Charlotte discovered two characteristics of the Bloodline.
First, if one succumbs to blood addiction and does not feed, one will eventually lose their sanity, go berserk, and act unpredictably.
Second, if one feeds on fresh blood while being injured during a berserk episode, even if the blood is from livestock, as long as the injury is not fatal, it seems to heal rapidly...
As for the cost...
It is the depletion of the satiation and satisfaction from consuming the blood, making one hungry and thirsty again.
Moreover, when the berserk episode ends, she would feel incredibly weak.
The moonlight was beautiful tonight.
However, Charlotte had no interest in admiring the moonlit scene.
Looking at the bloody spectacle around her and her trembling attendant, she was left with nothing but shock...
What had she just done?
In fact, Charlotte rembered very clearly what happened before.
It was truly a terrifying experience.
On one hand, her consciousness was chaotic; on the other, she seed eerily lucid.
She vividly rembered the mont the old servant opened the carriage door, the string in her mind that had been taut finally snapped completely.
She vividly rembered how she violently killed the other...
She vividly rembered dragging the pack horse into the woods to suck its blood, relishing the sweetness that tasted like a refreshing rain...
She also vividly rembered how she tore off the crossbow bolts from her body, how she ripped out the heart of the fleeing attendant...
She felt like she had transford into a wild beast, only returning to her senses after the last attendant begged for rcy, weeping bitterly...
This was Charlotte's first ti killing soone.
There was no nausea, no retching, and no fear.
She didn't know whether becoming a Bloodline had sohow influenced her thinking, hardening her heart.
The brutal self she just witnessed felt very alien to her.
Charlotte knew that she had definitely gone "berserk."
The only thing that gave her so solace was that she sohow maintained a shred of sanity during her berserk state and did not feed on the corpses' blood...
Even though their blood slled much more appealing than the gamy livestock.
It was perhaps so kind of bottom line for Charlotte.
She always felt that if she really fed on the corpses' blood, she would completely lose her humanity and descend further on a path of degeneration, becoming a true "Deceit Demon"...
Clearly, she still knew too little about the power of the Bloodline.
Charlotte gently closed her eyes, her long eyelashes quivering slightly.
After a long ti, she opened them again.
In that mont, she made a decision.
She must fully master the power of the "Bloodline" and ensure that such uncontrollable "berserk" episodes never happen again!
She was very powerful just now, extrely powerful, definitely reaching the rank of a Transcendent.
But uncontrolled power is aningless.
This ti, her opponents were enemies.
But what if next ti they were her allies?
Or what if they were enemies that she couldn't defeat?
The sobbing cries were piercingly sharp in the deep night, interrupting the girl's thoughts.
Charlotte shifted her gaze to the last attendant whose courage had completely broken.
She had not continued killing this person.
Not because she had co to her senses, but because her berserk state had ended.
She felt like an amateur marathon runner who had just finished the race, her body sore and exhausted, weak to the point of potentially fainting at any mont.
Honestly, Charlotte even felt a bit guilty now.
Because if they really started fighting, she probably wouldn't be able to defeat her opponent.
Fortunately, this attendant was already petrified with fear.
And he completely failed to see Charlotte's weakness.
That worked out just fine.
Charlotte had so questions that needed to be asked.
Still pretending to be in a berserk state, she curved her lips into a sinister smile, her voice cold and emotionless,
"Speak, who are you?"
If it weren't for her scarlet eyes that had returned to a sky blue, Charlotte would really seem like the killing machine from just monts ago.
Of course, the terrified attendant didn't notice these details.
"rcenary... I am a rcenary... We are the freelance rcenaries from Bold!"
He sobbed as he spoke.
Freelance rcenaries...
Charlotte's mind stirred.
After eting Duke's son Laino that day, she had specifically consulted Priest Lotti about rcenaries and knew that in this world, freelance rcenaries were akin to the adventurers and bounty hunters of fantasy novels in her previous life.
The difference is that most freelance rcenaries are ordinary people who live hand to mouth, not Transcendents.
Of course, being called 'ordinary' only ans in terms of power, compared to Transcendent forces; most rcenaries indeed are desperadoes with their lives hanging by a thread.
As long as the bounty is attractive enough, they are willing to do anything.
"Who sent you? And what is your mission?"
Charlotte asked again.
"I... I don't know who our employer is..."
"We just took the job from the Rose Association's mission board, to kidnap the Castel family's young lady and then hand her over to the people coming to et us..."
The attendant stamred out.
"Rose Association?"
Charlotte raised her voice slightly.
"The Rose Association is Bold's largest underworld gang, often bridging rcenaries and employers and taking a cut in the process..."
Underground gang huh...
Charlotte rembered the na, Rose Association.
She looked again at the "old servant" Hunting Axe lying dead on the ground:
"Who shapeshifted his appearance for him?"
"It was... our employer..."
"Hmm? Didn't you just say... you didn't know who the employer was?"
Charlotte's voice suddenly beca icy.
The attendant was about to collapse:
"I... we really don't know..."
"He wore a mask and intentionally changed his voice... We only know that he is a Mage..."
"Oh, right! It was he who prepared the carriage for us, and also the crossbow and clothes!"
Upon hearing this, Charlotte contemplated.
Whether it was disguising rcenaries as servants of the Castel family, forging the uniform of the Castel family, or knowing the Castel family's schedule for welcoming the master ho, it demonstrated that the person was quite familiar with the Castel family.
Moreover, being able to procure Crossbow Arrows, a prohibited weapon, ant that the person either had a background in the Kingdom's military or had connections with the military.
Only vassal nobles directly under the New Moon Kingdom and their trusted followers had access to the Kingdom's military.
In other words... it was soone like the Bold Duke, a direct vassal of the New Moon Kingdom.
But the question arose again.
If they intended to kidnap her, why hire such an unprofessional group, given the plethora of freelance rcenaries available?
And what was the purpose of kidnapping her?
At that mont, Charlotte sensed the scent of a conspiracy.
"Where is your rendezvous point?"
"Outside the city... outside the city... Our first stop is here, we need to switch to a new carriage hidden in this courtyard in advance, then leave through the west gate of Bold City..."
The attendant shivered as he spoke.
The rendezvous point is not here!
Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief.
Her current real state was not good; if the rendezvous point had been this courtyard, she would have had to consider fleeing imdiately.
"Tell the exact location of your rendezvous, and then get lost."
Charlotte spoke indifferently.
The attendant was overjoyed.
Without hesitating, he took out a parchnt from his chest and presented it with both hands:
"Lord... it's the location marked on the map."
Charlotte took the map and began to look it over.
"Lord... may I go now?"
The attendant asked cautiously.
Charlotte glanced at him:
"Get lost!"
The attendant felt as if pardoned.
"Thank you... thank you, Lord! Antonio will absolutely not speak of tonight's events! Antonio swears to the Divine Lord!"
With that, he shakily stood up and stumbled toward the courtyard exit, his deanor quite awkward, his legs still wobbly.
However, just as he was about to leave the gate, he suddenly stopped, hesitated for a mont, gritted his teeth, and turned in another direction.
There... lay the nearest Holy Royal Court Church and Demon Hunting Institute!
The attendant took a step as if to run out of the courtyard, but the next mont, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest.
He slowly lowered his head to see a Crossbow Arrow's tip protruding from his chest.
His eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened, then he slowly slumped down.
Behind him, the expressionless Charlotte slowly lowered the crossbow in her hand.
She hadn't intended to let him go.
From the mont he participated in the kidnapping and recognized her Bloodline identity, she had already sentenced him to death.
Letting him run was rely due to her weakened state, not having the confidence to defeat him.
She might look cute, but she was no Holy Mother!
The last kidnapper who knew her secret lay dead, and Charlotte put away the hand crossbow.
The crossbow was really good, being a compact model but quite powerful, and did not require much effort to use.
She had already decided to take it back as a self-defense weapon.
Hmm... it could perfectly be hidden under her skirt!
Charlotte quickly ca up with a plan.
However, just as Charlotte relaxed, a hoarse, low voice suddenly echoed behind her:
"Would such a great being as yourself use a mortal weapon, despised even by mundane knights, to deal with mortals as insignificant as ants?"
Who?!
Charlotte was startled.
She turned around and saw, under the moonlight, a plump Black Cat slowly walking out from the shadows.
A talking Black Cat?!
Charlotte's heart leaped.
Being a Bloodline, she had just failed to sense the presence of this Black Cat!
The cat wore a solemnly human-like expression.
Under Charlotte's wary eyes, it elegantly bowed like a human noble using its front paw, then hoarsely spoke:
"ow... nice to et you..."
"My na is Nisi, a graceful Cat Noble, and a devout follower of the Contract God."
Speaking, it lifted its head, the plump face wearing a deeply aningful expression:
"Tell , should I address you as Miss Charlotte, or as the distinguished Your Majesty from the Bloodline?"
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