Gospel of Blood

Indeed, if she put herself in Agnes' shoes, knowing that behind Count Hol were three other counts and a duke, Charlotte thought she might have fled long ago.

It took real courage for someone as bold as Agnes to dare to impersonate an identity.

"Have these three counts all come to Castell?"

Charlotte asked again.

Agnes shook her head.

"I'm not sure. We've only seen them during meetings, and we can't even see each other's figures clearly. If Count Hol didn't use a special magical tool to disguise his real voice every time he attended the meetings, we wouldn't even be able to impersonate him."

"However, from the snippets of conversation during the meetings, it's highly likely that the highest-ranking Count Yurst is remotely commanding from the Falling Star Kingdom. As for Count Nottingham, Count Yurst always asks him about things in the Roman Principality, so it's likely he's stationed there. When it comes to matters involving Castell, they always ask us and Count Lachlan, especially the latter. It seems clear that Count Lachlan is the one who has actually come to the Castell."

So, the one personally involved in infiltrating Castell might only be this Count Lachlan?

With this answer, Charlotte felt somewhat relieved.

Three Blazing Sun Counts and a Legendary Duke would be quite overwhelming, but if only one Blazing Sun Count was involved in the infiltration of Castell, it would be much more manageable.

This also aligned with the current state of Castell.

To be fair, if three Blazing Sun Counts had really acted against Castell, Charlotte thought her family's territory would have changed hands long ago.

In reality, although Castell had been significantly infiltrated, she still had some degree of control.

This was evident from the fact that the nobles still needed to use rumors to undermine her authority in the territory.

Only when there is still a threat does one resort to such underhanded methods.

Also, if only Count Lachlan was involved in the infiltration of Castell, it indicated that the Nez clan had broader ambitions than just targeting Castell.

If their goal was solely Castell, it wouldn't be just one count working while the others watched.

Charlotte believed this suggested that the Nez clan's plot was larger than just taking over Castell, and infiltrating Castell might be just a necessary step in their plan, with the other counts having other tasks.

This was actually good news!

It implied that as long as she was cautious, Charlotte might temporarily avoid attracting the attention of the bloodborne duke.

She really didn't want to deal with a bloodborne duke. To become a bloodborne duke, one had to be favored by the bloodborne nobility, and one misstep could bring real trouble.

However...

Count Hol also disguised his identity during meetings?

Noticing this detail Agnes mentioned, Charlotte felt a twinge of interest.

Disguising oneself in meetings with one's own kind seemed unnecessary unless they weren't truly allies.

If so, Count Hol and the Nez clan were likely just collaborators, perhaps even wary of each other.

This could explain why the Nez clan hadn't noticed anything wrong when Count Hol encountered problems.

However, the fact that the Nez clan's plan continued despite Count Hol's demise indicated that his responsibilities weren't critically important.

Or rather, didn't require much direct oversight from him.

Considering that Sebastian's investigation showed the main activity of the Returning Star United Trade was acquiring mithril, Charlotte guessed that Count Hol was probably in charge of transporting the mithril.

This was indeed important.

However, if the trade was already running smoothly, Count Hol himself wouldn't be that crucial.

Thinking along these lines, Charlotte asked again.

"On a daily basis... do they interact with you much during meetings?"

Agnes hesitated for a moment and then answered.

"Not really. Most of the time, we're just listeners. They don't ask us many questions. I always felt... they were a bit wary of us."

"Thanks to this, we were able to maintain our disguise."

Hearing Agnes' words, Charlotte's expression turned somewhat strange.

Count Hol encountered problems, and the Nez clan didn't notice. They were even wary of Agnes and her knight during meetings.

This sounded... as if Count Hol had been sidelined by the Nez clan long ago?

"Besides the three bloodborne counts, did Count Hol have any other contacts?"

Charlotte thought for a moment and asked.

"I'm not sure. I was just treated as a maid before and only gained his trust for three years."

Agnès shook her head.

But she seemed to remember something and, after some thought, said.

"However... he seemed to have a good relationship with elves. I recall seeing elves visit him occasionally in the castle."

Elves?

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat.

At that moment, she thought of the Nez clan's branch on Luna Island.

Gikode had mentioned that the elves on Luna Island were also involved in the Nez clan's plans. Could Count Hol's work be related to this?

"You never investigated what they were up to?"

Charlotte couldn't help but ask.

"I told you, we didn't dare!"

"If you didn't dare to investigate what they were doing, why take the risk of impersonating Count Hol?"

Agnes fell silent.

After a long time, she finally said dejectedly.

"Because Count Hol mentioned that if the plan succeeded, they could establish themselves in the human world, even gaining titles in the sunlight..."

"I want a title. I want to return to the human world and regain a title!"

"Regain a title?"

Charlotte looked surprised.

Agnes glanced at her and sneered.

"At this point, why pretend? When you heard the name Veillet, you should have known, right? My family was ruined because of your Castell!"

Charlotte: ...

Ruined by Castell?

Heavens, she really didn't know that!

Not to mention, Agnes became a bloodborne eighteen years ago. At that time, not only had the current Charlotte not transmigrated, but the original Charlotte hadn't even been born yet.

Even the archives in the Castell mansion's study didn't mention the Veillet name.

"I don't know much about the family's past, and the name Veillet is unfamiliar to me."

Charlotte thought for a moment and said.

Hearing Charlotte's words, Agnes looked shocked.

She widened her eyes in disbelief.

"You don't know? You really don't know? Has Castell forgotten about Veillet after just a few years?"

"I really don't know, but... if you tell me, I'll listen."

Charlotte adjusted her sitting position and said.

Agnes pursed her lips, gritting her teeth as she spoke.

"Our Veillet family was the Violet Ducal family before the Star-Moon War."

"But during the Star-Moon War, we lost our territory due to Castell's betrayal, ultimately leading to the destruction of our family and our removal from the nobility!"

Violet?

Charlotte was slightly taken aback.

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This was the first time she'd heard of this. She only knew that the current Duke of Violet was reappointed by the Crescent royalty after the end of the Second Star-Moon War, but she had no idea that there had been a Veillet family before.

"And you are..."

"I am the daughter of the former Duke of Violet, Agnes de Veillet."

Agnes said, straightening her back.

Charlotte nodded slightly.

She couldn't comment on old disputes involving the previous generation.

Honestly, she didn't know much about the Star-Moon War either. She only knew that the Violet Duchy was the main battleground, and the entire duchy was almost completely devastated.

However, if it was indeed Castell that led to the destruction of the Veillet family, then this grudge was significant.

"Alright, I've told you everything I know. Do as you wish, but please uphold the honor of the nobility and do not insult me or my family!"

Agnes said coldly.

Seeing her resolute demeanor, Charlotte smiled.

"Aren't you afraid that I might really kill you?"

Agnes pursed her lips and said.

"Death is better than being a prisoner of my enemy!"

"Don't expect me to bow down! Castell ruined my family, and I will never submit to Castell! We will always be enemies until death!"

Charlotte smiled even more.

"Unyielding until death? The way you just told me everything in detail didn't seem very unyielding."

Agnes: ...

Her face turned white, then red, and finally, she snorted and turned her head away.

Seeing the bloodborne girl glaring at her, Charlotte felt a strange sense of amusement.

She stopped teasing her and asked her final question.

"Alright, Miss Unyielding Agnes, I have one last question—"

"How do you participate in those remote bloodborne meetings? Since you can disguise your identity, you must be using some kind of magical tool, right?"

Agnes glared at Charlotte but remained silent.

Charlotte smiled slightly.

"Miss Agnes, I have limited time. If you can't answer my question, I'll have to ask Mr. Lahel."

Agnes: ...

Her eyes widened in astonishment, as if she couldn't believe Charlotte's audacity.

However, under Charlotte's playful gaze, she finally gave in and gritted her teeth.

"It's a communication crystal, a magical crystal for remote communication."

"Oh? A communication crystal? Where is it?"

Charlotte asked.

"In... my backpack."

Agnes said.

The backpack again.

Charlotte clicked her tongue and rang the bell.

Soon, the door to the interrogation room was knocked on, and a guard entered respectfully.

"Countess, do you have any orders?"

"Search her backpack and bring the crystal from it."

Charlotte ordered.

A short while later, the guard returned with a crystal-clear orb.

"Countess, is this it?"

Charlotte looked at Agnes, who nodded woodenly.

Confirming it, Charlotte took the crystal ball while the guard respectfully withdrew.

Charlotte carefully examined the crystal ball, which was about the size of her palm. Its center glowed faintly, and upon close inspection, she could see a cluster of rotating runes.

"Are you planning to use it to infiltrate those bloodborne meetings? If that's your plan, I advise you to give up."

Agnes said, glancing at Charlotte.

"Oh?"

Charlotte looked at her with interest, gesturing for her to continue.

Agnes paused and then explained.

"This communication crystal was given to Count Hol by the Nez clan. It's specially processed and requires bloodline authorization to activate. Only the relevant bloodbornes can use it."

"Unless you are a blood relative of the related bloodbornes, like a descendant. Of course, higher noble bloodlines can also use it, like those of the third-generation bloodborne elders."

"We can use it because I am a direct descendant of Count Hol, and Lahel is my direct descendant."

"You may be a bloodborne, but you are not of the Nez clan's bloodline, nor are you related to Count Hol. Moreover, like me, you are a newly turned bloodborne, so you have no connection to noble bloodlines and can't use it."

Agnes looked directly at Charlotte and said.

"Unless... you want us to continue infiltrating the meetings for you."

Charlotte gave her a meaningful look.

"Remote meetings can only be known by the participants, right?"

"So what? You have no other choice," Agnès said.

Seeming satisfied that she had finally turned the tables, Agnes looked more confident.

However, Charlotte didn't engage her further and instead began examining the crystal ball on her own.

Seeing Charlotte's actions, Agnes twitched.

"Are you going to try it yourself?"

She shook her head and said.

"I tell you, you can't do it. You can't even activate it, let alone join a bloodborne meeting."

"Your rashness will only cause the crystal to self-destruct and alert the bloodbornes behind it. Your bloodline..."

Agnes didn't finish her sentence.

Because the crystal ball in Charlotte's hand suddenly glowed, clearly activated.

Agnes' eyes widened in disbelief.

"It... it activated? How is this possible? How could you activate it?!"

She looked at Charlotte with suspicion.

"You... you can activate the Nez clan's encrypted crystal?! You're definitely not an ordinary bloodborne!"

"You even broke my family's Scythe Guardian! Even Count Hol's mental domination couldn't break my Scythe Guardian!"

Taking a deep breath, Agnes stared into Charlotte's eyes.

"A newly turned bloodborne can't have this kind of power! It's impossible to have this kind of power!"

"Who are you? Who exactly are you?!"

Charlotte smiled faintly, revealing a pair of cute fangs.

She placed her delicate finger on her pink lips, her voice clear and melodious, her mischievous look like a little devil playing a prank.

"Guess?"

Agnes: ...

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