The group was on their way back to the academy, still within the forest.
Suddenly, three figures appeared ahead.
Bell came to a halt.
Tia’s arm shifted instantly, the Mithril forming into a blade.
Antinoia flipped open her grimoire, a blue light glowing at her fingertips.
Horn clutched the cylinder and shrunk back to the very rear.
The leader was a man.
He had lavender hair, wore elegant white clothes, and fangs were faintly visible at the corners of his mouth.
A vampire.
Yet, he stood in the sunlight.
There was no pain, no burning.
Bell’s pupils contracted slightly.
A Daywalker?
No.
Lilian was the only Daywalker.
What was going on with these three?
The man gave a slight bow.
“Lord Bell, I am Ed.”
He stepped aside, gesturing toward the two women behind him.
“These two are Betty and Vedenia.”
The petite woman waved with a giggle.
The voluptuous woman nodded expressionlessly.
Bell did not lower his guard.
“What do you want?”
Ed straightened up.
“I have been commissioned by my master to invite Lord Bell to the Night Rose Palace.”
The Night Rose Palace.
Bell had heard the name.
It was a place in Moon Phase City, the capital of the vampire race, where only the ten ancestors were permitted to reside.
“Who is your master?”
Ed smiled.
“Apologies, but I cannot say.”
Bell frowned.
“Why invite me?”
“Apologies, but I cannot say.”
The exact same tone.
The exact same smile.
Even the intervals between his breaths were identical.
Tia’s arm transformed completely into a longsword.
Antinoia’s grimoire flipped to an offensive page.
Horn pulled out his magic wand, his hand trembling.
Ed quickly waved his hands.
“Lord Bell, please do not misunderstand. We mean absolutely no harm.”
“Please, believe us.”
Bell’s voice turned cold.
“With an answer like that, how can I believe you?”
Ed sighed.
“I’ve been waiting here for several days.”
“I finally caught Lord Bell coming out alone.”
Bell remained silent.
Ed continued.
“Lord Bell, you do not have the right to refuse.”
A yellow light glowed in Bell’s palm.
Earth element condensed into a longsword.
“Are you planning to kidnap me?”
Ed’s body suddenly blurred.
In the next second.
He appeared before Bell.
The distance was less than half a meter.
So fast!
Bell’s pupils shrank violently.
He leaped backward, creating distance.
Tia rushed forward, shielding Bell.
Ed did not pursue.
He rubbed his chin and smiled.
“That little move just now makes me even more certain.”
“You do not have the right to refuse.”
Bell gripped his sword hilt tightly.
This person was strong.
At least at the level of an academy instructor.
Perhaps even stronger.
Bell took a deep breath.
“Fine, I’ll go with you.”
“But my companions—”
Ed interrupted him.
“As you wish.”
“We are only taking you. The others may go where they please.”
Bell turned around.
He looked at Tia.
“Once you’re back at the academy, tell Leovet Victor about this first.”
“Let him decide whether or not to inform the Headmaster.”
Tia opened her mouth to speak.
But in the end, she simply nodded.
Bell then looked at Antinoia and Horn.
“This batch of souls will only last for three days.”
“I believe that with your abilities, you can definitely complete the task.”
He pulled a card from his pocket.
“There are several thousand gold coins on this card. Do a good job.”
Antinoia took the card.
“Be careful.”
Bell nodded.
He took one last look at Tia.
“Remember to get some rest when you get back.”
Tia’s fingers tightened.
Liquid Mithril flowed at her fingertips.
“I will wait for you to return.”
Bell turned back.
“Let’s go.”
Ed smiled.
He snapped his fingers.
A black carriage appeared out of thin air.
The door opened automatically.
Bell stepped inside.
Ed followed behind him.
The door closed.
The petite Betty jumped onto the driver’s seat.
“Wow! Lord Bell is so handsome!”
“Can I have a sip of his blood?”
Vedenia poked her in the head.
“Shut up.”
“Don’t be insolent.”
The carriage started moving.
The wheels rolled without making a single sound.
Bell sat inside the carriage.
The space inside was terrifyingly large.
At least thirty square meters.
Spatial magic.
Ed sat opposite him.
He elegantly poured a cup of tea.
“Lord Bell, please.”
Bell didn’t take it.
He stared at Ed.
“You aren’t afraid of the sun.”
Ed smiled.
“Indeed.”
“It is all thanks to Her Majesty the Queen.”
Bell’s frown deepened.
“The Queen?”
“Isn’t the vampire race managed by the ten ancestors?”
Ed set down the teacup.
He reached his hand out the window.
Sunlight spilled onto his palm.
It was warm and soft.
“She was only recently crowned.”
Ed’s eyes narrowed.
“The sun feels so good.”
“If not for Her Majesty, I’m afraid I would never have experienced such gentle sunlight in my entire life.”
Bell’s mind raced.
A Vampire Queen.
Recently crowned.
Unafraid of sunlight.
And Ed’s familiarity with him.
Bell spoke slowly.
“The Vampire Queen wouldn’t happen to be... Lilian, would it?”
Ed withdrew his hand.
He turned his head.
Those lavender eyes looked directly at Bell.
“It is.”
Bell’s body froze.
Lilian.
The vampire girl he had bought from the slave market.
The vampire girl whose fangs had been snapped by Cecilia.
The vampire girl who had been so terrified of Cecilia that she preferred to suffer the backlash from the contract just to flee.
She had become the Vampire Queen?
Bell’s fingers tightened.
“Where is she?”
Ed smiled.
“Moon Phase City.”
“The Night Rose Palace.”
“She is waiting for you.”
By the time the carriage drove out of the Shadow Forest, the sky had turned completely dark.
Bell sat in the carriage, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.
He was thinking of Lilian.
The vampire girl he had forcibly bound with a contract.
The Lilian who had jumped out of a window in terror in front of Cecilia.
Now, she had actually become the Vampire Queen.
The speed at which this world changed was enough to catch anyone off guard.
“What is Lord Bell thinking about?”
Ed set down his teacup and asked with a smile.
Bell pulled himself back from his thoughts.
“I was wondering why Lilian became the Queen.”
Ed’s smile widened.
“Because she is a Daywalker.”
“In the hundreds of years of the vampire race’s history, only three Daywalkers have ever appeared.”
“The first two both became ancestors.”
“And Lady Lilian is the third.”
Ed’s finger lightly traced the rim of the teacup.
“More importantly, she brought us the sun.”
Bell frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Ed didn’t answer immediately.
He stood up and walked to the carriage window.
The moonlight outside spilled onto his face.
“The vampire race has been cursed for thousands of years.”
“We could only exist in the darkness.”
“To us, sunlight was synonymous with death.”
Ed turned around.
A certain fanatical light flickered in his lavender eyes.
“But Lady Lilian changed all of that.”
“She used your blood to create a miracle.”
Bell’s pupils shrank violently.
“My blood?”
Ed nodded.
“Your blood contains a certain special power.”
“Lady Lilian shared that power with us.”
“Now, most vampire nobles are able to walk in the sunlight.”
Bell’s fingers tightened.
He remembered that night.
Lilian biting his neck.
That burning pain.
And afterward, the terrifying power Lilian had displayed.
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