For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Anyway, by the time Iona’s notoriety had spread across the entire now-extinct Nerthia Kingdom.

-An Evil God descended.

The Great War began.

Thinking so, I got goosebumps and felt as if someone was watching me.

I looked around just in case, but all I saw was a large portrait of Iona.

“Was it my imagination…?”

I guess I read too intently.

But there was no time to catch my breath. I had to read all the remaining content before Iona arrived.

Thanks to my excellent memory, I could recall any content I’d seen once, so I increased the speed of flipping through the pages.

Rustle.

---

-The Evil God is overturning the entire Eurelia Continent.

In front of violence that is divine in itself, both I and the Lord were nothing but children.

Many fought against it and died, or surrendered and became cultists.

What should we do?

Whether we should keep hiding or run somewhere else was being discussed.

An envoy from the Levantin Empire arrived.

-Human Alliance.

Regardless of race or past grudges, it was an alliance formed solely to defeat the Evil God.

It seemed that the Nerthia Kingdom had already joined the alliance.

We decided to join as well.

From now on, we could only drink human blood if mutual consent was achieved… But still, being able to walk under the sun again was something.

The Francesca Clan wasn’t obsessed with blood like others, so it wasn’t a big demerit.

Of course, facing the Evil God was terrifying.

Luckily, that part was said to be taken care of by a newly emerged hero.

Our clan’s job was just to prevent the cultists from hindering the hero.

That much was entirely within our capability.

As always, the Lord’s judgment would prove to be right.

-I met my sister Ayla in the most unexpected place.

The Prince of the Levantin Empire, the King of Nerthia, and Lord Francesca.

During a party discussing the alliance’s membership and future plans, the Crown Prince of Nerthia suddenly introduced Ayla as his servant.

He said he found Ayla trapped underground during the process of retaking and restoring a castle destroyed in the war.

Knowing I had become quite famous, the Crown Prince guessed there was some connection between Ayla and me and immediately took her under his protection.

It seemed like he was trying to earn points with me, who was practically the second-in-command of the clan, as the Francesca Clan’s joining of the alliance was a hot topic at that time…

But what did it matter? The important thing was that I met Ayla again.

I might not know our birth parents, but I had no bad feelings towards Ayla.

The only thing we might share was a sense of solidarity for having endured our parents’ dog-like behaviors.

I hoped to get along with Ayla like we used to.

The Crown Prince said he would arrange a private meeting for us.

That was something to be thankful for.

-Ayla didn’t tell me what had happened over the past 10 years, but I could guess it to some extent.

Ayla… she was a lot like me. They must have thought of using her as my replacement.

If I hadn’t met the Lord, I would have been in the same situation as Ayla.

I suggested we live together, but she declined, saying she wanted to repay the Crown Prince’s kindness by staying a bit longer as his servant.

Did she like the Crown Prince?

It didn’t seem like it would end well. No royal family would take a woman who had been another’s plaything for 10 years as a wife, even if she was my sister.

Of course, Ayla would know this better than I do.

I just smiled and supported Ayla’s choice.

-After joining the alliance, we began to clash with the forces of the Evil God in earnest.

Thanks to the support from other allied nations in the rear, we were able to fend off the attacks without any problems.

Ayla, being the Crown Prince’s servant and my sister, played a pivotal role as a mediator.

Initially, Ayla seemed as if she was about to die soon, but as time passed, her expression brightened.

I was relieved. Maybe it was thanks to talking about the Lord every time we met?

Since he had always embarked on delightful adventures, there were many interesting stories to share.

For some reason, whenever I met with Ayla, the Crown Prince kept intervening…

Well, it must be for the solidarity of the alliance.

-As the war intensified, the front lines started to fall back.

Ayla seemed worried about this and asked if she could flee to the Francesca Clan if necessary.

However, I couldn’t answer right away since I wasn’t the head of the clan. The Lord was.

Of course, when I asked, the Lord gladly agreed.

I informed Ayla about how to enter the abandoned castle, the base of the Francesca Clan.

It was the first time I saw Ayla smiling so brightly since our reunion.

This made me feel at ease, no matter what happened.

-As if cultists weren’t enough, now monsters are swarming in.

The Good Gods were dead, and yet, facing an Evil God, they bowed so easily.

Spineless creatures.

However, with not a day going by without blood on my body, my instincts were constantly stirred.

I’d been holding back until now, but… I was worried I might bite the neck of an ally.

That would certainly narrow the standing of vampires in the alliance. Of course, it would also be a nuisance to the Lord.

Seeing me troubled, Ayla offered to share her blood with me.

She said we could directly drink blood like before, as long as mutual consent was achieved.

Ayla’s blood was sweet.

-Something went wrong.

The blood that had always obeyed me was unresponsive. Even magic was hard to produce rigidly.

Both blood magic and regular magic were completely blocked.

Was it because I had been overdoing it lately? Or maybe because I drank blood after a long time?

I decided to take a day off and stopped by the headquarters.

…And I overheard unbelievable news.

The Kingdom of Nerthia had been overrun by an unidentified cardinal-level cultist?

The leaders were all dead, and only the servants managed to flee?

My mind went blank.

I told the headquarters I would rest for just one day, but I could no longer stay at the front.

I must head to the castle where my clan was located.

It was really good that I told Ayla how to pass through the barrier in such a situation.

They said only royalty and nobility were selectively killed, so a mere servant like Ayla should be fine.

Surely, she’d be waiting for me at the abandoned castle with the other clan members.

-I was too late.

As soon as I passed through the barrier, the scent of blood was so strong that it could twist one’s nose.

It wasn’t the smell of human or monster blood.

It was denser and well-aged… Yes. I realized it was the smell of vampire blood.

With trembling hands, I headed towards the audience chamber, where the Lord would be.

The burnt marks shaped like people pressed against the corridor walls, and large piles of ashes scattered around.

Vampire bodies turned into ash instead of decaying back into soil, turning into dust.

Could it be the reason why I didn’t see any other clan members…

No, it couldn’t be.

I shook my head, but the ominous imagination wouldn’t stop.

I ran as if something was chasing me madly.

The moment I opened the door to the audience chamber.

Cultists filled the audience chamber, and among them, I saw Ayla standing.

I saw Ayla. Her hand plunged into the Lord’s heart.

-I cursed my past self.

The day I became a vampire. If only I had asked the Lord to save Ayla, too.

If only I had investigated deeper and found Ayla first when I was out building my reputation.

If only I could have perfectly controlled my charm so the Crown Prince wouldn’t have taken a liking to me.

If only I hadn’t told Ayla how to pass through the barrier.

If only I hadn’t drunk Ayla’s blood and arrived earlier in a healthy state.

If only… I had realized Ayla’s jealousy a bit sooner.

Would anything have changed then?

I didn’t know.

What was certain was that the Lord, still breathing, used his last strength to rescue me, as powerless as I was.

And he died comforting me, saying it wasn’t my fault.

Only that was certain.

The Lord’s body, never losing his smile until the last moment, burned and quickly turned into ashes.

The ashes, blown by the wind, slipped hopelessly through my fingers, no matter how much I tried to hold onto them.

However, something that didn’t scatter remained.

The gem necklace the Lord always wore because he liked its color.

Was it originally a clear crystal that had been stained dark red with the Lord’s blood?

I hung the Lord’s last legacy around my neck, reminding myself.

Now, I was Francesca.

I was the only Francesca.

“What the…?”

Suddenly, too much information was flooding in, making my head spin.

I knew Iona’s clan was annihilated by cultists.

But it was not because of the war, but due to a betrayal by her sister?

And that sister’s name was Ayla? From the circumstances, it seemed like she became a devotee of narrow-minded usurpation.

I remember there was a high priestess named Ayla among the devotees of narrow-minded usurpation.

Cardinal. Ayla was being observed.

In H&A, her name was only mentioned, not actually appearing as a boss.

So, I hadn’t been paying much attention to her…

Ah. Could it really be the same person? How could a human from over 300 years ago still be alive now?

Neither Iona nor Iris belonged to a long-living species.

Even if one became a high priest of an Evil God, unless they were an apostle, they couldn’t escape the flow of time.

Even the divine orders would change their pope about every 100 years.

That meant they lived longer than others, but only to that extent.

However…the same name and order bothered me too much.

Could it really be someone else? If it was the same person, then the person Iona was looking for…

While briefly following this train of thoughts…

Clomp, clomp.

The sound of small footsteps outside the door snapped me out of my reverie.

Had Iona returned already? No, considering how much time had passed, it wasn’t “already.” I just didn’t notice because I was too focused on reading.

As this thought reached me, my body moved.

I tried to return the notebook I was holding to as close to its original angle as possible and quickly looked around.

There was nowhere to hide. What kind of lab only had desks and experimental tools?

Fortunately, there wasn’t entirely no way out.

This desk. As unnecessarily large as it was, it seemed to have a wide empty space underneath.

I had no time to hesitate. As the doorknob turned, I quickly hid under the desk.

Click.

“Hmmm~ Hmmmm~”

Iona returned to the lab, humming through her nose shortly after.

Although I was blocking my presence with the robe’s ability, someone as skilled as Iona might detect it.

Thinking I’d be caught if Iona sensed anything odd, I focused my mind on my magic.

It wasn’t just about blindly hiding. I needed to blend in with the surroundings as naturally and ordinarily as possible.

Did it work?

Fortunately, Iona didn’t notice me and sat down at the desk.

“Eh, well…”

But the sense of pride didn’t last long.

The sight of the pale, pushed-forward calves made me realize something was wrong.

Sneaking into a professor’s lab, peeking at a diary, and now hiding under a desk to spy on calves?

Was this…right?

It didn’t seem like it….

Drip.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down my spine.

I’m going crazy.

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