Chapter 82: Hopeless Love

That day, Noah didn’t have the heart to tell Anna that most vampire-human romances ended in tragedy.

Like the bones in the Well of Atonement.

Weren’t they all vampires who loved humans?

Their fate was to become dust, enduring endless punishment under the sun.

Noah only reminded Anna to restrain her feelings.

Only when she’d grown enough to face the trials love brought could she and Xiaan truly be together without fear.

Anna said she would.

She definitely would.

Xiaan had adapted to castle life, unable to reintegrate into human society.

This meant she couldn’t experience human love.

So Anna had to strive, in Xiaan’s brief decades, to let her feel both being loved and loving.

She didn’t aspire to be as strong as Noah.

She only hoped to protect Xiaan and their bond.

After the heavy topic, Noah slipped back into her playful mode.

“You and Xiaan… have you done it?”

Anna’s face flushed, eyes darting away, hands fidgeting with her hem, mumbling a soft “Mm.”

Oh ho!

On this topic, Noah was wide awake.

She leaned in eagerly. “So, which of you is the top, and which is the bottom?”

No matter how you looked at it, this was a love story of two soft souls.

Anna and Xiaan were both gentle types—Anna quirky, Xiaan refined.

So who topped and who bottomed was anyone’s guess.

“Uh, um… can I not say?”

“Come on, I wanna know, I wanna know!”

Anna knew cute tactics worked on Noah’s sly, mature charm.

But she didn’t realize a sly older sister playing cute was a universal knockout move.

Unable to resist Noah’s persistence, Anna sighed. “Xiaan’s… a bit more forward.”

“Ohhh! This is historic, Anna. In vampire-human pairings, the vampire’s never been the bottom!”

Anna’s face burned, half-embarrassed, half-indignant. “W-what could I do? I couldn’t even find a vein! Xiaan had to guide me step by step, and then… she just pinned me down!”

“A reverse takedown? Spicy,” Noah teased.

“Stop it, Senior Noah!” The little vampire bristled.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

Anna huffed.

But Noah couldn’t resist. “Did it hurt the first time?”

“Aaaah, I’m gonna kill you, Senior Noah!!”

Anna flailed her harmless fists at Noah’s arm.

Noah laughed, dodging playfully, not fighting back. (One punch from her might finish Anna.)

After their antics, Anna suddenly realized something.

Noah’s tone when asking “Did it hurt?” wasn’t teasing or mocking.

It sounded like she genuinely wanted to know.

Anna paused, eyeing Noah oddly. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Senior Noah, you don’t know what it’s like, do you?” Anna asked.

“Uh, I…”

“You hesitated! You totally hesitated! You don’t know how it feels, do you? You’re over three hundred and still a—”

“Anna, where’d that bump on your head come from?” Xiaan asked.

“Wahhh, I cursed a three-hundred-year-old tree for never being trimmed and tripped on a rock, hitting my head!” Anna wailed, tears streaking.

“Oh, so careless. Let me rub it for you.”

Watching the sweet pair, Luoyao didn’t buy Anna’s obvious “tripped on a rock” excuse.

She glanced at Noah, whispering, “Why’d you hit her?”

“It’s your fault!” Noah shot back.

Luoyao blinked, stunned, pointing at herself. “You hit her, and you’re blaming me?”

“We’ve been together almost half a year, and I’m still a virgin! When are you gonna—”

“Huh? Lady Noah, how’d you get that bump on your head?” Xiaan asked.

“I asked a drunk gardener to trim a three-hundred-year-old tree, and she hit me.”

“Oh, let me rub it for you, Noah. Luoyao, help.”

Luoyao crossed her arms, huffing, “Serves you right.”

“Wahhh!”

The four laughed and chatted, heading back to the castle.

From the top of the clock tower, Yelan watched.

“I recall that kid Anna wasn’t turned by me. How old is she? Sixty-something?” Yelan asked.

“Sixty-seven, a very young vampire,” Huangwei replied, joining Yelan to look below. “She wasn’t turned by you. A loyal subordinate turned Anna before dying, granting her the surname ‘Yelan.’”

“Oh, that explains it. I haven’t turned anyone in centuries. Where’d this sixty-something kid come from?”

Yelan asked, “Who was her mother?”

“Yelan Feiying, missing seventy years ago, reappeared three years later, gravely injured, limbs incomplete. Before dying, she turned her only blood s*ave, ‘Lin Anna,’ renaming her ‘Yelan Anna.’”

Huangwei paused, adding, “You knew of Feiying’s death, but Anna was mentioned in passing. It’s normal you don’t recall.”

“I see. Hmm, since I liked Feiying, should I look out for Anna?” Yelan mused.

“Mother, you… can do as you please.”

Yelan smiled. “Nah, let’s see if Anna can impress me on her own.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“You haven’t told anyone I’m leaving, right?”

“No, Mother.”

Yelan nodded, pushing open the clock tower window.

She leapt onto the sill, crouching, and glanced back. “I’ll be investigating the Tianji Organization for a while. The castle’s in your hands.”

“Understood, Mother. I’ll do my best.”

“I trust you. If you hit trouble you can’t handle, contact me via crow. I’ll send help.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Yelan pondered if she’d missed anything.

Satisfied, she prepared to leave.

But as she tensed to jump, she remembered something.

Pointing to a dried flower on the table, she said, “Grab that for me.”

Huangwei complied.

“A bellflower?” Huangwei asked. “Mother, you make dried flowers?”

“Not me. I stole it from Noah’s room.”

“Stole…”

Yelan grinned, unfazed. “Yeah, it was pretty, so I took it. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Yes.” Huangwei hesitated to add “Mother,” slightly embarrassed.

“Do you know the bellflower’s meaning?” Yelan asked.

“Free love, eternal love.”

Huangwei paused, adding, “Sounds like something Luoyao would give Noah.”

Yelan chuckled, toying with the bellflower. “Yeah, that girl probably knows its meaning. But she’s a bit shallow, like you.”

“Shallow?”

“Mm.”

Yelan tucked the bellflower into her skirt pocket, saying softly,

“Besides free and eternal love, the bellflower has a third meaning— Hopeless love.”

With that, the proud vampire queen vanished into the endless night, a smile on her lips.