Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Well-fed Hypocrisy and Hungry Goodness (2)
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-Hehe, Sister Cassia! Look at this!
A memory from childhood came to mind.
A page from a faded album, one she could barely remember now.
The memory of making a small crown from wildflowers grown in the garden and giving it to her sister.
-Oh, how lovely.
Her sister, frail since birth, received the small wildflower crown while sitting in her wheelchair.
Her sister, who had been lovingly stroking the crown, gently placed it on my head.
-But I made this for you!
-No. It looks much better on our Bella.
-Really?
Her sister smiled kindly and stroked my head, now adorned with the crown.
Perhaps her sister had known, even back then.
That a crown would never be placed upon her own head.
-Hehe. I like you the best, big sis!
I climbed onto her sister's frail lap and smiled brightly.
-Oh, my. Our little princess. You shouldn't bother your sister.
-I'm not bothering her!
My father, approaching us in the garden.
His gentle smile and the hand that stroked my head were as warm as the spring sun.
-It's alright, Father.
-Cassia?
-I want to stay with Bella a little longer.
My sister wrapped her arms, as delicate as glass, around me.
-Because if not now... we won't have much time to be together like this.
-Are you going somewhere, big sis?
-Haha. No, I'm not.
As a child, I couldn't understand what my sister was saying.
I was just happy to be held so gently by my sister, rubbing my cheek against her like a pouting child.
The page of the faded album ends.
The next one turns.
*No.*
I reached out desperately, but I couldn't stop the page from turning.
*Stop...*
I curl up like a child and cover my ears.
But no matter how hard I plug my ears.
It comes. It rushes in.
-Why, why! Why does Sister have to be exiled from the family!
-...It is the family's rule.
-What is that stupid rule!
*Crash!*
I screamed, thrashing as I threw an expensive piece of pottery.
My father bit his lip and shouted back urgently.
-It is not some stupid rule! It is a tradition that has been passed down for hundreds of years, one that has protected the Colagrande name!
-I don't need it! Bring my sister back, now!
-I told you, I can't!!
My father's face was contorted as tears streamed down.
-It's not like I wanted to send Cassia away!
-Then why!
-If, if we don't follow the rules, the legitimacy to inherit the Colagrande name will be lost! The branch families will tear us to shreds like hungry hyenas!
The sight of my father, hugging himself and trembling.
-Then we can just leave this stupid family! All I need is Mom, Dad, and Sister!
-...
Looking at his wailing daughter, my father's expression twisted fiercely.
*Slap!*
A sharp sound, and my cheek stung as my head snapped to the side.
The metallic taste of blood from my split lip.
-'Just leave the family?' Whose money do you think bought the clothes you're wearing? The lavish banquets you eat every day? No, this very mansion you're standing in!!!
-That's...
-It all! It all comes from the wealth the Colagrande family has built over hundreds of years!
My father, screaming as if in despair.
His kind and charismatic demeanor was gone; in its place stood only a shabby middle-aged man, trembling in fear of losing his power.
*...*
Along with the metallic taste of blood that filled my mouth.
Once again, a page of the faded album turns.
A world overrun by monsters, starting with the Demonic Realm gate that opened at the North Pole.
The Constellation of the Black Star, whom I met on my journey to find my sister.
The days I spent obtaining the Stigma of the Leech, consumed by a vampiric impulse, greedily craving blood.
*Stop, stop... it.*
Amidst a thirst that burned my throat, I barely managed to learn how to control the vampiric impulse.
Was it the Black Star's blessing, or its curse?
Having succeeded in controlling my impulse, I grew many times faster than others.
And so, I returned to my family.
-I-Isabella? Y-You're alive?
-Huhu. Yes, Father.
With the Stigma of the Leech and the powerful Black Star Society in my hands, I quickly seized control of the family.
I subjugated the arrogant branch families and trampled on my father's authority.
If I could take hold of everything the Colagrande family possessed.
If I could find my missing sister and successfully persuade my father.
Perhaps.
Perhaps.
Perhaps.
Back to that time, to the first page of the faded album—
"Hah!!"
She shot up, gasping for breath.
She could see the cold sweat from the night had pooled between her breasts, forming a small puddle.
"...It seems I've been pushing myself too hard lately."
Isabella sighed, looking down at the white negligee clinging to her sweat-soaked body.
It was the first time she'd slept in the week since the incident in San Fruttuoso, so perhaps that's why she'd had such a pointless dream.
"Ugh...!"
*Throb.*
Isabella winced at the pain in her left breast, as if it were being gouged by a sharp carving knife.
She opened a drawer under the bedside shelf, took out a blood pack, and gulped it down.
The blood trickled down her slender, crane-like neck, staining her white negligee crimson.
"Hoo."
The pain subsided a little.
Isabella reached out and felt her left breast.
The Stigma of the Leech, faded in places.
The faded area had grown larger compared to a week ago.
*Blood packs alone are no longer...*
She needed blood.
And not just any blood, but the fresh blood of an Awakened with the mana capacity and purity of at least a high-ranking one.
"Hah."
The fresh blood of a high-ranking Awakened.
There was no way to obtain it without hunting.
Lost in thought, Isabella clutched the hem of her white negligee.
If she started hunting, the vampiric impulse she was barely suppressing might run rampant.
But she couldn't just keep holding out like this.
As the curse grew stronger, so did her thirst for blood.
"...Time to get up."
Another day packed with a busy schedule awaited her.
Getting out of bed, Isabella took off the blood-stained negligee and changed into her favorite white dress.
Suddenly, her gaze fell upon the drawer under the shelf where the blood pack had been.
Inside was a photograph of her younger self with her sister, father, and mother.
A picture where they were all smiling so brightly, as if they couldn't possibly be happier.
"..."
She took out the old photograph and carefully wiped it with a cloth.
Her sister was missing, and her mother had lost her life in the Gate incident.
For years, her father had been at odds with her, desperately clinging to the hollow power he had left.
"Haha. Looking at it like this, we really are a dysfunctional family."
Isabella turned away with a self-deprecating smile.
After quickly tidying herself up, she set about handling her schedule for the day.
While walking down the corridor of the vast mansion, her steps halted in front of a certain room.
It was the room where Oh-jin was staying.
"...Mr. Oh-jin."
That night, bathed in moonlight.
She recalled the day she had shared a glass of wine with him.
The memory made her heart flutter strangely, bringing a spark of life to her weary body.
Isabella smiled faintly, stroking her chest where her heart pulsed.
*I never thought it would turn out like this.*
At first, she had approached him, intoxicated by the ecstatic taste and scent of his blood.
But the closer she got to him, the more she learned about the man named Kwon Oh-jin.
The more she found herself inexplicably drawn to him.
*It's a useless emotion.*
Isabella, who had been about to knock on the door, lowered her hand with a bitter smile.
She couldn't afford to waste time just because she wanted to see his face, with no other purpose in mind.
Turning away forlornly, Isabella started on her paperwork without even having breakfast.
Documents detailing compensation for the bereaved, approval forms for the dozens of shelters she operated, and even papers for the Black Star Society, hidden in cryptic code.
"Hah."
If only Roberto were here, it wouldn't be this bad.
Isabella let out a deep sigh and continued with her paperwork.
When she was about halfway through the mountain of documents.
"Hngh!"
Isabella straightened her back and stretched.
Her formidable assets pushed against the fabric of her dress, asserting their overwhelming presence.
*It's already this late.*
She checked the time; it was nearing noon.
It was about time to handle her next appointment.
"Let's see... Next up is a press conference and... an interview."
Normally, Roberto would have organized her schedule and informed her, but since she'd sent him to watch the 'Sword of Justice,' there was no one else to manage it for her.
Isabella clicked her tongue lightly and checked her next appointment.
*By the way, there was no report from Roberto today.*
She'd forgotten because of that unsettling dream.
He usually reported Demian Salvatore's movements and status every morning.
But this morning, strangely, there was no contact.
"...What's going on?"
Isabella frowned and tried to call Roberto.
*Beep, beep, beep.*
The phone was off.
Even when she sent out a mana wave that only Awakened of Lyra could detect using a communication-type Sacred Relic or her Stigma, the result was the same.
"..."
A sticky sense of foreboding trickled down her spine.
Isabella narrowed her eyes and moved cautiously.
Just as she was about to exit the mansion.
*Shhhhrrrrnk!!*
The anti-terror blast shields came down, blocking the entrance.
"What the..."
As Isabella turned around with a bewildered expression.
*Ruuuumble!*
The mansion's ceiling collapsed, and concrete fragments rained down.
"Ugh!"
Isabella winced, dodging the falling debris.
The thick gray dust rising like a fog and the acrid smell were unpleasant enough.
"Ah, ugh."
But what pained her more than anything was the stinging sunlight pouring through the collapsed ceiling.
*Throb.*
Exposed directly to the sunlight, the Curse of Jamiwon that had been eating away at her Stigma began to run wild.
"Hah! Hah!"
Her breath came in ragged gasps.
A thirst that burned her throat gnawed at her sanity.
*Blood, blood, blood!*
She needed sweet blood, fresh blood flowing through veins.
If only she could grab anyone, seize them by the neck, sink her fangs into their carotid artery, and drink her fill...
*How...*
...deliciously sweet would it be?
...blissful would it feel?
"Hahk, ahk, ahh."
She clutched her chest, suppressing the boiling impulse.
Just then, the metallic scent of blood drifted from beyond the rubble, tickling her nose.
It was the familiar smell of blood from a blood pack.
"Where..."
As she instinctively moved to find the blood pack.
"Are you looking for this?"
Paolo appeared atop the rubble.
A cruel smile on his lips, he tilted the blood pack and poured its contents onto the ground.
"Father...?"
Isabella stared at Paolo in confusion.
"Father? Did you just call me Father?"
Paolo's face contorted into a deep frown as he glared coldly at Isabella.
"How dare you call me Father with that filthy tongue?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Your true identity has already been exposed, you filthy witch."
"..."
Filthy witch.
Those words from Paolo's lips left a deep scar on her heart.
Isabella looked up at Paolo with confused eyes.
*Since when.*
*When was my identity discovered?*
"Isabella Colagrande."
*Thud, thud.*
A young man walked out from behind her father.
"I will execute you."
The young man, with his shaggy brown hair and rustic appearance, stared at Isabella with murderous eyes that didn't match his country-boy looks.