'Why... why must we absolutely follow that demon's orders?'
Escaping from underground, the blood clan girl Milona with long crimson hair like the setting sun had to wear a veil to avoid sunlight.
Although as a high-rank blood clan member, originally she could walk in sunlight. She didn't need to fear the sun—that was something only low-rank blood clan needed to be afraid of.
But she had never completed her coming-of-age ceremony, so her power remained incomplete to this day. She feared the sun—at least, she couldn't be exposed to it for too long.
But to ensure her identity wasn't exposed and didn't arouse suspicion, she also couldn't draw all the curtains in the mansion, or her infiltration might end halfway.
"Azicat... that monster actually truly revived."
The girl's voice trembled slightly.
Calling Azicat a monster—if this were in front of any other blood clan member, the girl would be called treasonous.
Almost all of them, born from the blood spilled by Azicat, the blood clan's only True Ancestor, had determined this creator as their master. They followed her, executing her every will.
But Milona... perhaps had been morally corrupt from childhood.
The first time she saw that monster's totem, the yellowed portrait, she only felt fear from her.
She didn't understand why a demon with no morals, who killed merely for the sake of killing, could be worshipped as the blood clan's master.
If it were being forced, being compelled to offer loyalty to that monster, that would be one thing. But the problem was, apart from herself, every fellow clan member Milona saw worshipped that demon voluntarily without exception.
Viewing her as a god, as their supreme master.
"Can she really be found?"
Milona came to her dressing room. Her infiltration identity in the Empire was as a noble, so the mansion she lived in was quite luxurious.
The red-haired girl looked at herself in the mirror. She removed the veil, and in that face full of worried pessimism, at the center of her forehead grew a red crystal-like gem in an embedded manner.
But this wasn't some priceless crystal. Of course, if Milona really had a way to pry it off and sell it to other blood clan members, she should be able to get quite a bit of money.
After all... this was a drop of blood shed by their supreme True Ancestor, Azicat, cast into this blood droplet form from a thousand years ago. Now, it had made its way to her forehead.
As long as she used this drop of blood as a guide, Milona as a blood clan member was confident she could find Azicat.
But finding her might not be difficult—what about contact afterward?
Historical records stated that Blood Demon Azicat was not only a mass murderer who had killed countless people, but also a madwoman who would and liked to toy with people's hearts.
And yet such a terrible person was the master their blood clan had no choice but to obey. As her blood descendants who obtained power from the blood she spilled, with just a thought, Azicat could turn them into pools of flowing blood.
Facing such a person, saying she wasn't afraid—Milona herself wouldn't believe it. Moreover, if she could use this drop of blood to find her, the other party could likewise find her in reverse, now that the Blood Scythe had already been reclaimed.
For Milona, every day was filled with fear and anxiety. She had even considered cutting open her forehead to remove that drop of blood, but the moment the knife barely pierced that skin, the pain made her faint directly.
'A thousand years have passed... she has returned, yet hasn't done anything except kill that emperor.'
"Maybe... she's changed..."
Although extremely unwilling, Milona knew that facing this terrible True Ancestor was inevitable sooner or later. Finding her herself was better than being found by her, right?
○
"So? The Kingdom's princess used her own body as temptation in exchange for your allegiance?"
"You! How can you say it like that! You're being too... too explicit..."
After emerging from her dizzy, trembling state, Lily, who had put on clothes but whose hair still looked somewhat disheveled, was actively stopped by the long-waiting Olesha.
"Heh, things have already come to this and you're still talking about explicit or not? My sense of smell is very good. I can smell that you not only have the scent of blood on you, but also a lewd aura. You know what I'm talking about."
Olesha, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall with one foot propped up, showed an increasingly obvious wicked smile on her face as she spoke. Clearly, she had found something to thoroughly mock this trashy loli about.
"Ahhh! You smelled wrong!"
"How was your first experience? Or should I say, was this not your first experience?"
"Ugh! You got me. It was my first time..."
Lily slightly buried her face. Being seen through felt really bad.
"So what? You and the Kingdom's princess became fuck buddies?"
"How can you open your mouth with dirty jokes!"
Although she had already done it, facing Olesha, this mature big sister type woman's teasing, Lily's face started heating up again.
"What? Did I say anything wrong? You obtained pleasure from her body, she got your power. It's a win-win. I could tell when she just came out."
Olesha pushed off from the wall with her butt, recovering from her leaning posture to standing upright, looking in the direction Shia had left.
"That child looks relatively harmless, but actually, her heart is full of hatred. Can't blame her though. After all, the Empire killed all her family members and ravaged her country and people. Even the Empire's own people were mostly killed by the emperor's damned selfishness, let alone the Kingdom. Heaven knows how many died."
"Hatred..."
Lily looked in Shia's direction with her perception. Through the wall, she saw that golden-haired girl leaning on the balcony railing, face full of worry.
"But I still didn't expect she'd have such boldness. For her goal, she can even offer herself up. I suddenly feel she and that dog emperor are quite similar."
Olesha stood behind Lily, extending her hand to roughly rub the white fluffy ball's hair, eliciting strange cries from Lily.
"Don't! Don't rub my head!"
"What does it matter? It's already messy enough. A bit messier doesn't matter."
"You bastard!"
"So? How do you see Shia now?"
"How do I see her... I! I'm going to formally pursue her!"
"Oh? Didn't expect you to be surprisingly traditional and conservative in this aspect. Had relations so you must take responsibility, right? You planning to marry her?"
"Uh... considered it..."
"Got rejected?"
"Can you read minds?! No! I need to empty my brain!"
"Stop emptying it. I heard everything outside."
"You heard?!"
Lily panicked and stepped back. The ahoge on her head stood up like it had been electrocuted.
"Yes, I heard it crystal clear, including a certain white-haired loli's moans and the disappointment when rejected."
"No! The soundproofing here is too poor! I want to complain!"
"Hehe, don't rush, little thing. People are made of flesh. You help her accomplish what she wants to do, and during this process, who knows if her heart will melt?"
"Whether it melts or not aside, where's the proprietress? I want to complain."