"I— I think I know your mother."

  Those words stopped Lucinia in her tracks. So it was indeed her mother? "And?"

  "I wanted to get your blood! I just……" She just messed up and let her feelings won. That simple.

  "I see. So…… tell me about my mother?"

  "I think — I think she was someone that uses blood against her enemies. It’s just that……"

  "What?" Lucinia lifted an eyebrow.

  "It’s just that…… you look nothing like her."

  "Hmmm. Tell me about this woman."

  "Her name is Siwa. And she is one of the most powerful witches out there. There were rumors that she could summon the dead…… she could summon spirits and talk to them."

  Lucinia trembled inwardly. The woman could actually summon ghosts? That was enough to intimidate her, alright!? "I don’t want to meet her."

  "That’s the thing…… you think you can stop her if she wanted to meet you?"

  "She is a witch," Lucinia said. "And so are you. But you sounded as if you hated her? Why?"

  Victoria pursed her lips as she dragged her ass back to the bed, sitting on it before wiping the sweat on her forehead. By now, the pressure that Lucinia gave her was enough to make her sweat, but she could endure it. "I already told you. She can use blood magic. She needed to sacrifice people if she wanted to do something. Blood of innocents had been used just for whatever it is that she wanted. Witches guard nature! We guard the world! She is not one of us. She is an evil incarnate!"

  This of course made Lucinia silent. So…… not only is her father, evil. Her mother is evil too? How unlucky is that? "And what about the king?"

  "What about the King?" Victoria asked. "True, he was the one to assign us to the Duke, but that was only because he wanted us to spy the Duke and I believe…… the Duke also know about this matter. The King didn’t ask me to come here. I just…… I just thought that I could use this opportunity to get some blood from you. Perhaps a little accident. That’s all."

  "What will happen if you determined that I am indeed this woman’s daughter?" She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the reason why the King stayed away from her. Did he know about her mother?

  "I don’t know." Victoria shrugged. "The King instructed us to stay away from you. Perhaps he already knows that you were trouble."

  "So, you think that my mother would just kidnap me anytime she wanted to?"

  "I don’t know! Alright! I don’t know! I just know that your mother is evil! She killed people…… hundreds of…… men, women, children! Everyone hated her! I didn’t know why the King would even sleep with her maybe it was some sort of magic. Maybe she wanted to have his child and use it against him! I don’t know!"

  Lucinia pursed her lips. So…… everyone knew that her mother was a murderer, but she was able to trick the wise and old king? Bullshit.

  That was nothing but bull! She wanted to laugh. Whoever made this story was a bit dumb or someone who actually thought that no one would be smart enough to analyze anything.

  Too bad for them, her brain was now like a superpower. She sighed and turned her back against the woman.

  "What about your promise?"

  She stopped walking when she heard Victoria’s question.

  "I am not going to kill you…… or your mother."

  "But…… But are you going to let me out of here?"

  "No," Lucinia answered. "I didn’t promise that." She said before walking out of the prison while Victoria screamed at her to let her go.

  "So? Did you get anything useful?" Lucinia was no longer surprised that Mo Li was already waiting for her outside of the dungeons.

  "The lover?"

  "Safe and healing. I left him in a place where witches frequent." Mo Li said. While Lucinia while dealing with Victoria, Mo Li also went to Prince Gavril’s castle and save the man. "I have news. The Prince actually kept the woman, claiming she was now his woman. Of course…… he already turned her into a vampire." He smiled and held her hand, interlinking his fingers into hers before swaying it as they walked. "Did you found something?"

  "Have you ever wondered why the King didn’t took interest in my ability?" Lucinia uttered.

  "Hm? Where did that come from?"

  "The king…… just disregarded me and didn’t show any partiality when he could use my ability against his enemies, against you."

  Mo Li pursed his lips. "No…… I didn’t think of that." He shook his head. He honestly didn’t think about anything else since the previous Lucinia was not his woman. It doesn’t have anything to do with him.

  "I think…… he secretly cared for someone. Someone that deemed me as important. Think about it…… if he cared for me before I awakened by abilities, I would be targeted by Gavril and Kuzma. He just let them bully me and then sent me away. If you really think about it…… that actually kept me safe from everyone. Because of what he did…… no one thought that he favored me, and no one actually tried to take advantage of me."

  "True." His face changed as he realized the weight of her words. "That is true."

  "Now…… why would he do that? Unless he promised someone to keep me safe? Someone important to him? Someone like…… my mother?" She said, her voice almost like a whisper. "However, the King is not someone like that. He was not as soft as that. So…… I thought of something else." Lucinia said before she pulled Mo Li towards the room.

  "Another one of the voices?" He joked, instantly making the environment lighter.

  "I think…… my mother is still alive, and he is keeping her alive somewhere." She bit her lower lip. "I think she was a witch a powerful one at that, and the only thing that is keeping her from escaping from his clutches is the promise to keep me safe."