Chapter 341 – Your Blood Is So Sweet – The Conspiracy Emerges (07)
Trey supported Bai Tang as they walked around the courtyard a few times to help digest the food in their stomachs. Only after they no longer felt full did they return to their room.
The moon that night was especially round. They sat together on the balcony, admiring the beautiful night sky.
The night always felt too short. Vampires feared sunlight and rarely moved about during the day. Even high-ranking ones—like dukes or princes—could only endure sunlight for a short while before being burned by it.
With such a limited amount of time to be active, and in a world that resembled the medieval era—without electricity or entertainment—Bai Tang truly didn’t know what to do. It felt like aside from sleeping, there wasn’t much else.
On a sudden whim, Bai Tang said, “I wonder how Edith is doing. She should’ve escaped by now, right?”
The heroine had slipped away before the banquet began. After that, when he and Trey were captured, they hadn’t seen any trace of her—so she should be safe.
Hearing Bai Tang mention her, Trey—who had been completely immersed in the sweetness of love—finally remembered he still had a “teammate.” He calculated silently: with Edith’s intelligence, she should have made it back to the Holy See already.
“She should be home by now,” Trey said, suddenly reminded of the identities he and Bai Tang carried.
He was the Captain of the Holy Knights, while Tang Tang was a vampire prince. The two stood on opposite sides, bound by a thousand-year-old grudge—one not easily resolved, especially since the blood clan still threatened humankind.
He tightened his arms around the boy in his embrace and kissed the top of his hair. If it came down to it, he would defect from the Church. No matter what, he couldn’t hold a cross up against Tang Tang.
Because martial artists were naturally stronger than ordinary people, Bai Tang ended up squeezed a little too tightly and felt uncomfortable, so he pushed Trey lightly.
“What’s wrong? Are you cold?” Trey asked. They were sitting on the balcony with the night breeze brushing past; it made sense if Bai Tang felt chilly. “Let’s go inside.”
As he spoke, Trey picked Bai Tang up.
“No, that’s not it—I just can’t breathe. You’re too strong. And I don’t want to sleep yet. Sleeping during the day and again at night… I’ll turn into a pig at this rate,” Bai Tang complained, unwilling to return to the coffin to lie down.
“If you really turned into a pig, that wouldn’t be so bad,” Trey teased. “Better than being a vampire—no more world-ending problems to deal with.”
“What did you just say?” Bai Tang pretended to be angry. “Are you saying I’m worse than a pig? Hmph~”
The little squirrel was upset, and the delicate expression on his face practically spelled out: Hurry up and coax me.
Trey let out a helpless laugh and planted a kiss on the boy’s cheek. “My mistake. I’m the pig. Tang Tang is the little cabbage.”
Bai Tang tilted his head, full of confusion. What kind of logic was that?
Qiu’er: The cabbage I worked so hard to raise is about to be gobbled up by a pig. Heartbreaking.
Xiao A quickly covered Qiu’er’s mouth and dragged him back into the little white room. Disturbing the host and the male lead while they were flirting was immoral.
“Pigs love rooting around for cabbages,” Trey explained. He buried his face in Bai Tang’s arms, and the loose strands of his hair slid across Bai Tang’s neck, sending a tingling, numbing sensation through his skin.
“Hahaha—stop… that tickles…”
The little squirrel burst into laughter as Trey teased him. Trey was actually tickling his sensitive spots. Too much—hahahaha…
The cheerful laughter from upstairs drifted down to the lower floor. Butler Norman, expression blank, brought down a sharp cleaver and chopped through a pig’s hind bone in one clean strike.
The prince liked eating human food. He’d heard that slow-cooked soup was excellent—he should prepare something nourishing for the prince.
The two upstairs continued their playful commotion for quite a while. Gradually, the starlight faded from the sky, and pale light began to creep along the horizon.
Trey carried Bai Tang back inside and pulled the curtains shut to block out the dawn light.
He placed Bai Tang into the coffin and lit a candle. “Tang Tang, have a good sleep.”
“Where are you going?” Bai Tang grabbed Trey’s hand nervously. Was his hubby leaving him?
Trey pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’m going to check if Butler Norman needs help. He’s worked all night—he should rest.”
Thinking of the devoted old butler who had always taken care of him, Bai Tang nodded. “Then go ahead. But come back quickly to keep me company~”
The boy’s milky-soft voice made Trey’s heart ache. “Alright. I’ll hurry back.”
Bai Tang was afraid of the dark, so Trey didn’t extinguish the candle when he left the room.
Probably the first vampire in history to be afraid of the dark.
Trey went downstairs to find Butler Norman locking the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Without Bai Tang present, Butler Norman’s voice turned icy, no longer bothering to hide the hostility he had toward Trey.
“Tang Tang is worried about you, so he asked me to check whether you needed help.” Trey continued speaking evenly, as if he hadn’t noticed the butler’s distrust.
“There’s nothing here that concerns you. If you know what’s good for you, stay inside the castle. There’s food in the kitchen—eat if you’re hungry.” After saying that, Butler Norman headed upstairs.
He didn’t seem worried at all that Trey might try to escape. Even if he did run, there were still little bats guarding outside. They would follow him and drag him right back if necessary.
Once Butler Norman left, the entire castle felt utterly lifeless. Without sunlight, the interior was filled with a chilling gloom. A coldness of unknown origin seeped into every pore, straight to the bone, making one’s limbs feel stiff and frozen.
Trey first wandered into the kitchen and found that Butler Norman really had prepared food for him. He tasted a bite—the flavor was strangely awful, even worse than last night’s. It seemed the old butler truly disliked him.
As the Captain of the Holy Knights, Trey was well-versed in the nature of vampires. Since the front door was locked, he went up to the second floor instead. From an empty room, he climbed out the window, dropped down, and slipped out of the castle.
He needed to return to the Holy See and check whether Edith had truly made it back. Besides, he intended to resign from his position as Captain—and he had to explain that to the Pope face-to-face.
Trey led a horse out from the stables, mounted it, and galloped toward the city.
Butler Norman stood before the window, quietly watching him leave.
Two small bats flew out under his command, heading in the same direction Trey had gone.
The vampire prince’s castle was hidden deep within the forest, yet the city wasn’t far.
Trey returned to the Holy See smoothly, and the knights under his command came out to meet him.
“Trey! You finally came back. Didn’t Edith return with you?”
They saw Trey alone, with no sign of Edith behind him.
“You mean Edith hasn’t come back?” Trey asked.
“No.” The knight looked puzzled. “Didn’t she go on the mission with you? Or… did something unexpected happen out there?”
Now this was troublesome.
Trey had originally intended to resign from his position as Captain of the Holy Knights, but with the Saintess missing, the Pope would never let him leave.
Trey felt a sense of companionship toward Edith. They had known each other for many years. Even though they often disagreed, that didn’t mean she was a bad person.
“That night, we infiltrated the vampire banquet. I told Edith to leave first.”
But although she was the first to escape, she never made it back.
The knights also realized the gravity of the situation. If word got out that the Saintess was missing, it would be disastrous for the reputation of the Holy See.
The Saintess was chosen from among common girls aged five to ten. She was essentially the Holy See’s representative of the common people—crucial for maintaining public faith and stability.
There was no time to waste. Trey went to see the Pope.
The Pope was holding a letter, studying it intently.
When he saw Trey return, he threw the letter at Trey’s feet. “Trey, you still have the face to come back? Where is Edith? You two acted together—you escaped, but the Saintess was captured! You coward, fleeing the battlefield!”
He launched into a furious scolding without restraint.
Trey picked up the letter from the floor. It contained only one piece of information:
The Saintess of the Holy See, Edith, was in the hands of the vampires. If they wanted her alive, they had to exchange her for one hundred boys and girls.
One life versus one hundred—any rational person would choose to sacrifice the one.
But the problem was… that one life was Edith.
If they chose not to save her, the Holy See would lose the people’s trust.
If they chose to save her, the Holy See would not only lose trust, but also lose its dignity and authority.
However, the Pope had no choice but to save Edith. The reason was simple: her disappearance couldn’t be concealed. But capturing one hundred children—if arranged properly—could be hidden, allowing the Holy See to preserve its image.
“As for Edith’s capture, it was indeed my negligence,” Trey said, not bothering to defend himself as he took responsibility. “I am willing to go rescue the Saintess myself. Once she is safely returned, I will resign as Captain of the Holy Knights.”
The Pope’s eyes flickered. He was quite satisfied with how sensible Trey was being. Though his tone softened slightly, he still had to maintain appearances.
“There’s no need for that, Trey. You are a talent of the Holy See. I only feared the vampires might go too far, and I spoke harshly in anger.”
But Trey remained firm. “It was my failure. My judgment was lacking, and I am no longer qualified to lead the knights. I ask for Your Holiness’s approval.”
The Pope pretended to persuade him otherwise, but seeing Trey’s resolve, he finally agreed.
In truth, the Holy See was not united in its opposition to vampires. Its internal affairs were tangled—there were the commoner faction and the noble faction, and the Pope belonged to the nobles.
The conflict between nobles and commoners had existed for a long time. To appease the populace, the Holy See had chosen a common-born girl as Saintess. They had also selected dozens of gifted children from common families to train alongside the knights—Trey had been the one to rise above the rest.
Although Edith was raised and educated by the Pope, and ideologically leaned toward the nobles, she was still considered part of the commoner faction. Watching both Trey and Edith grow increasingly influential within the Holy See, the Pope and the nobles began to panic. They could not allow the commoner faction to gain control.
The letter demanded that the Holy See gather one hundred boys and girls within three days, then bring them into the forest.
The Pope would secretly be responsible for obtaining the children, while Trey—still the knight captain for the time being—was tasked with escorting them and rescuing Edith.
After roughly discussing the plan, Trey looked up at the sky—it was already evening.
“I still have something to take care of. I’ll leave for now. Tomorrow, I’ll return so we can finalize the plan.”
No one knew what urgent matter Trey had, but they watched as he mounted the same horse he had arrived on and rushed off in a hurry.
Author’s Note:
Caught up with the update! Are you all asleep already?