The gates to the vampire territory swung open before Lonia.
Seeing her expression, not a single guard dared to speak.
She walked straight through the front hall, past the cloisters, and through the bowing attendants and maids. The sound of her leather boots striking the black stone floor was sharp and heavy, like nails being driven in.
The door to the study was open.
Eliza sat behind the desk, holding a teacup and taking small sips.
Hearing the noise, she raised her head and looked at Lonia standing in the doorway.
It was as if she had been waiting for her all along.
“You're back.”
She gestured with her hand, using magic to close the door.
Now, whatever they said would remain locked within this room.
Lonia's chest heaved violently, her breath carrying the dry, sulfurous scent of the cold wasteland wind.
“It was you.”
“Yes.”
“You dug those things out of my head.”
Eliza placed the teacup on the desk, the bottom of the cup making a soft clink against the oak surface.
“'Dug' is inaccurate. You placed them right on the surface yourself. Last night, you tossed and turned all night, debating whether or not to tell me. That kind of emotion is very distinct—a conflict you rarely experience. That was how I knew you were facing a very important choice.”
Lonia's fingernails dug into her palms.
“When did we form it?”
The blood covenant.
A one-way blood covenant.
Eliza's expression was as calm as a windless lake.
“The year you were born, when you drank my blood wine for the first time, it was already formed.”
“Is it the same for Yona and Lin?”
“They signed theirs during their induction. So, from the first time you went to Maple Town, every time you returned, I knew who you met, what you said, and what you did.
Normal vampires need to use blood-drinking as a medium to form a blood covenant, but I wield the Authority of Blood. Thus, as long as you drink my blood, it is equivalent to forming a simple, one-way blood covenant with me.
Unlike a normal blood covenant, under normal circumstances, I can only sense your emotional fluctuations—such as anger, pain, joy, and so on. At the same time, I can only roughly determine your direction relative to me; I do not have the ability to pinpoint your exact location or communicate through consciousness.
However, as long as I make physical contact with you, even if it is just a handshake, your memories will flow into my mind.”
She had no intention of hiding it anymore, even though she had concealed it for so long.
It was as if she never planned to hide it again.
Lonia's teeth ground together.
“For over ten years.”
“Yes.”
“You've been watching for over ten years.”
“Yes. The chestnuts in the maple forest, the oil lamp in the old archives, the feel of her tail, and the novels she wrote for you.
And the way you laughed with her, the sides of yourself you only showed to her and never to me, and the things you did for her that you've never done for me.
—I know all of it.”
Lonia's shoulders were trembling, and not from the cold.
“You used me.”
“I was protecting you.”
“Protecting?”
Lonia's voice squeezed out of her throat.
“You call this protecting? What did you treat me as? A wiretap? A spy? You allowed me to stay with her just so you could steal things from my mind?”
“I did not make you look at her documents. That was your own choice.”
“But I wouldn't have told you! I...”
Lonia's voice cut off, leaving her able to make only a few incoherent sounds.
Eliza looked at her.
“Lonia. She wants to reduce the power of the vampire race. She wants to shake the foundation of the Catori family. She wants to replace me if necessary.”
“I know.”
“You knew, but you said nothing. You chose her.”
“I didn't choose anyone! I just...”
“You just what?”
Lonia's mouth hung open, but no sound came out.
“You chose her, Lonia. That is a fact. You betrayed your family.”
Eliza offered a faint smile.
“But I will forgive you.”
She said:
“Lonia, I am your older sister. I am the face and symbol of the vampire race, the supreme leader unanimously chosen by all vampires, and the one destined to become the Vampire King.
Therefore, your sister will bear everything for you, because we are family.”
She reached out, her fingertips touching Lonia's cheek.
It was the exact same hand that had combed her hair this morning.
“Lonia, you don't need to choose. There is no need for you to live such an exhausting life. From now on, you only need to stay with your sister.
You will never have to give up doing the things you love to chase after a back you can never catch. You won't need to practice combat skills until your hands are covered in calluses. You only need to be the princess of the vampires, my younger sister. That will be enough.”
Lonia's cheek stiffened beneath that hand.
“I won't force you to marry anyone else. The vampires do not need outsiders, just as the Catori family does not need a half-breed mongrel. You have your sister, you have our domain, and you have the entire Vampire Court. Is that still not enough?”
Lonia closed her eyes.
Eliza's fingertips lingered near the base of her ear, gently caressing her face.
She had never been this gentle before.
“...It's not enough.”
The fingertips stopped.
“You're right. I chose her. I read the documents, I said nothing, and I chose her.”
Eliza froze.
“But you twisted it into something else. You made her think I was the one who told you. You made her think I betrayed her.”
“The result is the same. Lonia, you two...”
“The result is not the same.”
Lonia slapped Eliza's hand away.
The Vampire Court Head didn't know where to put her hand, leaving it hovering awkwardly in midair.
“She hates me now. Because of you.”
“No, Lonia. She would have stood against you sooner or later. I only made it happen sooner.”
“That is my business. Not yours.”
Lonia reached for her waist and unbuckled her shortsword's scabbard.
The belt buckle clicked open. She placed the scabbard, along with the shortsword that had accompanied her all this way, onto the desk.
The bat crest of the Catori family gleamed a dull silver under the phosphorescent light.
“Lonia...?”
“I don't want them anymore.”
“...What are you saying?”
“The sword, the token, the guest room key, the Catori name—all of it, I don't want it.”
Lonia pulled Gloom Castle's transit token and the guest room key from her pocket, placing them next to the scabbard. The sound of metal hitting the oak desk echoed in the study for a couple of seconds.
Eliza opened her mouth.
“Where are you going...?”
“Anywhere. As long as you aren't there.”
“You're all alone...”
“Then so be it. I have no family left anyway.”
Lonia turned, opened the door, and walked out.
“Lonia, come back. I can pretend I didn't hear what you just said.”
Her footsteps did not stop.
“Lonia! Come back!”
Eliza's voice rose.
This was the first time in seventeen years Lonia had ever heard her sister's voice rise with emotion.
So, Lonia's footsteps paused for a brief moment.
Then, she kept walking forward.
The sound of high heels taking half a step forward came from behind her.
...No, she couldn't go any further.
Eliza told herself.
There were attendants in the hallway. Maids stood at the corner of the cloisters. Behind the pillars of the front hall stood the civil and military officials of the Vampire Court.
While the door was closed, no one was supposed to know what had transpired behind it.
But now the door was open, and everyone was watching.
The Vampire Court Head could not chase after someone who had turned their back and walked away in front of her subordinates. Even if that person was her sister.
“Your Highness... do you need us to pursue the young mistress?”
Lin quietly approached, her voice soft.
“...No, she will come back. We are family, so once her anger cools down, she will return on her own...”
Eliza stood at the doorway of the study, speaking softly as she watched her younger sister vanish at the far end of her sight.
“She will... come back...”
...
In winter, the maple forest of Maple Town was grey.
The red leaves had all fallen, leaving only bare branches intertwined beneath a greyish-white sky.
Lonia walked past the edge of the maple forest.
She did not stop.
As she passed through Maple Town, the doors of the Drunken Moon Tavern were open, with the noisy chatter of patrons and the clinking of glasses drifting out from inside.
Lonia walked through the town and stepped onto the official highway leading to the Plains of Holy Remains.
On the distant horizon, the silhouette of the Plains of Holy Remains was faintly visible beneath the greyish-white sky.
The Wild Hunt King bore the destiny of hunting all things in the world, and wherever his spear pointed was the continuation of his conquest.
The war waged solely to hunt the strong eventually led the prey to unite, and thus, the Battle of the Plains of Holy Remains began.
—Fina's voice echoed in her mind just like that.
Lonia walked along the highway.
Without her sword. Without her token. Without her key. Without her sister. Without Fina.
Pinned to the hair on the right side of her head was still that red maple leaf copper hairpin.
Her own.
It was the only one left.
The winter wind blew from the direction of the Plains of Holy Remains, carrying the scent of dry grass and frozen soil, rushing into her open collar and freezing her body until it ached.
Lonia pulled her collar tight, lowered her head, and continued walking.
The appearance of vampires did not differ much from humans. A Rank Four vampire could already disguise themselves by slightly altering their skin and eye color and retracting their fangs.
So, when the occasional merchant carriage passed by on the highway, the driver would only see a black-haired girl walking alone by the roadside.
She had no luggage, no weapons, and her clothes were stained with dust and frost. It would make people take a second look, but no one stopped.
The Plains of Holy Remains was vast.
After walking for half a day, she had still not made it out.
Blisters had formed on the soles of her feet, and they had popped, leaving her socks stuck to her heels. Every step she took brought a faint, sharp sting.
Her knees had not fully straightened since last night. The backlash on her soul still throbbed with pain, like a thin layer of rust jammed between her joints.
Lonia sat down beside a boundary stone on the roadside.
The boundary stone had characters carved into it, weathered down to a blurry outline—"Plains of Holy Remains · Eastern Duchy".
This was already human territory.
“Nia, when the time comes, we can go together to the elven forest to see the sea of moonlit flowers in full bloom, admire the symphony of wind and clouds at the very peak of the Sky Crown, listen to the whispered teachings of the holy spirits in the City of Holy Radiance, and cheer for the glory of the knights in Avalon.”
Lonia cast her gaze forward.
“Avalon...”
The highway stretched straight into the distance, disappearing into the greyish-white horizon. There was smoke rising from a chimney far away, likely from some village or post station.
The void in her chest was still there.
Today, it had been carved out even larger; the portion meant for her sister had also been hollowed away.
Lonia hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them as she watched the distant smoke.
The wind blew across the Plains of Holy Remains, carrying the rustling sound of dry grass to her ears.
The copper hairpin in the hair on the right side of her head swayed gently in the wind.
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