Chapter 95: “Offering Flowers”
As Ice Lily had predicted, Bai felt the surge of bloodlust again, stronger this time, almost uncontrollable.
Her consciousness began to fade, the cheers of the crowd a distant murmur, her vision tinged with a faint crimson haze, the air thick with the sweet, cloying scent of blood.
And Lilia and Ara, standing beside her, now looked like… delicious, tempting meals.
“…” But having faced this before, she suppressed the urge, her breathing growing heavy.
Lilia was focused on the crowd, and Erlya was on high alert, scanning for potential threats.
No one noticed Bai’s struggle, except for Sasha and Ice Lily, watching from a distance, and Ara, whose hand was still clasped in hers.
“Bai?” Ara asked, her voice filled with concern. “Bai, should I…”
Before she could finish, Bai raised her own arm and, in a swift, almost imperceptible movement, sank her fangs into her wrist. The metallic tang of her own blood quelled the raging hunger.
Ara’s voice had almost pushed her over the edge; she had almost lunged at her, right there, in front of everyone.
But at the last moment, she had managed to regain control.
“Phew…” She wiped her mouth, the wound on her wrist already healed.
It seemed drinking her own blood was a temporary solution…
But she had a feeling it would have… consequences.
For now, however, it was the only way.
“She chose the wrong solution,” Ice Lily said, her voice flat, her gaze distant.
“What do you mean?” Sasha asked. She had been stunned by Bai’s actions. She hadn’t known that was even a possibility.
But Ice Lily, a true demon, understood the intricacies of the Vampire bloodline better than the formerly human Sasha.
“A Vampire’s bloodlust isn’t an illness, or a problem. It’s an instinct,” Ice Lily explained. “Like a human’s hunger for food, or thirst for water.”
“And if a Vampire uses their own blood to sate that hunger…”
She didn’t finish, but Sasha understood.
“And not only does it not truly solve the problem, it also makes the bloodlust more difficult to control over time,” Ice Lily added. “It’s like drinking poison to quench a thirst.”
Sasha nodded, then asked, “You said Little Sister Bai’s Vampire bloodline is unstable. What does that mean?”
“Think of it like the juvenile form of other demon races,” Ice Lily explained. “The Vampire’s power is passed down through blood, but it requires a ritual, the ‘First Embrace,’ to fully awaken.”
“The First Embrace has several levels—Blood Pact, Kinship, Thrall, Blood Slave—each granting different levels of power and status. I don’t know the specifics.”
She looked at Bai in the mirror, at her receding fangs. “I don’t know which level she inherited, but her current state is like that of a juvenile, on the verge of the First Embrace, of adulthood.”
“I see,” Sasha said, looking at Bai in the mirror, her eyes narrowed. “It seems our Little Sister Bai has quite a few problems…”
Back on the float, Bai, having temporarily solved her problem, finally had a chance to survey her surroundings.
The parade was halfway through its route, the cheering crowds thinning as they entered the capital’s central district, the “noble quarter.”
To live here, wealth wasn’t enough; one needed a noble title.
Of course, wealth and titles often went hand in hand. If one didn’t have a title, one could simply “donate” their way into one.
Baron and Viscount were practically for sale. Earl and above required military service, Marquess a government position, and Duke a connection, however tenuous, to the royal family.
These were the unspoken rules of the Empire. The war had been expensive, and taxes alone couldn’t sustain the treasury. So, these… gray transactions were tolerated.
Besides the noble quarter, the central district also housed the embassy district, home to envoys from various city-states and non-human races.
The parade had now reached this district, not for the nobles to admire their own homes, but to interact with the foreign envoys.
The “Offering of Flowers” ceremony.
Envoys from each city-state would approach the float, tossing flowers, a symbolic gesture of allegiance to the North Empire.
The non-human guests would also participate, a gesture of goodwill and friendship.
…All for show, of course. Behind the scenes, the backstabbing continued.
As the floats entered the embassy district, a shower of petals filled the air.
This was a dangerous moment. A concealed weapon, hidden among the flowers, would be difficult to detect.
So, Bai remained on alert. But Ara, seeing the beautiful sight, her mouth slightly agape, her eyes sparkling, gasped.
“Wow…”
“Does Ara like it?” Bai asked, her own spirits lifting at Ara’s rare display of joy.
“Yes. And I like Bai,” Ara said, nodding seriously.
Bai smiled, ruffling Ara’s hair.
Despite everything, being with Ara always brought her a sense of peace.
But then, she noticed something amidst the falling petals, a flicker of… something else.
“Hmm?”
She frowned, drawing her sword and slashing through the air.
Several dark, purplish-black objects fell to the ground with a soft thud, a putrid stench filling the air.
“This is…” Her gaze sharpened. “A Fallen Demonspawn?”
“Little sister, what do you think of my offering?” a smooth, refined voice whispered in her ear.
