"Not at all." I shrugged. "If my daughter doesn't want to marry soone, I won't force her. And if anyone tries to make her, I'll handle it—through any ans necessary, even underhanded ones. They can call a coward if they want. It wouldn't change anything in Sancta Vedelia anyway, since all those Heads already hate ."
"Ahahah!" Leora threw her head back in laughter, the rich sound filling the room. "Ah, such confidence you have! Is that how you managed to make Elizabeth and Alicia fall for you?"
"M-Mother...!" Alicia's face turned a deep shade of red as she stomped her foot, half in embarrassnt, half in anger.
anwhile, I could only grimace at the remark.
Leora chuckled, regaining her composure as she brought a hand to her lips. "Forgive , my dear," she said to Alicia, though the amusent in her eyes didn't leave. She then turned back to , her expression softening. "You know, raising a child is no easy task. No matter how much you want them to be happy, as a parent, you'll always be wary of those around them. You'll want to be the one choosing their partner, even if you know you shouldn't. That overprotectiveness… it's sothing you'll understand when you beco a parent yourself."
I let out a small sigh, leaning back slightly. "Well, that won't be anyti soon..."
At least, that's what I would have thought—until Nevia revealed that Layla and I would have a daughter in the future. That knowledge weighed heavily in the back of my mind, though I chose to push it aside for now.
Leora smiled knowingly, setting down her teacup with a quiet clink before fixing with a serious gaze. "Now then, tell —what is it that you want?"
I straightened, eting her eyes. "First of all, I wanted to apologize for the Seed of Eden. I stole it from Alicia without her knowledge. She had nothing to do with it—I took it myself and handed it over to Utopia, fully aware of the consequences."
Leora regarded for a mont before nodding. "Apology accepted."
I blinked, caught off guard by how easily she let it go. "Huh? Just like that?"
She smiled, almost as if amused by my surprise. "The Seed of Eden was entrusted to by my grandmother. She never trusted my family, so I kept it for myself, unwilling to let it fall into the hands of Jas' family. They knew I had it, but they couldn't take it from by force. As long as it remained around my neck, it would curse them—or worse. It protected itself and from unwanted hands."
I frowned, confused. "Wait… but I took it off Alicia without any trouble."
And yet… I didn't feel cursed at all.
Leora gave a knowing smile. "That's the thing. I told you—the Seed would never allow itself to be touched by people I didn't trust or those I was wary of. It acts on my instincts… but it also has instincts of its own. And it seems that both trust you a great deal."
"Both?" I frowned.
Leora sipped her tea before glancing at Alicia with a smile. "The Seed… and, of course, my daughter."
Alicia, who had been listening silently, completely froze. Her mouth opened, then closed, as if trying to form words, but nothing ca out. Her entire face turned crimson, her brain clearly short-circuiting.
"I… n-no… I don't—" She stuttered, utterly flustered.
Leora chuckled. "You do, my dear. You trust him just as much as I trust Jas, it seems. He could have taken the Seed if he wanted to, but that idiot never even tried." She sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.
That was apparently the final straw for Alicia. Without another word, she spun on her heel and bolted from the room.
I let out a small groan, running a hand through my hair. "What was that for…?" I grumbled.
Leora simply raised a brow, looking entirely unbothered. "Hm? Why are you upset? I was rely having a bit of fun with my daughter."
"Well…" I hesitated, struggling to find the right words.
Teasing Alicia about wasn't exactly a good idea. The last thing I needed was more complications.
I had already learned the hard way that when a girl fell for , it usually led to nothing but trouble. I was doing my best to keep a certain distance from Alicia, acting more like a friend rather than anything else. That was precisely why, despite her newly forced engagent, I hadn't directly interfered with Percy or her brother a second ti. Doing so again would've felt like crossing a line… like implying there was sothing deeper between us.
I already had enough on my plate with Elizabeth and Celeste—I still wasn't sure how to deal with either of them. At least with Alvara, we had reached a good understanding, and she was willing to wait. But the others? That was still an open question.
And if Alicia, in the worst-case scenario, really did see as more than a friend…
Honestly, I had no idea how I was supposed to handle that without hurting her.
Because at this point, she wasn't just so random girl to .
Whether I lived or died in the end, I at least wanted to leave a good impression on the people I cared about. And Alicia was undoubtedly one of them. I was trying to do the sa with Celeste and Elizabeth, but… well, that wasn't exactly going smoothly.
Leora took a sip of her tea, watching the door where Alicia had left. Then, with a small smile, she turned back to . "Well, I suppose it's better that she stepped out. It gives us a chance to have a serious discussion, don't you think?"
"Oh, right." I nodded.
Maybe it was for the best that Alicia wasn't here for this conversation.
"I have so questions about the Blood Moon War," I said, shifting the topic. "Alicia ntioned that you knew quite a lot about it."
Leora leaned back slightly, her expression turning more contemplative. "I might know more than the common folk, but what exactly do you want to know?"
"The Vampire Witch… rithra… and their connection to the Blood Moon," I specified.
Leora's eyes darkened slightly, her fingers tapping against the armrest of her chair as she gathered her thoughts. A brief silence hung between us before she finally spoke.
"The Vampire Witch is the one who created the Blood Moon Spell," she began. "She was the first vampire—rithra's creation. But unlike the others… she was different. While rithra was revered, the Vampire Witch was feared. She was insatiable, uncontrollable. Unlike the vampires that ca after her, she lacked restraint. Her thirst for pure, unique blood consud her."
I frowned slightly. "You an her need to survive turned into an obsession?"
Leora nodded. "Exactly. At first, she did as any vampire would—she requested blood. But soon, that wasn't enough. She stopped asking. She began taking. Forcefully. rcilessly. She slaughtered entire populations just to sate her hunger, growing stronger and more stable with every kill. Hundreds fell. Then thousands.
"When the vampires finally realized the full extent of her threat, they turned against her, hunting her down in a desperate attempt to stop the slaughter."
"But then… she used the Blood Moon Spell," I murmured, finishing her thought.
Leora gave a nod. "Yes. The spell was her final act of defiance. They killed her that day… but you don't just kill the first vampire so easily. As long as her blood exists, she can always return."
"And she has, hasn't she?"
"Many tis," Leora said. "Over the last thousand years, she has resurfaced again and again—always in weakened bodies, vessels that could barely contain her power. Until, five hundred years ago…"
"And now?" I asked imdiately, cutting to the heart of today's events.
I wasn't particularly interested in what had happened five hundred years ago. What mattered to now was the current situation—Elizabeth and Selene.
Leora smirked slightly, clearly understanding my concern.
"Since you helped my daughter, I'll tell you sothing," she said, leaning in with a serious gaze. "Hilda Tepes—you might at least recognize the na."
"Elizabeth's mother?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes. She gave birth to both Elizabeth and Selene. But what most people overlook is what Duncan Tepes did to Hilda before that."
I narrowed my eyes. "What did he do?"
Leora's expression darkened. "He injected Selene Amaya Tepes' blood into Hilda's womb before she gave birth."
"...!" My eyes widened in shock.
"He injected the blood of the Vampire Witch into two developing fetuses. Do you understand the gravity of that?" Her gaze turned ice-cold.
"What… happened?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "No one does. But forcing the blood of the Vampire Witch into two unborn children… That's not sothing any good person—any sane grandfather—would do to his own granddaughters. There were bound to be permanent scars left on both of them."
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