[Like that, your detained life started once again.]
[The silver of hope you held when Selena rescued you, the faint belief that things might get better, was shattered quickly. Your life of imprisonnt continued, only in a different place... a more beautiful cage.]
[And now, instead of Lilith beside you at night, it was Selena. And instead of just sleeping, your nights were spent in endless lovemaking.]
[In this new place, there were servants around you, but they did nothing except fulfill your requests and tend to your basic needs. They neither asked questions, nor gave answers. They were just there.]
[Ti passed like that. Selena only appeared at night, her arms always hungry, her gaze always intense. And as soon as morning ca, she would leave again, disappearing outside sowhere, never explaining where.]
[You returned, as if on instinct, to your so-called useless training. Repeating movents, pushing your body — anything to stop your mind from cracking further.]
[Again and again, you asked her about your younger sister — about Lilith. But Selena never answered. And neither did anyone else in the mansion.]
[More ti passed. Eventually, being with Selena at night stopped being sothing enjoyable. It just beca a chore.]
[Two months later, maybe because she pitied you... or maybe for reasons she didn’t speak of, Selena broke from the usual routine.]
[For once, she didn’t co to find you at night. She ca during the noon.]
[Her smile was easy and bright as she approached, and she said: Guess what I found?]
[You weren’t in the mood for her gas. So you simply stared at her in silence. And so, she clicked her tongue and added: Tsk. You’re no fun.]
[When you still didn’t respond, Selena tilted her head, and with a smile that danced at the edge of provocation, she said: Even after all my hard work... to find a supernatural technique that could help you train your body? One even you can practice? And still, no reaction?]
[That finally stirred sothing inside you. A flicker. A spark. Your gaze sharpened, and you finally gave her your full attention.]
[Selena lowered her head, and gave a short laugh in response.]
[Then, with that smile still playing faintly on her lips, she handed you two books. One clearly ancient, not made of paper, but of sothing older, stranger, its pages inscribed in a language you couldn’t recognize. And the other, newer. Its title written in deep red: Crimson Body Manual.]
[You imdiately started going through the new book, while Selena proudly stood at your side, explaining things to you in detail.]
[It seed that, about a year ago, an inheritance dinsion had appeared in Florence, Italy. And the noble family who acquired it had only recently announced that they obtained a power path from it — one they called the Blood Refinent Path.]
[Hearing about it, and learning that this path didn’t touch the soul at all, Selena had paid a heavy price to acquire the book. And because it was written in a foreign language, she even had to rely on a despicable group to translate it for you.]
["The Blood Refinent Path has a low ceiling," Selena had added, "but it’s still helpful to you. Most importantly, it will increase your lifespan."]
[She, who usually appeared more mature than her age, her crazy episodes aside, at that mont, after explaining everything, looked at you with childlike eyes, as if asking silently to be praised.]
[And you, who hadn’t smiled in ages, finally smiled again. You chose to indulge her this ti... and thanked her.]
Finally.
Noel couldn’t help but celebrate internally as he read the content of the simulation.
Getting this Crimson Body Manual was equivalent to gaining strength. A real, tangible path forward.
He had finally found a road he could walk on, separate from healing his soul, which moved passively, uncertain, and painfully slow.
Now?
It felt like the road in front of him had cleared.
And all he needed to do... was walk.
That’s why Noel eagerly returned to the simulation, filled with a quiet anticipation for where it was heading after all the ups and downs.
[One month passed. You devoted all your ti to the Crimson Body Manual, practicing its breathing and movent exercises to awaken bodily awareness. And finally, you could be said to have entered the first stage.]
[Despite these things being only the initial steps, and you still not having started the real training phase, you, who felt as if you had finally found your path, began to regain your spirit. At least sowhat. After all, Lilith was still always on your mind.]
[Two more months passed. You began sensing the blood flowing through your body more clearly and started the early process of removing the impurities within it.]
[You couldn’t help but feel that these early steps of the Blood Refinent Path resembled the ancient martial arts ntioned in tales from ancient China. But you didn’t care — as long as it helped you grow stronger.]
[Another two months went by. The cleansing of your bloodstream and blood vessels finally began to show results, and your physical strength alone had more than doubled compared to before you started this path.]
[It was a small step forward — insignificant, even, when compared to the strength of Selena or Lilith. But still, it was progress.]
[It was at that point, one night, that Selena casually told you she’d be away for a week or two, and that you wouldn’t see her during that ti — so you wouldn’t worry.]
[You didn’t comnt on it. You only thought to yourself that, with the nightly love-making sessions now erased, you could pour even more ti into your training.]
[Ti passed. Three days later, in the middle of the night, after finishing your training and falling asleep — you suddenly woke up.]
[There was no sound. No presence. But a strange feeling crawled into your chest.]
[You rose from your bed and stepped out of the room... only to be t with the heavy, tallic stench of blood — a scent you’d beco all too familiar with thanks to the Blood Refinent Path.]
[You walked through the mansion slowly, that bad feeling growing sharper with every step. Then... you started seeing them.]
[The servants — now grotesque corpses, twisted and carved into impossible shapes, laid scattered around the hallways.]
Noel remained silent as he read this new developnt.
But after a long mont, he exhaled.
It wasn’t surprise. Not even fear.
Just tiredness.
A breath that seed to ask—
Can things never just go on... peacefully?
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