It goes without saying that things were awkward for a while after the others walked through the doorway back to my Castle.

  Luckily, I was not in the mood for too much shit. If Stevin’s uncle really was attacking tomorrow, we didn’t have time for much fuckery, so I spoke.

  “Enna, tell me this. A week ago, you wanted me to forgive you for the exact thing you have done yet again. How is it that after all that happened, after all we’ve been through, you still see me as some danger? Have my powers scared you to the extent of fearing I was some evil again?”

  “Evil?” Stevin frowned, turning to look at the woman next to him.

  But I continued, “You created problems, put the others at risk, and even got that damned High Temple involved in all of this crap, all because of what? What did you expect? And now, when I want each of us to go our way, rid you of the troubles of staying next to me, and rid me of a woman who cannot trust her eyes, you kneel, weep, and beg me. Tell me, priestess. What is it you want?”

  She mumbled for a while, her eyes moving around the entire room, but not my eyes.

  “Speak clearly,” I sighed, not understanding a word she said.

  She blinked as if awake from a dream, as if she was done reciting her mantra, “I…” she met my eyes, “Wish to serve you.”

  That’s a bender, alright. From wanting to rid myself of her to somehow swearing allegiance to me. How the fuck did that happen?

  “Pahahaha,” Stevin burst out laughing, falling sideways on the nearby couch, “This crazy woman… I’m telling you, Your Grace, one of those savages caught her a punch straight in the side of the head. From that moment on, she must have had brain damage.”

  Clearly, that seemed to have been the case.

  [No Brain Damage detected in Enna.]

  ‘You must be fun at parties.’

  Not that I was, really.

  “Hold on, Enna,” I raised a hand, requesting Stevin not to anger the woman. She knew how to throw fists. “Explain.”

  “As… as I told you in the past, Your Grace,” her eyes were glued to the ground, unmoving. “I trust you. I… more than trust you. And that has never happened. It is an issue. It feels like I am not in control, as if I were some charming spell that bends my will according to… someone else's needs. I apologized in the past, thinking it must have just been my imagination, but after seeing your powers, I… wanted to make sure. I know what I did was wrong. I knew from the moment you walked inside the Chapel without any issue, but I cannot rewind time, nor can I undo it. I understand that what I did put the others in danger, but…”

  “You had to be sure,” I sighed, finishing the sentence for her.

  “Yes.”

  “Fine, let’s say that what you claim is true,” I shook my head. “What about little Arthur then, what about hating a child and looking at him with disdain as if he, or his mother, were to blame for what a man did to her. How can Arthur, how can a four-year-old boy, or however old he is, be to blame? How can a woman who was GODDAMN assaulted be to blame? How can the High Temples be made of seven branches of religions, with their own damn Gods, and all their priests, priestesses, and Templars, look into a child’s eye who had no blame for being here, and not allow him to be baptized, or look down upon all his life, all because of some silly rule you have imposed?”

  “That is true,” Stevin nodded, agreeing with my words. “I’ve also seen how you looked at the boy, you red-haired devil.”

  Brother, you are not helping the situation by taunting her further. Look! She is already tightening her jaw.

  “Stevin, silence,” I commanded, meeting the boy’s brown eyes. “It is also because of you, with your sly, free tongue, telling everyone what to think of me. So sit there, and let me speak with the woman.”

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  “Apologies, Your Grace,” he cleared his throat before straightening his back on the couch.

  Which allowed me to turn back to the pair of orange eyes that stared into my soul.

  “Let’s hear it, then.”

  “I…” she muttered, trailing off for a second. “I have no excuse. I was indeed raised to see it as a grievous sin, but your words are also true. Neither the child nor the mother is to blame for the conception. So, if I were to baptize him, would you…forgive me again? I swear to you, I will not disappoint you again.”

  “Why?” I asked, not understanding the sudden devotion she was offering. It felt random.

  “In one of our old Scriptures, there is a…” she trailed off, shook her head, and cleared her throat, before correcting herself. “I owe you my life twice over. Allow me to serve you as your Priestess, be the bridge between Your Grace and the High Temples wherever you are in the world.”

  I narrowed my eyes at that, a random thought scraping against my brain. I had to test her.

  “Tell me, Enna, if… let’s say, I had to ever fight against the High Temples, where would your allegiance lie? Who would you choose to fight for? Me? Or your High Temples?”

  At that moment, she got to her feet, thinking that I somehow angered her by asking such a difficult question, but instead, she took a knife from the table, approaching me with it.

  ‘Ephe?’

  [No Hostile Intentions Detected.]

  With confirmation given, I stood in the same spot, watching her approach and come to a stop a foot away from me. With a swift flick of her right wrist, she cut off the palm of her left hand, letting blood gather in the palm of her hand.

  Before I could frown at the sight before my eyes or ask her if she had truly gone mad, she kneeled again, joining both palms into a makeshift bowl, where her blood gathered.

  “For you, Your Grace,” she whispered, her head lowered. “Accept this gift as my answer and my vow of allegiance to you.”

  I blinked in confusion, turned to Stevin, who only shrugged at me, before turning back to the red-haired woman kneeling at my feet, more and more blood gathering in her palms.

  What the fuck was I supposed to do now?

  ‘Help me, please.’

  [Drink It.]

  I grimaced at the sound advice Ephe gave me, but wanting to rid myself of the anxiety of the situation, just as I stopped Julia from singing in the past, I now stopped Enna from kneeling by doing the same thing. With Julia, I sang. With Enna, I knelt too, drinking the thick, iron-filled, bile-inducing liquid until not a drop remained.

  If she were to change her attitude, then maybe she wasn’t that bad a person. Weird thing to acknowledge as you drink said person’s blood, but hey, weirder things could happen, no?

  I regretted my words soon after.

  I gasped for air, feeling sick to my stomach, since, as we all know, I was not a Vampire. But then, Ephe spoke.

  [Allegiance Given.]

  [Enna of the Royal House of Ashtara has Vowed Eternal Servitude.]

  [Ability Harvesting Available.]

  [Would Elio want to read Enna’s Stats?]

  [...]

  [Elio?]

  Holy shit.

  Stevin’s instincts were right. This woman was not a simple Priestess. His Fiancée was related to this woman. In what way? How? Were they unaware? Were they keeping it a secret?

  I panicked, getting to my feet, taking a step back, and almost crashing back onto the couch.

  “Your Grace?” Enna asked, her light magic already healing the wound in her palm.

  “I’m fine,” I shook my head, thinking of a quick lie. “It’s just… It’s been a while since I… you know, drank blood.”

  “I-I see,” she stammered, her cheeks getting crimson. “Was… it good?”

  I guess if you count wanting to puke my guts out good, then yes, bloody brilliant. Michelin Star bullshit.

  “Yes,” I smiled, lying through my damn teeth. “I’m feeling more alive than ever.”

  “That’s good,” she matched my smile with a real one before she got to her feet and walked back toward the couch Stevin was in.

  “Congratulations, traitor of the High Temples,” Stevin taunted, forgetting my earlier warning.

  A taunt that seemed to have found Enna in a better mood than before, punching Stevin sideways across the cheek, sending him flying from the couch.

  “Hm,” she nodded, as if proud of herself.

  “You bloody bitch,” Stevin hissed, wiping blood away from his open lip. “Be glad, you have managed to serve His Grace a whole minute. Now you die.”

  “Try me, twerp.”

  And as they began fighting, a weird sense of nostalgia overtook me as I watched the two throw punches at each other as if they were cats, but then Ephe spoke again.

  [Would Elio want to read Enna’s Stats?]

  ‘That can wait, no?’

  [It can.]

  [Ephe Recommends doing it After the Battle.]

  Ah, yes. I forgot. War was coming.

  There was no running away back to the Great Velvet Forests. No giving up now. Tomorrow, Stevin had to settle his future. And I was here to help.

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