The two walked silently through the dim corridor. Sylvie seemed very familiar with the place, leading Shiluo around a few turns to another relatively intact room on the same floor.
It was equally dilapidated, but the window wasn’t completely broken, with rags barely blocking the large gaps where wind leaked in. The floor was covered with some relatively clean fabrics, looking like a spot where Sylvie occasionally rested or organized her things.
Sylvie closed the door. She didn’t speak immediately, just walked to the window, her back to Shiluo, standing quietly for a while. Her slim shoulders appeared especially thin in the dim light.
Shiluo didn’t urge her. She leaned against the wall by the door, waiting patiently.
She could sense that Sylvie’s mood at the moment was far from as calm as she appeared on the surface.
Finally, Sylvie turned around, her emerald-green eyes looking at Shiluo. Gone was the numbness and calm from when facing Cassia; instead, they surged with a complex, indescribable emotion.
She spoke.
“Lady Shiluo, do you plan to leave Eternal Night City?”
Upon hearing this, Shiluo gave an affirmative reply.
“Is that even a question? Once I complete my mission, I’ll definitely find a way out. I won’t stay in vampire territory forever—the dampness and bloody smell in the air here make me nauseous.”
“Going back… is… to the human survivor zones?” Sylvie asked softly, following up.
“Yes, more precisely, to the human-controlled cities.”
As Shiluo spoke, seeming to guess something, her brows furrowed slightly. Without waiting for Sylvie to continue asking, she said it first.
“What? You want to escape from here too?”
A faint chill flashed in Sylvie’s emerald-green eyes, but like a candle flickering in the wind, it quickly dimmed.
She showed a bitter smile, heavy with helplessness and bitterness.
“Sylvie… probably can’t get out.” Her voice was very light.
She paused, her gaze drifting toward the door, as if she could see through the wall to the direction where Nia and the children were settled.
“…If I try to run away, or show any sign of wanting to leave, the first to suffer… won’t be me.”
After hearing this, Shiluo became even more puzzled.
“As long as you escape to human society, even vampires won’t be able to chase you in.”
Sylvie turned around, looking at her again. Her face wore a smile that was almost desolate, the darkness outside the window seeming to swallow her slim, fragile outline.
“What if…”
She simply reached out, grabbed her collar, and gently pulled it down.
Shiluo’s expression completely froze. On the girl’s slender neck was a glaring crimson collar binding her—she knew very well this was the symbol of an “exclusive blood livestock.” No matter where she fled, as long as the collar’s owner willed it, they could erase the wearer’s life at any time.
And Sylvie’s next words stirred up a tumultuous wave in Shiluo’s heart.
“What if Sylvie’s owner is the current Vampire Queen, Klal…”
Klal… When this name exploded in Shiluo’s ears, the air seemed to completely freeze, leaving only the pounding roar of her heart in her ears.
“Klal Astrea.”
This name itself represented the supreme power in Eternal Night City, unmatched strength, and… unfathomable cruelty and possessiveness.
She was the pinnacle of vampire society, the source of countless human nightmares, and the ultimate target that all humans most wanted to topple, yet deeply knew to be terrifying.
And Sylvie… this seemingly weak girl struggling to survive in the cracks, the crimson collar on her neck symbolizing absolute subservience—its other end was actually tied to this Queen’s hand?!
She was the Queen’s exclusive blood livestock?!!
Shiluo stared fixedly at the crimson mark on Sylvie’s neck, her eyes full of shock.
She swallowed, forcing herself to regain calm, and asked in a low voice.
“How do I know you’re not lying to me?”
“Sylvie has no reason to lie to you,” she replied solemnly.
“So, do you understand, Lady Shiluo?” Her emerald-green eyes stared directly at Shiluo, holding no pain—only a bottomless calm.
“Sylvie… is destined to rot in this Eternal Night City. From the moment this collar was put on, there was no option to leave.”
“Why tell me all this?” Shiluo asked warily.
“Because Sylvie trusts Lady Shiluo, and can only trust you… Though I have no chance to leave, in this city, there are still friends I care about, family-like existences I cherish.”
Sylvie lifted her head again, her tired eyes now burning with an almost pleading, fervent light.
“Those children… they’re different. They’re still young, they haven’t done anything wrong. They’re just… in the wrong place.”
Her voice trembled slightly, carrying suppressed emotion.
“They should see sunlight, breathe air without the smell of blood, eat normal food, run on safe streets… not like now, hiding in dark corners, living in fear every day, not knowing if tomorrow some whimsical noble will treat them as toys or food.”
She clasped her hands together, her eyes filled with pleading as she gazed at Shiluo.
“Lady Shiluo, Sylvie knows this request is excessive. It’s already extremely difficult for you to leave alone… But Sylvie begs you, if you really find a way to leave Eternal Night City, if it’s possible… please take my family, my friends—take them away from here, back to the human cities…”
“…”
Shiluo hesitated, staring blankly at this usually indifferent girl, showing such a pleading expression for the first time.
But…
But Shiluo knew that in the human survivor zones… those children brought from the penned district… their situation wouldn’t be much better there.
It might even be… worse.
“What’s in it for me?”
She pondered for a moment, deliberately speaking in a cold tone, trying to make Sylvie abandon this idea, to give up this bold attempt that would only lead to more pain in the end.
Sylvie had already guessed she would say this—after all, “paying a price” was an unchanging rule anywhere.
And Sylvie knew this very well.
She reached out, her five fingers pressing against her chest, and said evenly.
“After you and your companions were exposed in the penned district, the entire Eternal Night City has strengthened surveillance. There are more patrolling enforcers on the roads now. Probably, the path you came from is guarded too, making it hard to approach again.”
Shiluo didn’t reply, but her expression grew a few degrees more serious.
It was true—under the northern city wall, there was an abandoned hidden tunnel; that’s how they came in. But now with the whole city on alert, that wall was probably tightly guarded. She herself was seriously injured, making escape almost impossible.
Sylvie saw the solemnity on Shiluo’s face. She spoke, saying softly.
“Sylvie… can help you.”