allendalepharm Page 20
Page 20
"Ah... Aunt Serena, hello?"
"Well, you're so good."
Serena hugged Charlotte with a doting smile, while Lorraine felt extremely frustrated that her older sister could so easily get Charlotte to call her aunt, while she herself was still being addressed by Charlotte's first name.
All I can say is that my sister's friendliness is truly terrifying.
Although I don't expect Charlotte to call me "Dad," I'm sure it'll be alright if she calls me "Uncle."
Is there something wrong with my own education?
Lorraine stroked his chin, feeling utterly confused.
Charlotte felt extremely uncomfortable with Serena's enthusiasm and looked to Loran for help. However, Loran was still doubting his own upbringing and didn't notice Charlotte's pleading look. At this moment, an elderly man in a butler's uniform who had been standing silently to the side spoke up: "Miss, please invite Master and Miss Charlotte inside first."
"Oh my, look at me, I'm so excited to see Loran and Charlotte. You must be exhausted from your journey. Come on, come in... Mia, go tell the kitchen to prepare lunch."
Loran then snapped out of his self-doubt and greeted the old man beside him, "Grandpa Rom, it's been a long time."
"It's been a long time, sir."
The elderly but sprightly butler bowed slightly: "It is a pleasure to see that you look even more dignified than before, sir."
“Grandpa Rom, didn’t I tell you? Just call me Loran.”
“That won’t do. If Lord Delia’s spirit in heaven knew, he would blame this old man.”
"oops......"
Loran couldn't say anything about the old man's stubbornness—this Grandpa Rom was his father's butler back then, and could be said to have watched him grow up, so he was now an elder to the two siblings.
However, this elder always acted like a servant. Loran and Serena repeatedly told the old man that he didn't need to do that, but Grandpa Rom would always glare and say that this wouldn't do.
However, the old man is getting on in years and is currently training the next steward, with Head Maid Caroline being his chosen successor.
Come to think of it, they grew up together, and now Caroline is a housekeeper while Mia is still just an ordinary maid...
"Waaah, Caroline, I was wrong, please don't punish me..."
A voice begging for mercy came from the side; the orange-haired maid, caught red-handed stealing snacks, was pitifully pleading for forgiveness.
"Mia, this is the fifth time you've said something like that this month."
The blue-haired head maid showed no mercy: "You're in charge of cleaning the mansion today."
"Waaaaah, help me..."
Mia took the broom from the smiling maid, her little face contorted with distress, her eyes brimming with tears.
The others were already used to it and were instead discussing how long Mia could last this time.
Seeing this, Loran silently withdrew his gaze, and also gave up his earlier idea of promoting Mia: Serves her right!
Lunch wasn't lavish, as it had been prepared in a rush; it consisted only of cream of mushroom soup with steak. But the Morganfleur family's culinary skills were beyond question, and even the simple lunch made Lorraine and Charlotte very happy.
In the afternoon, Loran and Charlotte wanted to help prepare for the Goddess of Light Festival, but Serena firmly objected, insisting that the two of them go and rest first.
Now that he had some free time, Loran remembered his system. Because it was practically useless in the short term, Loran had almost forgotten about it.
However, it seems the system's first task has already been completed?
Loran opened the system panel
The character development system is dedicated to serving you.
[Host: Loran Morganfleur]
Rank: Seventh
[Bound to: Charlotte Bernet]
[Identity: Female protagonist of "The Strongest Hero's Divine Sword Record"]
[Plot Progress: Not yet started]
[Bound object hierarchy: First-order]
[Quest: The Beginning of the Path of the Demon: Train the female protagonist to Tier 1 (Completed). Reward: Randomly increases her magical affinity of one attribute to the maximum.]
New rewards are available.
Ah... well... even though it's not very useful, I'll still claim it.
Moreover, he really wanted magical affinity. Loran had always envied those with magical affinity; their cultivation was so much easier than his, a guy with no magical attributes.
[Claiming...]
[Has gained affinity for ice magic.]
Loran carefully sensed it and it seemed that it was indeed different. The magic power loss caused by using ice magic in the normal way was greatly reduced, and it was almost comparable to using ice magic with the spell formula he had constructed.
As a magic user without any elemental affinity, Loran generally needs to expend ten or even a hundred times more magical energy than others to use magic. After all, without magical affinity, it's extremely difficult for Loran to find the corresponding elemental magic in the air. However, through research, Loran discovered that magic is essentially the accumulation of magical energy factors, so he developed spell formulas to quickly find the corresponding magical energy factors.
Although she still has to expend more magic than others, Loran can use magic of any attribute at will.
Thinking of this, Loran began to use spells to construct ice-attribute magic, and was surprised to find that with the magic affinity, he only needed to spend 50% of his original magic power to use the same magic!
So, magical affinity is actually quite useful.
Loran nodded, quite satisfied.
Come to think of it, I seem to have awakened a new ability.
Loran recalled the golden flames that he had gained after breaking through to the seventh level of martial arts, and carefully sensed its power.
The power of these eyes lies in their ability to see through illusions and discern flaws. If Loran is not mistaken, this power is recorded in the Holy See's scriptures and is known as the "Eye of Illusion." The last person to possess this power was a pope of the Holy See, the most famous hawk in the Holy See, who is said to have now joined the Kingdom of the God of War.
It looks pretty good too, not much worse than Lucifer's Eye of All Magic Breaking.
Wow, now that you mention it, it sounds like something out of a legend about eyes.
After resting for a while, Lorraine and Charlotte went to have dinner and then returned to their room.
In the stillness of the night, as the moon rose above the willow branches, Loran's door was quietly pushed open, and a black-haired woman appeared in Loran's room, her crimson pupils radiating a captivating light.
Chapter 33 Loran did not spend her first night home alone.
"You've come, sister."
Loran seemed to have known Serena would come, and he gave a faint smile. Serena's face flushed an unnatural red, and she moved closer like a cat that had seen catnip.
"Loran".
Serena nestled against his shoulder, her breath sweet and fragrant: "Loran, my dear Loran."
Loran hugged Serena, his face showing a mixture of guilt and helplessness. He patted Serena's smooth back and said softly, "Come on, Serena, come on."
"I'm sorry, Loran, I'm so sorry..."
Serena closed her eyes, leaned close to Loran's neck, and opened her mouth.
The sharp tiger fangs pierced Loran's skin without any resistance. As a seventh-level martial artist, Loran's physique could not be harmed except by a divine weapon that had been forged through countless trials. However, with his deliberate relaxation, the harmless tiger fangs easily pierced into Loran's blood vessels, greedily sucking Loran's blood.
Lorraine closed her eyes.
Serena suffers from blood thirst, a result of a vampire transformation ritual performed by the now-destroyed Duke. In that era, vampires, or rather demons, were sworn enemies of humans. Such a ritual would transform a person into a lowly blood servant, unacceptable to both humans and vampires.
The duke who orchestrated Lorraine's abduction and caused the deaths of Lorraine's father and stepmother ultimately aimed to wipe out the Morganfleur Earl family completely, and Serena was the last one to be eliminated.
If Serena were to lose control of her thirst for blood and attack humans, she would be sentenced to death, and the Morganflore family would be wiped out completely.
Fortunately, Loran regained his memories and found Serena.
Afterwards, Loran used the treasures he stole (crossed out) from the vampire royal court to sign a blood pact with Serena. Although Serena still became a vampire, she only needed Loran's blood to suppress her thirst for blood.
Serena, who had absorbed the essence and blood of a seventh-tier powerhouse, quickly rose to the Gold rank.
This is also the terrifying aspect of blood pacts: as long as a powerful individual can provide their essence blood, the strength of a vampire can increase rapidly. However, the existence of blood pacts means that the life and fortune of the lower-ranking vampire are completely in the hands of the higher-ranking vampire, and their future depends entirely on the whim of the higher-ranking vampire. Therefore, very few vampires are willing to sign such a contract.
But this wasn't something Serena found hard to accept.
Because the two of them are the most important person to each other.
Serena finally finished consuming it, and Loran's blood surged, quickly replenishing his energy.
Serena, whose complexion had returned to its original fair state, still did not leave. She lay on Loran, the thin veil covering her body appearing so hazy in the moonlight.
She raised her head.
A fierce storm raged outside the window, waking Charlotte. She glanced at the window, which was rattling loudly in the wind, got up, and closed it. She couldn't help but wonder why there was such heavy rain.
After a long while, the rain stopped, the wind was gentle, and the courtyard was filled with fragrance.
With the warm jade in her arms, Loran lowered her head slightly, looking at Serena drawing circles on her chest.
“Serena…”
"I am here, Loran."
Loran remained silent for a long time, but ultimately said nothing.
Seeing that Loran had finally given in, Serena smiled gently. "Alright, there are so many beautiful girls in the world, surely one of them will be suitable to be your wife. Let me think... Loran, don't you have a few very good male friends? Hmm, how about Her Majesty the Saint? But Her Majesty the Saint's status is too high, Loran, can you handle that? Otherwise, how about that red-haired lady? I remember her name is Christine, right? Or perhaps that elf named Estia..."
"Alright, sister."
Lorraine took her hand: "Don't say anymore, I'm tired."
"Ah."
Serena closed her eyes and nestled in Loran's arms: "Sleep, Loran."
"......Um."
Chapter 34 Charlotte's Melancholy
Charlotte's Diary:
June 13th, 717th year of the Seven Gods Calendar, sunny
That day, Loran and I arrived at the Earl's estate, which belonged to Loran's family. The Loran family manor was very large, even larger than the home I remembered. Loran's older sister, Miss Serena, greeted me and said she hoped I would call her Aunt. Hmm, Miss Serena's gentle manner made it impossible to refuse.
Dinner was delicious, and I really enjoyed it!
......
June 14nd, sunny
On the first day after my journey ended, I intended to continue learning magic from Loran, but Miss Serena said she would teach me aristocratic etiquette.
Well, I did learn a little bit before, but the etiquette of the Kingdom of Antaya doesn't completely apply to the Isnar Empire. For example, in the Kingdom of Antaya, we always praise someone as beautiful as a flower blooming at night, but in the Isnar Empire, a flower blooming at night represents a prostitute, and using this phrase to describe a woman is the greatest insult to her.
This is something I should remember.
Speaking of which, Miss Serena seems to have gotten up a little late today. Sister Mia said that Miss Serena usually gets up at eight o'clock sharp, but she actually stayed in bed today, which Sister Mia said is quite rare.
Loran woke up really late today. Hmm, I was going to wake him up, but Miss Caroline stopped me. Oh well, I'll let him off this time.
......
June 18th, Cloudy
Today, Loran took me to learn to ride a horse. How can an elegant lady ride a horse? But Loran said that ladies of the Isnar Empire also learn to ride horses and hunt.
I was skeptical, so I asked Miss Serena, and she gave me the same answer. Could someone as elegant as Miss Serena really ride horses and hunt? It's hard to imagine.
It's strange, in Antaya, ladies aren't supposed to do things with large movements—though I'm hardly a lady myself. But horseback riding was fun; if Laura were here, she'd definitely love it.
.....
September 20th, rain
Loran told me that he would hire a tutor for me after the Goddess of Light Festival. Hmm, come to think of it, it seems like it's been a long time since I've studied properly!
That won't do, Charlotte, you can't let yourself get distracted by frivolous pursuits!
......
June 21nd, sunny
Go to town with Loran.
......
June 24nd, sunny
play
......