“So you did sneak in, huh? I knew it—last time my things evaporated like morning mist.”

What “mysteriously lost”? You just forgot where you put them. Xuewei’s memory is a sieve, always dropping bits like leaves in wind. I know her quirks too well.

I swallow the retort like a stone, not daring to say it aloud.

“I didn’t. It’s definitely your own problem, teacher.”

“So you mean I’m a fool?” Xuewei’s half-smile glints like a blade under silk.

“Yep, Teacher Xuewei is a total fool!” I scrunch my face like a little imp. “Bleh~”

“Your skin really itches, Qingsheng Tangxue!” Her teeth grind like ice on iron. Today, she’s dead set on disciplining this little brat.

“Anger can be a way to bleed off pressure,” I murmur, slipping to her side like a cat in moonlight. “If you don’t vent, even you might get crushed, like snow under heavy eaves. Ehehe~”

“You…” Used to living alone, she stares, dazed, as if the person she waited a dozen years for just stepped out of the fog.

“Ahahaha, the dumb teacher’s totally charmed, zoning out by herself! Bye, teacher, I’m airborne—”

“Ugh!” I whoosh and slam into an invisible wall, like a bird into glass.

Her voice drifts behind me like cold fog. “To stop a certain someone from flying in to steal things while I’m away, I set an air-wall. By the way, what did you just call me?”

“Ahhh help! Kidnapping a civilian—man, no, woman! A rotten teacher is assaulting a student!”

“Heh.” Her chuckle is a wire drawn taut. “On my turf, you think you can run? Today, I’ll teach you what it means to respect your teacher.”

Xuewei ignores my squirming, grips my delicate calves sheathed in white-with-rose stockings, and drags me toward her door like hauling a net from the river.

Yes, drags. Behind her, the little girl wails that something’s about to be sanded flat like a stone at the shore… Would flattening that lump be so bad? Grew that big—did you grow up on milk? If milk really made that bigger, I’d buy a dairy…

“Ow, ow, ow! My chest’s killing me—stop pulling, teacher!” Tears prick like cold rain. Pain without pleasure—my foot. Who could enjoy this?

Complaints are worthless. For certain hunters, a black-bellied brat’s cries only wind them up more, like drumming before a charge…

Night settles like ink. With no one cooking, the two left in the house can only fetch food from the canteen. When Qingsheng Tangxue was here, she’d stride in with prickly pride, grab ingredients, and cook for everyone. Tonight… she isn’t.

Only two girls remain. They sit on the sofa, voices low as lamplight, turning over the day.

“Tangxue didn’t come back. Qianya, should we go to Teacher Xuewei and look for her?”

“No. If we go now, Teacher Xuewei will just throw us back. A wasted trip, and it lowers her favor. Not worth it.”

“But…” Snow Orchid looks anxious, words knotting like tangled thread, yet she can’t pull them free.

“It’s fine, Lan’er. Tangxue won’t suffer under Teacher Xuewei. Their relationship…” Qianya pauses, lip curving like a crescent. “Isn’t as simple as you think.”

“Simple…” The word hits Snow Orchid like a lightning strike. If that counts as simple, then what are they?

Qianya watches her go hollow-eyed, and wonders if Lan’er has the wrong idea.

Radiant Empire, Qinglan City.

In Duke Slunwedon’s manor, a black-red shadow knifes through the dark at a speed no eye can catch. In a place guarded by countless top experts, the figure slides like a ghost, weaving through midnight without a ripple.

A Vampire hidden in night is the perfect hunter. Born with dark sight and feral bodies, they vanish to peers once the lights die. If Edgar Warren wishes, he can roam the entire manor; in truth, he already has.

Edgar Warren hunts the master of this estate, Duke Slunwedon—one of the Radiant Empire’s three dukes, the military giant who grips most of its steel.

His aim is simple: …

“You’ve got nerve, Vampire.” Duke Slunwedon materializes beside the shadow, voice cold as hoarfrost. “You butchered the surrounding vassal lands, fine. But you dare stir trouble on my soil? Ha—an equal-strength Vampire dares to mess with me?”

He doesn’t hold back. A crushing aura at peak Tier Nine slams forward like a falling mountain, leaving no room to breathe.

“I think your ‘equal strength’ line is off.” Edgar Warren flicks his hand, scattering the pressure like dust in sun. “But I’m not here to fight.”

“…” The duke is surprised, though his face barely shifts, ice refusing to crack.

“Looks like you’ve noticed what I’ve been doing, Duke of the Empire.” Edgar’s smile is a crescent blade. “I’m here to offer you a deal.”

“A deal?” The duke blinks, thoughts sparking like flint. “You mean… to seize the Radiant Empire?”

“If that’s your goal, I have to admire your ambition,” he says, tone sharp as salt. “But mostly, I laugh.”

“Even with the Blood Clan’s empire behind you, wiping out Radiant would break bones. Scavengers would feast on the remains.”

“Besides, your Blood Clan can’t handle the two monsters in Radiant. Let them slip the net, and your whole clan faces a storm.”

“A mere Vampire wants to swallow the Radiant Empire?” He snorts, like smoke from a cold forge. “Tired of living, are you?”

“You’re reading me wrong.” Edgar’s voice flows like oil. “Duke Slunwedon, all I want is for you to lure Kerlinveil Xuewei out of Starfate City. As for the Radiant Empire—heh. I have no interest in a country the sun touches on every side.”

“Kerlinveil Xuewei?” The duke’s eyes flash like steel. “You mean to draw her out? You’re insane—attacking that madwoman?” He laughs once, hollow as a drum. “Ridiculous. I’ve been humoring a madman this long—”

“Don’t rush.” Edgar toys with a ‘trinket’ stripped from a small kingdom—a diamond-shaped pendant carved from blood-crystal, glowing like frozen wine. “I can command the Blood Clan’s armies across the realm.”

“…?” The duke’s look shifts from watching a madman to watching an idiot.

“Believe me or don’t. My words stand.” Edgar lets them hang like bait. “This gem—didn’t you gift it to the Queen of the Blood this year?”

His smile deepens, a well without a bottom, as if he already holds the duke’s thoughts in his palm.

Duke Slunwedon studies the jewel Edgar tosses like trash. He remembers presenting it himself. He remembers the Queen of the Blood taking it, her fingers pale as moonlight.

This bastard… might be telling the truth.

If he really can mobilize the Blood Clan’s entire army…