Red Poppies

Returning to the banquet hall, the night had quietly faded, and a faint glow appeared on the eastern horizon.

Luo Wei glanced at Evelyn, who had remained silent the entire way back, clearly still preoccupied with the final words Annie had left her. Sensing her troubled state of mind, he chose not to disturb her and instead turned his attention to the weary-looking guests.

As Evelyn appeared, a vampire girl dressed in a maid's uniform approached.

"Miss Evelyn," she greeted with a polite and proper smile. "I'm Ella. Head Maid Annie has instructed me to take over her duties from now on, responsible for attending to your daily needs."

Mentioning Annie's replacement only worsened Evelyn's mood.

"Go tend to the guests," Evelyn sighed softly. "Arrange for them to be escorted back to their rooms to rest."

"And what about you?" Ella asked. "You're injured, aren't you?"

"I'll be fine," Evelyn waved her hand dismissively, just as Principal Danton approached.

Principal Danton's eyes darted between Evelyn and Luo Wei's faces. "Is it all over?" he asked impatiently. "Are those elder vampires all dead?"

Clearly, he wouldn't dare rest without confirmation. Luo Wei looked toward the dimly lit sky outside, where a dark figure was rapidly flying toward them.

It was the witch, Tilis.

After landing with a few dull thuds, Tilis casually tossed several bloodied heads onto the ground. Among them, Luo Wei recognized Meizi's severed head.

"With the Blood Moon Domain gone, they had nowhere to hide. I killed them on my way back," Tilis said nonchalantly, as if slaying these vampire lords was nothing more than a trivial matter.

"Miss Tilis is amazing..." Helena's eyes sparkled with admiration, struck by the sheer power on display.

She stared at the lifeless vampire heads, then at the composed witch, feeling a surge of admiration. If only she had that kind of strength, she and her brother wouldn't have been chased so desperately after the banquet.

Tilis was truly formidable! And compared to the domineering and disdainful Ophelia, Helena found the unassuming and kind-hearted Tilis far more likable!

Seeing the elder vampires thoroughly dealt with, Luo Wei also breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze shifted to Tilis, and he asked, "Are you alright? Your injuries..."

Tilis's mage robes were riddled with holes, her entire body stained with blood. Her black hair was singed and frizzy, as if scorched by some force. More concerningly, the magical energy radiating from her was highly unstable.

"I'm fine," Tilis waved it off. "I might die soon, though. Prepare a room for my corpse later."

"Alright," Luo Wei nodded, glancing at Evelyn.

Evelyn called over the new head maid, Ella. "Prepare a quiet, undisturbed room for Miss Tilis."

Ella looked puzzled but knew better than to question orders, quickly nodding in response.

"Wait, wait—what?" Monica thought she must have misheard, her eyes widening in shock.

Was this for real? Their companion was about to die, and these people were acting so calm? Even arranging a resting place for the body in advance?

Principal Danton was equally baffled. "Does your Magic Hermetic Order possess some powerful regenerative ability like the vampires?"

"No," Tilis replied indifferently. "I really am about to die. The opponent was strong."

Luo Wei knew that crafting a new body was a trivial matter for Tilis. What concerned him more was the battle's outcome. "That strong? You mean that church priestess, Feilin? Or... the one standing behind her?"

"Obviously. Who else?" Tilis shot him a glance. "Your old flame is practically ascending to godhood. If we don't stop her soon, the entire continent will be dragged back into the dark ages of the church."

Luo Wei rubbed his forehead. "She's really that powerful? Even you couldn't defeat her?"

"Who said I couldn't?" Tilis snorted. "As long as she isn't a full-fledged god, I’m not afraid of her! I just had to resort to extreme measures this time to end things quickly..."

Earlier in the study, Luo Wei had sensed a surge of magical energy—even from a great distance. It reminded him of a past incident at the Divine Research Institute, when Tilis had nearly destroyed everything in an uncontrolled outburst of magic after he’d provoked her to death in one timeline. The situation just now had been eerily similar.

When he asked, Tilis nodded irritably. "Yes, that’s exactly what I did. But this time, I initiated the outburst deliberately. I managed to rein it in before it reached the scale I intended, so the priestess escaped. My apologies."

Her current body was severely damaged, but with daily recuperation and meditation over two months, she could recover. However, she saw no point in enduring that when crafting a new body was far more convenient.

The Magic Hermetic Order and the Magisteam Engine project couldn’t function without her. She had too much work piling up—so much that she barely had time to sleep...

"It's fine," Luo Wei shook his head. "I’m just glad you made it back."

Tilis must have forced herself to fly back despite her unstable magic, not even using teleportation. Yet even in that state, she’d still had enough strength to slaughter those elder vampires. Truly, the witch was terrifying...

Then, Tilis scanned the surroundings before silently fixing her gaze on Luo Wei, as if waiting for the others to disperse so she could speak to him alone.

Guided by the maids and butlers, the guests gradually left the castle, murmuring among themselves. The main tower, damaged beyond habitability from the earlier battle, forced them to be relocated to guest rooms in other castles.

Even after being assured that the rebellion was over and Thornbloom Castle was safe, the guests still looked shaken. Evelyn sighed helplessly. "After this mess, we’ll have to prepare countless apologies and compensations. But at least none of the guests were harmed—that’s the one silver lining..."

"What do you mean ‘none were harmed’? It was a disaster!" Principal Danton fumed. "This old man’s bones nearly gave out last night! I even nearly brained that imperial attendant with a candlestick—right in front of everyone! And he’s the emperor’s favorite! I’ve completely humiliated myself!"

Evelyn chuckled at the sight of the fuming principal. "You seem quite energetic to me."

"Energetic?" Principal Danton sighed in resignation. "After offending that man, I might as well retire early. My days as university president are numbered..."

"Don't worry, don't worry." Luo Wei patted the principal's shoulder. "The Emperor isn't the type to easily believe slanderous words. You can rest assured and go back to continue shining for the empire. This country can't function without you—no one could ever replace the head of Callen University."

Though it was Gould who invented the standard magic crystal and improved the magisteam engine, Principal Danton had contributed greatly to the subsequent development of magitech industry. Despite being over seventy years old—an age when most would have long retired—everyone knew Callen University couldn't do without him, nor could the magitech industry.

"You sure know how to flatter people. No wonder so many girls like you..." Naturally, Principal Danton was quite pleased by the praise.

"So it's really all over?" he suddenly asked again. "There's nothing else for me to handle?"

"Don't worry, Principal. Go get some rest!" Evelyn gave an apologetic smile. "We've been terribly rude to you today. How about staying here for a few more days? The Abraham family will make sure you're well taken care of—consider it our way of making amends."

"Oh, spare me!" Principal Danton looked thoroughly spooked. "How could I dare stay another night in this dreadful place? I'm packing my things and leaving today!"

"Well, if you insist..." Evelyn smiled regretfully. There was no way to persuade him otherwise now.