Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel

"How do they know this pattern?!"

Could it be, they've found something...

Charlotte's heart chilled slightly.

The gaze of Kara, the Demon Hunting Knight Captain, once again fell on Charlotte, faintly gleaming with silver light.

Charlotte knew that she still couldn't lie.

Fortunately, she hadn't been unprepared for this situation.

The girl took a deep breath, tilted her head slightly, and her golden hair stirred gently, revealing an innocent and silly demeanor:

"Eh? This pattern looks a little familiar; let me think for a bit…"

"Hmm?"

Dean Lawuer's gaze became sharper, growing more solemn.

"Um... Oh! Right! I remember now! I've seen it before!"

Charlotte slapped her forehead, feigning sudden realization.

"When? Where?"

Dean Lawuer asked.

His voice was urgent and serious, and even Kara's gaze was fixed firmly on the girl.

Charlotte became more certain that they must have discovered something, but they probably hadn't become suspicious of her yet.

She smiled sweetly, showing off a pair of dimples, and with her bright blue eyes wide with innocence, she said:

"It's been a while, we have many of these patterns at our manor, quite a few of our furniture decorations are like this."

"Hehehe, the top of my bed is like this; I really like it too, ahaha!"

What she said was the truth.

Lawuer: ...

Kara: ...

The old priest's face turned slightly unnatural, as if he was stifling the breath he had just taken.

However, soon, he seemed to think of something, and his expression changed again, growing solemn once more.

He placed his right hand on his chest, drawing a Ring Cross, and gave a slight bow:

"Miss Charlotte, thank you very much for the information you've provided."

"If you remember anything else relevant, please let me know through Lotti in a timely manner."

Seeing his grave demeanor, something stirred in Charlotte's heart.

She adeptly switched to a harmlessly curious expression and squirmed slightly, asking in a sweet and tender voice:

"Grandpa Lawuer, is there a problem with this pattern?"

Her adorable big eyes and sweetly coy tone were lethal.

Not to mention, Charlotte's delicate doll-like appearance alone was enough to melt anyone's heart.

"Grandpa... grandpa..."

The old priest felt as if he'd been struck by lightning; he shuddered involuntarily, his mind filled only with the girl's sweet call and large eyes.

Facing the girl's cute face and pure trusting eyes, he felt that as an elder, it was difficult to lie to such an adorable junior.

After all, who could resist the affection and trust of such a cutie?

Listen, she was calling him grandpa!

The old priest's expression softened almost instantly, like an aged chrysanthemum in full bloom for many years; even his old cheeks seemed to flush with a hint of red.

The noticeable change even surprised Charlotte, the instigator.

Goodness.

So... acting cute seriously can be this effective?

Charlotte felt as though she had discovered a new world...

"Cough."

The knight coughed lightly, instantly waking Lawuer from his trance.

Dean Lawuer was suddenly embarrassed.

He regained his solemn expression, once again adopting the serene demeanor of a priest, and said earnestly:

"Charlotte, this pattern is very dangerous; you must forget it and never draw it out, understood?"

He didn't even notice that he no longer called her "Miss" with formality but used her name directly.

His tone was gentler than ever.

"Mhm, I understand, I'll be good! Grandpa Lawuer~"

Charlotte nodded earnestly and obediently, looking utterly adorable.

She was gradually getting into character, becoming more standardized and proficient in her act of cuteness.

The old priest shuddered again, not out of cringe but rather delight, though as a priest, he hoped not to lose his composure.

After giving the girl some instructions, he hurriedly bid her and the knight farewell, leaving with a hint of a flee.

This time, they really left.

...

"If I had a granddaughter, she'd probably be about her age by now, right?"

Walking away from the ward, Dean Lawuer still had a hint of nostalgia in his expression.

"Did you hear that? She just called me grandpa! She really is adorable."

He murmured to himself as if speaking to the knight beside him, his expression full of emotion.

However, the knight remained silent as ever.

Lawuer found it dull:

"Kara, this is what I don't like about you; you're always so serious and silent."

He shook his head gently and slowly put his smile away.

His expression also became serious again:

"The situation might be a bit troublesome now..."

...

Bold Church Hospital, the priest's office.

A group of church priests and Demon Hunting Knights were gathered around a table, listening intently to a story:

"Meow! You wouldn't believe how horrifying it was at the time!"

"To see those dead spirits was a real shock to Master Cat. That wealthy Castel Manor had turned into a den of demons!"

"And it looks like those dead spirits had been transformed for quite some years, and they hid it so well, meow!"

"A Blood Demon who's less than First Tier to be able to transform so many dead spirits, I must say… it's all thanks to the cursed pages!"

"If Master Cat hadn't run so fast, I might have nearly met the Divine Lord!"

"Heh heh, but... that little one from the Castel family is quite cute, truly deserving of the legendary beautiful family. Even I, Master Cat, was almost smitten, no wonder that Blood Demon hid her away for so many years, meow!"

The storyteller was a black cat with a raspy voice and a human-like feline face that still held a look of smugness, like an uncle who's given to big talk.

It was extremely corpulent, sprawled out on the table, and at first glance, one might think it was a pig disguised as a cat.

When Dean Lawuer and Demon Hunting Captain Kara came in, this was the scene they walked into.

The female knight frowned slightly.

Dean Lawuer also wore a look of helplessness.

He coughed lightly, and the priests and knights turned around in unison, then parted to both sides while bowing:

"Lord Lawuer, Lord Kara (Captain)."

Seeing Lawuer and Kara lightened the spirit of the black cat.

It twisted its chubby body and jumped down, approaching them with a cute and clumsy look, somewhat endearing:

"Meow, is it over? How did it go?"

Kara's gaze swept over Lotti and the others.

The priests and Demon Hunting Knights immediately excused themselves and left.

"She hasn't been polluted, although her body showed some signs of Dark Erosion Infection, which Kara has already purified," Dean Lawuer said after closing the door.

"Meow? That's strange. Master Cat hasn't heard of anyone who's received the power of the Blood Demon Duke without being polluted before, let alone her being an Offering."

As the black cat spoke, it lifted its hind leg to scratch an itch.

But since it was too fat, it couldn't reach itself even with its leg raised and ended up scratching air, its fruitless attempts appearing quite comical.

"Kara has examined the Sacrificial Array closely. Charlotte is not the Offering; the Offering was Mrs. Castel."

"Also, Nisi, you need to lose weight," added Dean Lawuer, shaking his head.

"Lose weight? Oh no! This is a healthy figure! Many young ladies like it!" protested the black cat named Nisi, patting its belly that nearly reached the ground, dissatisfied.

After that, it licked its paw again, somewhat puzzled:

"It's really strange. Master Cat understands the Sacrificial Array quite well. Even if Charlotte isn't the Offering, the Blood Cross is the core of the Array, which is the key to initiating the sacrifice—and she is the medium."

"Lawuer, as you know, initiating a bloodline sacrifice means the death of the medium."

"That's why Kara and I had to see for ourselves. She survived, which probably means some entity saved her. We must find out what that is," Lawuer said, exchanging a look with Kara.

"Some… entity? Are you suggesting that last night's Blood Sacrifice was indeed not just a mistake of the foolish Blood Demon who got the Donor and the Offering switched up?" the black cat perked up, its tail lightly thumping the ground.

"That is precisely the issue I am going to discuss next, Nisi. I have something I need you to have a look at," Dean Lawuer said solemnly.

He took out the piece of Parchment he had just shown to Charlotte from his chest and laid it in front of the black cat.

The black cat stretched out its paw, curious, and unfolded the Parchment.

"This is…" it started, looking at the thorny rose pattern on the parchment.

"That is a Donor marking from the Sacrificial Array that Kara copied," said Dean Lawuer.

"A Donor marking?! Hell! Lawuer, do you realize what you're saying? It's a symbol! A sign!" The black cat suddenly sprung up:

"Only the blood and true name of a Donor can be inscribed in an Array to serve as a Donor marking… The only ones who can use a 'symbol' as an Array marking are deities!"

"In this world, who would dare to use the sign of a deity as a Donor marking? To make a deity an Offering? That's disrespect and blasphemy towards the gods!"

"A deity would never allow such an Array to be activated!"

"Are you suggesting that last night, some deity was presiding over the Blood Sacrifice? I think you've gone mad!"

Dean Lawuer fell silent.

A bad premonition suddenly struck the black cat:

"Wait… what is that expression on your face…"

Lawuer sighed:

"Kara, bring out the impression of what the Sacrifice was directed at too."

Kara nodded slightly, took out a second piece of Parchment from her chest, and laid it before the black cat.

The black cat carefully unfolded the parchment and then instantly widened its amber eyes.

On it, depicted was the very same thorny rose sign as the one for the Donor.

"Nisi…" Lawuer began again.

His expression grew even more grave than before, and his aged voice was utterly serious:

"Do you know why this Blood Demon incident alarmed the Great Priest and the Duke so quickly?"

"Why? Isn't it because the Castel family was too famous? Being so wealthy, with generation after generation producing beauties renowned throughout the kingdom and also being a branch of the Bold family…"

"No…" Lawuer shook his head:

"Because the God Suppressing Bell of the Bold Church rang."

"Last night, an Evil God… resurged."