Intense pain spread through her lower abdomen, as Liliya’s hand was completely buried inside her body, stirring within her.
Each movement brought with it a horrifying amount of blood, dyeing Liliya’s pale arm a vivid crimson.
This was an unexpected action for Rosalia, yet it didn’t truly surprise her.
“Those bastards from the Church…”
A gloomy voice slipped from Rosalia’s lips; such coarse language was clearly at odds with the noble persona she usually maintained,
But this voice made the Vampire Progenitor seem all the more real.
Rosalia was never meant to be so lofty in temperament; she was just a person, a madwoman who had chased after something for over a thousand years without success, repeating the same things every decade or so, all the way up to this very moment.
No one could maintain such nobility forever; a thousand years of pursuit was enough to drive even the most refined person into a mad, twisted beast.
Her expression was grim, her eyes void of the teasing and provocation they once held. All that remained was pain and unwillingness.
Liliya wouldn’t remember what Rosalia was like now.
When this was all over, Liliya would forget everything that happened during this awakening, forget she was the Church’s Sword Saint, and only remember being Rosalia’s little pet.
How detestable.
Rosalia had wanted to tease this Sword Saint a little more. If it weren’t for that damned Church…
Her heart had yet to regenerate, and all the blood in her body was under Rosalia’s sweet and bloody control. Liliya should only be able to stand there like a living puppet until her heart regenerated.
But the people from the Church had used some special means to forcibly control Liliya, using her soul as fuel to make her body move, so that at a moment Rosalia hadn’t expected, she could be “gravely injured” by the Sword Saint.
It hurt.
Rosalia was really in pain…
Liliya’s movements had already destroyed her stomach, torn apart her liver, heavily damaged the tissues and organs along the way, and the damage was still spreading.
But Rosalia paid it no mind. She simply felt Liliya’s movements, chuckled softly, and hugged the girl.
At the very least, this time when Liliya was being treated this way, it was in front of her, and she had already prepared herself accordingly.
In every sense, it was something to be thankful for.
She wouldn’t have to wait another decade for Liliya to grow up enough for her to notice again.
She wouldn’t have to watch Liliya die before her eyes.
And now… like this, they had both entered each other’s bodies—first she entered Liliya’s, then Liliya entered hers.
She once claimed Liliya’s heart, and now Liliya, in return, had taken something from her.
Something worth celebrating, even if in the eyes of all normal people, this would look especially horrifying.
She hugged Liliya tightly, letting the girl’s hand continue to stir her innards, making the bleeding worse.
Blood clung to Liliya’s hand, seeping into her body from here, joining with the sweet blood already within to jointly resist that “common sense.”
Liliya’s dazed eyes brightened a little because of Rosalia’s actions. Her thoughts were still dissolving, but not as severely as before; she could even regain a sliver of awareness.
It felt like being drunk, her mind drifting, everything unreal as if in a dream.
But that was enough.
She saw the hatred and unwillingness on Rosalia’s face slowly morph into a sickly satisfied smile. The other woman hugged her, heedless of the pain, wanting only to hold her tightly.
This world is truly insane.
That vague sense told her that Rosalia should have pushed her away from the start, or, bored with her, simply killed her—she shouldn’t be holding her like this.
Why was Rosalia smiling so sweetly at a time like this?
What was she so satisfied about?
Truly insane.
Liliya actually felt herself…
Giving rise to emotions called regret and guilt.
Feeling such things for the demon who turned her into a girl, played with her like a pet—emotions she should never have felt.
So, this is Stockholm Syndrome?
Her foggy mind gave her this answer, but she found it laughable.
If she realized that, why would she still feel this way?
The clash between drifting reason and emotion—at least at this moment, emotion was the victor.
She wanted to pull her hand back, to resist that “common sense” in her mind.
Or more precisely, to resist that “ideological brand” in her mind.
She understood now, the Church had placed an ideological brand on her, making her believe the Church was the greatest organization, that everything they said was correct, elevating them to gods in her heart.
But……such resistance was just a drop in the ocean.
Because of her resistance, her soul was shattering even faster, pieces of memory dissolving away. Memories of Earth, and this life in the Lyle family, were all quietly vanishing.
Truly insane.
If she just went along with the process, she wouldn’t have to go through all this.
But she refused. At least at this moment, she didn’t want to hurt this girl in such a way.
She wanted to see that sweet smile a little longer, didn’t want to see the trembling born of agony beneath that sweetness.
And maybe that was enough.
If her soul shattered first, Rosalia’s pain would fade away naturally, and she could finally have some revenge on this wicked woman who toyed with her like a pet, teach her a lesson.
She thought so, but didn’t expect that Rosalia would let go first, grabbing her wrists with both hands, caressing her as if giving a reward like before.
Piercing.
Flesh and bone shattered, and Liliya could see within, a vibrant, scarlet heart beating rapidly in excitement.
It was beautiful, inexplicably beautiful. “……!”
Liliya realized something, the disbelief and shock on her face impossible to hide.
Everything was just as she imagined—Rosalia’s heart was taken out, all the blood within absorbed by Liliya’s hand and drawn into her body, helping her resist the ideological brand.
The heart wasn’t crushed, and even after leaving Rosalia’s body, it hadn’t stopped beating; its rapid rhythm continued, held gently in Liliya’s hands.
To be honest, the feeling of the heart wasn’t pleasant, but Liliya didn’t dare move recklessly, afraid of breaking this heart, an artwork in itself.
“It’s a shame, I shouldn’t have crushed your heart that night.”
Rosalia’s voice was full of regret.
“If not, Liliya’s heart could have entered my body right now.”
“Don’t you humans love exchanging things? What’s it called, you told me about it two thousand years ago, I’m almost forgetting.”
Rosalia muttered to herself.
“Oh, right, a token of love.”
With the answer she wanted, Rosalia smiled even sweeter.
Unlike Liliya, even with her heart outside her body, Rosalia could still control her blood, maintaining necessary circulation, and if she wished, she could instantly create a new heart.
But now wasn’t the time.
She traced a line with her finger over Liliya’s chest, and her body parted naturally, revealing the empty chest cavity inside.
Guiding Liliya’s hand, she slowly placed the heart into its rightful place, using the sweet blood already synchronized inside Liliya to connect the heart.
Rosalia’s methods were domineering; she forcibly suppressed all rejection reactions, making even those disappear, so that every cell would naturally accept Rosalia’s heart, accept this special, grand gift.
The heart beat inside Liliya’s chest, blending with all the sweet blood within her, working together to suppress the ideological brand inside Liliya.
The empty parts of her soul were slowly being restored, the ideological brand ever more tightly encased, deeply buried.
“I’m so happy.”
Rosalia was still smiling, as if she felt no pain at all for what she had just done.
Without a heart, even the slightest movement was excruciating.
“I didn’t expect Liliya would feel sorry for me, even disregarding her own body. I’m really happy.”
This was a reward she hadn’t anticipated.
Enough to make Rosalia happy for many years.
“But……”
Her expression quickly darkened again, biting her lip until blood seeped from her red lips, turning into the perfect lipstick.
“Why must it only appear at a time like this? You’re going to forget everything, after all.”
Just when she was about to enjoy the sweetness, why must everything reset in the next instant?
How pitiful.
She lowered her head, kissed Liliya’s forehead, her tone gentle—gentler than any time in the past three days.
“Sleep, Liliya. When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be back to how it was.”
Liliya’s mind was already muddled from the soul reconstruction, and hearing Rosalia’s words, her eyelids finally grew heavy, slowly closing.
It should be fine, as long as it’s Rosalia.
That was her final thought.
Rosalia carried Liliya to a chair, glanced at her own disheveled state, exhaled, and restored every wound on her body, all her damaged organs and the removed heart, within a minute.
She picked up the fragments of viscera on the ground, brought them to Liliya’s lips, thought for a moment, and tossed them aside.
No need.
She pressed her ear to Liliya’s heart, listening to its beat, a pure smile curving her lips.
Very good, her own heart now beating in Liliya’s body; Liliya’s most important organ was hers.
She had claimed Liliya’s most important organ.
How wonderful.
She glanced at the bloodstains at her side with some annoyance and distaste, summoned Wendy to clean the scene.
Then she carried Liliya away.
Time passed slowly, and after three days, Liliya finally opened her eyes.
She looked at herself in a pure white nightgown, turned to see Rosalia asleep beside her, and was full of surprise.
She wasn’t in her own room, but in Rosalia’s.
The pet slept in the master’s room.
She felt flattered, but……
A strange feeling; she realized that apart from a touch of fear, what she felt was actually attachment.
Why?
She didn’t know; she just gently hugged Rosalia, closed her eyes again, pretending she hadn’t woken up yet.