บท 35: Dreaded Ruler
Along the halls of the bright castle walked a strikingly and exquisitely beautiful woman wearing a simple but strangely regal dress, its velvet the color of red wine.
An intricate silver necklace rested on her chest, accentuating her supple figure, and two bracelets adorned her wrists.
However, her most striking feature was not her grace or beauty, but her skin.
It was gray like stormy clouds, smooth like silk, and devoid of any imperfections.
She looked around and entered a larger hall, making her way through more twisting corridors. Along the way, some of her personal handmaidens bowed and showed their respect.
In turn, she smiled, revealing her beautiful pearly white teeth. The smile was so perfect that most people wouldn't even notice how forced it was.
There was something very important on her mind. A certain someone had very recently entered the castle.
The one in question was Caster of the Han Li Clan. She intended to be friendly with him since he was part of a legacy clan of the great Clan Song.
But he was elusive, and she hadn't had a chance to meet him—at least not yet.
Now, her main reason for moving through the halls was that some of the pathfinders had slain an awakened demon, this meant that there was some perfectly good blood for her to take.
Although she hid her excitement, she paced through the halls as quickly as she could—without appearing too excited, of course.
Maintaining the image of a stoic leader wasn't difficult, but it was still a bit exhausting.
As she neared the door to the storage room, she saw no one was watching and sprinted toward it.
When she was just a foot away, she stopped and calmly opened the door. Entering the room, she was met with the smell of wounded hunters.
There were also three dead, which was still better than she had expected—it wouldn't have been too surprising if half of them had died.
A hunter with a solemn expression approached her and bowed deeply.
"Lady Seishan, it is a pleasure to have you with us." He straightened his back as she remained expressionless, scanning the room.
"The pleasure's mine. I am sorry for the losses this battle caused" she nodded with a sad undertone while discreetly looking around for the corpse of the demon.
Then she saw it. It was being butchered by a tall man with a brown beard and piercing brown eyes.
Looking like a giant mammal, the demon had six legs with paws at the ends. Its body was made of multiple patches of fur, almost stitched together by red strings.
Some patches were white, while the rest varied.
Where its head had once been was now an almost completely crushed skull. Most surprisingly, its rear end had more than eight tails that ended in sharp spikes.
After examining the demon, she looked at the hunter and cleared her throat.
"I was told that I could take some of the demon's blood" she said simply, and the hunter nodded with a somewhat somber expression.
"Ah, yes, of course. Please come this way." He gestured toward the demon, and she followed.
Standing in front of the demon, it was enormous—almost triple the size of a man.
'It's even bigger than Tessai' she thought, the image of the giant brute popping into her mind, but she quickly pushed the bothersome man out of her thoughts.
The hunter nodded simply and went to speak with one of the older pathfinders. Focusing on the demon, she took out one of the six blood bags she kept on her at all times and began filling the first with its blood.
She then filled the rest of them.
Having done what she came for, she approached the lead pathfinder and excused herself. Walking with the same elegance as always, she hid her morbid excitement at the thought of drinking all the blood as soon as she reached her quarters.
However, she was stopped by a young and somewhat meek man.
Looking at him with an unreadable expression, she waited for him to speak, but he seemed struck by her beauty.
Not amused, she frowned for a moment but quickly regained her indifference.
"What is it? I have much work to do" she said, her voice sharp.
The young man snapped out of his momentary daze and cleared his throat.
"Ah, yes... forgive me... Sir Gemma has called for you." She paused for a moment before nodding and heading toward the throne room, somewhat frustrated that the blood she had just procured would lose what little flavor it had left.
As she approached the throne room doors, she saw two of her most proficient and hardworking handmaidens.
Smiling slightly, she walked toward them, and they both smiled brightly, saying in unison: "Hello, Lady Seishan."
She raised her hand and smiled kindly. "Please, be at ease. It's always nice to see the two of you working so earnestly for my sake."
The one on the right was Veila. She had long dark brown hair and kind brown eyes. Like every Sleeper, she was beautiful, though not to the same level as Seishan.
The one on the left was Leiara, who had shoulder-length beige hair and smoky, ashen eyes. She, too, was beautiful, though her eyes were slightly more hardened than Veila's.
Both were very experienced in combat and incredibly proficient in their respective tasks.
Making way for Seishan, the two girls moved aside, and Seishan opened the door. It creaked slightly, and as she entered, she saw the same familiar sight.
To the right were Gemma and Kido, both with their most trusted subordinates.
To her left was Tessai, but there was also a new person—a young man with brown hair and green eyes.
No doubt, this had to be the scion of the Han Li Clan. It seemed this meeting wouldn't be a complete waste of time like usual.
And on the throne was the same sight as always: Gunulaug, embraced by his flowing golden armor. Preferring not to look at the visor of his armor, she made her way to the left, with her handmaidens following closely.
Once they were in position, Gunlaug finally began to speak.
"It is always pleasant to see everyone here. Now then, I'll skip the pleasantries and get to what I called you here for." He paused and turned to Gemma before continuing. "I was told that we have come into possession of the corpse of an awakened demon."
Gemma nodded without looking at him. The Bright Lord tapped his fingers on the armrest of the throne and hummed.
"Now that is impressive. I think a small feast is in store for those who have slain that demon, don't you think?" He focused more intently on Gemma, who trembled slightly.
Gemma responded in a raspy voice, "Yes, I will see to it that they are appropriately compensated for their efforts."
Gunulaug nodded with satisfaction and turned his attention to Kido, causing the girl to immediately tense up.
"I'm sure you'll be capable of creating some fine equipment out of the demon's corpse."
Swallowing hard, Kido smiled politely. "Of course, my subordinates and I will give it our all."
"Yes, very good." He finished, and they were dismissed. He gave a few of his regular speeches about remaining steadfast in their work, but Seishan had heard the same old speeches so many times that she could recite them from memory.
As everyone made their way outside, she told her handmaidens to go ahead first and then made her way to Caster.
"Caster of Han Li, it is a pleasure." The man turned to her and prostrated himself.
"Likewise. What a coincidence that we'd meet in the same place" he responded curtly, and Seishan couldn't help but inwardly praise his etiquette.
Most of the hunters were laid back and somewhat crude when speaking.
"It is, and I'm still surprised that you rose in the ranks so fast—just as expected of a legacy under Clan Song."
She smiled pleasantly, failing to notice Caster's confused expression.
But being trained in the art of keeping appearances, Caster immediately regained his composure and thanked her.
He reminded himself that Seishan had been in the dream realm for many years, so she likely wasn't aware that the Han Li Clan had switched to working under Valor.
Seeing this as an advantage, he chatted with her a bit longer before being tasked with helping transport the remaining meat from their hunt.
Excusing himself politely, Caster left.
Seishan stood there, satisfied. Having another legacy here would certainly make life in the castle much easier.
However, she stopped in her tracks and looked up toward the looming ceiling.
'Life in the castle… When did I lose all hope of escaping this place? Is this really the extent to which I'm willing to go—just living here for the rest of my life?'
Thinking for a while longer, she took out one of the blood bags and opened it slightly, sniffing inside. She frowned.
'The blood's lost all flavor.' The previous aroma was gone, replaced by the same regular smell of blood.
'Disappointing.' She sighed and made her way to her quarters, now thoroughly disappointed.
**********
Outside the dark castle, in the grim outskirts, a group stood gazing at the castle.
A young man in an intricately woven shroud, a tall young woman with piercing gray eyes embraced by white-plated armor, and a young woman with yellow hair and pale blue eyes, dressed in a simple tunic with leather sandals and a cloak the color of sea waves.
The most striking figure, however, was the tall young woman wearing a white tunic that barely hid her muscles.
The young boy looked at the tall woman and gave an overly exaggerated bow. "Thank you very much for guiding us here. You were of great help."
The tall woman dismissed him with a wave of her hand and yawned. "Yes, yes, now don't die out there." She said, and the young boy's eyes widened slightly.
But she continued, "It would be a waste for you to die with that extraordinary memory. And don't forget, you still owe me those two barrels."
Laughing self-deprecatingly, the boy promptly responded, "It really warms my heart to hear how much you care. I'll make sure to get two barrels, and I'll fill them to the brim."
The tall woman grinned widely and slapped him on the back, but given her size and strength, that friendly gesture could have been taken as an actual punch.
If not for his three cores and Sleeper body, he would have been toppled to the ground.
The woman walked away, and he turned to the two girls. "What a hassle. Now, let's head to the castle. Oh, and here."
He reached into his shroud and took out three dormant soul shards, handing one to each of the girls and keeping one for himself.
"Let's go and make our reservations."
Next Chapter: New Guests
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