Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel

Charlotte knew little about the affairs of the Bold Duke's household.

After all, even though she had inherited her predecessor's memories, those memories hadn't left the manor for ten years.

However, Laino's visit had alerted Charlotte to a rather serious problem,

which was the current situation of the Castel family.

More precisely, her own situation.

No matter when Mrs. Castel became a vampire, or what her strength had been,

before last night's sacrifice, the elderly lady was indeed the main decision-maker and protector of the Castel family.

Now, this decision-maker was dead.

Suddenly dead.

The Castel family was left with only an underage female heir.

Had Charlotte inherited an ordinary Earl's title, it might be okay.

But she had not.

Through the merging of memories, Charlotte knew just how wealthy the family she was to inherit truly was.

Put it this way, the manor's steward had once proudly mentioned that the Count Castle Domain contributed over one-sixth of Bold Duchy's fiscal taxation.

What did that imply?

Two-thirds of the Duchy's fiscal income came from taxes levied on land directly administered by the Duke's household, and one-third came from contract taxes of the vassal nobles.

The Castel family, in the capacity of a vassal noble, monopolized half of the Duchy's contract tax revenue outside the directly administered domain!

In other words, more than a dozen other vassal families in Bold Duchy, at the same rank as the Castel family, altogether paid contract taxes barely equal to the Castel family's contribution...

And the taxes paid to the Lord were merely a quarter of the Castel family's income.

Strictly speaking, the Castel family's apparent income was close to rivaling that of the Duchy's directly administered territories!

Though Bold Duchy was generally considered a remote, poor, and backward part of the Kingdom, somewhat like the central-western provinces of the Heavenly Dynasty,

even in the wealthiest duchies, the Count Castle Domain would be seen as a rather affluent territory.

Put in the context of the Heavenly Dynasty, it was like a developed second-tier city in a central-western province.

Here then was the issue.

A vast and wealthy territory.

An underage female heir.

Could Charlotte's inheritance of the territory proceed smoothly?

Could she successfully inherit the title?

And having inherited it, could she keep it safe?

In an instant, various stories of power struggles began to unfold in Charlotte's small head...

Meanwhile, both the Church's overtures of goodwill and the Duke's invitation began to seem much more intriguing in her eyes.

Charlotte felt somewhat of a headache coming on.

The problem of her identity as a vampire was still unresolved, and now she might well be drawn into the Duchy's power struggles.

The game of power was always turbulent, cruel, and dark.

It wouldn't become any better just because she was cute and pitiable.

This wasn't a Mary Sue novel!

Acting cute and playing dumb could certainly endear one to others, lowering their guard.

But that only worked when there were no major conflicts of interest.

Not to mention that, apart from wealth, her very looks were enough to draw covetous attention.

After all, even after being baptised by various beauty photos on the internet in her past life, she could still look at her reflection and get lost in it, exclaiming that having this face made her life worthwhile!

"Some things, when it's time to let go, must be let go of in a timely manner..."

Charlotte recalled Laino's parting implication.

She understood.

The suggestion was that, if absolutely necessary, she could consider giving up her inheritance rights to the land to avoid getting caught in the nobles' power struggle.

But then...

"Why should I give up?"

Charlotte shook her head.

She had survived the Blood Sacrifice, so was her current situation really worse than when she was hung on the cross last night?

Even if she was to be dragged into conflicts and crises, that was for the future, wasn't it?

Nothing had happened yet, had it?

Besides, would giving up the rights to her territory really make everything okay?

Some things could be prepared for in advance, but one should not give up before the rain even starts for fear of getting wet.

Moreover, was she really just a powerless little girl?

No.

She wasn't.

She might be weak now, but Charlotte knew the path to transcendence had opened up to her.

She thought about the "Blood Holy Scripture" in her consciousness.

It was her golden finger.

Also, her opportunity to become strong.

All she needed was time.

She needed time to strengthen herself, to consolidate her position in this world.

As long as she was strong enough, she could protect everything that belonged to her.

A territory was not just wealth, but also support.

She must find a way to inherit it because that would be the soil on which she relied for her future survival.

She was of the Bloodline!

What place could be better for concealing her identity than a domain of her own?

Of course, before she was strong enough, she also needed proper and clever tactics to avert potential disasters...

She would make full use of everything at her disposal.

"Meet the enemy head-on, and respond to situations with agility, though the future remains uncertain, it is not without hope."

Charlotte thought to herself.

Suppressing those various troubles, Charlotte shifted her focus back to charging the "Blood Holy Scripture."

Nobles have the rules of nobles, while the Church has its own order.

She should still be relatively safe at this time.

Though it was somewhat strange for a clear Vampire to be living in the Church Hospital, it can be considered a kind of sanctuary in some sense.

Now, there wasn't much she could do, so she had better think about how to fully charge the Holy Scripture and unlock more of its functions.

At the same time, this opportunity could be used to learn more about transcendent powers through the priests of the hospital.

Of course, she also needed to conduct some research on her own body!

Ah, not in that colored sense of research, but rather a scientific study as a "Vampire" (serious face)...

With this in mind, Charlotte raised her head again and looked at Lotti, who was still ranting about Laino's rude behavior.

In her eyes, this gentle, beautiful, kind, and considerate senior priestess had already become a prepaid power bank for the Holy Scripture and a survival guide to the otherworldly world.

Charlotte took a deep breath, slightly lifted her pretty face, and began to skillfully act cute and pitiful.

She jabbed her nearly healed wound forcefully. The familiar pain arrived and a hazy mist once again shrouded her eyes.

Charlotte whimpered, her little face turning pale, quickly becoming tearful.

"What's wrong, Miss Charlotte? Are you feeling unwell?"

Watching the girl's pitiful yet brave expression, Lotti felt her heart tighten and was filled with pity.

That pitiful and seemingly understanding little appearance triggered an explosion of her maternal instincts.

"Lotti sister..."

Charlotte raised her head, her big blue eyes looking up purely.

The corners of her eyes reddened, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, her nasal voice was especially moving:

"My wound... it seems to hurt again... woo..."

"It started to hurt again?"

Lotti instinctively grabbed the girl's arm, her voice full of concern.

"Hmm..."

Charlotte nodded obediently.

She sniffed, slightly tilting her little head, her pure and clear eyes casting Lotti's slender figure:

"Sister..."

"You... can you use Divine Arts to heal Charlotte's wound again?"

After speaking, she lowered her head gently again, weakly saying:

"If... if it's inconvenient, then never mind..."

Lotti hesitated.

That shy, nervous, and utterly uneasy pitiful appearance was hard to refuse.

She fell silent for a moment, letting out a soft sigh and nodded slightly:

"Alright."

"Holy Healing should not be administered too frequently within a short period. If you feel tired, tell me immediately, and I'll stop at once."

Having said that, Lotti took a deep breath, positioned her hands above Charlotte's palms.

She closed her eyes, her expression gradually becoming solemn and sacred, a gentle and solemn prayer began to sound slowly:

"Divine Lord Haral!"

"You are the creator of the new world,"

"You are the sacred in the Royal Court,"

"The gods follow your footsteps,"

"Believers heed your teachings,"

"Great and merciful Divine Lord!"

"Heal me, and I will be healed."

"Save me, and I will be saved."

"..."

A golden radiance burst forth from Priestess Lotti, dazzlingly brilliant.

Countless photons slowly gathered in the palm of her hands, fluttering like snowflakes, falling onto Charlotte's body.

However, when the warm radiance fell upon the girl, it brought a searing pain akin to a branding iron.

But Charlotte was mentally prepared.

She endured it.

Not only that, but she even lifted her head, displaying a look of blissful enjoyment.

Before her, a blood hue slowly emerged.

Familiar words also began to unfold:

["Blood Holy Scripture" has detected an oncoming Divine Skill Ritual—]

[Magic Name: "Holy Healing Technique"]

[Caster: Lotti de Broglie]

[Infected One: Charlotte de Castel]

[Magic Effect: Divine Lord Haral's Holy Healing Technique, one of the most basic healing Divine Arts, can effectively treat minor injuries, relieve pain, and expel slight toxins; however, when the infected one is marked as an evil existence by the Holy Royal Court, it will bring pain to the other party.]

[Interception Probability Determination: 100%]

[Intercept?]

The familiar interface, the familiar query.

Charlotte responded aptly.

Intercept.

Modify the Magic Effect determination.

One-stop shop.

When the burning agony was replaced by the warmth of a spring breeze.

The charging progress of "Blood Summon" also changed...

81.1%, 81.2%, 81.3%...

Watching the slowly rising progress bar, Charlotte felt a weight lifted from her heart.

She knew she could now freely fleece the energy of the Holy Royal Court.