Chapter 48: Unsolved Answers and Her Late Return

Lin Shu silently picked up the portrait, her heart hammering against her ribs.

The maid’s features were a bit blurry, but she had black hair and black eyes, and she was clearly a human.

‘Did the Drago family have a human maid before?’

Why hadn’t Seraphina ever mentioned this to her?

Furthermore, Seraphina had said that this room must be preserved, which meant… the person who once lived here held special significance to her?

This unexpected discovery hit Lin Shu with the force of a physical blow, leaving her head ringing.

Lin Shu shifted her gaze from the portrait to the faded notebook on the desk. The inner pages had long since turned yellow, their edges curled.

She had a faint feeling that it contained her unknown past, and a powerful urge drove her to open it.

Lin Shu’s hand trembled as she turned to one of the pages.

Most of the ink had long since faded. Lin Shu could only piece together broken fragments from the remaining words:

[… Master today… happy …]

[… teach me… strict …]

[… Master… garden… planting flowers …]

The bits and pieces recorded by the diary’s owner were all related to her “Master.” Her entire life seemed to revolve around her.

‘Was she Seraphina’s previous human maid?’

‘Is Seraphina’s affection for me, and her kindness, just projected onto another shadow? We both have similar identities and traits…’

At that thought, Lin Shu’s heart suddenly constricted, making it hard to breathe.

But a voice in the depths of her soul struggled to resist: ‘No, that’s not it. Seraphina’s feelings are real; she wouldn’t lie to me.’

“Lin Shu? Need… help?”

Eve’s voice and the sound of a rolling wheelchair came from outside the room.

Lin Shu snapped back to reality and immediately slammed the diary shut. She hurriedly scooped up the doll that had fallen to the floor and ran out of the room.

“… Are you okay?” Eve looked at Lin Shu, momentarily stunned, and said with concern, “You look… very pale.”

“I’m fine,” Lin Shu forced out a smile, closing the door behind her as she spoke.

She helped Eve move the doll back to its original spot.

The doll was motionless now. It was unclear if it had run out of energy or if there was an issue with its thought processing program.

“What took you so long?” Daphne asked casually, tinkering with the half-charred doll that Eve had blasted earlier. “Tsk, this flamethrower attachment is such trash — I need to change it.”

Although Daphne and Eve were still talking, Lin Shu no longer had the heart to listen.

“I just remembered Seraphina left me with some other tasks. I’ll be going now.” Lin Shu gave a few dismissive excuses and used that as a reason to leave.

Her mind was filled with the desire to find Seraphina and get clear answers: What was the deal with that human maid, and what exactly happened that made Seraphina suddenly want to lock her in the castle and refuse to take her outside?

She took the notebook where she had recorded the family matters earlier and sat down in the main hall on the first floor of the castle.

Lin Shu looked up at the main entrance.

The heavy, dark doors were tightly shut, sealing out the light from the outside world.

‘I’ll wait here. If Seraphina returns, I’ll see her immediately.’

Lin Shu lowered her head and began scribbling in her notebook, recording her chaotic thoughts on paper.

The hall was exceptionally quiet, save for the rhythmic ticking of the pendulum clock, occasionally punctuated by the footsteps of busy maids passing by.

Outside the castle windows, the sky shifted from pitch black to deep blue, until finally, the horizon began to pale with the first light of dawn. Morning was almost here.

Drowsiness washed over Lin Shu’s brain, but she forced her eyes to stay open, refusing to fall asleep.

In the empty space of the hall, only the steady ticking of the clock remained:

*Tick, tock, tick, tock…*

Seraphina still hadn’t returned.

The early morning chill seeped through her clothes, sapping her body heat. Lin Shu slowly raised her hands to wrap them around her arms, curling up slightly on the sofa.

Uneasy conjectures gradually disturbed her peace of mind:

‘Where did Master go? Did something happen during the meeting with the other families?…’

*Creak —*

Just when she felt she could no longer sit still, the castle’s main doors were finally pushed open.

“Little cutie, why are you here? Haven’t you slept yet?”

Lin Shu looked up instantly and saw the familiar purple figure, feeling a bit dazed.

Seraphina hurried over. Her long, curly purple hair was slightly disheveled, and her eyes were filled with worry.

Seraphina’s image was reflected in Lin Shu’s eyes, and the emotions that had been bottled up for the past few days suddenly burst:

“Master, what exactly happened? Why — !”

Before she could finish, Seraphina gently pinched her chin, forcing her to look up and meet her gaze.

“Don’t worry, little cutie.” Seraphina’s eyes grew a deeper shade of crimson, and her voice was soft. “It will be okay. Go back to bed and get some sleep now, alright?”

Lin Shu’s heart felt as if it had been struck. As she met those enchantingly red eyes, her consciousness began to dissipate.

For the first time, Seraphina had used the vampire **[Charm]** on Lin Shu.

By making a target look directly into a vampire’s eyes, this ability allowed them to make the target obey their commands.

Lin Shu had no defenses against Seraphina. As she gazed into those red pupils, her thoughts felt as if they were being pulled from her brain, and her lips began to answer unconsciously:

“Okay.”

Seraphina slowly pulled Lin Shu into an embrace, her own heart aching as if it were being torn apart.

Seeing Lin Shu waiting for her return in the main hall filled Seraphina’s heart with guilt.

But she had no choice; she had to leave immediately.

She had spent several days finally tracking down the wolf girl Lin Shu had seen that day.

As expected, they were sent by the Saints. Furthermore, Seraphina had already figured out their movements and where they were staying.

She was going to set out now to eliminate them all in one fell swoop.

Lin Shu wasn’t stupid; no matter how many excuses she made, she wouldn’t be able to brush her off forever.

If she told Lin Shu the truth, given her personality, she might do something foolish again, just like when she resisted Syan.

‘I am protecting her. I must protect her.’

‘It will all be over soon.’

The separation and sadness were only temporary. Once she had personally cleared all the obstacles, she could return to her little cutie’s side and take her anywhere.

Seraphina rested her chin on Lin Shu’s head, smelling the fragrance of her hair. She closed her eyes, savoring the final moments before her departure.

In the tiny fragment of consciousness Lin Shu had left, she felt herself being held by Seraphina.

It felt as if time had returned to when she and Seraphina would huddle together in a warm bed to sleep.

Back then, Seraphina would hold her just like this, resting her head against her hair.

Lin Shu still remembered asking Seraphina why she was so good to her, and Seraphina had only answered, “Because of the past.”

‘The past…’

As she recalled that answer, the portrait she had seen earlier that morning flashed across Lin Shu’s mind.

In it, the purple-haired, red-eyed vampire and the human maid were smiling brightly. They looked so close.

‘Was that “the past”?’

A single tear escaped Lin Shu’s empty eyes, silently sliding down her cheek.

Seraphina released Lin Shu and watched her turn around in a daze to walk up the castle stairs.