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Vol 2 Chapter 25: The Secrets Revealed
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“Is that you, Elyssa... the Grand Duchess?”
Within the ranks of the vampiric society, a strict hierarchy reigns supreme, stretg from the oo the nobility, and from barons to dukes.
Sihe disappearance of the bloodline’s progenitor turies ago, the Grand Duke has stood as the highest authority among vampires, ruling over distinct territories within their realm.
“Wait a moment, if you are indeed a Grand Duchess, what oh are you doing as an adventurer?”
pared to the mid-tier adveatus of Sisi and her panions, a vampire grand duke is akin to a mythical being. Abandoning such wealth and power to wander into this remote town as an adventurer seems utterly absurd.
“Ah, well, perhaps it’s because I yearn for a life of freedom?”
Elyssa cast a sidelong g the silver-haired girl covertly from the er.
“So, you see, not everyone in this world is an enemy. At least I am quite willing to assist you.”
“...Thank you...”
“Feeling calmer now? Then do tidy yourself up before we head downstairs to tinue our discussion.”
It was then that Sisi realised she was ly in a thin nightgown and hurried bato her room.
…
“Right, let us crify our current situation.”
Once Sisi and Mira had posed themselves, they vened with Elyssa and the others to deliberate on their course of a.
“First, Miss Marlyno should have left the town by now; searg without dire is akin to fishing for pearls in the o. Therefore, we require assistance.”
“Given the captain's unique position, we likely ot enlist other adventurers.”
“Ihough I may decre myself a Grand Duchess, my servants are not present, which renders me incapable of providing support in that regard.”
“...Um...”
Suddenly, Diana interjected.
“This task should fall to me.”
“You… could it be…!?”
Elyssa stood, her expression a blend of surprise and intrigue.
“It’s alright; I wish to help.”
“...Very well, do as you please!”
After a brief pause, Elyssa, albeit slightly disgruntled, resumed her seat.
“What’s going on here?”
“Sisi, Mira, and all of you, I now must reveal a signifit secret.”
Diana’s expression shifted to one of solemnity, prompting the others to quieten aheir full attention to her words.
“I am Princess Diana of the Draic Empire.”
As Diana procimed her identity, an unmistakable aura of authority radiated from her.
The dragons, reized as the mightiest beings ience, held dominion over all; if vampires were the superior race over humans, then dragohe apex of the world. Moreover, standing before them was her than the princess of the Draic Empire.
This revetio Sisi and Mira utterly stunned, as their minds struggled to prehend the enormity of the situation.
“...So, yet another one?”
“Hmm? ...Aris!?”
Elyssa’s gaze shifted to the one who had spoken with a hint ance, only to discover that it was Aris, the usually inscrutable figure.
“I am Arymm, not her.”
“...Oh... what?”
“Uh... just sider it a case of dual personalities.”
“Very well...”
With that expnation, Elyssa felt no further need for inquiry, for it was ihe most pusible expnation given the circumstances.
“...In that case, let’s clear the air ond for all.”
At this moment, Farkonia joihe versation.
“I am also of the draieage...”
He paused briefly, snapping his fingers. An invisible barrier enveloped them all.
“...and I am the dragon king of turies past, Farkonia.”
“???”
The revetion of eaew identity was more astonishing tha, leaving Sisi and Mira’s minds reeling.
They were but ordinary humans, at most mid-tier adventurers, yet they found themselves amidst such esteemed pany.
“...Given the circumstances, should I not reveal my identity as well?”
“Your identity as Misako remain unspoken, but if you wish to share, you may.”
Misako’s identity remained perilously dangerous, as the dragon king of ages past was not necessarily the same one from the ‘War of the Demon.’ However, the demon kin were likely entangled with that flict.
“...No, I shall speak my truth.”
Refleg on Marlyno's current plight, Misako found herself empathising deeply. They too were ostracised by the world due to their lineage. Since her panions had already revealed their identities, Misako found ce to follow suit.
“I am the current leader of the bck demon kin, Misako.”
“Bck demon kin… what?”
Sisi and Mira, bewildered by Misako’s decration, shared their fusion. Ordinary humans possessed little knowledge of the demon ki Elyssa, being of the bloodline, and Diana, of the dragon lineage, reacted differently.
Elyssa instinctively grew wary, though a thought soon calmed her apprehension.
“Demon kin... weren’t they supposed to be sealed by ‘that one’?”
“This... you’ll have to inquire of the one beside me.”
Misako gestured towards Arymm, drawing the attention of the group to her.
“...The Saintess of the Holy Light Church; you must have heard of her?”
“The Saintess? Shouldn’t she be... wait a moment.”
The former Saintess of the Holy Light Church had been ned as a heretid executed, leaving the position of Saintess unfilled.
As a member of the vampiric bloodline, Elyssa was naturally at odds with the Holy Light Church; thus, she had collected various critical pieces of information, including the names of key individuals involved...
“Arymm... the former Saintess... known as the ‘Fallen Saintess’ and belled a heretic...”
Upon closer iion, Arymm's appearance mirrored that of the traditional Saintess, save for the strands of btertwined in her hair and a distinct aura that set her apart.
“Quite right, but I am not her; I am merely her inner demon. Moreover, she is no lohe Saintess.”
As Arymm spoke, an aura of terror ahality enveloped her-- an essence fed from tless brushes with death and age.
Elyssa, as a Grand Duchess of the vampires, possessed keen insight and readily dised what that former Saintess must have endured.
“...It seems I’ve missed my moment for introdus…”
Veridith muttered softly to herself. In parison to Farkonia, Elyssa, and the others, she was but an ordinary dragon child. After their grand procmations, her admission of being a dragon girl felt rather mispced.
“Ah... this little one is also of the draic bloodline; she simply cks araordinary status.”
“Eh!?”
Despite Veridith’s low voice, Arymm’s prowess allowed her to catch the remark clearly, promptio rey it directly.
“Ah, is that so?”
Surprisingly, Veridith’s revetioored a sembnce of normalcy for Sisi and Mira.
“Cough! Now that we’ve formally introduced ourselves, let us return to the matter at hand; time waits for no one.”
Elyssa cleared her throat, steering the versation back towards the seararlyno.
