‘What is this smell?’

“That woman is strange.”

“I agree.”

I stared intently at Ines’s retreating figure.

Although I had Michalis watching her, I couldn’t completely relax.

Vampires have the critical disadvantage of being restricted during the day and unable to enter uninvited homes.

Of course, such limitations were nothing to a transcendent like Michalis.

But it seemed he couldn’t overcome his nature, as he stubbornly refused to move during the day and claimed he couldn’t just enter a woman’s home.

Since he wasn’t under a contract, I couldn’t force him to take on more tasks. For now, I was grateful that he had even agreed to my request.

Every time I asked if Ines had shown any suspicious behavior, Michalis always shook his head.

“There hasn’t been anything significant. She summoned a few trivial beings, but they were hardly worthy of being called transcendent.”

He had answered similarly yesterday.

‘Is she really out of her mind then?’

Since that day, I had been closely observing Ines’s actions. But I found nothing noteworthy. Except for seeming a bit unhinged, she was no different from usual. In fact, she appeared more active in social gatherings than before.

Then one day, Michalis brought some suspicious news.

“I smelled a bit of blood. Since three days ago.”

“Blood? Why are you telling me this now?”

“A gentleman doesn’t casually talk about a lady’s cycle.”

“No… You should have kept it a secret entirely.”

In the end, all I got from Michalis was knowledge of Ines’s menstrual cycle. Such useful information indeed.

‘I guess I’ll have to go there myself.’

About 2-3 days later, an invitation from Ines arrived.

I made all the necessary preparations and headed to the Poel Ducal Residence.

With the coal on my left and Iscallion on my right, I confidently entered the mansion, only to be greeted by silence.

“What is this…?”

As expected of a party hosted by the ducal family, many people were inside the mansion besides me.

I recognized some familiar faces. One of them was Ivron, Ines’s closest friend who had informed me of the latest stone trends. On her lap sat Rob, quietly.

I averted my gaze from Ivron and looked around. The Duke and Duchess of Poel ,and the young duke of Poel were sitting together a bit farther away.

“Why is everyone passed out?”

Iscallion frowned as he looked around.

Just as he said, everyone in the mansion had lost consciousness. Fortunately, they seemed to be merely asleep, as their breathing was steady and their bodies warm.

“Let’s slowly investigate.”

Even then, I wasn’t too scared.

With Iscallion and Shahar, two male leads, accompanying me, and Janet and Michalis watching the Poel Ducal Residence, I felt somewhat secure.

As I made my way to the center of the garden, crossing through the sleeping people,

“You’re here?”

The door inside opened, and Ines, dressed unusually extravagantly, emerged.

Wearing a red dress, she looked paler and more haggard than usual. But her eyes sparkled more brightly than ever.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a party.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be fooled. Actually, I needed witnesses. A lot of them.”

“What kind of nonsense is this? Witnesses?”

“Witnesses to how useful I am. Ah, it will take some time, so don’t just stand there, sit down. Count Phillip too.”

Ines clapped her hands as she finished speaking. Only then did I realize that there were more people awake in the mansion besides us.

Several servants appeared from somewhere. They were all young men, seemingly strong.

One of them offered Iscallion and me a glass of fruit wine. Despite his burly physique, the young servant’s face was tear-streaked.

‘What’s with this color?’

The wine was so dark red it was almost black. It was a suspicious color that anyone would find dubious. And it had a repulsive stench.

‘What is this smell?’

The foul odor mixed with the fragrant grape wine was similar to the bloody smell I had noticed from Ines a few days ago.

While I was contemplating the source of the stench, Ines approached with the same wine in her hand.

Without hesitation, she took a sip of the wine.

“To be honest, I was moved. I didn’t know you were so worried about me, Lou.”

Every time Ines opened her mouth, the smell of the wine hit me. The rotten bloody smell wafted over as well.

It was hard to tell whether the stench originated from the wine or from Ines herself.

“Don’t worry. I don’t know what you’re planning, but give it up now.”

I put the wine glass down without touching it. Iscallion followed my lead and threw his glass away.

“Don’t arrogantly give orders. I told you before, I will prove my usefulness no matter what.”

“Even if you summon a transcendent, you don’t have the power to control it.”

“We’ll see once I summon it.”

She was so confident that she didn’t even consider the possibility of failure.

I quickly scanned the surroundings. Whatever she was trying to summon, destroying the summoning circle should solve the problem.

At least, I couldn’t see it in the visible area.

I thought I needed to coax her into revealing it.

“What are you looking for?”

Ines approached and linked her arm with mine. At the same time, I felt something sharp at my side. She had a dagger pressed against me.

“Sister!”

Iscallion stood up abruptly. The servants immediately restrained him.

Ines, almost embracing me, now held the dagger to my throat.

“Sit quietly. Unless you want to see a hole in Lou’s pretty face.”

‘What is this…?’

I was horrified by the familiarity of the line.

‘Sit quietly. Unless you want to see a hole in Lina’s pretty face, whom Your Highness loves.’

That was my last line in the original novel.

‘So this is how it feels to hear it myself.’

Poor Ines. In fact, the person she should have directed that line at was not Iscallion but the Crown Prince.

Knowing her personality, she wouldn’t have failed to invite the Crown Prince. I guessed he didn’t respond to the invitation, so Iscallion took his place.

Iscallion twisted his body violently, ready to knock down the servants.

“Don’t move, Leon!”

Hearing my urgent shout, Iscallion stopped immediately, like a loyal dog obeying its master. Thanks to my strict instructions before coming to the mansion, he listened to me.

But even while obeying, his eyes glowed fiercely, like he would tear Ines apart at any moment.

“Leon, step back. Didn’t you hear what Ines said? She’ll put a hole in my pretty face!”

Only then did he exhale roughly and lower his head obediently. The servants then tied him up with ropes.

Pretending to be scared, I stammered and pleaded with Ines.

“D-Don’t do this. Killing me won’t change anything.”

“Why would I kill you? Where else would I find a friend who cares for me as much as you do?”

Ines signaled to the servants with her eyes. They immediately pulled back the long carpet laid on the marble floor.

Revealed beneath was a white stone floor with a dark red summoning circle drawn on it.

It wasn’t an impressive sight, but it was much more credible than the shoddy summoning circle I had drawn when summoning the Sun God.

“It was really hard to draw this in a hurry.”

“It looks like it.”

“What do you think will come out of it?”

“I don’t know…”

“Something amazing will come out. Because there’s a special offering.”

I could hear Ines gulp nervously. Despite drinking the wine, she couldn’t completely suppress her fear and excitement, and her hand trembled slightly.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a voice trying to sound calm.

“You told me, didn’t you? That I couldn’t satisfy a transcendent on my own. So, I decided to offer you as a sacrifice. If I offer the girl of the oracle, I can summon someone of a higher rank than a mere vampire, right?”

“You’re truly a hopeless bastard, aren’t you?”

I was so dumbfounded that harsh words slipped out without me realizing.

“Your cute lover will be the only witness to see the entire process from start to finish.”

“Stop it while I’m still talking nicely.”

“There’s no turning back now. I had to draw blood every day to create this. Even today. And it wasn’t enough, so I sacrificed all the animals I raised.”

Only then did I realize that her dress was soaked. The stench and red dress had prevented me from noticing that she was bleeding. The smell of blood Michalis had mentioned was not from menstruation.

Without a single groan from her injured body, she dragged me to the summoning circle.

“Then I’ll stop it by force. Shahar!”

The coal quickly lunged at Ines, knocking her down. In the meantime, Iscallion had knocked out all the attendants.