Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level?

[Vol. 5] Chapter 170 - Interlocking Gears

[Vol. 5] Chapter 170: Interlocking Gears

“I… I brought shame upon my mother, I’m sorry.”

The vampire girl didn’t get upset at the man for bluntly calling her by name. She understood well that, among vampires, only those who are exceptionally close to one another use direct names without adding formal titles like “Your Highness” or “Lord.”

Moreover, this particular vampire, full name Augustine Constantius, held a higher status than her—a distinguished figure among the six Vampire Royals.

Even though he was the sixth prince, he was still a prince, a direct descendant of the first progenitor of the bloodline. Furthermore, the birth order of princes had never directly correlated with their strength.

After glancing at the bloodstains on the girl’s abdomen, Augustine shook his head helplessly once more, setting down the vase in his hand. Like an ordinary elderly man, he slowly walked over to Avrilia, crouching down beside her.

“Come, let me take a look.”

“Sorry to trouble you…”

Saying this, the vampire girl obediently removed her hand from her abdomen, revealing three deep, blood-seeping wounds beneath her tattered dress. She pouted in frustration.

“I ran into a strange individual, and their weapon was incredibly dangerous. It was really unlucky…”

“Hmm…”

Examining the wounds, the old man’s rough but clean fingertips gently pressed around the edge of her gaping injuries. Unperturbed by the sensation of her smooth skin, he pondered quietly for a moment, then gathered a bit of crimson energy at his fingertips.

With a firm press!

“Poof, poof, poof!”

Three shadowy figures shot out from the inside of the girl’s abdomen, but Augustine simply waved his other free wrist, effortlessly catching them in his palm, preventing them from hitting the wall and damaging the beautiful and delicate decor of the hall.

“Hiss, that hurts, hurts, hurts!!”

Although she acted quite politely in front of others, in front of this old man, Avrilia seemed to have no intention of maintaining her composure. As soon as the “bullets” were forced out of her body, the excruciating pain from her flesh caused the duchess to grimace and writhe in agony.

She seemed less like a noble princess and more like an ordinary girl from the neighborhood.

But the old man was unfazed, after giving a few brief instructions, he quickly stood up.

“Alright, this should be fine. Just go get some blood reserves later and replenish the blood you’ve lost.”

He did not pay attention to Avrilia, who was using blood energy to heal her body, but instead opened his palm and examined the three “bullets” he had intercepted earlier, which still bore traces of the girl’s blood.

These bullets were silver metal bodies, shaped like round pegs, with a wider base and sharp front, measuring about 2-3 centimeters long. Upon closer inspection, one could see intricate, densely carved micro magical patterns etched onto their surfaces.

Clearly, the power that prevented the blood clan from regenerating flesh and blood came from these engravings.

The old man picked up one of the bullets and held it up to his eyes for a careful examination.

“Um, a magic conductor made from demon-repelling silver? This pattern should be ?Armor Piercing?, ?Bleeding?, and ?Evil Suppression?. It’s quite interesting to see three magical properties carved onto such a tiny object, it makes me think of an old acquaintance.”

“Eh? Uncle Augustine, do you know this kind of craft? Who’s the bastard that made this? It’s way too targeted against us Blood Clan. Is it an old enemy from ancient times?”

Having completed her wound healing and restored her regal and noble appearance along with her gown, the vampire girl stepped forward, curious yet somewhat gritting her teeth as she asked.

The old prince shook his head with a hint of nostalgia.

“I wouldn’t exactly call him an old enemy. Although we don’t have much in common, and we’ve only met a few times by chance, that guy… is indeed quite remarkable. It’s just a pity that he’s bound by his obsessions, wasting his talents in vain.”

Upon hearing this, Avrilia couldn’t help but show surprise.

It was precisely because she understood the gentle old man before her so well that she realized how extraordinary a being must be to receive such praise from Augustine Constantius.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Is there such a person in Angel City? What’s his name? Why have I never heard of him before?”

The gentleman in the black tailcoat smiled and shook his head again.

“His name… is beyond words, and I never said that these are his creations, nor did I express any opinion about his current whereabouts. It’s perfectly reasonable that you don’t recognize him. After all, when that guy was making waves, Avrilia Constantius had not yet been born into this world.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

Although she was curious about the reason behind the term “beyond words,” she understood that a powerful individual’s true name often involved countless relationships, whether entangled with curses or emotional ties. Augustine’s reluctance to disclose it was entirely reasonable.

When he spoke of the time of her birth, it clearly couldn’t refer to the day she was born from her mother’s womb, but rather to the day she received her mother Lucine’s first embrace, being reborn as a vampire duchess and becoming “Avrilia Constantius.”

Her original name and race had lost their meaning since that day, and Avrilia had no desire to dwell on her past. But since Augustine described it that way, the time should at least be three hundred years ago.

Though the Blood Clan is nearly immortal, three hundred years truly feels like a distant past to Avrilia.

Seeing the girl awkwardly unsure of what to say, the old man didn’t mind. He pointed to the staircase leading to the second floor of the manor, put away the silver spike in his hand, picked up a cleaning cloth again, and returned to his spot to continue wiping the antiques on display.

He said slowly, “It’s fine, you should go back and rest early. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood. Although it’s not ?Source Blood?, it’s still a loss. I’ll discuss today’s situation with Lucine when she returns. Once we decide how to handle it, I’ll notify you.”

“Ah! Are you going to tell Mother? Well… it’s rare that she’s not here today. Uncle Augustine, maybe you could just… heh heh heh…”

Hearing the girl suddenly soften, accompanied by a hint of guilt and nervousness in her plea, the old man understood her meaning but only smiled lightly. He continued his actions without giving any response.

Thus, his intentions were quite clear.

Knowing that there was likely no room for negotiation on this matter, the defeated vampire could only lower her head again and sulkily head up to the second floor of the manor.

………………………

“Hmm… the daily life of the blood clan is even more normal and ordinary than I imagined. It doesn’t look like they’re up to any major conspiracy. How strange…”

Violet, who had followed the traces of the duchess escaping with her SP avatar, tracked her all the way to the suburban manor, taking in everything that happened there.

As she made her way back to the park where she had separated from Edwina, she muttered with a hint of confusion.

Although the entire manor, inside and out, appeared exceptionally remarkable—any random decorative item might easily be worth millions of gold—ultimately, it was just worldly wealth.

After listening to Avrilia’s conversation with the old man, Violet wandered around the manor using her avatar to walk through walls and explore but found nothing particularly noteworthy or genuinely valuable…

But at least she now knew that there were indeed Blood Clan members hidden within the Angel City and that there were at least two royal members among them.

Lucine Constantius, Augustine Constantius.

Violet had met these two vampires during the vampires’ gathering in the capital of the Human United Kingdom, the Courage City.

Though for some unknown reason, after the gathering ended and a riot broke out in the city, they had not appeared again, which had left a deep impression on Violet.

She hadn’t expected that, after more than a year, they would meet again in such a manner.

The forbidden spell ?Blood of the Inverted Cross? that appeared in the St. Bergen Mountains seemed to have a close connection with the Blood Clan, besides demons. She wondered if these two were aware of it.

And there’s that other one, the one whose name cannot be spoken… the one who is bound by obsession…

Heh heh, things… seem to be getting interesting.