Returning to the city that never sleeps, Iris settled Lilia down, letting her rest on a soft bed, and had Aria take care of her.

"Take good care of her, let me know if there are any good treatment options." After instructing Aria, Iris placed a blood bag on the table and left.

Aria bandaged Lilia's wound and put a straw into the blood bag, handing it to Lilia. "Drink up, replenish the blood your body is lacking."

Lilia took the blood bag, drank the blood inside with a gulp, licked her lips, and smiled sweetly.

"Do you want more?"

Lilia nodded.

Then, Aria handed another blood bag to Lilia. "Here, have more."

Lilia took the blood bag and continued drinking.

After finishing, Lilia touched her stomach and belched. Then she reached out her hand, seemingly wanting a hug.

Aria smiled gently, then hugged Lilia, stroking her hair like comforting a child. She said, "Alright, sleep now."

Lilia's arms wrapped around Aria's neck, she closed her eyes and muttered, "Xiaoyuan~ Xiaoyuan~"

Listening to Lilia's continuous calling, Aria wondered who Xiaoyuan was. One of His Majesty's names had the character "yuan" too, could it be him? But they don't look alike at all.

Aria shook her head, pushing this doubt out of her mind. She hugged Lilia tighter. "Xiaoyuan is holding you~ Sleep tight~"

Upon hearing this voice, Lilia softly murmured "Mm" and her heart warmed. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Lilia's arm wrapped around Aria's neck slipped down slowly. Her breathing became even, indicating that she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Aria gently placed Lilia on the bed, covered her with a thin blanket, and sat beside her, planning Lilia's recovery.

"The language function seems to recover well, but how should we treat her mental and emotional issues?" Aria pondered these questions, troubled by them.

She needed to know the cause of the illness and find the root, only then could she help Lilia regain her health.

Afterwards, she went out to find Saifen. "What about the bloodsucker we caught today? I want to talk to him."

"He's locked up in the dungeon. I'll take you there." Saifen replied, then led Aria towards the prison.

Inside the prison, Dugu was locked in a cell, struggling and worrying about the safety of Her Majesty the Queen.

At this moment, Saifen led Aria to the cell. Aria looked at Dugu and said, "Lilia is not in a life-threatening condition at the moment. I hope you can cooperate with me. I will treat Lilia and help her regain her normal mental state, memories, and language skills."

Hearing this, Dugu immediately agreed without hesitation. "Alright, I promise you. I'll do anything to save Her Majesty the Queen."

"Very good." Aria nodded in satisfaction.

"Was Lilia born with mental issues? When did her emotional problems start, and what could be the possible reasons?" Aria asked.

"Her Majesty the Queen did not have any congenital diseases. The reason for her emotional issues is that three years ago, due to an incident, she left an indelible psychological trauma on Princess Your Highness, who she refers to as Xiaoyuan. Her Majesty the Queen feels extremely guilty about this and wants to make it up to Princess Your Highness, but the princess refuses to forgive her. So, Her Majesty the Queen has been blaming herself and feeling guilty. Later, the princess inexplicably disappeared, and Her Majesty the Queen has been searching for her without any news. Three months later, the Tidal tribe attacked, and Her Majesty the Queen was ambushed and near death. His Royal Highness, your Majesty, saved her by abandoning his own sequence strength, and all the Shadow Guards sacrificed themselves to protect her. After that, Her Majesty the Queen has been burdened with guilt and self-blame, which eventually led to her current state." Dugu explained in great detail.

"I know how to treat her now." Aria responded calmly before turning around and leaving.

In the dormitory, Lilia woke up suddenly and found that Xiao Yan was gone. She quickly got out of bed and went outside the dormitory, calling out, "Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan..."

She shouted around, trying to find traces of Xiao Yan.

At this time, she saw Alya. Alya ran barefoot to her and Lilia held Alya's hand, "Xiao Yan... no... no... don't... don't... go... don't... don't..."

Tears filled Lilia's eyes as she looked at Alya, struggling to say the words "don't go".

Alya crouched down and hugged Lilia, stroking her back. "Good... Xiao Yan will stay with you forever this time, and will never leave Lilia alone again."

Lilia sobbed on Alya's shoulder.

Alya looked at Lilia and sighed. She felt a sense of sadness in her heart. The ruler of a country had become like this, which was really lamentable.

Alya comforted Lilia's emotions and then sent her back to the palace to rest.

"Sleep, Xiao Yan will be by your side." Alya whispered to Lilia.

Lilia nodded obediently and slowly fell asleep.

Alya sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Lilia's sleeping face, feeling a multitude of emotions in her heart.

She knew that there was a knot in Lilia's heart. If this knot couldn't be untied, Lilia's mental state would deteriorate further and become worse.

As long as they found the real Xiao Yan, everything would be resolved.

...

Iris arrived in front of a room, guarded by two black-armored demons. When they saw Iris, they quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Iris nodded and then pushed open the door and entered the room.

Inside the room, a beautiful carved chair, a girl lay quietly on it, her eyes closed, as if a corpse.

Seeing this scene, Iris couldn't help but joke, "What, are you pretending to be dead?"

The girl lying on the carved chair opened her eyes, a touch of sadness and helplessness in her eyes. "If you want to take revenge for Iris, you can go ahead," she said.

"Of course!" Iris's face showed a cold smile as she walked towards Merice.

Iris bound Merice's hands above her head. Merice did not struggle. She knew in her heart that her resistance was futile.

Suddenly, Merice opened her mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and then pierced into Merice's neck.

Merice did not scream. She knew that Iris was drinking her blood. She silently endured it without any resistance.

The sweet and warm blood flowed into Iris's throat, making her body feel extremely comfortable, as if she had tasted delicious nectar, making her unable to stop.

Iris saw Merice's face gradually pale, so she stopped drinking Merice's blood.

She pulled her fangs out of Merice's neck and licked the blood remaining on her lips, showing a satisfied expression.

"Iris has endured the grievances on your behalf. From now on, you are free to stay or leave. After all, you used to take care of her." Iris released Merice's hands and then left without looking back.

The two black-armored demons at the door followed their Majesty.

Inside the room, only Merice lying on the carved chair was left. She was somewhat at a loss. Did Lin Xi really let her go so easily? She couldn't believe this fact.

Fortunately, Iris did not drink much blood, and Merice had her own bloodline that could accelerate blood regeneration.

She stood up from the carved chair and walked out of the room with slow steps.

The black-armored demons and vampire guards along the way did not obstruct her. Obviously, they all received the orders.

Merice walked out of the imperial palace.

She looked up at the sky, the sky was deep blue, clear, with no clouds obstructing her view. The sunlight shone on the earth, giving a warm feeling.

Merice's face still had no expression.

Candace had been waiting at the gate of the palace for a long time. When she saw Merice, she immediately walked up to her.

"See you, Princess!" Candace's face was filled with apologies.

"There's no more princess here. The Crimson Empire is already gone." She continued walking forward, without looking back, and simply said in a faint tone.

"I'm sorry, Princess, it was me who betrayed you and the guards." Candace lowered her head and sincerely apologized.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You had your reasons, and I don't want to ask, or know. Let's just leave it at that." She continued walking ahead, without any attachment.

Candace approached and handed Merice a blue crystal card. "Princess, this is all the savings I've earned over the years. I hope you can accept it."

"No, thank you!" Merice coldly rejected Candace's offering.

She just wanted to leave this place of disputes as soon as possible.

Candace watched her figure moving further away, feeling deep remorse in her heart. She didn't know how to make it right, considering she had done too many wrong things.

All she could do was watch Merice's receding figure.

...

After venting her anger, Iris naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Merice. After all, Merice had helped her many times and was also her sister.

As for sucking her blood, it was because Iris kindly advised Merice not to act impulsively and go fight the Black Armor Knight.

Unexpectedly, this fellow Merice used the excuse of threatening her elder sister to make Iris suck until she fainted.

Therefore, Iris remembered this all along. And just now, she finally avenged this grudge.

Afterwards, Iris crossed out the revenge she kept in her book about Merice's behavior. At that time, Merice made her faint and left her weakened for the next three days. Iris planned on retaliating in a different way. (Chapter 84 mentioned it)

At this moment, a faint smile crept up on her lips, as if she had already anticipated something.