Night was gradually falling. Cynthia guessed that the little bit of annoyance she had provoked in Olivia had mostly dissipated, so she habitually walked toward the woods where she rested.

During their time traveling together, she had always spent the night on Olivia’s treetop bridge.

Cynthia entered the woods and, as usual, looked up to greet the Elf guard standing in the tree. The Elf guard, perched on a branch, waved at her, but their smile was inexplicably strange.

Cynthia’s steps faltered. She stopped and asked, “Did something happen?”

The Elf guard’s expression was just too odd.

The Elf guard shook their head and said with a grin, “Congratulations, Cynthia.”

“Congratulations?”

The Elf guard nodded with a smile.

Cynthia looked at the Elf guard’s smiling face, completely baffled. Filled with confusion, she continued walking into the woods. Along the way, she met two more Elf guards, and just like the first one, they broke into strange smiles upon seeing her.

Cynthia retracted the foot she was about to place on the bridge. She turned decisively and found Polly, who was talking with another Elf guard.

When Polly saw Cynthia, her expression also became a bit peculiar. She glanced outside the woods and asked casually, “I heard a very beautiful human is pursuing you. Did you agree?”

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “How did you know?”

Elves weren’t a race that enjoyed eavesdropping, and when she was talking with Avira, she was quite far from the woods. Logically, the Elves shouldn’t have been able to hear unless they were actively trying to.

“Sarah told us.” Polly pointed outside the woods to where Sarah was excitedly chatting with her kin. “She ran over to share it with us. She seemed quite happy about it.”

Of course, they had also listened with great interest, Polly thought, guiltily rubbing her nose.

Cynthia: “…”

Sure enough, every race was interested in gossip.

Seeing Cynthia’s silence, Polly thought for a moment, then leaned in and asked curiously, “Do you like her? I took a look, and she’s really beautiful.”

Sarah had said this red-haired girl was a human with a Light Constitution, which was a good match for the God Race.

Cynthia glanced toward the edge of the woods. The red-haired girl had already blended in with Sarah’s group and seemed to be getting along harmoniously. She averted her gaze and said nonchalantly, “She is indeed quite good-looking.”

But also suspicious enough.

Although Avira kept trying to hide it, Cynthia could still feel the aggressiveness in the way she stared at her.

It was the gaze of a ruler long accustomed to being in power. It had to be said, this person’s acting was a bit subpar.

However, Cynthia couldn’t yet figure out this person’s identity or purpose.

Cynthia kept her suspicions about Avira to herself, not letting any of it show on her face. Seeing her expression, Polly thought she was interested in the red-haired girl and said with a smile, “Well, congratulations, Cynthia.”

“But even though she’s beautiful, I still think Her Majesty our Queen is more beautiful.”

Cynthia completely ignored the first half of her sentence and wholeheartedly agreed with the second half. “Her Majesty Queen Olivia is wonderful.”

“Her Majesty our Queen has many admirers, too.”

An idea struck Cynthia. She leaned closer and asked tentatively, “Many?”

“A lot.” Polly started counting on her fingers, about to reveal a few names to Cynthia, but a vine suddenly descended from the sky and wrapped around her wrist. At the same time, Olivia’s clear, cold voice sounded in their ears. “Be quiet, Polly.”

Polly cleared her throat and silently lowered her hand.

Cynthia tilted her head up slightly. A crescent moon hung in the night sky, and in the bright moonlight, she could vaguely make out the pale green figure standing at the top of the bridge.

She turned and walked back to the base of the bridge. After waiting for a while and seeing that Olivia wasn’t going to “help” her up, she could only roll up her sleeves and patiently climb, section by section.

This time, it took her nearly twice as long as before to reach the top. Even with a body that didn’t tire, Cynthia felt her breathing grow slightly heavy. She steadied her breath and was about to go sit in the chair, but when she looked up, she found that the spot where the table and chairs used to be was completely empty.

Cynthia blinked. She stood up straight, tidied her clothes, and then walked to Olivia’s side.

Olivia was looking down at the God Race’s resting area. Hearing footsteps, she didn’t turn around but said faintly, “Congratulations.”

Cynthia was curious about what Olivia was looking at, so she followed her gaze downward. Avira’s long red hair was very conspicuous in the night. Just as she was about to mention how suspicious this person was, she heard Olivia’s congratulations. She said with some exasperation, “Is the Elf Queen also such a gossip?”

Olivia glanced at her but said nothing.

“I swear, I have no interest in her whatsoever.” Cynthia held up two fingers together and said to Olivia with a grin, “If you don’t believe me, you can hold my hand and see.”

Olivia looked at the hand she extended and frowned. “Why would I need to know that?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I am not.”

“But you seem angry.” Cynthia turned to look at the empty bridge and sighed. “Even the chairs are gone.”

Olivia: “…”

Seeing Olivia’s expression darken slightly, and to prevent herself from being thrown off again, Cynthia promptly dropped her playful act. She put on a serious expression and said, “That human is very strange.”

Without waiting for Olivia to ask, she listed all the strange things about Avira.

Olivia was silent for a moment before speaking. “I have never seen her before.” She paused, then added, “By the time I was born, the Vampires were already preparing to withdraw from the Sitatul Continent.”

There were twelve Vampire clans. She was only more familiar with the Lasombra and Tzimisce. As for clans like the Ventrue and Brujah, who had withdrawn much earlier, she didn’t know as much about them.

After all, no matter how powerful she was, she couldn’t just barge into the Blood Domain.

“You think she might be a Vampire?” Cynthia raised a hand to her chin and said thoughtfully, “But what could her purpose be?”

When she first found Avira suspicious, she had tried to probe her memories but failed.

This deepened Cynthia’s suspicion of her.

Her God Race abilities should not be ineffective against an ordinary human anymore.

“We’ll know if we keep her around and watch,” Olivia’s tone was extremely cold, a hint of killing intent in her eyes. “Otherwise, we can just kill her.”

As long as she could confirm it was a Vampire… she would never be soft-hearted.

Cynthia lowered her eyes in thought. “This place is a bit strange. Let’s observe for now.”

She remembered that the little wolf didn’t seem to be seeing Avira for the first time. This person probably wasn’t targeting them, but had just run into them by chance.

If she really was a Vampire, hiding her identity to mix in with a group of humans while many third-generation Vampires were gathered nearby… it sounded very interesting.

The night wind was somewhat gentle, making the cold less biting. Beside her, the silver-haired member of the God Race rested one hand on a vine, half-turned as she stared blankly at the night sky. Her exquisite features appeared hazy in the moonlight. Olivia turned her head slightly and stared at Cynthia for a while, noticing that when this God Race member wasn’t smiling, her eyes and brows were also tinged with coldness.

Lost in thought, Cynthia sensed Olivia’s gaze. She turned her head, and the coldness in her beautiful golden eyes vanished, replaced by a full-blown smile. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “What is it?”

Olivia averted her gaze and said flatly, “Nothing.”

Cynthia smiled. Just as she was about to say something, her expression suddenly changed. She pressed a hand to her forehead and squatted down in pain.

Olivia instinctively bent down to support her, frowning as she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“…My head hurts so much.”

Olivia’s expression grew solemn. She grabbed Cynthia’s wrist, wanting to pull her hand away to check on her, but then she heard Cynthia say, “It would probably be better if I had a chair to sit and rest on for a while.”

Olivia’s hand, pulling at Cynthia’s wrist, froze.

Cynthia looked up slightly, meeting Olivia’s pale green eyes. The corners of her mouth curved into a beautiful arc as she said teasingly, “And if there were a table and a bottle of nectar, I’d get better even faster.”

This God Race member was tricking her again.

Olivia expressionlessly released her wrist. Just as she was about to throw Cynthia off, an angry wolf’s howl suddenly reached their ears.

Cynthia, who had been teasing just a moment ago, quickly wiped the smile from her face. She stood up, subtly shielding Olivia behind her, and stared in the direction of the sound. In a deep voice, she said, “Is that the little wolf’s voice?”

The sudden grip on her wrist startled Olivia. She looked up at Cynthia, who was partially shielding her. The silver-haired God Race member’s expression was serious and earnest, a complete contrast to the person who had been playing pranks on her just moments before. She was like two different people.

Looking at Cynthia’s profile, for some reason, Olivia’s steady heartbeat suddenly quickened. She frowned, trying to calm herself down.

The wolf howls grew more frequent. Cynthia pondered for a moment, squeezed Olivia’s wrist, and said in a low voice, “You stay here. I’ll go down and check.”

“…You alone?”

“Polly and the others are still down there.” Cynthia released Olivia’s hand and smiled. “If it’s very dangerous, then you can act.” If Hanni had only run into a few fourth-generation Vampires, then they could handle it themselves without Olivia.

Although Cynthia didn’t know what was wrong with Olivia, she felt that she should rest more and, preferably, act less.

Olivia nodded silently, unconsciously clutching the wrist Cynthia had just held. She lowered her gaze, somewhat absent-minded. After a moment, she noticed Cynthia was still standing there. She looked up and asked, “Why haven’t you gone down yet?”

Cynthia glanced back at the countless steps, blinked, and seeing that Olivia genuinely hadn’t realized, she reminded her tactfully, “It might be a bit of a waste of time for me to go down on my own.”

Olivia: “…”

A sudden whirlwind swept down and carried Cynthia with it.

After Cynthia left, the treetop bridge became empty and desolate once more, but Olivia felt that she had finally returned to normal. She turned and walked to the other side, her eyes slightly lowered, her gaze unconsciously following the silver-haired God Race member’s figure, her brow tightly furrowed.

This God Race member was too strange, and she was making her strange as well.

A breeze lifted the long, pale green hair at the side of Olivia’s face, hiding the faint blush on the tips of her ears. Her gaze swept over her own wrist again, her eyes flickering as she muttered to herself, “I can’t let this God Race member come back up here.”

This God Race member’s subconscious reaction to the sound was to protect her. Was she that weak… She was overstepping!