Seeing Luanna, whose face was calm but whose ears were flushed, pretending to be nonchalant after her delicate body had just trembled, Vlad couldn't help but let a faint smile curl his lips.
As his fingers slid over her, Luanna finally couldn't resist. She turned around and glared at him shyly.
The faint tears in her eyes made Vlad, who had originally planned to continue teasing her, pause in surprise.
Before he could react, Luanna bit her red lips, turned around, cupped his face in both hands, and kissed him passionately—then ran off with an expression full of resentment.
Vlad stood there, confused, watching her retreat into the distance.
After a moment, he realized—he had been forcibly kissed.
But recalling the resentful look in the centaur girl's eyes before she left, he couldn't help thinking of a phrase: "The heart has been broken."
Late at night.
As the bed creaked, a small hand reached toward Vlad.
Alert, he caught the sinful little hand and looked at its owner.
It was Elu, her face crimson, sneaking in for a midnight "attack."
The centaur girl, normally shy and even timid, always managed to reveal her wild side when it came to matters of the heart. Vlad could only sigh—truly a centaur through and through.
In the darkness, he studied her fair face, the blush on her cheeks, and the anticipation in her eyes. After a moment's thought, he leaned close and whispered in her ear:
"Go down."
Elu froze for a second, then her eyes grew misty, and she slowly fumbled downward, a confused look on her face.
After a few rustling moments, Vlad's expression turned strange.
As Elu grew more skillful, she looked more and more bewildered.
Then, at some point, another sinful little hand joined in, attacking the two of them in the dark.
"Sister, what are you doing?"
The soft voice made Elu's body stiffen under the quilt. She froze completely and looked up at Vlad, at a loss.
Glancing toward Leia, who stood there with curiosity in her eyes, Vlad coughed and said, "Your sister is… studying. Why are you here?"
"Hmph. My sister told me she was going to the toilet. I didn't expect her to come here for something delicious instead."
This time, Vlad nearly choked from the abruptness of it.
He looked at Leia strangely, then at Elu, whose face was now scarlet.
Needless to say, under the quilt, Elu still wore that combination of shyness and seriousness—seriously teaching.
The whole thing gave Vlad a strange sense of dissonance.
Why did it feel like he was shooting a short film?
It wasn't only Vlad suffering that night.
In the back room, Luanna lay staring at the beams overhead, her expression conflicted.
Listening to the faint sounds of… combat coming from outside, her anger rose and she found herself unable to sleep.
Early the next morning.
Luanna glared at Vlad with dark circles under her eyes, then turned and left without a word.
Even with his usual shamelessness, Vlad felt awkward under her angry stare.
Still, when the two sisters followed him out of the room, cheeks rosy, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, remembering the absurdity of last night.
By daylight, they were completely different—Elu was as shy as ever, unable to meet his gaze after what had happened.
Leia's eyes flickered, and she glanced at her sister with a reserved look before quietly sticking out her tongue at Vlad, a mischievous glint still in her eyes.
Vlad did not linger in the Centaur Secret Realm.
Three days later, at dawn, he prepared to depart.
Perhaps knowing he would soon leave, the sisters became unusually proactive—taking turns each night to "drink milk."
Seeing faint traces on their faces in the morning, Vlad exhaled in satisfaction.
"Brother Vlad, I really can't bear to see you go," Leia said softly, blushing.
Elu blinked from the other side, her eyes filled with reluctance.
"Don't worry, we'll meet again. It won't be long—I promise." Vlad gently stroked their hair as he spoke.
Indeed, it wouldn't be long—Vlad had just received word that the Holy See had mobilized large forces to halt the spread of the wolf plague.
If the opportunity arose, he would gladly kill the Holy See's key figures in one strike, severely weakening them.
At daybreak, Vlad bid farewell to everyone. The Centaur chief personally saw him off, and Vlad's group left the secret realm in grand fashion.
The "group" included the three vampire brides—Verona among them—and the witch Muriel, who had brought supplies for the centaurs.
It was to await their arrival that Vlad had lingered so many days.
Upon returning to Wallachia, the backlog of affairs hit Vlad all at once.
For several days, he barely had time to breathe—fortunately, Mirena understood.
But Mirena also brought her own troubles—little Elsa's arrival had stirred a sense of crisis in her.
This forced Vlad to put marriage on the agenda, which finally eased her worries.
Still, marriage was not something that could be arranged overnight.
Especially since Mirena, now at the wizard college, had thrown herself completely into magic and witchcraft.
If not for the news of Vlad's return, she might have remained there indefinitely.
Even Count Mercer Rand, the finance minister, complained when he saw Vlad.
After settling official matters, Vlad looked at the three idle girls in his study and rolled his eyes.
"You three—must you be here just to irritate me? Was last night's punishment not enough?"
At the word punishment, the three women blushed and glared at the culprit—Marishka.
Their sulking had been because Vlad had left them behind, but within two days, a traitor had emerged.
Recalling last night's scenes, Verona especially glared at Marishka.
Unfamiliar with her tricks and… preferences, Verona had been caught off guard—and the memory still made her blush.
"Enough," Vlad cut in. "Time to get serious."
Seeing his expression, Verona, Aleera, and Marishka straightened up.
"The Vatican's informants report that they are vaguely aware of our presence. But right now, the wolf plague consumes their attention. That means our window to grow is short," Vlad said.
"Verona—you will coordinate with Viktor to delay the wolf plague's eradication while secretly weakening the Holy See's strength.
"In Transylvania and Wallachia, establish churches to recruit believers. Those who pass the tests can be turned into vampires and armed. Aleera, you'll handle this."
"As a former nun, you know how to build a church."
Aleera nodded firmly.
"Many monks and nuns in the monasteries have already been converted. They can help you establish churches and guide believers," Vlad added.
Marishka, realizing she was the only one without an assignment, pouted. "Master~ What about me?"
"You'll assist Aleera—and also establish the Shadow Palace to train elite assassins and run intelligence operations," Vlad said.
"We must speed up our strength accumulation. Understood?"
They accepted their orders and departed.
Just then, the sound of clashing armor rang out. Dumitru, captain of the royal guard, entered and whispered something to Vlad.
"Prepare the carriage—we're going out," Vlad instructed.
Noon.
The carriage rolled along a narrow mountain road.
It was barely wide enough for two carriages, with a hundred-foot cliff on one side and a dozen royal knights in silver armor riding ahead and behind.
Inside, Vlad looked at the little girl across from him, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Do you rarely go out, Sonja?" he asked.
The girl—Viktor's daughter—wore a black-and-white maid dress and gazed out the window with wide-eyed wonder.
"My father rarely took me anywhere. Since I came here, I've stayed in the castle and never gone out," she admitted, her cheeks pink.
As his personal maid, Sonja had been close to him for days now—and she was clearly remembering last night's events.
Although she had fled in the end, the impact still lingered.
It was even more vivid than her time with Aunt Amelia.
For some reason, she didn't want to push the memory away—and now, she couldn't stop feeling a certain… warmth.
Vlad noticed her dazed look but ignored it, turning his gaze toward the wizard academy atop the mountain.