Chapter 57: Testing Ifriel

“Good evening, Miss Su Yao. What a wonderful coincidence.”

“G-Good evening…”

A coincidence? Would Her Highness the Princess really pass by the red-light district near the slums?

This guy must really have some connection with that group of vampires…

“What brings you down this filthy alley, Princess Eveleth?”

“And you? What are you doing here?”

Ah, should I say something like, “I just wiped out all your vampire guards” or something? Definitely not the right thing to say.

“Well, no joking. It seems my subordinates have been getting a bit overconfident. They’ve been frequenting the ‘red-light district’ quite often lately. As you can see, I stopped here just to teach them a little lesson.”

Su Yao glanced a bit farther behind Eveleth, at a lavishly decorated white carriage.

Sitting on it was a coachman, and behind the carriage was a squad of soldiers.

Counting the attendants beside the princess, there were over fifty people.

Should she risk testing this princess? If Eveleth had ties with the vampires and they fell out, Su Yao was confident she could escape. But it might involve Sylvie…

Headache. Was there a more subtle way to probe? Or maybe just bluff her way out?

“Is that all?” Su Yao couldn’t help but ask, probing gently.

Princess Eveleth looked troubled, hesitated for a moment, then sighed deeply.

“Since Miss Su Yao is my friend, I’ll be honest with you. I received information that there are some vampires hiding within my guard. So I specifically brought the soldiers here to clean house.”

Su Yao was momentarily stunned. She hadn’t expected Eveleth to be the one to reveal that there were vampires in her guard. And at this point, she couldn’t tell if it was true or false.

If true, then the princess definitely wasn’t under the control of the suspected True Ancestor.

If false, then she was setting a trap for herself. Should she believe her or not?

While Su Yao was wrestling with these thoughts, Eveleth’s sly blue eyes reflected the image of the blonde girl.

That fleeting moment of hesitation hadn’t escaped her notice.

But the intelligence and caution of this underground dungeon lord were a bit beyond her expectations.

No wonder. If Krol and Sophia were here with her, it would be hard for a newcomer like herself to gain Su Yao’s trust. Luckily, she was well prepared.

Eveleth turned and pulled out the sword belted at her attendant’s waist.

“Don’t be nervous. See, to exterminate them, I made sure all my men are equipped with silver weapons. Recently, the vampires of the Vichy Kingdom have been too rampant, and it’s been giving me a headache.”

“Vampires are your enemy?”

The silver weapons should be true. Su Yao believed half of what the princess said.

“Miss Su Yao, you must be joking. Aren’t vampires the enemy of all humanity? Unfortunately, our country’s border is very close to a True Ancestor’s territory. Even the noble elite seem to have been infiltrated by them.”

That part should be true.

Although her explanation sounded reasonable, the number of vampires hidden among the guards still seemed unbelievable.

But considering vampires could increase their numbers through the “first embrace,” twenty-something of them wasn’t impossible.

Also, not all the destroyed vampires had to be from her guard……

No need to dwell on that. Let’s see if she could get more information.

“Princess, do you know the name of that True Ancestor?”

“Of course. She’s a household legend in our country — the great demon who the church has repeatedly failed to exterminate: Elizabeth Bathory.”

A lie laced with truth was the most deceptive. Eveleth knew this well.

The blonde girl in front of her had gone from tense, to surprised, to slightly relaxed.

Her guard had clearly lowered. If Eveleth could gain her trust further and offer some benefits, she might be able to use her in the future.

Not as good as Sylvie, but still quite cute. If only she hadn’t caught the Demon King’s eye, maybe she could consider adding her to her collection. What a pity.

“I see. Sorry, I think I’ve scared the snakes away. Those vampires have probably already fled, and the princess may have come here in vain.”

Su Yao still chose not to reveal the whole truth. Eveleth’s words seemed flawless, but with Krol and Sophia nearby, she couldn’t take the risk.

“Alright, that’s really a shame. Don’t blame yourself, Miss Su Yao. The fact they hid in the guard for so long just shows how cunning they are. I just regret having to cancel dinner with Sylvie.”

As expected of her, even now she was thinking of Sylvie. Maybe Su Yao could try trusting her?

Someone with such a girlish heart probably wasn’t a bad person.

“Tell the men behind to take turns patrolling nearby. Tomorrow during the day, conduct a simple search here. Clean up as many as you can.”

“Yes, Princess!”

Eveleth had her attendants make quick arrangements for the soldiers she brought.

It seemed she was not only uninvolved with the vampires but actually their enemy.

A daytime search would minimize casualties.

Su Yao didn’t have to worry about Krol and Sophia being discovered in front of the enemy princess anymore. She could relax.

“By the way, Miss Su Yao, how did you get involved with vampires?”

Here it comes. The question she couldn’t avoid. But she already knew how to answer.

“I run a ‘tavern’ in the Safe Zone of a wildly popular dungeon. But there’s no place suitable for living nearby. It’s inconvenient to commute from Moravia to the dungeon every day, so I wanted to build some houses there.”

“Land use? Did you get permission from Lord Willry?”

“Of course.”

Her selfishness kept her from mentioning the slaves caught illegally. She focused on the other matter.

As if she would let those beautiful girls who might be her future employees be taken away by the princess’s soldiers.

“But what does that have to do with vampires?”

“Honestly, I just arrived in this city not long ago. I don’t know any architects. Sylvie’s chamber of commerce doesn’t involve construction either, so I was tricked here by someone ‘introducing a reliable architect.’”

That was it. Although the reasons were different, she had still been tricked. No big deal.

“So Miss Su Yao thought architects lived in the red-light district?”

Sweat dripped. Couldn’t she just ignore such a small detail? She already said she was unfamiliar with the city.

“Sorry, just kidding. Since Miss Su Yao doesn’t know any architects, let me introduce you to the Royal Architect of the Vichy Royal Family.”

“No need to… I graciously accept.”