“Misha, and those children… were all executed.”
The room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the crackling of the candle flames.
Outside, the faint sound of the children still laughing and chatting could be heard, utterly unaware that death had just brushed past them.
A suffocating pain surged like waves, stabbing at Sylvie’s heart.
After a long moment, her slightly trembling voice finally emerged.
“I understand…”
The anguish between Nia’s brows deepened. As someone who also relied on the children for survival, she knew full well that Misha had truly hoped those innocent kids could escape this hell, reach the outside world, and return to the embrace of human society.
But the vampires would not allow it.
Their status would not allow it.
“…Little Shi.” Nia hesitated, then suddenly called out.
“What do you think… the world outside is like?”
“Why ask that all of a sudden?”
“Because…” Nia fidgeted with her hands, a bitter smile on her face.
She said softly,
“I’ve heard that the vampires are still clashing with the surviving humans outside—fighting, warring. And every now and then, we hear about ‘a new human survivor zone’ being established… or something like that.”
“…” Sylvie did not respond, merely watching Nia quietly, letting her continue.
“So I’ve been thinking… If human society still exists, then as long as they’re there, maybe the children wouldn’t have to suffer so much. Maybe they could grow up healthy.”
Nia’s gaze unconsciously drifted outside the room. The warm candlelight still flickered, the children’s joyful, innocent laughter drifting in from time to time. A smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
“You know,” Her voice was as light as a murmur to herself.
“Every night, I have a dream. In the dream, there’s no eternal night, no vampires, no collar… In the dream, the sunlight is warm, the wind is sweet.”
“Lynla can run on the grass, Tia can sing loudly without worrying about patrols discovering them… They can grow up, fall in love, grow old… live a full life like real people.”
She raised her head, her eyes trembling with complex emotions.
Longing, sorrow, yearning, and… attachment.
“And I… my only wish is to stand by your side, and the children’s side, watching it all happen.”
Nia quickly lowered her head, hiding the overly intense emotion in her eyes.
“I… I just hope,” She corrected her words in a fluster.
“That when the time comes, you could be there too, with us… to see what sunlight looks like.”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, finally becoming a murmur to herself.
“Because as long as you’re there, as long as little Shi is there, anywhere can be… home.”
She looked back at Sylvie, suddenly taking Sylvie’s cold little hand in both of hers without room for refusal, her expression serious.
“Little Shi… If one day—I mean, if one day—the children and I could escape to the outside world, would you…”
Nia’s words halted.
Because she saw that, at some point, Sylvie had put back on that familiar… “mask.”
Her face still smiled, but those emerald eyes had been replaced by a cold calm.
Sylvie tilted her head slightly, avoiding Nia’s burning gaze, then withdrew her hand.
“It’s impossible, Nia.”
Sylvie raised her hand, fingertips lightly tracing the crisscrossing fang marks on her neck.
“Klal’s blood already flows in my body. Every vampire can smell this mark. Even if I fled to the ends of the earth, I could never escape this identity.”
“To humans, I’m a tainted existence. To vampires, I’m the Queen’s property. The outside world… has no place for me.”
Deep disappointment and sorrow filled Nia’s eyes.
“I’m sorry for saying strange things. Maybe I’ve just been too tired lately…”
“It’s fine.”
…
After leaving Nia and the others, an hour had unknowingly passed.
When the silver moon hanging high in the sky emitted a dimmer, weaker glow than usual, it meant… Eternal Night City’s “deep night” had arrived.
Sylvie wrapped her cloak around herself again, walking silently toward the great hall.
Nia’s words echoed endlessly in her mind.
“…What is all this.” She sighed voicelessly in her heart.
Nia’s eyes full of hope, the children’s innocent laughter… All these warm fragments contrasted sharply with the cold collar around her neck.
But the vampires’ icy blood enveloped her—she had no right to choose.
Every time Klal’s fangs pierced her neck, they took not just her blood but etched an indelible mark deep in her soul.
That power belonging to the Queen flowed through her veins—a curse and a shackle.
All she could do… was satisfy the Queen’s greedy desires.
Tap… tap… tap…
As Sylvie’s thoughts sank with her emotions, crisp footsteps echoed ahead on the damp, dark street—heels striking stone.
Sylvie instinctively looked up. In view came long, voluptuous legs clad in a white uniform.
“White enforcer uniform… Pureblood noble? Why would a noble come to a filthy place like this?”
Her gaze shifted upward. When the woman’s face entered her vision, Sylvie’s heart sank. She immediately lowered her head.
Ugh… A troublesome one…
Tap… tap… tap…
The footsteps grew nearer, louder.
Sylvie quickly pulled her hood lower, hiding her entire face in the cloak’s shadow, quickening her pace to slip past.
One step, two steps…
The woman passed by. Just as Sylvie thought she hadn’t been noticed.
A pair of soft, boneless pale arms slithered ambiguously from behind like a venomous snake…
A playful voice laced with sweet breath suddenly sounded in her ear.
“Ara, why the rush? Big sister was looking forward to you greeting me first~”
Sylvie’s body stiffened instantly.
Utia’s arms wrapped around her shoulders like soft vines, cold fingers brushing lightly over the collar on her neck.
That sweet breath blew against her ear, carrying uncomfortable intimacy.
“What, pretending not to know big sister?” Utia’s voice held feigned grievance.
“That really hurts my feelings.”
Sylvie forced herself to relax, replying in a calm tone.
“Lady Utia, I’m simply hurrying back to serve the Queen.”
“Oh?”
Utia chuckled lightly, her fingers suddenly tightening, forcing Sylvie to lean back against her.
“But I heard Her Majesty the Queen isn’t in the hall tonight.”
“It seems Lady Utia knows the Queen’s whereabouts better than us close attendants.” Sylvie responded without a ripple.
Utia’s crimson eyes gleamed dangerously in the dark.
“Of course. I care deeply about our esteemed Queen.” Her fingers lightly traced the fang marks on Sylvie’s neck.
“Just like I care deeply about you, little one. Hm hm hm…”
Utia’s malicious laughter echoed in her ear. Sylvie felt only a chill invade her entire body.
Utia Nordisas… This woman was different from other vampires. Her desire for blood livestock went beyond blood—it included sadism and domination.
As the Queen’s personal enforcer, she oversaw half of Eternal Night City’s blood livestock.
And every week, she would select one from those pitiful blood livestock as her “main course” for the night.
Each time the lucky one returned, they were tormented beyond recognition. There had even been deaths.
Her personality was vile to the extreme. And what made her especially troublesome for Sylvie was…
For years, this woman had never hidden her greedy desire for her.
She wanted to “devour” her…
But fearing Sylvie’s status as the Queen’s exclusive blood livestock, she only dared to tease—never truly acting.
Yet Sylvie was certain—absolutely certain! That given the chance, Utia would unhesitatingly pour out her disgusting desires on her!
Sylvie jerked suddenly, slipping out of Utia’s embrace and retreating several steps, stopping only when over three meters away.
“Lady Utia, Sylvie must return to await serving the Queen. Please… conduct yourself properly.”
Her voice remained respectful, but her eyes stayed vigilant.
Utia’s crimson eyes shimmered with amusement.
She lightly rubbed her fingertips, as if savoring the earlier touch.
“So heartless. Big sister came especially to find you.”
“I don’t understand your meaning.”
Utia chuckled lightly, pulling out an exquisite silver pocket watch from her bosom.
“Look at the time, dear. It’s already five o’clock. By regulations, no blood livestock is allowed to wander the streets at this hour—even… the Queen’s exclusive one is no exception.”
“…” Sylvie’s expression turned awkward. She pressed her lips together, thinking before replying.
“Sylvie will return immediately.”
She turned to flee, but the moment she did, a whoosh of wind brushed her ear. Utia’s teasing crimson eyes were already fixed on her.
“Why so hasty? As the ‘blood overseer,’ big sister naturally must fulfill her duties.”
“So, let big sister properly inspect whether this rule-breaking wandering blood livestock has done anything ‘naughty’… Hehe he.”
Utia’s crimson eyes scanned Sylvie’s body. That gaze was less an “inspection” and more a greedy licking.
And when her burning eyes swept over Sylvie’s cloak-covered neck, the flash of panic in the latter’s eyes was keenly caught.
Her pupils narrowed.
Then, she suddenly reached out, yanking down the cloak to expose Sylvie’s slender neck… and the two blood holes on her delicate skin, not yet fully healed.
“Ara ara, hm hm hm… Looks like someone’s been rather ‘naughty.'”
…I’m done for.