Chapter 14: The Bishop’s Command and a Hidden Agenda

Ultimately, Lovelenica returned to her room, and as she gazed at the shattered window, the joy she had felt from the small cake she had just eaten dissipated considerably.

Even though she was a Bloodkin, her powers were currently restricted, rendering her more akin to a human Bloodkin; how could she not fear the cold?

Moreover, even if her powers were unrestricted, sleeping in a drafty room with a broken window would still make her feel profoundly insecure.

Rather than enduring a night in such a room, she might as well venture out to hunt under the cover of night; as long as she wasn’t discovered by the city guards and indulged a little, Liliana would surely remain oblivious.

Just as Lovelenica rose, preparing to leap from the shattered window, she noticed, beneath the shroud of night, a translucent white dove flying towards her.

This was the Church’s unique magic, a Messenger Spirit—a spirit body crafted from particles of holy light, capable of carrying letters or small holy relics to designated locations.

Upon seeing the white dove, Lovelenica understood it was a message from the Bishop, as this was precisely how the Bishop typically contacted her.

Lovelenica detached the letter from the dove’s leg, whereupon the dove dissolved into countless white specks of light, utterly vanishing.

Opening the letter, Lovelenica found the parchment indeed contained the Bishop’s instructions: the Bishop had sensed the presence of some defilement in a village located southeast of the royal city and requested Lovelenica to investigate.

This was precisely what Lovelenica desired.

With the Bishop’s command, she no longer needed to exit through the window; she could now depart openly, right under everyone’s noses, without any issue.

Consequently, Lovelenica abandoned her plan of leaping from the window.

She strode confidently out of her room, descending the stairs to the mansion’s grand hall.

However, Theresa, seeing Lovelenica venture out unbidden once more and appearing intent on leaving, immediately intended to reprimand her.

Nonetheless, upon hearing it was the Bishop’s command, Theresa was instantly rendered speechless.

Watching Theresa choked into silence, Lovelenica inwardly gloated.

Giving Theresa no further opportunity to interject, she swiftly departed through the main entrance.

In truth, the Bishop was rather casual when handling these seemingly less dangerous Defilement-level missions.

She would simultaneously send messages to numerous nuns, ordering them to investigate; however, for Impurity-level missions and above, the Bishop would first summon the nuns to gather at the church.

Thus, whether Lovelenica went or not was inconsequential.

Recalling her original body’s memories, Lovelenica had never previously undertaken any mission unless it was absolutely essential or explicitly mandated for her.

Nevertheless, just because Lovelenica wouldn’t go didn’t mean other nuns wouldn’t.

Even for a mere Defilement-level mission, upon successful purification, the Church would record it in the nun’s personal file, greatly aiding future promotions.

Moreover, the number of purifications could be exchanged for various holy relics within the Church.

However, none of this mattered to Lovelenica.

Her sole intention at the moment was simply to get some fresh air and, incidentally, complete a mission.

After listening to Elena’s recent praises of Liliana, Lovelenica’s heart had grown heavy.

Liliana’s power was terrifyingly immense; how could she possibly contend with her?

Even if Lucia possessed the ability to defeat Liliana, the process of nurturing Lucia would be far too protracted.

During this time, she would have to remain hidden within the human faction.

Imeline had already begun to monitor her, and who knew what Lucia’s current attitude towards her was?

Could cultivating Lucia prove to be raising a tiger to suffer from its ravages?

And how would Liliana treat her if she discovered Lovelenica’s true intentions?

This path was excessively long and perilous; one misstep could lead to utter defeat.

Therefore, Lovelenica sought another method to contend with Liliana: the restoration of her own power.

Liliana possessed the power to manipulate the destinies of others to some extent, a power that had already touched the threshold of the End-tier.

Yet, even so, Liliana still feared Lovelenica’s power being restored.

This suggested that Lovelenica’s true power might be even more terrifying than Liliana’s.

Regarding Lovelenica’s true power, the original work never mentioned it.

Even up to her death at Lucia’s hands, she had never once displayed her true strength.

This was largely due to Liliana’s continuous restrictions.

Lovelenica believed that the bi-weekly blood-feeding limit was specifically imposed to prevent her power from growing.

For just moments ago, after Lovelenica had consumed the cake Elena brought, she had felt the world around her instantly transform.

She seemed to have forged a profound connection with the world, mastering every subtle elemental fluctuation and every minute sound in her vicinity with crystal clarity.

This was also why she had been able to detect Imeline’s puppet familiar and destroy it.

Had it been Lovelenica before her meal, she likely would not have detected Imeline’s surveillance at that distance.

Superficially, Lovelenica’s departure was to execute the Bishop’s mission, but in reality, she aimed to seize the opportunity to consume more blood, to ascertain if her power would continue to grow through blood consumption, and to test her capabilities in her vampiric state.

Thus, after Lovelenica left the Crimson Family estate, she slipped into a secluded alleyway under the cloak of night.

Once she sensed no one else nearby, she removed her nun’s habit and veil, retrieving them into the Holy Ring on her finger.

From the ring, she then produced another set of clothes that fit her original form, which she promptly donned.

With no trace of puppet familiars in the vicinity, Lovelenica surmised that after Imeline realized her familiar had been detected, she wouldn’t dispatch another to track her for a while.

Thus, she could act boldly.

When she reappeared on the street, Lovelenica had reverted to her original petite appearance, now clad in an opulent Gothic-style gown.

This gown had been custom-made for Lovelenica at Liliana’s command when she first arrived at the Crimson Family estate.

As Lovelenica’s body matured, the gown had gradually become ill-fitting, yet the original owner had kept it.

Surprisingly, it was now once again useful to Lovelenica.

On her left hand’s slender finger, Lovelenica still wore the Holy Ring.

Since it was not crafted from sacred silver, wearing it caused no significant discomfort.

She did not undertake any further disguise, believing her current appearance wouldn’t raise any suspicion; in the Kingdom of Arcadia, silver-white hair and crimson pupils were not particularly rare.

Although Lovelenica’s current appearance was identical to when she first arrived at the Crimson Family estate, over a decade had now passed.

In everyone’s minds, Lovelenica had long since matured.

Furthermore, almost no other Bloodkin or fantastical creature could achieve such complete rejuvenation as she had.

Thus, those who knew her would likely not associate her current self with the ill-tempered Head-Slicing Nun.

Unless it was someone intimately familiar with Lovelenica, such as her student, Lucia.

However, Lovelenica hardly expected to casually encounter Lucia on a random outing.