บท 47: True Love's Kiss

There was a great commotion in the gathering of nobles in the Palace of Lycanne. The king comfortably sat on his seat as a banquet was held. Everyone gathered around when the king cleared his throat.

"My adviser, Brein, can we confirm that the target is dead?" The king addressed one of his advisers as the nobles grew quiet.

A murmur was heard amongst them, and within that murmur came excitement.

It was finally time. Their much-awaited plan of invasion was finally possible, and they could finally get their revenge.

"Your majesty, a confirmation is... unnecessary." Brein respectfully bowed his head, his fangs could be seen as he smirked. "The sleeping sickness is incurable to them, and they have no idea on how to acquire the cure."

"Furthermore, there's great unrest within the Whitelock Tribe. Their elders grew anxious by the day, and the death of the chieftess will be the final straw which will push them on the edge."

Everyone knew of the inner conflict that was happening amidst the Whitelock Tribe. If the chieftess dies, a civil war would most likely ensue. After all, the entire tribe was divided when it came to choosing their next ruler.

On one hand, there was Claude, who just recently died so the current heir to the throne was his sister Anastasia. Then there was Hunter, who wanted the throne for himself. He was a half-descendant, which meant that he wasn't of pure Whitelock blood. That's why there were still a lot of vampires who were against him.

If it comes down to it, the two sides would oppose one another until it was decided who would be the ruler.

The nobles giggled at the thought. They couldn't wait to erase the Whitelock Tribe from existence.

It would be the start of their ethnic cleansing. After all, their main goal was to rid the entire world of vampires.

"Then we're setting off at first light! Brein, gather the commanders and prepare the army! We have a tribe to cleanse!"

— — — — —

Yulie woke up to the sound of the chirping birds and the soft rustle of trees.

Sunlight poured into her room as she sleepily got up and waddled to the bathroom. After a quick prep, she was out and about, heading to the Caharsa Guild to check the recent announcements and a couple of missions posted on the quest board.

A yawn escaped her mouth as she entered the guild.

The momemt she entered, she noticed that a couple of adventurers were gathered near the news board. They were talking under their breaths and it intrigued her.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, guild master," One of the adventurers greeted. "We received the news that the Third Outerlayer was cleared. And supposedly, the person who cleared it was Albrecht Stein. It was confirmed by the Heroes of Lomenschwaal."

"It was also confirmed by the Dragonia Guild. A couple of adventurers who were preparing to scout the Third Outerlayer saw three people go inside. Based on the description, one of them was Albrecht Stein."

"I can't believe a three-man party managed to clear an Outerlayer. Are they really that strong?"

"That's the thing, the receptionist just checked the database just now, she was surprised to see that Albrecht was just a Bronze Rank Adventurer."

"So... there was foul play? Is the Lomenschwaal Kingdom hiding something?"

"Or maybe it was just a lucky break. We'll know soon enough."

Yulie heaved a sigh it had been two days since she last saw Albrecht. And now rumors about him were passed around.

'I hope he's doing okay,' Yulie muttered to herself. She wanted to jump inside the Third Outerlayer to confirm but she had no idea where Albrecht was. That's why she couldn't make a move.

An adventurer wearing full armor suddenly entered the guild.

He heard the commotion from outside, and he was vaguely aware of who Albrecht was.

After all, he knew that he spent the night with the Rosethorns two days ago.

As soon as he walked in, he walked towards the mission board and grabbed a couple of D and C-Rank Quests. He then registered it at the front desk before walking towards the crowd of adventurers.

He was Asvi Winefield, one of the few Gold Rank Adventurers in the Caharsa Guild.

"In any case, those were just rumors. That Albrecht is weak. I saw him get chased around by a Tri-Horn Minotaur once. He was almost killed." He puffed his chest as he spoke. Even though he knew what happened during that incident, he decided to lie about it to paint Albrecht in a bad picture.

Surprised, Yulie wanted to deny what he just said. However, he already exited the premises before Yulie could say anything.

"Ah, was he really that weak?"

"What do you mean? Tri-Horn Minotaurs are crazy strong."

"I guess..."

— — —

Ever since the death of her husband, Valence Whitelock, Theresa firmly ruled over the Whitelock Tribe as the replacement for the chief.

Thanks to her, the neighboring vampire tribes developed an amicable relationship with their tribe.

It was also thanks to her hard work that peace talks between the vampire and werewolves tribe were being negotiated.

But right now, things started to crumble, she had no idea where it went wrong. As if by a stroke of bad luck, she was inflicted with the sleeping sickness.

It was an incurable sickness that directly affected Zecian Aura, and it put her into a coma.

From time to time, she could hear the words of the people around her, but that didn't help with the coma at all.

Adding to that, she had to focus so her Zecian Aura wouldn't go berserk and aggravate her sleeping sickness even more.

For the sake of her children, and the sake of her tribe, she fought the incurable disease as much as she could.

But right now... she had reached the end of the line. Her body screamed in excruciating pain, and she had no idea how long she'd last.

Nevertheless, she fought. She hoped that a miracle would happen.

And just when her consciousness started to dwindle, and the pain became unbearable, she saw a bright light.

Her lips felt warm, and then her entire body followed. Her Zecian Aura also calmed down, and she felt like she would wake up soon.

—

Well, she woke up a few seconds later, and to her surprise, a white-haired ikemen~ was kissing her on the lips while her children and servants watched.

'W-w-what's going on?!' Her mind went haywire and she froze on the spot. 'Why is someone kissing me right now?'

'Is this what healed me?'

'Don't tell me— ?! The cure to the sleeping sickness was a true love's kiss?!'

'Kyaaa~!'

Theresa's inner monologue was so obvious it showed on her face reddening with embarrassment. She didn't squirm around nor try to push Albrecht away.

She just lay there, as still as a fallen tree, while Albrecht did the deed.

When Albrecht finally let go of her lips, everyone saw that she was already awake.

At this point, Theresa just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.