Safina looked at the uninvited guest, her expression composed as she spoke, “Miss Lia, though you’ve always been swift and decisive, barging straight into my room and shattering this entire window—don’t you think that’s a bit too rude?”
“Safina!!” Lia fixed her blazing gaze on her. “And you—why did you take my things?”
Not long ago, Lia had hurried back to the Camp stationed outside the Forbidden Forest, expecting to see that familiar figure. But all she saw was a maid stumbling toward her in a panic, breathlessly reporting, “Lin Shu was taken away by Miss Safina.”
The joy of acquiring the Demon Flower was instantly swept away by this sudden turn. Lia felt the fire in her chest burning hotter and hotter.
No one had ever dared to touch her things, let alone… Lin Shu.
Without caring about anything else, she’d rushed straight to Drago Manor.
“Your things?” Safina raised her brows and smiled faintly. “What are you talking about? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Lin Shu is mine!” Lia’s voice rose yet another pitch.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Safina deliberately drew out her words. She turned her head to Lin Shu, her tone gentle, “Little darling, lift your head and let your former master take a good look.”
Her fingertip gently lifted Lin Shu’s chin.
Lin Shu obediently tilted her chin up, her still-damp black hair clinging to her forehead.
Safina’s hand moved to Lin Shu’s forehead, her fingertips parting the strands of hair and brushing them aside.
The familiar sigil of the familiar contract was revealed in full view.
Lia’s breath caught.
“No…”
She stared in disbelief at the half-rose mark, the color matching Safina’s eyes exactly.
“The mark on my little darling’s forehead has already taken my shape~” Safina said ambiguously, gazing straight into Lia’s eyes, her smile curving her lips and eyes.
“How dare you?!”
Seeing the evidence with her own eyes, Lia was enraged. “Safina! Do you have any idea what you’re doing?! Your family still relies on mine. If you do this, I can easily tear up the contract between our families! Do you really not care at all about your family?”
“Of course I care.” Safina’s hand slid from Lin Shu’s forehead down to her shoulder.
“But I’m not like you, Lia. Your mind is filled with nothing but yourself and your family, whereas I…” She leaned in closer to Lin Shu’s face. “What I care about most, is her.”
Lia nearly ground her teeth to dust.
She’d always known that Safina was eyeing Lin Shu, her intentions clear as day. But she had been sure that Safina couldn’t possibly shake the contract between her and Lin Shu.
After all, a familiar contract could only be dissolved by the master, the initiative was always hers.
Besides, the Teppes family was far stronger than the Drago family. No human, no matter how foolish, would ever choose to rely on the weaker side.
But the reality before her slapped her hard in the face.
“Lin Shu, did she trick you into this?”
Lia turned, directing her words at Lin Shu.
“What did she use? Enchantment? Some other promise?”
“No matter what, I’ll give you a chance now. As long as you admit it and are willing to come back with me, I’ll let bygones be bygones. You’ll still belong to the Teppes family, and you’ll still be my familiar.”
Such a concession was rare for her.
Lia fixed her gaze on the person who’d been by her side for so long, hoping to find in her eyes the adoration and obedience of the past.
“I did it of my own will.”
Lin Shu replied calmly, lifting her head to meet Lia’s eyes.
There was no grievance or sorrow there, only a trace of fatigue.
“I dissolved the contract of my own accord, and chose to leave with Safina.”
Lia’s heart plummeted into the abyss, swallowed by a flood of betrayal and helplessness. Her immense disappointment made her curse,
“You… You traitor!”
Her voice trembled with agitation. “I was the one who gave you the right to survive! I was the one who allowed you, a human, to stand by my side as my familiar. Why would you betray me?!”
“Yes, you gave me a chance to live.”
Lin Shu picked up calmly, neither servile nor overbearing.
“I have repaid that debt every moment for the past three years.”
“Miss, step by step, you’ve come to manage most of the family’s affairs. I won’t claim much credit, but I have never once slacked off.”
“Since you think I’m a burden, it proves I’m already useless. The kindness you gave me, I’ve repaid as much as I could.”
Lia’s heart felt as if it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, a pain she couldn’t name.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this…
Lin Shu should always stand behind her, should always look only at her, should always appear whenever she needed…
“Then you could’ve just stayed quietly in the Teppes family. You could have remained in the manor. Why did you have to run to her? What could she possibly give you?”
“Miss, it seems you’ve never cared about what I think.” A wisp of weariness floated in Lin Shu’s eyes.
“I am human. Though in the eyes of you blood noble families, I am weak and lowly, but I still feel pain and exhaustion.”
“Just to stay by your side? But I’m not a decoration. I have things I wish to pursue for myself.”
As Lin Shu spoke, Safina gradually lowered her head, moving closer to Lin Shu’s bare shoulder.
Safina parted her lips slightly, revealing her vampiric fangs, but her gaze fixed on Lia, eyes full of provocation.
Lia heard Lin Shu’s emotionless words, but what she saw was Safina ready to declare ownership.
No, stop.
She shouted in her heart, but Lin Shu’s every word pierced her, leaving her unable to move.
Lin Shu felt Safina draw near, felt her breath against her shoulder, but she didn’t resist, her voice continuing numbly from her lips:
“It’s enough. I don’t want to go on like this anymore.”
Safina’s fangs sank in, piercing Lin Shu’s shoulder.
“Mm…” A sudden stab of pain in her shoulder made Lin Shu muffle a groan, her body trembling slightly.
Warm blood trickled down her fair shoulder.
Safina didn’t let go right away. She gently sucked for a moment, then extended her tongue to clean away the fine line of blood.
When she lifted her head, a touch of crimson still stained her lips, but her face was still graced with that composed smile.
“Enough! Stop right there!!” Lia screamed.
Though only a little blood had been drawn, the scent was irresistible to vampires, and Lia could smell the sweetness of Lin Shu’s blood in the air.
She’s mine, she’s mine!
Lia’s hand clutched the handle of her scythe, trembling violently, her fingertips flushed red from the force.
She was supposed to be mine!!!
Yuri ntr is surprisingly common to find on novel updates. Most being deserved
Is this ntr? She is just getting her blood sucked.
I mean.. Technically, Lin Shu was Lia’s girl, and Lin Shu got yoinked by another woman who happens to be doing something that can be considered intimate in a way.