“I have no home now, nothing I care about anymore. Where else can I go?”
Aiwei murmured, as if talking to herself, yet it sounded like she was asking Fuluoxi.
“The Empire has already abandoned me. They don’t care about how I feel, they don’t care about what will become of me. What they care about…”
“Is always just profit, always just their titles. Because I’m a princess, I have absolutely no advantage over the other heirs.”
“To be honest, if it weren’t for this campaign against the Vampire Clan, I probably would have been married off to a prince from another country by now.”
“After all, they’ve already been looking for candidates for me. It just so happened that the gods chose me and made me the Hero, so I managed to escape that fate.”
“From beginning to end, I’ve never really had a choice—whether it was becoming a princess, being used as a marriage tool, a bargaining chip for benefits, becoming the Hero to fight the Vampire Clan, or being sent here as a gift.”
“From the start, I never had a choice.”
“Master, thank you. I finally know how to keep on living.”
Fuluoxi looked at Aiwei for a long time without saying anything, nor did she do anything else to Aiwei.
There was no joy or sorrow on her face. After a while, she called Liya in, “Take her back to the Blood Slave Camp, and have her change out of that maid uniform as well.”
“Aiwei… Miss, are you alright?”
Once they were away from Fuluoxi’s room, Liya spoke to Aiwei cautiously.
“I’m fine. I actually feel pretty good right now.”
“Liya, sometimes accepting your own situation is a good thing too.”
Aiwei gave Liya her signature smile.
Liya hesitated, looking at Aiwei’s obviously abnormal expression, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.
She recalled when she first came to the Vampire Castle.
She hadn’t been sent into the castle as a Blood Slave; she was a human slave picked up by Prince Fuluoxi during a famine year.
From that time on, Liya had served by Fuluoxi’s side, until later when she was turned into a member of the Vampire Clan.
Fuluoxi had once asked Liya if she wanted to leave her, but Liya refused. She only wanted to always be Fuluoxi’s maid.
During her years as a blood servant, Liya had seen many Blood Slaves. Almost none of them were ever called into Fuluoxi’s room.
Let alone receive Fuluoxi’s “special attention”—although that attention wasn’t anything good, or rather, it was pure torment.
Most people chosen by Fuluoxi were generally sent to the Blood Slave Camp, or became menial workers in the castle.
Though they had no freedom, at least they could eat their fill.
Some of these people were sold by their parents, some sold themselves to pay for their relatives’ burials. Liya had seen far too many reasons for entering the castle.
Perhaps Aiwei was the most miserable of them all. Liya couldn’t help but feel pity for her, and she didn’t understand why Fuluoxi treated Aiwei this way.
Maybe it was because…they were arch-enemies?
Liya pondered why Prince Fuluoxi would do such violent things to Aiwei.
If someone wanted to kill her, perhaps she would act the same.
That was what Liya thought in her heart.
Liya brought Aiwei to the bathhouse and prepared a set of brand-new clothes for her, placing them by the edge of the bath.
Aiwei looked at Liya, her eyes showing a bit of confusion.
“I took the liberty of doing this. Since Prince said you should change clothes, you might as well wash up too,” Liya said to Aiwei.
“But Liya, won’t Master be angry if we do this…?”
“I don’t want to get you in trouble because of me,” Aiwei shook her head, trying to refuse Liya’s kindness.
“It’s fine. I can make decisions about little things like this. Even though Prince didn’t say it directly, this is what she meant. Don’t worry.”
Liya smiled, reassuring Aiwei. As she spoke, she handed Aiwei a small bottle.
“This was given to me by Prince. After you finish bathing, apply it to your wounds. These little injuries will heal within half a day.”
Aiwei looked at the small green bottle—it seemed to be some kind of ointment.
At this moment, Aiwei noticed the scrapes on her thighs from crawling, her bleeding knees, and her reddened, injured elbows.
“Thank you, Liya.”
Aiwei thanked her softly, then walked into the bathhouse.
Liya retreated to the door, leaving the space for Aiwei.
Aiwei took off her dirty clothes and stepped into the water.
Her numb hands and feet seemed to come alive again the moment they touched the water.
Along with them, the pain of her wounds came alive too.
Aiwei let out a slight hiss of pain, tears welling up from the sting.
She splashed water on her face, washing away her tears and sweat together.
After bathing, Aiwei changed into clean clothes and followed Liya along the familiar path toward the Blood Slave Camp.
Aiwei saw that familiar large door again, still unsure what lay beyond it.
Perhaps that was the freedom she longed for.
Thinking this, Aiwei returned to the dimly lit Blood Slave Camp,
Carrying the fresh scent of her bath, she lay on the blanket, eyes open, staring at the top of the cage.
What has become of me…?
Aiwei wondered, lost in confusion.
She felt as if something inside her had broken.
Suddenly, she didn’t care about embarrassment or social death anymore.
It was like she had given up completely.
Many things that used to make her want to bang her head against a wall just by thinking about them had really happened.
But she was unmoved.
Still, perhaps that was a good thing.
Because if you can’t feel it, you won’t be in pain.
Going with the flow—that was Aiwei’s way to survive.
Since her body had made the choice for her, Aiwei would just go along with it.
In her mind, Aiwei recalled those people from the Empire, the familiar faces in the envoy group, her teachers, the elders who used to be so kind to her, and the friends she’d made.
Aiwei felt she was becoming more and more like Aiwei.
Maybe this state of not caring about anything was the only way to truly integrate into this world, to become one with this body?
Aiwei let out a long, heavy breath. Everything that had happened today seemed to fade from her mind as if sealed away.
At this moment, unless she tried very hard to remember, Aiwei could barely recall what she’d done today.
But…
A purple-haired woman’s figure appeared in Aiwei’s mind.
That woman named Emilia.
Aiwei recalled how she had spoken to Fuluoxi in that strange, mocking tone, and how Fuluoxi, facing her, was full of killing intent and acted without the slightest hesitation.
That woman had just mentioned her at the meeting, clearly targeting Fuluoxi.
So was this Prince at odds with Fuluoxi?
Aiwei frowned. Emilia’s behavior was certainly striking, and she was targeting Fuluoxi.
But that alone couldn’t prove the two were at odds—maybe she just liked to stir up trouble for its own sake.