It was the night of the full moon.

The pitch-black night was mercilessly swept away by a fierce wind, leaving a sky filled with the light of the brilliant moon. The lush mountain forest appeared hazy under the moonlight, and a magnificent white castle hidden within added a touch of fantasy to the scene.

There wasn’t a single flame lit inside the castle. The doors and windows were shut tight, save for a half-open window in the corner room on the second floor. The strong wind slipped through the gap, sending layers of white gauze curtains flying. As the layers of white gauze rose and fell, they revealed the passionate spring scene within the room.

In any Vampire castle, the most luxurious and eye-catching feature was always the bed. A single bed could take up nearly a third of the room’s space, and Avira’s castle was no exception.

Vampires were generally quite open-minded in certain aspects and wouldn’t deliberately control their strength when excited. Therefore, to ensure a better experience without being interrupted, the beds in their castles were made to be exceptionally sturdy and not easily damaged.

But even this bed, sturdy enough for Vampires, now showed cracks. These cracks came from a werewolf who was having some trouble controlling her power on the night of the full moon.

“If this bed collapses, I have no desire to be on the floor.” Avira tilted her head back to accommodate Hanni’s less-than-gentle kiss. The hand on Hanni’s back patted her lightly, her gorgeous face showing a smile in addition to her alluring charm. “Control your emotions, Hanni.”

The air was filled with Avira’s unique scent, which had already caused Hanni to lose herself. But upon hearing Avira’s words, she subconsciously reined in some of her strength, her hand pressing on the bed curling slightly.

Avira’s red lips curved into a slight smile. Her fair, slender arms wrapped around Hanni’s neck, and she leaned in to kiss her lips. The two became entangled once more.

The night wind blew the half-open window further open, and a pure white cat leaped gracefully onto the windowsill. Its crimson eyes peered curiously through the white gauze curtains at the two people on the bed, its tail swaying slowly behind it.

Avira, who was in the middle of kissing Hanni, casually glanced toward the window. Her eyes darkened. She turned her head slightly, and the hand resting on Hanni’s shoulder slowly moved down, grasping Hanni’s wrist and gently pulling her away.

The white cat had not concealed its presence. Hanni, having been pushed away, sobered up a little and quickly noticed its existence.

“It seems I’ve come at a bad time.” The white cat jumped down from the windowsill, walked to the bedside with light steps, and leaped onto a low cabinet. Licking its paws, it chuckled at Avira, “Had your fun? Want to add me to the mix?”

“I’ve never tasted a werewolf before.”

Hanni got off Avira and was clumsily getting dressed. Hearing the white cat’s words, she frowned, shot Avira a fierce glare, and said angrily, “Shameless.”

Under her glare, Avira looked completely innocent. Seeing that Hanni’s clothes were a bit disheveled, she reached out to help straighten them, saying with a smile, “Why do you turn hostile the moment you put your clothes on? I did help you get through the full moon night.”

Hanni pushed her hand away, quickly buttoning her clothes while muttering, “You were the one who tricked me into coming here.”

Although… she had also “allowed” herself to be tricked. Hanni’s face grew hot. Her peripheral vision caught the white cat watching the show with great interest. She straightened up with a stern face and was about to leave.

But after a few steps, she saw the clothes scattered all over the floor and suddenly stopped. Hanni bent down, picked up Avira’s outer robe, glanced at her, and silently tossed the garment over. Then, she darted out through the half-open window.

The robe landed on Avira’s shoulders, covering her body. Avira’s lips curved into a low laugh. She casually gathered the robe around herself, walked barefoot to the table, poured a glass of water, and asked nonchalantly, “What’s so important that you had to come and disturb me at this hour?”

The white cat was still staring in the direction Hanni had left. Sniffing the lingering amorous scent in the room, she licked her fangs and said playfully, “This little wolf looks average, but she seems quite delicious in bed.”

Avira picked up her glass, smiled, and said nothing.

A red light flashed, and the white cat transformed into a human. Kate walked over to Avira, covered her mouth as she yawned, and said casually, “I’d like a taste too. Let me play with her for a few days.”

Avira glanced at her. The hand toying with the glass suddenly loosened, and the glass fell.

“So tired from playing? You can’t even hold a glass…” Kate reacted quickly, bending down to catch the glass mid-fall. But halfway through her teasing remark, the smile on her face suddenly froze.

She remained in a bent position, looking up slightly. Avira was leaning against the table, watching her leisurely with a faint smile. “What did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Kate met Avira’s gaze for a moment. Only after sensing the pressure on her had been lifted did she straighten up, still holding the glass. She looked Avira up and down, raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, and said with a wink and a smile, “I was just joking.”

Avira took the glass from her hand, took a sip of water, and said with a smile, “Come on, tell me why you really came to find me at this time.”

The little interlude didn’t seem to bother Kate. She sat on the table, her fair legs swinging restlessly. “What else could it be? Of course, it’s about the whereabouts of my precious.”

“Didn’t you ask me to investigate?”

Avira caressed the glass in her hand and asked softly, “Which temple has Talia set her sights on now?”

“She’s in the Mentos Desert. Harris is there too.” Kate observed Avira’s expression, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. Her eyes darted around, clearly hiding something.

The moment Avira saw her expression, she knew that Talia’s trip to the Mentos Desert wasn’t to destroy the Earth Mother’s temple. “What are they doing there?”

Kate winked at Avira. “You guess.”

Avira lowered her eyes in thought. Suddenly, something occurred to her, and her heart stirred. She said slowly, “The Blood Coffins.”

The matter of the Blood Coffins had always been the responsibility of the Tzimisce clan. The fact that Harris, who had been staying in the Blood Domain, was now out and about must have something to do with the Blood Coffins.

When she first arrived on the Sitatul Continent, she had mingled with the Tzimisce clan, intending to investigate the whereabouts of the Blood Coffins, but she had never found any clues.

So they had hidden the Blood Coffins in the Earth Mother’s temple. No wonder she couldn’t sense their aura.

“You guessed right.” Kate hopped off the table, the ornaments on her body jingling. “But there’s one more thing you definitely won’t guess.”

“Oh?”

Kate turned to meet Avira’s gaze, the playful smile gone from her face. She said seriously, “The Blood Coffins were placed inside the Earth Mother’s temple and can’t be taken out.”

“Talia and Harris have been there for some time, but it seems the problem hasn’t been solved.”

Avira, who had been idly swirling the glass, paused. A flicker of light crossed her eyes. She studied Kate’s expression and, seeing her serious face, knew she wasn’t lying. Her brows slowly furrowed. “I was wondering why you were so obedient this time. I asked you to investigate Talia’s whereabouts, and you actually came back with news.”

“What? Worried she’s causing more and more trouble?”

Disobeying orders to come to Sitatul, even stealing the Blood Coffins with the intent to conquer the continent—these all sounded like serious offenses, but in reality, they were minor squabbles among Vampires.

The Vampires had existed for who knows how many tens of thousands of years and had fought countless civil wars. There were many who had caused far more trouble than Talia. As long as a bottom line wasn’t crossed, these incidents would become mere topics of conversation after they passed.

Disobeying orders to conquer the Sitatul Continent was nothing, but failing to retrieve the Blood Coffins… that was crossing the line far too thoroughly.

“Come with me to get the Blood Coffins back. I will personally drag Talia back,” Kate said in an exceptionally serious and earnest tone. “After we return, I can make her behave for a few thousand years.”

Originally, Kate had indulged Talia’s trip to the Sitatul Continent because she was right there with her. If Talia wanted to play, she would let her play to her heart’s content, and she would take the blame if the Ventrue clan complained. But who could have imagined that things would spiral out of control right under her nose?

“If the Blood Coffins are truly lost, you think a few thousand years can save her life?” Avira drained the water in her glass in one gulp, her tone cold. “Don’t be so naive.”

Her purpose exposed, Kate pressed her lips together. Avira’s icy expression also made her abandon any thought of continuing to plead for Talia. If the Blood Coffins could be retrieved, it would be fine. If not, nothing she said now would be of any use.

Samantha’s fury was far more terrifying than Avira’s current coldness.

Cynthia was not yet aware that the Vampires had lost the Blood Coffins in the Mentos Desert. After returning from the Capri Plains, she and Olivia had gone to the Elf Territory.

Although the Tree of Life had not suffered any substantial damage during the previous Vampire attack, thanks to Olivia’s deliberate control, its condition was already poor to begin with. Thus, after being away for a while, she had to return to look after it.

Before, when the burden of caring for the Tree of Life rested solely on her shoulders, she had never felt it was heavy. But it was a fact that the condition of both the Elf Race and herself was worsening day by day. Now, with Cynthia sharing the burden, she felt much more relaxed.

At the very least, the Tree of Life’s current state no longer required her to sustain it with her own life force, though they still hadn’t found a solution for the mutated Elf Fruits.

Before she met Cynthia, the Forbidden Land contained nothing but flowers, grass, and trees; it was empty and vast. But after Cynthia began staying there regularly, the place became quite full. Besides a table and chairs for resting, she had even managed to procure a rack for drying flower petals from somewhere.

While Olivia was busy tending to the Elf Fruits that were nurturing young elves, Cynthia would be by the rack, selecting petals and attempting to brew flower nectar. The two did not interfere with each other, but a quiet vitality had been added to the Forbidden Land.

Brewing flower nectar seemed to be an innate skill for elves, but for Cynthia, it was an unfamiliar domain. After trying, she had to admit that she did not possess the same extraordinary talent for brewing nectar as she did for studying Light Magic.

“The taste is a bit lacking, but the color is quite nice.” Olivia took one sip of the nectar and set the cup down. Seeing Cynthia fiddling with the nectar bottle and thinking about how she had been busy with this for some time, she paused and offered a tactful consolation, “This is your first time brewing nectar. It’s already very good.” Although the skill level is about the same as a young elf from the clan.

Cynthia, who was toying with the nectar bottle, raised an eyebrow at Olivia’s words. She glanced at the cup in front of Olivia and said with a smile, “Then would Her Majesty the Queen grace me by taking another sip?”

Olivia glanced at the cup, showing no intention of tasting it again.

Cynthia lowered her head and chuckled softly, casually placing the nectar bottle on the table. “I’ll try the challenge again when I have the chance.” The process of brewing nectar was tedious, but it was also quite interesting.

Olivia watched her for a while, her light green eyes softening slightly. She caressed the cup in front of her, and as if remembering something, she pushed a piece of parchment toward Cynthia. “Clan Leader Helen has replied,” she said softly. “She isn’t sure if the God of Darkness created any new races before leaving, but she did offer some other speculations.”

Cynthia picked up the parchment and looked down at it. “The generals of the God of Darkness?” she said thoughtfully.

According to legend, the God of Darkness was extremely mysterious. Although her subordinate gods often clashed with those of the Goddess of Light, the God of Darkness rarely participated in battles personally, no matter the scale. It was usually her generals who fought for her.

After the God of Darkness left the Sitatul Continent, there had been no news of her generals.

“Wolf Fang, Blood Demon,” Olivia said faintly. “Though they are not gods, they were immortal as long as the God of Darkness was present.”

In addition to the sealed new races, there were now potentially two generals to deal with… Cynthia placed the parchment on the table, her eyes lowered as she carefully read its contents again.

As Cynthia perused the parchment, Olivia watched her quietly from across the table. The hand resting on the table moved slightly, and she discreetly put the nearby nectar bottle into her Space Gem.

The faint sound did not escape Cynthia’s ears. She glanced up, a smile playing on her lips at Olivia’s small action, but she tactfully chose not to expose her. She folded the parchment and handed it to Olivia, smiling gently. “Shall we return to the Slade Sea Region tomorrow?”

Olivia avoided Cynthia’s teasing gaze, her eyes fixed on her cup. “In a few more days,” she said in a low voice.

“Hmm?”

“The situation on the Sitatul Continent is becoming more and more complex. Since I’m in good condition right now, I want to preserve some of my vital essence.” Olivia paused for a moment after speaking, the way her fingers kept stroking the cup revealing her inner hesitation. “Are you… willing to leave some of your vital essence to be preserved with mine?”

During the age of the gods, there had been several instances of an Elf Queen bearing offspring with another race, so Olivia wasn’t worried that her and Cynthia’s essences couldn’t merge.

It was just that making such a request made her feel no less flustered than when she had explained the Twin Flower to Cynthia.

Olivia’s proposal made Cynthia pause for a moment, but she quickly understood. A smile had already climbed to the corners of her lips before she even responded. “Of course, I’d be happy to.”

Olivia looked up and met her gaze. She didn’t speak, but a slight curve appeared on her lips. She picked up her cup, intending to take a sip of nectar, just as Cynthia added, “Very happy.”

“Extremely happy.”

Olivia: “…”

The cup that had been raised to her lips was placed back on the table. Olivia’s tone was a little helpless. “Answering once is enough.”

However, she wouldn’t mind hearing it a few more times.