Chapter Ninety-Eight: The White Night’s Trap

“Starwhisper.” Looking at him before me, my voice trembled.

At the sound of my call, Starwhisper lifted his head slightly, as if he had reacted, but in the end he sank back into silence, too weak to do anything else.

“Starwhisper.” Seeing how frail he was, his body covered in wounds, my heart twisted again and again with pain. My shaking fingers gently brushed over the small cuts on his body. “Starwhisper, wait a moment. I’ll get you out of here right now. It’s all right now. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

I seized the iron chains binding Starwhisper’s limbs and gave them a soft pull. The chains snapped into several pieces at once, and I gathered the collapsing Starwhisper into my arms.

“Why?”

Suddenly, a sharp agony tore through my chest. I lowered my head and saw a silver dagger driven into my breast, its other end held in Starwhisper’s hand.

I staggered back several steps, and the Starwhisper in my arms lost all support and fell instantly to the ground.

“Why?” I murmured, looking at Starwhisper where he lay on the floor, feeling the stabbing pain in my chest, still clutching the dagger buried in me. In that moment, what hurt most was not the wound in my chest, but my shattered heart. I could not understand why Starwhisper had done this. Why?

“Hahahaha.”

Just as I was questioning him in heartbreak, White Night suddenly appeared not far away. Laughing as he clapped his hands, he walked toward me. “How was it, Princess Liliana? Do you like the gift I prepared for you?”

A mocking smile curved White Night’s face.

“It was you?” Seeing White Night, flames of fury burst in my eyes.

“That’s right, it was me. Still, I have to thank Starwhisper for his cooperation. If not for him, how could our Princess Liliana have fallen for it so easily?” White Night said with a vicious grin.

His words caused my heart to ache again. Why? Starwhisper, why would you do this? What did I do wrong? “Why is this happening? Why?” I shouted at White Night in rage.

“As expected, a woman in love really does lose her intelligence. Surely Princess Liliana hasn’t even guessed what is going on yet?” Hearing my furious voice, White Night’s lips curved into a contemptuous smile. “Starwhisper. Lift your head and let Princess Liliana see why.”

At White Night’s words, Starwhisper, who had been lying motionless and weak on the ground, struggled to raise his head.

The first thing that met my eyes was a pair of blood-red pupils.

A blood slave.

The instant I saw Starwhisper’s eyes, I understood everything.

A blood slave, as the name suggests, is the slave of a vampire. Within the vampire hierarchy of service, the highest rank is the Guardian, like Ang and Xuelan. Next come the Contract-Bearers, who serve vampires while standing on equal footing with them, like Liliel and Ashius. Beneath them are the Familiars, the vampire’s agents, like the Seventh Judgment. Below them are the Blood Servants, those who have sacrificed freedom to serve vampires with their blood in exchange for eternal life, the vampire’s lower retainers. And at the very bottom are the Blood Slaves: those controlled by a vampire’s blood, stripped of self-awareness, and compelled to obey their master’s every command without question.

And now, Starwhisper had become a blood slave, White Night’s blood slave.

In truth, there had still been a strong vampire aura lingering on Starwhisper. Under normal circumstances, I should have been able to tell his identity at a glance and never would have suffered such a blow. But here, the lingering aura of White Night, the Vampire King, and the aura left behind by the more than a dozen vampires I had just slain were all mixed together, masking Starwhisper’s presence. And the moment I saw him, I had been seized by the sight of the wounds on his body, never once thinking to probe his aura. It seems all of this had been prepared by White Night in advance, solely to leave me gravely wounded.

“White Night, I’m going to kill you, you despicable coward.”

Once I understood what had happened, I cursed him furiously.

“Despicable?” White Night laughed disdainfully at my accusation. “No matter what method is used, so long as the goal is achieved, that is enough. Calling me despicable is nothing more than proof that you were too stupid to realize it was a trap.”

“Damn you, I’ll kill you!”

Hearing his scornful laughter, my fury blazed higher.

“Kill me?” White Night burst into laughter at my words. “Are you joking, my honored Princess Liliana? How much strength do you have left now? Kill me? What power do you have to oppose me with?”

He was right.

I had not yet recovered from my weakened state, and the battle with those dozen vampires had drained a great deal of my magic. On top of that, the dagger Starwhisper had driven into my chest had left me gravely injured. The heart is a vampire’s weakness, and although the dagger in my chest had missed my heart and would not kill me outright, the loss of blood was steadily draining my strength.

“Liliana, I kindly reunited you with Starwhisper. You should be thanking me,” White Night said with a smile. “No one can stop it, Liliana. In the end, you will become my possession.” Madness burned in his voice.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

At his words, I shot toward him in an instant, my sharp nails cutting through the wind as they slashed for his heart.

White Night slipped aside lightly, a smile on his lips. “Don’t waste your energy. Didn’t I say it already? Just obediently become mine.”

That smile was infuriating. Staring at his repellent expression, my attacks grew faster and faster, merciless and relentless. Yet I was already far too weak, and I could not lay a finger on him.

White Night’s claws lashed out viciously at me. I barely managed to block, only to be sent flying by the force of his strike. A deep wound, down to the bone, opened on my arm. Nearly all of my healing power was being used to mend the wound in my chest, and I no longer had any spare strength to care for the others.

Thrown back by White Night, I happened to land beside Starwhisper.

I looked at him lying on the ground, at those blood-red eyes devoid of all life, at the wounds covering his body, and my heart ached with unbearable pain. Starwhisper, it was all because of me that you suffered such terrible harm. If I had not dragged you into this dangerous world, perhaps you would still be living a carefree life now. It was me who forced you to face so much pain and suffering. I clearly wanted to protect you, clearly wanted to bring you happiness, yet in the end I accomplished nothing.

At that moment, I made my decision. Starwhisper, let me end it all. Let me return an ordinary life to you.

“The bloodline sleeping within my body, in the name of Liliana Lydith Dracula, I command you to release your power. I am the child of night, the beloved of the moon, a lone soul wandering through the darkness. Awaken, you soul lonelier than loneliness itself; unleash, you power darker than darkness itself.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the power surging up from my icy heart, and said with unshakable resolve, “Bloodline Release!”

Having only recently regained my memories, I once again released my bloodline.

Silver hair, blood-red pupils, and eyes cold and merciless—the other me appeared once more.

“Ah, it really has been asleep for a very long time,” said the other me as she once again took control of the body.

“White Night, was it? I never expected it would be you again.”

Through my memories, the other me already knew the whole story.

“Liliana.” Seeing my change, White Night’s expression turned grave.

“I never thought this body would be so weak. Tsk. What trouble that girl is.” Feeling the body’s weakness and the wound at my chest still spilling blood, I helplessly shook my head. “You want to save this boy that badly?”

Looking at Starwhisper, now a blood slave, my lips curved in a self-mocking smile. “I never imagined I would have a day like this—actually wanting to sacrifice myself to save a lowly human. Truly... and yet, if this is your wish, then I shall fulfill it.”

I muttered to myself.

“Listen carefully.” I looked at White Night with icy eyes, a mocking smile playing at my lips. “Lowly fallen one, I have no time to waste on you. Perhaps your scheme was perfect, but I’m sorry to say the ending does not seem to be the one you expected.”

I walked over to Starwhisper and helped the already powerless, struggling boy to his feet.

White Night simply stood there and watched the scene in silence, without trying to stop me. My change had stirred a trace of unease in his heart, and wary as he was, he did not dare come closer.

“Then, see you later, lowly fallen one.”

I smiled at White Night, and then the space beside me trembled. In the blink of an eye, Starwhisper and I vanished from where we stood.

“What?”

Seeing us disappear, White Night shouted in fury. “I have already made such a perfect plan. How could I possibly let you escape again? Liliana, you are mine. You absolutely cannot get away!”

He roared in his heart.

Because he was Starwhisper’s master, White Night could sense Starwhisper’s aura with perfect clarity, and he could also tell that Starwhisper and I had not gone far. Furious, he gave chase at once.

As for me, after a ripple of space, I appeared not far from the great mansion where White Night had been lying in wait.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

After a violent fit of coughing, blood slowly seeped from the corner of my mouth.

“Was it still too much for me?”

Already grievously wounded and on the verge of collapse, I had not improved much even after releasing my bloodline, let alone after forcing a spatial transfer while carrying another person. My injured body had only grown worse, and I was nearing my limit.

If White Night arrived now, it would truly be dangerous.

Looking at Starwhisper lying on the ground, his eyes empty, I said silently in my heart, It seems I have to hurry. I must finish this before White Night arrives. Starwhisper, you must live well.