Gospel of Blood

Charlotte's pointed command caught Sebastian's attention.

There were other Bloodbornes hidden within the Castell caravan!

As the one responsible for personnel inspections before departure, Sebastian felt deeply embarrassed that even he hadn't detected the Bloodbornes' stealthy infiltration.

He, the steward of a divine being, felt utterly humiliated.

Thus, after leaving Charlotte's tent, he immediately began a thorough personnel inspection.

He had a solid pretext: the undead assault had frightened everyone, and as the Castell family's steward, he needed to check on the family's knights who had defended their ground and apologize to the accompanying merchant convoy.

What was he apologizing for? Naturally, for the trouble caused by being associated with the Castell family.

The undead targeted Countess Castell, and the necromancer was acting under the orders of the Crescent Kingdom's Third Prince. If it weren't for their association with the Castell family, they wouldn't have faced such a threat.

This served a dual purpose.

Not only did it give him an excuse to investigate the entire caravan, but it also spread the news that the Third Prince was behind the attack through the merchants and their hired mercenaries.

Merchants and mercenaries are often key spreaders of information. Sebastian didn't even need to seek out anyone specific to spread the news; just hinting at it during his rounds ensured that this explosive news would quickly travel throughout the Crescent Kingdom.

The royal family of Crescent, a wealthy and beautiful unmarried countess, orphans, noble conspiracies, inheritance rights, and necromancers—all these elements were perfect gossip material that would quickly become the talk of the town in taverns and brothels.

As Sebastian had anticipated, the Castell family knights weren't likely to spread rumors about their own lord. However, the accompanying merchants, upon learning the "truth" of the night's attack, were instantly energized, bombarding Sebastian with questions.

Outwardly, they expressed outrage at the Third Prince's actions and sympathy for Countess Castell, perhaps even flattering the young Countess by saying that traveling with the Castell caravan might have saved them from bandits or treacherous mercenaries.

In reality, their eyes gleamed with excitement, practically spelling out "gossip" on their foreheads.

Traveling far and wide, these merchants and mercenaries often supplemented their income by selling valuable information. The conflict between the Third Prince and the Castell family was prime intelligence.

It signaled that Castell might further strain relations with the Borde Duchy, perhaps even indicating the young Countess's intention to break away from the Duchy and swear direct allegiance to the king.

Such developments held vast implications and opportunities.

Even Charlotte hadn't anticipated how seriously the merchants and mercenaries would take the information Sebastian had spread.

In her current position, she might not yet fully grasp the full weight of her power as a feudal lord. Every word she spoke carried significant implications, influencing the future of the entire Castell County and its millions of inhabitants.

When the representatives from various vassal families visited Charlotte's tent in the middle of the night, expressing their concerns and interpretations of her supposed intentions to secede from the Borde Duchy, she was bewildered.

"What? Independence from the duchy?"

Charlotte stared in confusion at the envoys, taken aback.

"No... isn't it? Sebastian mentioned that tonight's undead attack was orchestrated by the Third Prince..." one of them started.

"Such despicable behavior! To treat our Castell family this way! But, Lady Charlotte, we must carefully consider our relationship with the Borde Duchy..." another added.

"Indeed, if you do intend to seek independence, you should discuss it with the vassals of your domain..." one more chimed in.

"But I think independence is the right move! Our County has long been dissatisfied with the Duchy. The Castell County has paid enormous taxes, but what has the Duchy done for us? They just leech off us!" argued another.

"That's foolish! Without the protection of the Borde family, Castell would have been devoured by the surrounding greedy lords long ago!" someone countered.

Charlotte watched the representatives argue, feeling increasingly frustrated. She never intended to declare independence right away. Though she had considered the idea for the future, she never meant for it to be misinterpreted and discussed so prematurely.

"Enough, stop arguing. I'm tired and need to rest."

She finally said, her voice cold as she issued the order for them to leave.

She refrained from explaining further, fearing they would misinterpret her words even more, concocting new theories.

Releasing her first-tier aura, not yet as formidable as Silver Moon's, but still enough to make the non-awakened representatives turn pale, she silenced them quickly.

The representatives, now facing a young but powerful noble, bowed respectfully before retreating.

Far from the tent, they sighed in relief, marveling at her prowess.

"So young and already First Tier. The Castell family has a promising future!"

"But she's too impulsive. Announcing the Third Prince's involvement with the undead, true or not, is reckless! That's royalty, a potential future duke." another cautioned.

"Indeed, she's still just a child!"

Hearing these words, Charlotte, with her sharp senses, couldn't help but crush the crystal glass in her hand, her lips twitching in frustration.

"Damn, these nobles are impossible to please!"

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down, recognizing the challenges of her new authority.

The vassal nobles clearly did not take her seriously, but now was not the time to deal with them.

Even if she wanted to address this issue, Charlotte would first need to return to her domain and thoroughly understand the situation.

Although bloodbornes had many methods of mind control, Charlotte did not want to rely on extraordinary powers to forcibly gain the nobles' loyalty.

There was no magic in this world that couldn't be broken.

Shortcuts might be easy, but they were not sustainable and carried significant risks.

If she wanted to turn Castell into a solid and unified foundation for her power, Charlotte needed the genuine loyalty of her subjects from top to bottom.

For now...

It was time to have a conversation with the newly acquired Book of the Dead.

Although she didn't expect the book to provide much information, one could never be sure.

With this thought, Charlotte focused her gaze back on the Book of the Dead.

The book trembled slightly, as if shivering.

...

Sebastian was unaware of the late-night visit by the representatives of the Castell family to their Countess.

In fact, even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He believed that the great Lady of the Night could handle those individuals.

The diligent and responsible elven steward continued to search for the bloodborne hidden within the caravan.

After inspecting the Castell family's own knights and merchants, he found nothing amiss.

This did not surprise him. The screening process for their own people was the most stringent, with each person's background being clear and complete.

It was clear that if there was a bloodborne hidden in the caravan, it would likely be among the accompanying other merchant groups.

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Sebas visited one tent after another, offering his condolences while using his enhanced senses from his blood nature to their fullest.

Yet, he did not detect any bloodborne aura from the accompanying groups, although he did uncover several freeloaders who hadn't "bought tickets" to join the caravan.

Sebastian greeted them warmly and "persuaded" them to purchase their "tickets."

After leaving yet another merchant tent, Sebastian elegantly adjusted his hair using a mercury mirror.

But as he was about to move on to the next tent, he suddenly halted.

In the distance, an elderly woman, stooped and leaning on a cane, was being supported by a beautiful young girl in a tattered maid outfit, both smiling at him.

"Mister Sebastian, what are you looking for?"

The old woman asked.

Seeing her, Sebastian was momentarily taken aback and couldn't hide his surprise.

"Lady Anna? What are you doing here?"

...

The night passed quickly.

As the first rays of sunlight penetrated through the forest and into the camp, Charlotte awoke from her sleep.

She yawned lazily and reached out, satisfied to find the Book of the Dead still beside her.

It hadn't dared to escape.

After the representatives of various families had left the previous night, she had a deep conversation with the book spirit.

It was indeed a deep conversation.

The Book of the Dead, crafted by Bloodborne Archduke Abaddon, possessed bloodborne powers and was a unique form of intelligent life. Charlotte could summon it into her spiritual world.

In her spiritual world, she had complete control. She marked it with her divine power, ensuring she could track it even if it fled.

But the book had clearly been intimidated. It hadn't dared to escape even after she slept.

As she suspected, the book spirit didn't know much.

It spent most of its time in a dormant state, only being summoned when needed by its contractor.

According to the spirit, it had been sealed for hundreds of years until it was discovered by a fourth-generation bloodborne about twenty years ago.

The spirit knew little about its contractors since it rarely communicated with them.

It only knew that its last contractor was a fifth-generation bloodborne named Agnes, once a human noble and the progeny of the fourth-generation bloodborne who had found it.

Over a decade ago, Agnes had killed the fourth-generation bloodborne and inherited the book.

Bloodbornes were categorized into generations.

Charlotte had learned from her research that the True Ancestor was the first bloodborne in the world of Myria, belonging to the first generation.

Perhaps out of loneliness or the need for war, the True Ancestor created the second generation of bloodbornes, known as the Blood Legion.

The second generation wasn't very powerful and mostly perished in ancient wars, but they left behind descendants, the third generation.

Recognizing the weakness of bloodbornes, the True Ancestor enhanced the third generation's power, making them the strongest.

These third-generation vampires were now legends.

The current vampire princes and archdukes belonged to this generation.

Fourth-generation vampires, naturally, were the offspring of the princes, true descendants of legends.

Even the weakest fourth-generation vampire was at least a Bloodborne Count, at the Third Tier Blazing Sun.

To have killed a fourth-generation bloodborne was impressive, and Charlotte now looked at the bloodborne girl who had escaped from under her nose with newfound respect.

She also learned another surprising piece of information from the book spirit.

After killing the fourth-generation count, the girl named Agnes did not flee but assumed the count's identity and infiltrated bloodborne society with her blood servant, Lahel.

"Bloodborne society, huh..."

Charlotte mused.

Bloodborne society was highly secretive. Most bloodbornes active in Borde were outcasts from mainstream society, belonging to cults. As a new bloodborne, Charlotte had no chance to penetrate the inner circles.

But now it seemed she might have an opportunity soon.

Stretching lazily, Charlotte rang a bell, summoning her cold, beautiful maid, Sherry, who quickly entered to assist her with her morning routine.

Over the past year, she had fully embraced the comforts of her new lifestyle.

Once she was ready and had finished her breakfast, Sebastian returned.

"Master, I have... a friend outside. She and her granddaughter wish to see you. I believe they are the ones you asked me to find."

He said hesitantly, with respect.

"A friend?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, finishing her sweet milk.

"Please, let them in."

She said, wiping her mouth elegantly with a napkin.

Sebastian bowed and soon, an elderly woman, supported by a maid, entered the tent.

As they entered, Charlotte's gaze locked onto the maid.

In that instant, she felt a strong resonance in her bloodline.

Even the Gospel of Blood within her seemed to emit a faint response.

This girl was the bloodborne she was looking for!

And her bloodline was very high!

Charlotte's heart raced.

At the same time, the elderly woman, supported by the girl, trembled and bowed deeply.

"Anna the Witch of Prophecy, with my granddaughter Reina, greets the great True Ancestor..."

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