The dark castle was shrouded in an atmosphere of terror that sent chills down the spine.
It seemed as if it had been abandoned for decades; the once lavish decorations were now dilapidated, and the metallic stench of blood hung even more heavily in the air.
It was as if the entire place had been soaked in blood.
Before entering, Flossi and Ivy had already wrapped themselves in a protective mist of blood to prevent any contaminants from spreading through the air and reaching their bodies.
Yet, Flossi still didn’t know what triggered the contamination. Had she been infected the moment she stepped into the castle?
Or was it only after seeing those strange symbols and the diary that the contamination fully took hold?
That remained a mystery.
Yesterday, she had also checked Emilia’s condition to ensure the latter hadn’t been contaminated without her knowledge.
The result was good—Emilia showed no signs of infection, not even a trace of the small black spots embedded in Flossi’s own bloodline origin.
So Flossi could tentatively conclude that the current contamination was unlikely to spread through the air; it seemed only transmissible through blood.
Of course, there were those bizarre symbols.
She only began experiencing problems after seeing those strange markings, which had completely twisted her mind.
But better safe than sorry—rather than gambling on whether the contamination could travel through the air, it was simpler and more direct to isolate the source of infection.
And now, Flossi felt a growing confidence deep in her heart, making her more determined than ever to explore the secret of the contamination again.
That was because she had Ivy, who could neutralize the contamination, right by her side.
According to her tests, simply being close to Ivy could resist the contamination to some degree, but the effect was noticeably weaker than using blood directly.
If proximity to Ivy reduced the contamination by a factor of 1, drinking her blood was a full 10—the difference was practically night and day.
What remained unknown was whether the protective effect would fade if the blood was stored for too long.
That was still something to experiment with.
However, as long as she brought back the contaminated diary and the Violet Psalms, it would be much easier for her to conduct future experiments.
In this latest venture into the castle, the greatest threat was no longer the contamination caused by those eerie symbols.
It was the abnormal changes that had taken place within the castle itself.
Flossi knew that when she arrived yesterday, the castle hadn’t been inhabited or cleaned for some time.
But the furnishings were mostly intact.
Yet in just one night, the place had rotted into its current state—an obviously abnormal development.
From her understanding, the contamination should only warp a person’s worldview, turning them into killing machines.
It shouldn’t cause buildings themselves to decay.
And it wasn’t just inside the castle—outside was the same.
Yesterday, when Flossi looked at the castle from the outside, the outer walls were still well-maintained.
It was clear that the Divan Manor’s master had recently hired craftsmen to renovate it.
But now, the walls were mottled with green moss, plaster peeling off, giving the entire place the look of a haunted house.
The number of passersby was clearly much fewer than yesterday, and even merchants were only scattered here and there, as if everyone had noticed the castle’s strange transformation and instinctively chose to stay away.
“Flossi, what should I do if there’s danger inside…” Ivy tugged gently on Flossi’s sleeve, her eyes full of fear for the unknown horrors within the castle.
“I will protect you,” Flossi said calmly.
“But what if… you get trapped briefly and someone tries to kill me? I want to have some way to protect myself too…” Ivy looked at Flossi with innocent, pitiful eyes, truly just wanting to protect herself.
Flossi’s gaze turned cold. “Protect yourself?”
“Are you sure?”
Ivy grew uneasy under Flossi’s piercing look, scratching her head. “Y-yeah… really, I just want to protect myself…”
“If you help me unlock some of my seals, I could protect myself. Then when you face unknown enemies, you won’t have to worry about me,” Ivy said as if thinking about Flossi’s safety, but her voice gradually dropped until it was almost inaudible.
She had caught the undisguised mockery on Flossi’s face and could no longer maintain the act.
Trying to trick Flossi into unlocking her seals was proving to be a very difficult task.
Ivy sighed inwardly.
But she was genuinely worried about her own safety; this castle looked like a challenging dungeon.
In her previous life, it could have easily been considered a haunted house, with all sorts of ghosts and monsters possibly lurking inside.
Moreover, from the slight heaviness in Flossi’s expression just now, Ivy sensed something had gone seriously wrong here.
The thought made her shiver involuntarily.
If Flossi weren’t holding her hand, and if the collar around her neck wasn’t tied to a rope, Ivy was certain she would have run away without hesitation.
This kind of ghostly place—better to stay as far away as possible.
With her lack of any real fighting ability, if something happened, she’d just be a sitting duck.
That’s what Ivy thought.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Flossi said coldly.
Those words drained the last bit of hope from Ivy’s heart.
But reality didn’t give Ivy a chance to wail, as Flossi didn’t waste any more time and led Ivy upstairs.
At every floor, Ivy warily glanced down the darkened corridors, fearing a monster might suddenly jump out.
Fortunately, none of the horrors she imagined appeared.
They reached the top floor—the room of Divan Norton.
Standing at the door, Flossi didn’t rush inside but first opened the window at the end of the corridor.
Oddly, sunlight was visible outside, but it seemed swallowed up, unable to penetrate inside the room.
Still, standing by the window, she could see the deep blue sky.
Flossi reached out her hand beyond the window frame; sunlight immediately bathed her hand, bringing some warmth.
There was no strange barrier here; it seemed the castle itself was the problem.
Flossi analyzed this silently.
The top floor Divan Norton occupied had only a few rooms—a study, a bedroom, and a bathroom, nothing else.
Flossi first entered the study—the place where she had found the Violet Psalms.
The door opened easily, and inside the scene was exactly as it had been yesterday.
The only difference was the documents laid out on the desk, now yellowed and some even moldy.
Flossi approached the bookshelf, hoping to find the Violet Psalms again.
But after searching thoroughly, she couldn’t find them.
In the spot where the Violet Psalms should have been, there was instead a book titled The Violet Emperor.
Flossi’s expression darkened slightly—there was definitely something strange here.
She pulled the book from the shelf.
She was familiar with the title; there were several such books on the shelf, perhaps part of Divan Norton’s collection.
Though the cover appeared unremarkable, since this book had replaced the strange Violet Psalms, there had to be a reason.
Opening it might be dangerous, but Flossi chose to try anyway.
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