CA - Chapter 245

Chapter 245

The early morning sun was subtle and warm, its faint golden light shining on the green leaves and branches damp with dew, adding a vibrant vitality. The blooming roses brought life and beauty to the somewhat desolate and messy garden.

A six-year-old Reese sat on a stone stool that was a bit too high for her, her silver boots, stained with mud, dangling leisurely. With her hands cupping her cheeks, her green eyes followed Monica without blinking as she darted in and out of the rose bushes. Her soft, curly golden hair was tucked behind her ears, and her delicate little face was slightly flushed from the sun, but she paid it no mind.

On the table sat a basket of fresh rose petals next to a somewhat worn tea set. The lid of the teapot was placed casually to the side, steam wafting out from within. The scent of roses made Reese rub her nose, but her gaze never left the small figure in the flower bushes.

She and Monica had been sent to the Holy See at a very young age. Reese could no longer remember what her parents looked like. It seemed that for as long as she could remember, this sister who looked exactly like her had always been by her side.

Everyone in the Holy See said they looked too much alike; even the priest who had cared for them for a long time still couldn't tell them apart.

But Reese felt that she and Monica were not alike at all.

Six-year-old Reese tilted her head, her gaze on Monica slowly drifting upward. For a moment, she was lost in thought, as if pondering whether the two of them were truly similar. But before she could think for more than a few seconds, a still-childlike voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Sister." Six-year-old Monica ran carefully toward Reese, clutching a bouquet of roses that was far too large for her small frame. She had the same soft golden hair as Reese, the same beautiful green eyes, and the same exquisitely delicate features. When she smiled, even the vibrant roses seemed to lose their color.

Reese paused, lowering the small hands that had been cupping her chin and touching her own face instead.

Indeed, she and Monica were not alike at all.

At six years old, Reese's mind didn't yet have enough words to accurately describe the image of Monica in her heart. She thought hard for a long time and finally came up with a race—Elves.

The illicit storybook she had secretly bought from outside said that the Elf Race was the most beautiful race on the continent of Statu. Their beauty was a gift from the gods, the most wonderful existence in the world.

Although Reese had never seen what an elf looked like, in her heart, she felt that Monica was as beautiful as the elves described in the book.

As for herself... Reese touched the corner of her own mouth. She wasn't like an elf, because she didn't like to smile, and her smile wasn't as beautiful as Monica's.

Monica stood on her tiptoes and placed all the roses in her arms on the table. From running back and forth, her little face was flushed, and her soft golden hair was damp with dew from the leaves, but Monica didn't care. She leaned against Reese, craning her neck to look at the teapot, and asked with an expectant look, "Sister, is the tea ready?"

Reese had been picking leaves from Monica's hair. Hearing her words, she blinked, glanced at the long-neglected teapot, and replied with a straight face, "It's ready."

She reached into the basket, grabbed a handful of petals, and tossed them into the pot, watching as they were dampened by the steam. Ignoring whether the water had boiled, she pretended to be brewing the tea very seriously and said, "The heat is just right. Come on up, we can enjoy our afternoon tea."

Monica obediently went to sit on the opposite side. She looked up at the sky and said hesitantly, "But it's morning."

Reese carefully took the teapot down and filled the cups in front of herself and Monica, casually spouting nonsense, "I saw Mrs. Smith drinking tea at this time."

Six-year-old Monica looked at the cup in front of her nervously, completely believing Reese's words. "...Th-then I'll drink it."

She picked up the cup with a solemn expression and took a sip, then quietly put it down, her large, moist eyes darting around.

Reese held her cup without moving, observing Monica's expression. She frowned and asked, "Does it not taste good?"

Monica's expression was a little strange. "...No." She paused for a moment, then said in a small voice, "It's just a little weird."

She looked up and peered into the teapot, asking doubtfully, "Isn't the water boiled?"

How could Reese possibly know if the water was boiled? She hadn't been watching. But she couldn't answer Monica that way. Reese picked up her cup, took a sip, and lectured Monica with feigned wisdom, "Tea tastes best when brewed at this temperature."

"This is the temperature Mrs. Smith uses to brew her tea."

Monica was convinced. She picked up her cup and took another sip, then nodded seriously. "It really is delicious."

Reese discreetly pushed her own cup away, propped her chin on one hand, and looked at Monica, smiling as she said, "If you like it, I'll make you tea every day."

Monica licked her lips and smiled shyly. "...Th-then I'll pick roses for you every day, sister."

Reese couldn't help but laugh, her fingers propping up her chin. At six years old, she didn't take this promise seriously; she just couldn't help but smile along with Monica's happy face.

A casual promise from childhood was kept for nearly ten years, until they separated... Reese sometimes wondered if she really liked rose tea that much.

Later, when she was alone in the Central Church, she realized she didn't actually like it that much.

The reason she took the time to brew rose tea day after day, no matter how busy she was, was simply because Monica loved to drink it. And she just wanted to see the smile on Monica's face as she drank the rose tea she had brewed with her own hands.

She loved Monica's smile, but unfortunately, after they separated, Monica stopped smiling, while she learned to smile in the Central Church.

A sarcastic and cold smile.

---

The boiling steam blurred Reese's face. A miserable scream suddenly erupted from the next room, disturbing Reese, who was lost in her memories. She frowned in displeasure, glanced in the direction of the sound, and stood up to walk over.

In the adjacent room, four or five lavishly dressed, stout nobles were sprawled pathetically on the ground, trembling. A small stream of bright red blood flowed across the dark floor, and the thick smell of blood filled the room.

The screams grew more wretched. A severed arm fell with a thud next to one of the nobles, scaring him so much that his eyes rolled back and he nearly fainted.

Seeing Reese appear, the trembling nobles looked as if they had seen their savior. They crawled over, their faces pale and their lips trembling. "Arch-Archbishop Reese, help! That person is a devil."

Lola, who had been called a devil, boredly tossed the thoroughly dead body to the ground. She stepped out of the darkness, flicking the blood from her hands and pouting. She was used to drinking the blood of the Holy See's personnel and had little interest in these humans anymore.

Reese looked down at the nobles kneeling and trembling on the ground, a beautiful curve slowly forming on her lips as she spoke in a gentle tone, "Is Duke Cass joking?"

"Lift your head and take a good look. Wasn't the devil you speak of addressed by you as a noble guest just before today?"

"What, the vampires you know are noble guests, but the vampire I know is a devil?"

"No, no, no..." Duke Cass waved his hands frantically, stammering an explanation. "Th-this is all a misunderstanding, Archbishop Reese."

"They forced me. They would have killed me otherwise."

"I was forced, I didn't do it on purpose." The duke was so scared that tears streamed down his face. "I shouldn't have listened to those vampires and led Archbishop Monica and the others to that dead city. I was wrong, please spare me."

Reese sighed. "Look how ugly you nobles are. Begging the Holy See to help you rebuild your country, while secretly fawning over vampires." She clicked her tongue and shook her head slightly. "You are the real devils, aren't you?"

It was precisely because she knew these people's true nature so well that she didn't want Monica to get involved in this mess. She didn't want the kind-hearted Monica to witness such ugly human nature.

The small stream of blood reached Reese's feet. She glanced down, then unhurriedly took two steps back to avoid it before giving Lola a look.

Lola paused her hand-flicking, strode over, and grabbed Duke Cass. Her palm pierced straight through his chest. Duke Cass's eyes widened, and he stopped breathing without even letting out a scream.

The remaining nobles fainted from the shock of Lola's brutal methods.

The door opened, and a dozen Holy Knights entered, carried away the unconscious nobles, disposed of the body, and then quickly withdrew.

The smell of blood in the room was too strong for Reese's liking. She turned and walked out, continuing to brew the pot of rose tea that had yet to boil. Unfortunately, the interrupted memory was something she was no longer in the mood to recall.

"Do we not need to kill those few?" Lola asked, looking toward the door with a raised eyebrow.

"No need," Reese said faintly, placing the teapot back on its stand. "They'll behave for a while after they go back."

Monica still needed the cooperation of these nobles to treat the commoners. Killing two to scare them was enough, even if they deserved to die.

Lola shrugged. She wiped her hands clean and sat down opposite Reese, complaining with a dissatisfied look, "I came out with you to feed, not to catch and kill people for you."

Reese selected petals and dropped them into the teapot, her tone nonchalant. "Didn't I give you a bishop to feed on along the way?"

She glanced up at Lola, teasing, "I feed you, so you should give me something in return, right?"

Lola's eyes flickered. Her crimson eyes stared fixedly at Reese, a dark light surfacing within them. This person was indeed very generous; otherwise, she wouldn't have followed her for so long.

It could be said that her advancement to the fourth generation was largely thanks to Reese's "feeding."

But vampires were insatiably greedy. When she was hungry, she didn't have much rationality to speak of.

A somewhat cold hand suddenly gripped Reese's wrist. Lola pulled her across the table, licked her lips with a wicked look in her eyes, and opened her mouth to bite Reese's fair wrist.

A flash of golden light erupted. Lola's hand was thrown back, her palm nearly burned to a crisp by the Power of Light.

Reese slowly pulled her arm back. While rubbing her sore wrist, she looked at Lola with a faint smile and warned softly, "If you're naughty again, I'll put a chain on you."

Letting such a ferocious dog off its leash was indeed a problem.

Lola's face darkened. Just as she was about to flare up, the empty cup beside her was suddenly filled, and the faint scent of roses drifted to her nose.

Reese put the teapot down and gestured to Lola with her chin, smiling. "Try a change of pace once in a while. Don't you get tired of drinking blood every day?"

Lola's anger inexplicably dissipated under Reese's smile. She frowned, looking down at the pale red liquid in the cup. She picked it up and took a sip. A somewhat bitter taste spread in her mouth. Lola's face darkened with disgust. "What is this stuff? It's disgusting."

She glanced at the exquisite teapot and asked doubtfully, "Isn't the water boiled?"

She had tasted the rose tea Reese brewed before. Although it couldn't compare to delicious blood, it wasn't this hard to swallow.

Reese just shook her head slightly at Lola's disgust. She said nothing, merely lifting her cup and drinking all the lukewarm tea in one go, her tone as soft as a whisper. "You just don't know how to appreciate it."

She caressed the cup, a rare smileless expression on her face. Yet, Lola felt that Reese seemed to be in a very pleasant mood. She narrowed her eyes and suddenly said, "You're very happy."

Her tone was a statement, not a question.

Reese didn't deny it. She curled her lips slightly, resting her hand on her forehead. Her lowered eyes concealed the faint tenderness within. "Yes, I was thinking about some past events."

It had been a long time since she had reminisced about her youth. Perhaps it was because her relationship with Monica had been gradually easing recently, but the beautiful memories she had sealed away in her heart, thinking she would never recall them in this lifetime, had all come rushing out.

It was a bit sudden, but it put her in a very pleasant mood.

"Let's set out for the Shas Principality tonight."

She could no longer wait to see Monica's smile.

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