I nor Lillian harbor any ill intent toward His Holiness,” Mira explained solemnly.
Anthelia also seemed to realize she had overstepped. She was merely a guard by His Holiness's side; what right did she have to dictate His Holiness's affairs?
“I am sorry, Your Holiness,” she apologized softly, lowering her gaze slightly.
Lu Li was not one to stand on ceremony, and knowing that Anthelia was concerned for his safety, he naturally would not scold her over such a minor matter.
“It's fine, Anthelia. I understand you're considering my safety, but I have other considerations regarding this matter.” Lu Li turned his head to look at her and smiled gently.
Anthelia's body trembled slightly, a sting of emotion touching her nose.
Even when she acted recklessly, His Holiness still treated her with gentle kindness. If anyone dared to exploit His Holiness's gentleness to harm him, she would never forgive them! Never!
In truth, Lu Li knew that what Mira wanted to say to him was definitely closely related to him, perhaps even involving secrets that could not be disclosed.
“I grant your request.” Lu Li turned his gaze back to Mira and continued, “What about you? What are your plans for the future? Are you still seeking ‘deliverance’?”
Mira fell silent.
Ever since learning that she bore another important mission, she actually had no desire to die anymore.
Although death was not terrifying—at most, a long slumber from which one could not awaken—there was nothing good about it either. Someone like her would never reach Heaven even in death, and besides, her mission was not yet fulfilled.
But when she recalled those pitch-black eyes, that look as if beholding prey, her heart could not stop trembling.
Death was never what Mira feared; what she feared was that if she did not die, that devil would act against His Holiness ahead of time.
After a long silence, Mira flashed a strained smile and spoke:
“Your Holiness, this is my destiny. Dying in this holy capital is perhaps the last thing I can do for you.”
Gazing into those earnest eyes, Lu Li inexplicably thought back to that figure pierced by a greatsword and consumed by roaring flames.
“Very well,” the boy responded softly.
He didn't feel sad, only a bit nostalgic and regretful.
Mira had once been a good knight, and even after becoming a vampire, she was still a good vampire.
Like Wendelina, she had traveled through the darkest of journeys, yet in the end, her heart had reached the light.
On the day of the execution, the rain poured heavily. Lu Li brought Lillian along to bid her a final farewell.
“Your Holiness, there is one last thing I wish to ask of you.” Mira's body was tied to the stake, soaked through by the rain.
Yet at this moment, she did not look miserable at all; instead, she exuded a sense of sacred holiness.
She said, “Use the sharpest sword.”
Lu Li stared into those serene eyes, his grip tightening on his umbrella.
After a long moment, the boy's clear, resonant voice cut through the noisy curtain of rain, reaching toward the far ends of the sky.
“Very well.”
“Commander of the Order of Light, head of the Twelve Sacred Knights, Saint Mira—your pilgrimage ends here. In the name of the Lord, I declare an end to your suffering and grant you eternal peace. May the glory of the Lord be with you.”
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