Chapter 6 The First Step of Repayment
Chapter 6: The First Step of Repayment
Vivian sat silently on the throne, looking at the mountain of administrative documents.
…
“Ahhh, when will this ever end?” She lay pitifully on the desk, blinking her eyes repeatedly, looking beseechingly at Duke Wensa.
“I apologize, my queen, according to…”
Vivian interrupted Wensa’s lengthy sermon, knowing he was a man who followed the rules rigidly and wouldn’t listen to anything that deviated slightly from the regulations.
He laughed awkwardly and slowly withdrew from the hall.
“You… never mind, I’ll do it myself.”
She managed to process a few documents at first, but later just twirled her pen absentmindedly. It was so boring that Vivian had begun chewing on her pen tip.
Baizhi, now feeling better, had just left the changing room in casual clothes when he saw Vivian staring into space.
Curiosity led him to unconsciously walk over to see, but after just two steps, Vivian looked as if her scheme had succeeded.
“Hey, come over here. It’s time for you to repay your debt.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“Tsk, tsk, you do because I say so. You certainly enjoyed drinking my blood, look what you’ve done to me.”
Vivian lay on the throne, swinging her legs, closing her eyes in apparent pleasure.
“Look, I can barely stand now.”
Baizhi stared at the tantrum-throwing Vivian with a deadpan expression, nearly writing “speechless” on his face.
“Listen, lady, you’ve lived for thousands of years. Can’t you at least act a bit more convincingly?” Baizhi turned to leave, unwilling to engage with Vivian’s boring coquetry.
He wanted to wander around and familiarize himself with the layout to make escaping easier later. He had no intention of staying to be some vampire prince.
Suddenly, he felt a headache, his whole body beginning to convulse. It seemed a powerful force was invading his mind, which he couldn’t resist in his current state.
“…When did you steal my Mind Web technique…” Baizhi forced out these words, the pain nearly shattering his skull. Turning around, he found Vivian guiltily looking away, a hint of a smile on her lips.
This was originally his skill for transmitting information, but Vivian had somehow turned it into mental control.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Vivian asked with feigned surprise, helping him up. “Stop wandering off. Come help big sister with a few things, will you?”
Baizhi frowned at the mountain of documents, truly surprised at how lazy Vivian was. These files had accumulated for at least half a month.
With no one managing affairs above, it was a miracle the Rose Sanctuary wasn’t in chaos.
“Is it appropriate to let an outsider like me see your vampiric administrative matters?” Baizhi twitched his mouth, trying to present himself as an outsider.
But he was still obediently thrown to the side, struggling to emerge from the document pile that figuratively buried him—yes, in the physical sense of being buried.
“They’re just trivial matters. You must have handled plenty in the Empire. We’re really counting on you.”
He vaguely felt a headache coming on, certainly Vivian meddling with his “Mind Web” again. No choice—he had to do this work whether he wanted to or not.
“Oh, by the way, I have some cake. Would you like to try?”
Now Baizhi didn’t dare delay, quickly starting to review the petty matters.
Baizhi grew increasingly speechless as he read through them—all minor issues like magic violations and brawls without serious consequences. Why were these immortals making such a fuss over nothing?
It took him only about half an hour to process all the minor issues. Such inefficiency was truly astonishing.
Vivian had changed into nightwear and was drinking blood from a glass when she turned to see Baizhi had already processed most of the items.
“My, my, as expected of Prince Baizhi. How capable.”
Baizhi ignored her and began tidying the disorganized desk. He had developed this good habit during his time in the Empire.
“It’s nothing, just a habit.”
He responded casually and walked out of the castle without looking back.
“Getting some air is good, but remember not to use your ice powers. It would be awful if other clan members recognized you.” Vivian teleported in front of him with a rare serious expression.
“Why?”
“Ice abilities are too conspicuous and would immediately link to your name. I’ve publicly announced your death, remember?”
Baizhi: ?
So I’m not even fully dead, and the Empire is already holding a memorial service for me?
…
Since he was supposedly dead anyway, Baizhi couldn’t control that.
He put on his coat and walked along the shaded path. He found this cool environment particularly comfortable—the Rose Sanctuary had no sunlight, being vampire territory.
The ancient stone walls were slightly cracked with emerald vines clinging to them. Judging by the weathering, the walls seemed quite old. Baizhi couldn’t help wondering which was older: Vivian or these stones.
Another thing he found strange: how could vegetation grow so lushly in a place without sunlight?
He set these questions aside for now. Unable to fly, the only exit from the castle was the drawbridge on the opposite side.
The drawbridge was a hundred meters long with no cover. Vampire guards visible throughout the sky could monitor this sole escape route at all times.
…
While wandering, armored vampire guards spotted him. Baizhi instinctively reacted, his hand…
“Don’t use your ice abilities…” He remembered Vivian’s warning.
Vivian seemed reasonable, but if other vampires discovered he was the Frost Moon Knight, his life would be worse than death.
The frost on his hand never materialized, emitting only a trace of cold air.
“Greetings, Prince Bai.”
Two armored guards carrying halberds knelt on one knee, saluting Baizhi.
Not yet understanding the situation, he blushed, appearing honored yet surprised. After a long silence, the two guards remained kneeling without moving.
“Um, please rise.” Baizhi squeezed out these words timidly, despite the extreme awkwardness.
The guards’ movements were precisely standard without any sloppiness. Watching their uniformity, Baizhi felt somewhat ashamed.
The Imperial army he had led was quite undisciplined. Smoking and drinking were common, and soldiers stood sloppily. How could such an army have any fighting capability?
Vampires, though few in number, were natural reapers of the night with elite individual combat power. Even against high-tier Imperial Knights, they could fight ten-to-one.
Let alone ordinary soldiers.
“Your Highness, being new here, are you lost? Perhaps we could familiarize you with this place?”
Baizhi was indeed troubled about learning the layout, limited to just walking around. The guards’ help came at the perfect time.
“The honor would be mine, Your Highness.”
Thus, the two guards showed Baizhi around the entire castle. With his exceptional memory, he managed to memorize the layout.
“Easy enough. I could draw the floor plan tomorrow.”
But without rulers, compasses, or paper, Baizhi was helpless.
By the time the guards escorted him back to the castle, it was already deep night. Baizhi was exhausted. He returned without even bathing, collapsing directly onto a bed in a side room.
This time, he had enough self-awareness to avoid Vivian’s room.