Chapter 70: The Covenant

"Take me away. I accept the judgment."

Looking at him, I spoke slowly.

A flicker of an emotion I couldn't decipher drifted into those deep gray eyes. He spoke calmly, "I'm afraid that will be difficult."

Before I could ask why, a pair of hands gripped my wrists fiercely, using a force that felt like it could crush my bones.

I looked up in shock and met a pair of deep, dark eyes.

"Why won't you listen?" Samael's voice was as cold as if it had echoed from the depths of hell. "You think you can escape?"

I looked at him, and just as I was about to speak, a sudden, sharp pain jolted through my heart. My vision went black, and I fainted cleanly away.

A vampire who faints—I’m likely the only such pathetic failure in this world.

Everything was shrouded in mist, hazy and indistinct. Suddenly, a small, pale hand reached out and dragged me into the endless black fog.

Standing before me was a little girl about ten years old, pale and thin, yet incredibly beautiful.

"Selene?"

I froze.

She looked at me, her glazed eyes filled with a bottomless sorrow.

"You killed Albus," she spoke, an accusation.

Her voice was like the chilling flow of a mountain stream, extremely faint and shallow.

I lowered my eyes, unable to defend myself.

"You really did kill Albus..." She gritted her teeth, hatred seeping into her eyes.

The ground beneath my feet suddenly turned soft. Startled, I found myself sinking into a vast swamp, down and down...

I screamed.

"Give me back my body! Give it back! I want revenge, I want revenge!" Selene stood on high ground, her eyes blood-red.

I fell into infinite darkness, struggling and crying out...

A black skeleton caught me, looking at me.

He said, No matter who you are, I will not let you go to Hell.

Bloody tears flowed from the hollow eye sockets.

Albus... Albus... That man in white with silver hair, that man like a jade carving...

A cold hand pressed against my forehead. "Don't even dream of ever escaping from my side!"

In my ear, there was a bone-chilling voice.

My consciousness suddenly cleared.

Opening my eyes and seeing Samael's face, I jumped in fright, sitting up like a startled bird. I soon realized I was back at the Candy House.

Samael looked at me coldly.

I opened my mouth, but realized I didn't know how to explain things to him.

"You don't need to explain to me," Samael said tonelessly. "I am only waiting for Lilith's awakening. And you are not Lilith."

I lowered my gaze and remained silent.

"Therefore, you have no right to decide anything on Lilith's behalf, including... accepting judgment."

With that, he turned and left.

I pulled my knees to my chest, sitting at the head of the bed.

After a long time, the door was pushed open again. I turned my head to see Alastor standing in the doorway.

He looked at me, his deep blue eyes a sheet of icy coldness.

I stared at him blankly, unable to react for a moment. I had only ever seen his smiling face; I never knew his expressionless gaze could be so intimidating.

"Alastor..."

He ignored me and walked to my side to sit down without a word.

After staring at him for a long time, I tried to speak, but tears fell first.

Alastor sighed and reached out to wipe them away. "Stop crying."

"Albus... is dead."

Alastor's hand stiffened slightly.

"Albus... he's dead," I spoke slowly, the sharp pain in my heart nearly tearing me apart. "Selene came to find me..."

"Do you know why White was so desperate to devour you back then?" Alastor looked at me and suddenly asked.

I shook my head blankly.

"Because she knew Albus was your Creator. If a vampire wants to become human again, the only way is to... kill the Creator and replace blood with blood."

In other words, now that Albus was dead, I had lost the only way to return to being human.

But now, that didn't seem so important to me.

Selenee must have known this, and because Morven had prophesied Albus's death, she was terrified. That’s why she was so eager to eliminate a dangerous element like me in its cradle.

"In the end... I was still the one who killed him..."

Alastor shook his head. "It's not your fault."

"Alastor... am I a lot of trouble?" Sniffling, I looked into those blue eyes and asked softly, "I'm selfish and cowardly, I never consider other people's feelings... why are you so good to me?"

"Because I love you..." Alastor answered with a grin.

I turned my head to look out the window. "Rose once told me a story."

"Oh?" Alastor blinked, acting like he was all ears.

"In the story, a noblewoman fell in love with a vampire. She ran away from her own wedding for him and begged her lover to transform her into one of his kind. The vampire agreed. In the end, the noblewoman couldn't endure the infinite darkness or the diet of blood. She left the vampire and returned to her family, to her parents and brothers... but in the end, she was burned to ashes by her own kin..."

I narrated slowly. Alastor kept a smile curved on his lips throughout, but his long lashes hooded his blue eyes, hiding whatever expression was there.

I didn't dare imagine what his face looked like when he had rushed there to save that woman, only to find a pile of ashes.

"That's the reason why you never created another vampire, isn't it?" Seeing that he had no intention of speaking, I added.

Alastor slowly raised his eyes, which were a pool of icy blue.

"Why am I good to you?" He looked at me and smiled. "Because you are the silliest woman I have ever met."

The silliest woman? My mouth began to twitch.

"Even after being turned into a vampire, you didn't give up hope of becoming human. Even when betrayed by the person you trusted most, you believed he had his own hidden suffering." He gently touched my cheek, his tone calm without any exaggeration. "So I find it a pity. If the person you stubbornly pursued in your heart had been me, how wonderful that would be; if there had been no accident with Albus and I had been the one to turn you, how wonderful that would be."

He smiled. "Perhaps you won't believe it, but your persistence toward Cass moved my heart, which had been as still as dead water for four hundred years. Because... persistence is not something everyone can achieve. Often, people regret their impulsive actions, and that regret usually comes with a terrible price."

I stared at him, feeling as though I was meeting him for the first time.

"But I am very angry this time," he spoke slowly, his icy blue eyes fixed on me. "Where is the Aurora Tung who never gives up? Why did you think everything would be solved just by you disappearing? Even if you lost Cass, you aren't alone."

"If I told you that if you disappear, I will disappear as well... would you still make such a decision so easily?"

I was stunned. "What did you say?"

What did he mean?

"By blood as my oath, I shall stay with you forever, so that you are never lonely..." He looked at me and spoke softly.

That day, when I fed him the Daywalker's blood to save him, he had said those words. But was there a deeper meaning?

"I have already established a Blood Covenant with you. I will stay with you forever. If you live, I live; if you die, I die."

I was dumbfounded.

At the time, I thought it was just his usual sweet-talking and glibness.

He had actually tied his six-hundred-year-old life to mine?

"You're crazy..." I murmured, still unable to recover from the shock.

"So for my sake, you must take good care of yourself..." Alastor smiled and pinched my cheek.

Staring stupidly at the grinning Alastor, I was deeply shaken. How fast this man could change his face...

Just as I was thinking this, Alastor stood up, made a grand turn, and opened the door.

Little Mountain was standing outside. After Alastor left, Little Mountain ducked and entered the room.

I blinked, looking at Little Mountain.

Little Mountain looked at me.

We stared at each other.

"Your Majesty... please don't do that again..." After finishing with a flushed face, Little Mountain quickly turned around and scrambled out the door.

Little Mountain's build was so large that he had blocked Orlando, who was standing outside. Orlando didn't fly; he walked in slowly.

I looked down at the smaller Orlando. He ruffled his wings and flew up to my face.

"You... what are you going to say?" I finally understood. This was a blatant, round-robin lecture! The goal was to make me remember the profound lesson of my reckless behavior...

"I don't have anything to say." Orlando tilted his head, looking incredibly cute.

A shiver went down my spine. I warned myself internally: Do not be fooled by this guy, he is a little schemer, he is a little schemer, he is a little schemer...

After hypnotizing myself several times, I finally restrained myself from pulling him into a hug.

"Next," I said, humming with an expressionless face.

"Aurora, you're finally back!" Kaan Tung rushed in and hugged me, her eyes brimming with tears. "Do you know everyone was worried sick! How could you leave alone! That's too much!"

I patted her back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Usan, who came in next, let out a cold snort through his nose.

The boy-crazy Kaan Tung gave me a helpless look, let go, and stood obediently by Usan's side like a submissive little wife.

My mouth twitched.

One human, one vampire, one Great Demon King, and three monsters. After the round-robin lecture ended, I finally found some peace.

This was a blatant war of attrition, a fatigue tactic!