Free Web NovelOnly after Vieya had left again did the black cat finally flop back onto the bedding, all four paws in the air, her fluffy tail sticking straight up like a pillar.
Jasmine couldn’t understand this strange pose. “Cat-sister, is your head okay? Mom flicked you pretty hard just now.”
“It’s fine, meow.” The black cat closed her eyes peacefully. “It’s just that your mom smells so good... I really want to take a bite of her, meow!”
“Cat-sister, you can’t hit back when Mom hits you!” Jasmine said seriously.
“You’re such a biased kid. Whatever, I’m done talking to you. I’m going to sleep now. I’m gonna occupy that stinky white-hair’s bed first, meow!” The black cat wriggled into the blankets, poked her head out, and declared, “I’ll make sure she has nowhere to sleep!”
Smack!
“Meow, you hit me too!”
“Get out! Stupid cat, if you don’t come out now, I’ll tell Mom to hang you from the ceiling and shave your fur off!”
“Meooow...”
...
After a while, Vieya came back humming a tune, freshly washed, and with a soft puff blew out the lamp in the room.
Darkness filled the space, but Jasmine could still sense her mother’s warmth nearby, so she wasn’t afraid. freewebnoveℓ.com
“Jasmine, Mommy’s going to tell you a story. Do you want to hear it?”
“Yes!”
“Did you cover yourself properly?”
“Mm-hm, I did...”
“Your little hands and feet too?”
“All covered!”
“And make sure your little head sticks out, or you’ll get stuffy under there.”
“It’s out...”
“Then I’ll start the story.”
“Okay, Mommy!”
Hearing her daughter’s sweet voice from under the covers, Vieya suddenly felt cheerful. She cleared her throat gently and spoke in a soft voice.
“Once upon a time, there was a timid little girl. Every night she needed her mommy’s hug to fall asleep. Then one day, she got tricked by an evil ghost disguised as her mom, and the ghost sold her away.”
“?”
“......”
“Mom, what kind of story is that—ah!”
“......”
Vieya didn’t respond.
The next morning, she placed the black cat on the counter in the kitchen, humming softly as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} she prepared breakfast and diced little pieces of fish.
Today, she only planned to cook her specialty—porridge. Other than praising her for “boiling water really well,” Jasmine had once complimented her porridge for tasting good too.
The greedy black cat would occasionally sneak a piece into her mouth whenever Vieya turned around, then instantly sit up straight when caught.
Making porridge was simpler than any other breakfast and rarely went wrong. She just measured the best amount of rice, added the right amount of water, and set it to cook slowly—it would be done on its own.
“OK, done. Let it simmer on low heat. These vegetables can go in just before it’s ready...”
Vieya smiled in satisfaction, unfastened her apron, and hung it on the hook. Resting one hand on her waist, she looked at the black cat, then toward the floor, hesitated briefly, and tilted her chin upward.
“Let’s go. Downstairs.”
“Meow.”
...
“Well, well, another letter for the big white-hair! Care to guess which one of her little lovers sent it this time?” Elizabeth waggled her brows at Jiele Xiyin.
Though she gave off the first impression of a beautiful, regal young woman with a noble, lazy grace befitting a queen, right now she looked like a clownish troublemaker.
To that, Jiele Xiyin could only feel that she was disgracing the dignity of a Demon King—day after day, instead of managing the vampires suffering out in the world, she holed herself up near that “evil Holy Sword Master,” always courting death.
Last time, she’d barged in while the Holy Sword Master was bathing, reenacting a “Spider Cave intruder” scene, only to be kicked straight out the second-floor window.
A few days later, she’d tried to “sneak attack” the Sword Master in the middle of the night and nearly got pinned to the wall by a sword.
Yet she never learned, always looking for new ways to show off her presence.
“Wow~”
Elizabeth let out a dramatic noise, delicately tore open the envelope, and revealed the golden scales emblem of the Church.
“This time it’s from that poor soul whose blood’s probably been replaced entirely with holy water... Let’s see what she wrote.” freēwebnovel.com
“Elizabeth, I advise you not to touch other people’s letters. My master may be a monster girl, but her lifestyle is almost identical to a human’s—she values her privacy greatly—”
But before Jiele Xiyin could finish, Elizabeth ripped open the envelope with a crack, pulled out the letter, and began to read it aloud with exaggerated feeling:
“‘To my dear friend, greetings upon sight of your letter...’”
Thud!
A black cat came flying and slammed straight into Elizabeth’s face like a bowling ball!
The cat’s shriek, Jiele Xiyin’s gasp, and Elizabeth’s groan echoed one after another through the grand hall.
The black cat landed on her feet and immediately bolted. Jiele Xiyin ignored her fallen colleague, prioritizing a polite greeting to her white-haired master instead.
“May last night’s moonlight have granted you a pleasant rest, my master.”
“So cruel, big white-hair... Last time you promised not to hit the Demon King’s face...”
Elizabeth lay sprawled on the carpet, trying to rise—only to be pressed down again by a foot on her chest.
“Three strikes I can forgive, but this is the fourth time. So—don’t move.”
Vieya reached out and took the letter floating in the air, her gaze settling on the familiar handwriting on the page.
“‘To my dear friend, greetings upon sight of your letter:
‘Many months have passed without reply. I hope you are well.
‘At the northern frontier, the cold moon sharpens like a blade; tonight, the campfires make the snow outside the tent glisten like shattered jade. While inspecting the camp, I saw an old knight wiping his silver crossbow with frostbitten hands, and I suddenly recalled our hunt together in the southern wastes—the black bats taking flight before our blades—it feels like another lifetime.’”
The barren, desolate tone between the lines made Vieya’s heart tighten.
But one word caught her eye.
Qing—“My beloved.”
Her heart gave a twitch. That was what Lilian used to call her back during her Hero days. At the time, Lilian had said: “Even though you’re the captain, I’m still the superior officer. So, you’re my beloved subject. You all are—fufu, beloved subjects, you may rise!”
The result of that speech had been universal hostility from the party—and no one giving her food for several days.
Heh. She didn’t know whether Lilian was being careless now... or deliberate.
Vieya frowned slightly and continued reading.
“‘Monsters have been stirring frequently of late—their shapes like ink seeping into frost-mist, their midnight knocking on the gates like the wails of a thousand infants.
‘Yet when soldiers raise their long halberds wreathed in holy flame, I always seem to hear, in the snapping of banners and the tearing wind, your voice from long ago teaching me how to recognize herbs—how you held a leaf of perilla and smiled, saying: “This calms wombs better than it soothes the mind.” Now it has become the tonic that keeps our wounded alive. The irony of fate knows no bounds.’”
“......”
The one who had taught Lilian herb recognition... wasn’t Vieya. It was the Chief Hero.
Vieya swallowed hard, her mind suddenly a blur.
What exactly happened in the past six months? How did she suddenly figure out who I am?
We haven’t even met face-to-face!
Her chest tightened with unease. Forcing herself to calm down, she kept reading.
“‘I heard your injuries have not yet healed, so I have sent a personal guard to deliver three spoonfuls of the Icefield Wolf King’s marrow. Boil it with rootless snow-water until it bubbles like crab eyes, and take it with royal jelly at dawn. I have also enclosed a red fox tail given by the Northern Priestess—it wards nightmares and may ease the long, restless nights.’”
My injuries healed ages ago...
Half a year ago, maybe that would’ve been useful.
Below that passage was a section of writing, but it had been blotted out. Vieya couldn’t make it out, so she steadied herself and continued.
“‘Lately, I’ve found a bit of leisure to study the star compass you once gave me. You laughed then, saying, “If we’re ever scattered to the ends of the earth, this will guide us back to each other.” Only now do I realize the stars’ paths clash with the tainted miasma. Yet the crooked little engraving of you at the base still gives off faint warmth under the blood moon.’”
That star compass wasn’t mine... It was Flaviel’s design—I only distributed them to everyone. They were meant to turn into blades to save your life in emergencies!
“‘Outside, the camp drums call; ink freezes with armor frost.
‘Take care. My longing remains endless.
‘Your old friend, Zhaoming.
‘Late midsummer night, Year of Jiachen.
‘At the Holy Armor Battalion, Northern Pass.’”
That was all.
The edges of the letter were stained with dark red ice crystals that melted into a faint plum scent when touched by warmth.
As she finished reading, the confusion in Vieya’s heart loosened slightly.
So—Lilian knew her true identity.
But that revelation brought new unease.
How did she find out?
What had happened over there these past months?
And why did this letter feel so ceremonious—so formal—almost as if... as if it were a final farewell?
“Elizabeth!”
Vieya lifted her foot and asked evenly, “The person who brought this letter—where are they?”
“I, uh—locked them... cough—in the courtyard,” Elizabeth quickly corrected herself."
