Chapter 73: Envy of Loriville

She lifted the curtain upward with her fingers.

Until the warm golden sunlight poured in, spilling over her.

“The weather is really nice today.”

Her wine-red eyes narrowed into a contented slit, and she relaxed with her hands behind her head.

Taking advantage of this free moment, Lorevil subconsciously reviewed her schedule for the week in her mind.

Monday, soloed 32 Blood Beasts, stabilizing her newly awakened Tier 3 strength.

Tuesday, got ambushed, only rested for an afternoon…

Wednesday, took Noxia, who had returned to normal, to deal with the Black Fang Gang and the traitor.

Thursday, moved headquarters with Ira to the workshop.

Friday, went to Holy Blood Academy.

Lorevil knew in her heart.

The advancement of a Vampire wasn’t achieved overnight; it had to be honed through real combat.

Especially her proudly self-created secret technique—Blood Web.

Fortunately, she was trained by exam-oriented education, so her stress tolerance was maxed out; otherwise, she would have collapsed long ago.

‘But come to think of it, why am I pushing myself so hard to improve my strength?’

She curled her lips in self-deprecation.

‘It’s because Noxia in her dark form cut me down with one slash.’

Lorevil reached out two slender fingers and rubbed her throbbing temples.

Sigh, in the end, it was her own choice.

Accompanying Mahina to Mary’s funeral, she never expected it would cause Mahina’s Stage 2 darkening, and she also broke her promise to Noxia, dragging herself into a double crisis.

If not for the Retrospection, it would be a dead end—the unsolvable kind.

‘Looks like I should go back early today.’

Lorevil guiltily muttered to herself.

Although it was an accident, she had still wronged her wife Noxia.

She had betrayed Noxia’s trust in her.

And Mahina also needed more care and time to soothe, because last night…

That thing happened again.

But she couldn’t just give up and run away from the problems.

For now, improving strength was still the key.

Only if she was strong enough could she have room to maneuver when the darkening value spiked, without being as passive as last night and this morning.

When Lorevil returned to the mansion, she found not a single maid in the living room.

Lorevil smiled knowingly and walked toward Noxia’s room on the second floor.

She could roughly guess that Noxia was probably exercising at this time.

Sure enough, the timing was just right.

Just as she reached the door, Lorevil heard light panting from inside.

Lorevil didn’t knock; instead, she pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside.

The girl’s stray bangs were dotted with fine beads of sweat, kneeling on the soft carpet, hands on the floor, wearing a custom-made cream-colored yoga outfit that outlined her increasingly toned waist.

‘It’s my wife’s limited edition yoga outfit!’

Noxia’s breathing was slightly rapid, but she still gritted her teeth and persisted, her gaze especially focused.

“Huff… huff…”

She didn’t realize Lorevil had arrived.

The form-fitting fabric wrapped her wife’s curves distinctly, exuding a unique charm, very pleasing to the eye.

Lorevil leaned against the doorframe, feeling her body heat up and her breathing quicken.

Only when her wife finished a set of yoga moves and stood up dripping with sweat did Lorevil speak up:

“I’m back.”

“Lori… Lorevil!”

Noxia’s body trembled slightly, her jade-white toes moving unconsciously, standing there at a loss.

Clearly, she hadn’t expected her to return so soon and was startled.

Noxia’s face was full of blush, and she lowered her head in shyness.

“Didn’t you have things to do? Why are you back so early?”

Ever since Elini taught her the moves, she had dismissed the maids in the mansion and practiced alone in secret.

She had always been too shy to let Lorevil see.

She didn’t expect Lorevil to catch her this time.

“Pfft—”

Lorevil let out a low laugh and closed the door behind her.

“I finished handling things, so I thought I’d come back early to keep you company.”

Lorevil naturally walked up to her.

“What’s wrong? Are you afraid I’ll watch?”

“N-no, not at all!”

Noxia swallowed nervously and said with a red face.

Lorevil taking the initiative like this must be teasing her.

But Lorevil put down her coat, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped Noxia’s damp hair ends.

“Are you tired?”

“It’s okay. At first it was a bit sore, but now I’m used to it.”

Noxia leaned against her shoulder, her pretty face gently rubbing against her collar, her nose twitching slightly.

“Lorevil?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Lorevil was puzzled.

But Noxia suddenly frowned and said in a low voice:

“Lorevil, on you… there seems to be a strange smell.”

Lorevil’s heart skipped a beat, cold sweat immediately broke out, but she forced a calm expression and gave an awkward smile.

She had clearly taken a shower before leaving Mahina’s apartment, so how could there still be a smell?

‘This smell is not to be sniffed!’

“Is there? I can’t smell anything…”

“Never mind. When you change tonight, I’ll wash it clean for you.”

Noxia didn’t think much of it and continued speaking gently and considerately.

“Mm.”

Lorevil quickly nodded.

She absolutely couldn’t show any abnormality at this time.

“By the way, Noxia, I sent messages a bit late last night. You weren’t angry, were you?”

“Of course not.”

Noxia shook her head.

“I know you’ve been busy lately.”

“That’s good.”

Lorevil sighed in relief.

“Lorevil also said…”

Noxia looked up, her clear eyes gazing at her.

“No matter where you go, you’ll send me a message in advance, right?”

For some reason, the tone of this sentence was a bit plaintive.

After hearing this, Lorevil felt something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

It was like a familiar sense of déjà vu.

The next second.

Lorevil immediately used the Darkening Panel and looked at the top of Noxia’s head.

The darkening value had indeed quietly risen a small notch.

“I’m sorry, Noxia. It’s my fault.”

Lorevil apologized decisively and sincerely.

As her words fell, Noxia buried herself in the girl’s arms, and then small sobbing sounds rose.

Noxia only didn’t cry when she was focused on herself.

Once distracted, thinking about Lorevil, the aggrieved tears wouldn’t stop.

Lorevil panicked at once.

She herself was in the wrong; she had easily broken the promise she made.

Lorevil tried to comfort her, but Noxia’s crying became even harder to stop.

“Okay, okay. It won’t happen again.”

Lorevil cupped her wife’s tear-streaked face, wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes with her slender fingers, and said seriously.

“Boo hoo… Since that day, you’ve never spent a night outside.”

Noxia’s long eyelashes hung with crystal teardrops, and she spoke with grievance.

“Noxia, I’m sorry… It’s my fault. I neglected your feelings. I should have sent you a message in advance to put your mind at ease.”

Lorevil looked at her dependent appearance, felt guilty, and hugged Noxia tightly in her arms.

If not for sending the message after the Retrospection, she could imagine Noxia curling up with her knees hugged in the middle of the night, enduring loneliness alone, worrying if she was in danger.

Meanwhile, Lorevil was entangled with Stage 2 dark Mahina and even fainted from extreme exhaustion.

While rejoicing that she had calmed the dark Mahina, she completely overlooked Noxia’s sensitivity.

That fiancée who had lacked love since childhood, had a gloomy personality, and had finally opened her heart and entrusted all her trust to her—how sad must she have been that night? How terrified?

She hadn’t even thought to send Noxia a comforting message of just a few words from beginning to end:

“I’m safe, don’t worry.”

Would she feel like she had been abandoned again?

The answer was yes.

Lorevil closed her eyes, vividly imagining that scene as if she were there.

A wave of bitterness rose in her throat.

It hurt so much she could barely breathe.

The feeling of being stabbed through the chest with a knife—once was enough.

But letting Noxia wait alone with her knees hugged all night, making Noxia fall into that kind of despair—she deserved to die even more.

Lorevil had disappointed all of Noxia’s expectations.

“I’ll stay with you all day today, okay?”

Lorevil took a deep breath and said gently.

“Noxia is working so hard on her training. It seems when I go to Holy Blood Academy tomorrow, I should also train seriously to improve my strength.”

“That’s more like it.”

Noxia finally smiled through her tears, as touching as the first thaw of ice and snow.

“Then I’ll make you some delicious pastries! I’ve learned a few new ones recently, including your favorite cranberry blood crystal crisps, and my own developed rose milk pudding. The taste should be really good.”

“Okay.”

Lorevil brushed aside the stray bangs on her cute fiancée’s forehead and answered softly.