Chapter 17: Carmilla
Carmilla walked through the long hallway, went straight to her study, and locked the door behind her.
Only when she had completely separated herself from the cursing outside did the shoulders she always kept straight slowly sag down.
Carmilla walked over to the chaise by the window and lay down.
One hand covered her eyes, her whole body filled with exhaustion.
The wound on her forehead was still bleeding.
A few drops of fresh red slid down along her temple, falling onto the black high-collared top.
Carmilla raised her hand.
A pale red light appeared at her fingertips.
Healing mana quickly enveloped the wound. The skin closed up and the blood stopped flowing, but a faint red mark still remained on her forehead.
She looked at the bloodstain on her hand, silent for a very long time.
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
Naron always believed that he was the center of the family.
No.
In his thinking, all Succubi in the world had to serve men unconditionally.
Carmilla had once felt that was a normal thing.
From when she was small, she had been taught that men were incredibly precious.
A Succubus had to fight.
Had to earn money.
Had to prepare a betrothal gift.
Had to take care of her partner.
While a man only had to exist, enjoy life, and bestow a bit of vital essence upon a Succubus, and that was already an enormous favor.
Carmilla had once been proud too, that she could sign a formal Contract with Naron.
Back then, she had already been a rank A Succubus.
Although she hadn’t reached the peak, Carmilla’s potential was still highly regarded by many clans.
She not only had combat ability but also possessed a very good talent for business.
Before the marriage, Carmilla had built up an enormous fortune by herself.
Afterward, she used her entire enterprise as a betrothal gift to marry Naron.
At first, he had treated her fairly well too.
At least on the surface it was so.
Until Carmilla gave birth to Nathan.
After having a son, Naron’s attitude gradually changed.
His body, too, grew weaker and weaker from excessive indulgence along with a lazy lifestyle.
In the end, Naron almost never touched Carmilla anymore.
Not because he couldn’t.
But because he believed that each time he provided vital essence, it left his own body exhausted.
In Naron’s eyes, a Succubus had to handle her own hunger and shouldn’t disturb a man’s rest.
Refined blood.
Energy Crystals.
Suppression medicine.
Carmilla had tried them all.
But she had signed a formal Contract.
The Chains of Desire had been completely unlocked. External things could only delay the hunger, and couldn’t truly satisfy her.
To keep her sanity, Carmilla had only one method left.
To burn away the energy she had cultivated within her body.
To use her own level to forcibly suppress the hunger.
Carmilla had once been a Diamond-grade Awakened.
As long as she kept cultivating, she had a real hope of entering the Elite grade.
But as many years passed, her level didn’t rise and instead continuously dropped.
From Diamond down to Platinum.
From Platinum down to Gold.
Now, she was left with only the Silver grade.
Each time she burned away energy, Carmilla lost the cultivation results of many months, even many years.
But Naron had never once asked why her strength kept dropping.
In his eyes, whether a Succubus was strong or weak didn’t matter.
As long as she could still earn money, manage the assets, and serve a man, that was enough.
Carmilla sighed and took out her phone.
The video of Nathan being beaten by Erik was still at the top of the search list.
At first she hadn’t meant to watch it.
Carmilla had already known the entire course of events from the bodyguards’ report along with Nathan’s account.
But after hesitating for a few seconds, her finger still tapped the screen.
The video began to play.
Nathan reached out his hand, wanting to touch Elowen’s face.
Erik immediately grabbed his wrist.
Then came a punch.
Nathan fell.
Erik grabbed his hair, dragged him before Elowen, and forced him to kneel down and apologize.
At first, seeing her son get beaten, anger still appeared in Carmilla’s eyes.
No matter how wrong Nathan was, he was still her son.
But when Erik appeared clearly on the screen, Carmilla’s gaze gradually changed.
A tall, large build.
Broad shoulders.
A firm arm.
A calm face along with a cold gaze.
Erik didn’t hide behind Elowen at all.
Nor did he order the female bodyguards to handle Nathan.
Erik stepped forward himself, restrained Nathan, and protected his Succubus.
Carmilla looked at that scene, and the image of Naron couldn’t help surfacing in her mind.
One who needed an electric wheelchair just to move a few meters.
The other who could drag Nathan across the ground with one hand.
One who threw a cup at the Succubus who had cared for him for many years.
The other who wouldn’t allow anyone to carelessly insult or touch the woman beside him.
The difference was too great.
So great that for a moment Carmilla could no longer see Erik as merely the man who had beaten her son.
She dragged the video back and rewatched the moment Erik threw the punch.
Not because of the violence.
But because of the way he looked standing in front of Elowen.
Carmilla watched for a while longer before finally turning off the video.
At that very moment, a new message appeared in the private group chat of the powerful, noble madams.
[Madam Ravia: I just managed to find a rather interesting video again.]
[Madam Lilith: Does it have to do with Meira’s man?]
[Madam Ravia: See for yourselves.]
A video was sent into the group.
Carmilla recognized it as the very video Meira had hurriedly recalled earlier.
Someone had managed to save it in time.
Her finger rested on the screen for a few seconds.
In the end, Carmilla still tapped it open.
The angle was fairly high.
Most of the imagery was blocked by the sofa along with Erik’s body, and the too-private areas couldn’t be seen clearly.
But Elowen’s flushed face, the way she knelt in front of Erik, along with the sounds ceaselessly coming out were already enough to make a viewer understand what was happening.
Then came Sarna moving into the car compartment.
In less than a minute, Carmilla’s body lying on the chaise had gone completely rigid.
Her red eyes turned hazy.
Her originally calm breathing quickly grew ragged, making the full chest beneath the high-collared top continuously rise and fall.
The black fabric that already hugged her body was now stretched even tighter, making her mature curves almost impossible to keep hidden any longer.
Carmilla’s legs unconsciously pressed together.
The hand resting on her stomach also slowly slid down.
She had endured for far too long.
More than ten years without being touched by her partner.
Each time the hunger appeared, Carmilla could only use her own level to trade for a brief period of calm.
Right now, the image of a young, strong man brimming with vitality was no different from throwing a flame into a place that had run dry for many years.
Carmilla bit down hard on her lip.
She tried to keep herself from making a sound.
But after a while, the hunger not only didn’t diminish, it grew even stronger.
Her body heated up.
Her breathing grew more and more chaotic.
Her legs pressed together so tight they began to tremble.
Carmilla immediately turned off the video.
"I can’t..."
She sat up, both cheeks flushed red, her chest still continuously heaving.
If she kept watching, her sanity would very likely completely collapse.
Carmilla tried taking a vial of refined blood from the cabinet drawer and drank it all.
The cold liquid slid down her throat.
The hunger only lessened for a few seconds before immediately surging back up.
Refined blood had almost no effect on her anymore.
Carmilla closed her eyes, her two hands forming a magic seal in front of her chest.
A dark red ring of light appeared beneath her body.
The energy within her began to burn.
The already unstable Silver-grade aura immediately dropped by a noticeable degree.
A portion of energy that had taken Carmilla many months to accumulate quickly vanished.
In exchange, the hunger in her body was finally forcibly suppressed.
The light dissipated.
Carmilla leaned back against the chaise, her face pale, a thin layer of sweat appearing on her forehead.
Her large chest still heaved with each breath.
If this kept up, before long she would drop out of the Silver grade.
But when she looked at Erik’s face paused on the screen, Carmilla found that she couldn’t easily tear her eyes away.
She was silent for a very long time.
In the end, Carmilla looked up Meira’s contact information.
The call connected after a few seconds.
Meira’s beautiful face appeared on the screen.
Her gaze looked at Carmilla indifferently.
"What is it?"
Carmilla drew in a deep breath, trying to recover her usual calm.
"I want to apologize to you about Nathan."
Meira didn’t answer.
Carmilla continued:
"He was the one who actively offended Elowen."
"I’ll take responsibility for compensating all of the losses, and at the same time guarantee that something similar won’t happen again."
Meira still stayed silent.
Her gaze rested on the red mark that hadn’t completely faded on Carmilla’s forehead, and only then did she softly ask:
"You want to apologize to me..."
"Or do you want to meet Erik?"
Carmilla faltered slightly.
The face that had already returned to normal immediately took on a faint flush of red.
Meira understood the answer just from looking at that reaction.
Carmilla no longer kept hiding it.
"I want to apologize to him directly."
She paused a moment, then added in a small voice:
"At the very least... give me one chance to meet him."
Meira looked at her for a very long time.
In the end, she calmly replied:
"Tomorrow morning, Elowen and Erik will be coming to the Teleportation Center."
"I can create an opportunity for you."
"But whether Erik accepts the apology or not isn’t something I can decide."
Carmilla immediately nodded.
"Just being able to meet him is enough."
The call ended.
Carmilla set down the phone, her gaze once again resting on the image of Erik.
Her finger slowly brushed across his face on the screen.
"Tomorrow morning..."
For the first time in a great many years, Carmilla felt herself looking forward to the arrival of a new day like this.