Chapter 33: You’re Here? 🤔 But You Shouldn’t Be! 👿

The dark clouds swelled as if they would overflow at any moment, casting a shadow over the royal city of Aisaridu.

The rising cold wind carried damp air, slapping against the faces of every Blood Clan maid in the palace.

Chill, with a grainy sting.

The sky.

It was about to rain.

Figures moved quickly, rushing to retrieve clothes drying outside and bring them indoors.

“Hualí, it’s going to rain soon. Aren’t you going to bring in your clothes?”

“No, my stomach hurts!”

“Do you need me to help bring them in?”

“Thank you!”

Perhaps not even Nicole could have imagined that the Special Poison developed by the Sardin Marquis’s vassals was only toxic enough to affect the Blood Clan.

As a member of the Human Race, even if Hualí consumed it, it wouldn’t have much effect.

At most, it would cause a mild stomachache for a while, no different from an upset stomach.

Outside the window, thunder roared.

Inside the bathroom, thunder roared.

“Guh…”

Hualí didn’t attribute her sudden stomach pain to the ‘white sugar’ she’d tasted earlier.

After all, the two things seemed completely unrelated.

She simply thought the weather had turned unseasonably cold and, having forgotten to cover herself last night, she’d caught a chill.

***

At the same time, within the small Pavilion of the royal garden.

Under the cold wind, the rose vines entwined around the Pavilion swayed gently, their unique, enticing fragrance drifting through the air.

“Your Majesty, it’s time for breakfast. Today is your ‘Blood Day.’”

The Blood Clan maid, Nicole, dressed in her maid uniform, softly reminded Sidella, who was engrossed in reading, her actions as gentle as her words as she placed a tall glass filled with Fresh Blood onto the table.

As a sweet drink before breakfast.

Nicole was somewhat perplexed.

Even after the death of the Sardin Marquis, all the vassal’s investigations could not fully piece together information about the Blood Queen.

Or rather, there was so little known about her, it was as if she had always been shrouded in mystery.

Nicole couldn’t imagine Sidella having a habit of reading— or perhaps, an interest?

“Is something the matter? You look a little confused.”

Sidella closed the heavy book in her hands, a faint smile on her lips.

“No, I was just puzzled by what knowledge could possibly be unknown to someone as learned as Your Majesty.”

Sidella’s shining scarlet pupils seemed to pierce through to her innermost secrets.

Nicole lowered her head, afraid her thoughts would be seen.

Sidella chuckled softly, her slender fingers resting atop the book cover, tapping in a slow, steady rhythm that produced a subtle, dull ‘thud-thud’ sound.

“You’re right. The knowledge in books isn’t that obscure or difficult. Perhaps, a long time ago, I already… no, some familiar things even make me wonder if they were created by my own hand.”

There was a sense of acceptance in Sidella’s tone.

“But that was probably a long time ago. Over time, some knowledge naturally fades and must be relearned as I am now. Otherwise, one might become a fool.”

“I don’t quite understand…”

Sidella blinked, her gaze falling to the Fresh Blood in the glass, her eyes wavering with the liquid inside.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since she’d had blood.

Unfortunately, today’s blood couldn’t be drunk, either.

Sidella withdrew her gaze, explaining in simple, direct words:

“For example, if it were a long time ago, the moment you appeared before me, I could see through everything— the blood in your body, the flesh used as your offering, the type of magic that created you, even your intent in approaching me— all in a single instant, and kill you.”

“The reason you’re still alive now is merely out of curiosity about where you came from.”

Nicole was stunned, her pupils shaking.

As she understood the meaning beneath Sidella’s words, her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Sidella’s tone had never changed from start to finish—still gentle—yet the chill within her voice was enough to freeze her to the core!

From her feet to her head, it felt as if her entire body had been plunged into icy water.

Tiny hairs on her skin stood on end, a bone-deep cold!

Her body felt bound by countless invisible ribbons, unable to move an inch.

“So what purpose does your existence carry, Nicole?”

Sidella pondered, speaking to herself.

“Was it to kill me?”

“No!”

Nicole’s knees gave way, and she knelt heavily before Sidella, her face pale.

“Your daughter only wishes to stay by Your Majesty’s side… only wishes to serve Mother!”

The girl’s hands clutched her maid skirt tightly, twisted together in nervousness, sweat soaking her back and sticking the fabric to her skin.

Did she expose herself somewhere?

Impossible!

It must be a test, to see if she was fit to serve as a close maid.

She mustn’t fear.

She mustn’t reveal a weakness!

As long as she hadn’t been fully exposed, there was still a chance!

“Daughter…?”

Nicole’s plan worked.

The word ‘daughter’ seemed to awaken a sliver of motherly instinct in Sidella.

A gentle glint flickered in Sidella’s scarlet eyes.

“Yes, you are my daughter.”

“Yes! Nicole is Mother’s daughter!”

Nicole replied in a panic.

“How old is Nicole?”

“Eighteen… no! Not that! One week. Daughter is one week old.”

“As a mother, I’m sorry I couldn’t witness your birth with my own eyes.”

Sidella’s voice held an apologetic note as she pushed the glass of poisoned blood toward Nicole.

“Drink it. Consider it a mother’s apology for her absence.”

Nicole’s expression froze completely, confusion and disbelief tangled on her face.

Could a Special Poison capable of killing a Blood Queen also kill her, a fellow Blood Clan member?

It seemed like a foolish question.

The poison pushed in front of her, and the mischievous smile on Sidella’s face, which she hadn’t noticed forming, relentlessly battered Nicole’s psychological defenses.

Nicole had tried to refuse, saying things like, “Today is Your Majesty’s ‘Blood Day.’ How could the blood be given to your daughter?”

But what awaited her was Sidella’s unwavering gaze and the sly smile at her lips.

Outside the Pavilion, rain began to fall.

Sidella simply watched her in silence.

Lightning split Nicole’s courage before the thunder arrived.

With trembling hands, Nicole took the glass filled with Fresh Blood, met Sidella’s interested gaze, and drank it all in one motion.

Inside, she still clung to a shred of hope that the poison would act slowly— at least giving her time to earn Sidella’s trust, and die together!

The moment it entered her mouth, a harsh salty taste rushed up her nose, and Nicole’s expression twisted.

Unable to control herself, she bent over and vomited out all the blood she hadn’t swallowed.

“Ugh… cough, cough… ugh…”

Why?

Why did the poison have to taste so unbearably salty?

Were the vassals who developed it idiots?

How could anyone swallow something so salty?!

The plan had utterly failed.

Seeing herself vomit, Sidella would never drink that glass of blood!

“It seems today’s blood isn’t very good~”

Sidella’s slightly mocking voice echoed by her ear.

“This scrunched little face— the pain of your body being ravaged by poison must be terrible~”

Sidella squatted in front of Nicole, who was kneeling on the ground, and shook her head in pity.

“Barely a week old, your thoughts are too naive. You probably couldn’t even fool that Hualí girl.”

“You do possess my blood within you, so as your ‘Mother,’ I’ll relieve you from the pain of the poison. At the same time, this will be your first lesson…”

With Sidella’s words, the blood belonging to her within Nicole’s body slipped from her control and began to boil.

Blood cells divided rapidly— from one to a hundred, a hundred to a thousand, ten thousand, a million…

Until hundreds of millions of Sidella’s blood cells filled Nicole’s entire body, the magic power contained within each cell far exceeding what an ordinary Blood Clan could withstand.

A thunderous ‘boom’ resounded.

The girl’s body, unable to bear the raging magic within, burst into countless blood-red rose petals, scattering in the wind as they drifted from the Pavilion.

Finally, they fell, struck by raindrops, into the mud.

“I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t have appeared before me.”

Sidella extended her pale hand, fingers pinching a petal that had yet to touch the ground.

She opened the heavy book and pressed the petal between its pages.

On that page, the Forbidden Magic used to create ‘Nicole’ was recorded, along with an unavoidable flaw of the magic— the inescapable Soul Brand.