ISWTDB Ch173

Chapter 173: Be Your Steward (11, 12)

Ying Zhao heard this and, although he didn’t know what his lover was thinking, he felt reassured that the other party should have calmed down.

With a red face, he turned his head away, pursed his lips, and put on an extremely awkward expression.

He couldn’t help but feel grateful that the original owner had always valued the bond between master and servant and had never thought of destroying these practice drawings.

Feeling it was a bit strange for someone to see them, he had placed them all in his own room.

Seeing the man so moved and finally believing in his love for him, Ying Zhao let out a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Dempus felt like he was about to faint from happiness.

He believed he had experienced the greatest joy of his life that day.

The person he cherished cared so much about him; what could be more exciting than that?

So, overwhelmed by the emotion from the drawings, the man expressed his inner joy and excitement to his beloved through action.

Ying Zhao couldn’t help but experience the terrifying strength and extreme passion of a vampire.

Afterward, Ying Zhao collapsed beside the bed, unable to comprehend why he, who was clearly of the same race as his man, had found himself in such a situation where he couldn’t move.

The man beside him was in an exceptionally good mood.

While attentively massaging Ying Zhao’s waist, he gazed tenderly at the paintings not far away.

Throughout, the corners of his mouth maintained an upward curve, clearly still immersed in beautiful daydreams.

However, after this incident, the man had become much more understanding than before.

Although the daily jealousy still existed, it was finally not as intense.

Meanwhile, under the system’s strict surveillance, Ying Zhao noticed that the female lead, Jian Jinghan, and the male lead, Dominic, had been meeting frequently.

After that, Jian Jinghan became increasingly attentive towards Dempus.

It was clear that she hoped to gain the man’s trust.

Seeing this trend, Dempus deliberately went along with it, allowing the female lead to believe she had successfully captured the man’s heart.

He intentionally revealed several secrets to the female lead, even telling her about a room in the mansion where treasures were hidden.

A few days later, Ying Zhao indeed discovered that Jian Jinghan seemed to be searching for something privately.

He originally thought her target would be the blood cup as described in the original story.

Ying Zhao even placed the blood cup in a relatively conspicuous spot, waiting for her to take action.

However, when the female lead saw the blood cup, she did not seem particularly interested.

This left Ying Zhao somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that the female lead was not searching for the blood cup to find the male lead as written in the original plot, but rather had other intentions?

If it wasn’t the blood cup, then the only remaining great secret in the mansion would be the Death Key.

Thinking of the Death Key’s function, Ying Zhao narrowed his eyes.

This vampire sacred object could be said to be the most powerful in the entire small world.

The Death Key was much more powerful than the blood cup; if the female lead’s target was merely the blood cup, he could still give it to her first.

But if it was the Death Key, that object would likely be more than just a temptation for the female lead.

He should be on guard against her, as he might have already completely controlled her.

Thus, Ying Zhao cautiously prepared a fake Death Key and placed it in a hidden room.

Then he let Dempus inadvertently reveal the approximate location to the female lead while she was investigating.

Sure enough, that night, Jian Jinghan quietly sneaked into the room under the cover of darkness and stole the fake Death Key.

Having observed the entire process, Ying Zhao realized he had accurately predicted her actions, but he felt even tenser.

At this moment, there was no plot to refer to, and Bai Bai was not by his side.

He had no idea what the other party’s next plan might be.

However, Ying Zhao did not have time to think further. The next day, Fritsch actually came to his door.

Ying Zhao received Fritsch as usual, but he didn’t expect Fritsch to directly confess his love.

Although he had been on good terms with Fritsch during this time, it was evident that the timing of the confession was not mature enough.

Why was the other party so eager to declare his feelings?

Did he suspect something and want to shake Ying Zhao’s resolve or check his reaction?

Thinking of this, Ying Zhao knew he couldn’t agree to Fritsch, but he still pretended to be hesitant and conflicted.

He diverted the conversation, giving Fritsch hope.

This made Fritsch firmly believe that Ying Zhao actually had feelings for him.

However, due to his relationship with Dempus, he couldn’t quickly accept Fritsch’s feelings.

So, Fritsch comforted Ying Zhao for quite a while and said he would give him time.

He even bluntly told Ying Zhao that he knew he also had feelings for him.

He hoped that Ying Zhao wouldn’t always live under Dempus’s control.

Ying Zhao reassured Fritsch for a long time before he finally left the villa.

However, after Fritsch left, the man who had been hiding in the shadows immediately stepped forward.

Dempus walked to Ying Zhao’s side and silently held him in his arms.

He kissed his lips forcefully several times before saying angrily, “What do you mean he knows you actually have feelings for him?”

“This Giovanni kid is too self-absorbed! Who does he think he is?”

“You clearly belong to me! Mine!”

Hearing this, Ying Zhao found it amusing and patted his lover’s hand, comforting him, “Yes, yes, yes! I belong to you, my lord!”

“As long as you know who holds my heart, that’s enough. But dear, don’t you think Fritsch’s confession was a bit abrupt?”

Ying Zhao had recently started calling Dempus “dear,” which was strongly requested by the man.

At this moment, upon hearing Ying Zhao’s words, Dempus’s jealousy diminished significantly.

Calming down, he indeed felt that Fritsch’s confession seemed somewhat off.

Given the relationship between his beloved and Fritsch, as well as their daily interactions, Dempus was also aware.

Although due to special reasons, his beloved did not reject the other party’s goodwill, it was clear he wouldn’t take the initiative to show any ambiguity.

He was merely pretending to placate Fritsch, not allowing him to become suspicious.

Why would that kid be so certain in his heart that his beloved actually liked him?

Deliberately making such a forceful confession seemed like he was anxiously trying to pull his precious into the same camp as him.

Then, remembering that Jian Jinghan had already stolen the fake Death Key the night before.

Dempus also realized that the other party seemed to be starting to make some big moves.

It could only be said that both Ying Zhao and Dempus had very keen feelings.

Because after a few days, rumors about Dempus began to spread widely.

Within the blood clan, it started to be said that Dempus had gone mad and planned to release the Death Key, intending to turn the human world into hell.

Moreover, this matter was known not only by the blood clan but also received news from the church.

Once the news was transmitted, it immediately caused a great uproar.

After all, regardless of the rivalry between the blood clan and the church, no one genuinely hoped for the human world to turn into hell.

If the Death Key were truly opened, it would obviously be a disaster for all living beings in this world.

Soon, the royal family of the blood clan specifically sent people to the villa.

They informed Ying Zhao that they hoped Dempus could hand over the Death Key to the royal family for safekeeping.

However, at this time, because Jian Jinghan had already stolen the fake Death Key, in the eyes of certain entities, Dempus could not possibly produce the Death Key.

As expected, the man did not heed the royal family’s request.

In fact, even if he had it, Dempus would have acted according to his own whims.

After all, the Cappadocia family had always been unconventional.

Even though Dempus was a prince of the blood clan, he did not have to fully obey the orders of the royal family.

Especially since the Death Key and blood cup had been the treasured possessions of the Cappadocia clan for many years.

How could it be casually handed over based on just a few words?

After Dempus rejected this matter, it was indeed further exaggerated.

Many people even began to bring up the fact that Dempus had once been cursed by tainted blood, and in reality, his mind was not clear.

This was originally a secret of the Cappadocia clan, but for some reason, it was thoroughly dug up.

They wanted to use this to prove that Dempus was, in fact, a hidden madman.

He was like a time bomb, capable of exploding at any moment.

Thus, with the Death Key in his hands, there was a real possibility that he would release it, turning the entire human world into hell.

This rumor swept across the continent like a tornado.

Members of the blood clan and the church scattered everywhere regarded this matter as a top priority.

The two opposing forces, which had always been hostile to each other, surprisingly united over this.

Even Fritsch came to find Ying Zhao several times, telling him that Dempus was a very dangerous person.

He hoped that Ying Zhao could stay away from him and then be with him.

This urgent action made Ying Zhao’s nerves even more tense.

However, at this moment, the female protagonist, who had always liked to cling to Dempus, had lost contact.

After her last visit to find the male protagonist, Dominic, she never returned to the villa.

Ying Zhao had the system investigate but found no trace of Jian Jinghan, which made him somewhat puzzled.

He thought to himself, could it be that this entity felt that all the forces in the small world had already gathered?

Dempus had become the target of everyone, so he could rest easy.

There was no need to arrange for the female protagonist to be by their side as a precaution, right?

But without a backup plan, how could it be like that entity’s style?

When many members of the blood clan and church were already lurking around the villa, someone unexpectedly sneaked into their villa.

Seeing the unfamiliar face of the brown-haired young man in front of him, Ying Zhao frowned.

Through the system’s monitoring, he of course recognized that the person in front of him was the male protagonist, Dominic.

He just didn’t understand why the male protagonist had suddenly come here.

But before Ying Zhao could say anything, the person opposite him spoke first: “Where is Xiao Bai?”

“Why haven’t I felt his presence in this world for a long time? I can’t contact him either!”

Being able to say such words, Ying Zhao naturally understood that the other party’s identity was the Heavenly Dao.

He just didn’t expect that the Heavenly Dao had taken over the male protagonist’s body.

However, thinking about how Dominic was a character who could harm his own loved ones, Ying Zhao didn’t say much about the Heavenly Dao’s actions.

He simply explained, “There are some situations in the present world; Xiao Bai went back for a while and said he would return in some time.”

Chen Tian nodded upon hearing this. Although he did not have a hundred percent trust in Ying Zhao, he understood that Ying Zhao had deep feelings for Xiao Bai after their interactions in various realms over the years.

Especially since it was thanks to this person that he and Xiao Bai were finally able to be together completely.

So, in the end, Chen Tian still decided to trust Ying Zhao’s words.

Thinking about the purpose of his visit today, Chen Tian hurriedly said to Ying Zhao seriously: “I discovered that that entity in this world seems to be planning to take drastic action.”

Then the Heavenly Dao recounted its movements in this small world to Ying Zhao.

It turned out that the Heavenly Dao had attached itself to the male protagonist early on.

Noticing that the enemy seemed to want to use its aura and energy to lure it, it did not stop the other party.

After getting to know the female protagonist Jian Jinghan, the Heavenly Dao originally planned to wait for an opportunity to act.

However, recently, it had found that the aura on the female protagonist had become stronger and stronger.

This led the Heavenly Dao to mistakenly believe that that entity had attached itself to the female protagonist.

A couple of days ago, it seized an opportunity and suddenly attacked, killing that woman.

After Jian Jinghan died, the Heavenly Dao realized that the other party had merely strengthened the lure.

That entity likely wanted to secretly use that woman to do its bidding.

“Fortunately, after killing Jian Jinghan, I chose to hide my aura.”

“I didn’t want to raise suspicion, so I could only temporarily control the bodies of both the male and female protagonists, making them think Jian Jinghan hadn’t died.”

The Heavenly Dao said this, its expression darkened, clearly feeling annoyed by the other party’s cunning.

After that, the Heavenly Dao had been secretly observing the movements in the small world.

It discovered that the other party seemed to plan to make the location of the soul fragment a public enemy.

In this way, the people of the small world could help him in the joint extermination of Dempus.

Ying Zhao nodded upon hearing the Heavenly Dao’s words, feeling that what the other party said made a lot of sense.

Just as they were planning to continue their conversation, Dempus found his way here.

After the man sensed a strange aura in the villa, he had been searching all along.

After a difficult search, he unexpectedly discovered that the other person was with his lover.

Seeing that Heavenly Dao could silently sneak into the villa, Dempus naturally thought the other party was an enemy.

He immediately intended to launch an attack against him. Fortunately, he was stopped in time by Ying Zhao.

Thinking that Dempus and Dominic had never met in this lifetime, he explained to his lover, “Darling, you have seen the situation outside. This is Dominic, my friend; he will help us.”

Dempus paused upon hearing this. Although he maintained hostility toward all male creatures beside his lover, he also noticed that the blood clan opposite him looked at his beloved with a rather cold gaze.

It was clear that he had no other intentions toward Ying Zhao.

The man then relaxed slightly and nodded at Heavenly Dao.

The group of people outside was still in a lurking state, not attacking the villa.

It was obvious that they were observing in the dark, looking for an opportunity.

In the days following, Fritsch found Ying Zhao again and earnestly persuaded him.

He repeatedly emphasized his feelings for him, telling Ying Zhao that Dempus was not worth supporting.

He also said that the Death Key was in Dempus’s hands. If the other party wanted to destroy this world, Ying Zhao would definitely be implicated.

At that time, even the entire Cappadocia clan would cease to exist.

This would contradict Eli’s original instructions to him.

One had to say that Fritsch knew how to persuade others very well.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zhao put on a hesitant expression.

Fritsch repeatedly persuaded Ying Zhao, asking if he knew where the Death Key originated from.

If the Death Key was no longer in its original location, it was very likely that it had already been taken by Dempus.

Then his intention to destroy this world would be very obvious.

Fritsch seemed to intend to touch Ying Zhao’s emotions.

He kept saying that the most important thing was that he was worried about Ying Zhao’s safety and didn’t care about anything else.

He was just worried that Ying Zhao would be implicated and harmed because of Dempus.

Ying Zhao looked at Fritsch’s deliberately expressed deep affection and felt sick inside.

When the other party spoke until his mouth was dry, feeling that the timing was right, he finally nodded at him.

Indicating that he would go back to check the location of the Death Key, and if he really couldn’t find it, he would be willing to cooperate with them to take down Dempus.

Fritsch was overjoyed when he heard Ying Zhao was willing to help them.

After all, even if Dempus’s mind had some issues, all the blood clan knew how powerful he was.

Even the royal family was no match for Dempus.

One could say that the man was the strongest existence among the blood clan that had been born for thousands of years.

So for so long, no one had ever dared to target the Cappadocia family.

In order to make Ying Zhao help them capture Dempus, the king of the blood clan personally appeared and temporarily handed over the ghost lantern to Ying Zhao.

The ghost lantern was also one of the sacred objects among the blood clan, but it had always been kept by the royal family.

The light of the ghost lantern could create illusions and control a person’s behavior for a period of time.

However, even so, faced with the powerful Dempus, they still lacked complete confidence and still needed Ying Zhao to take action.

So on that night, Ying Zhao appeared in front of everyone, holding the ghost lantern.

Illuminated by the light of the ghost lantern, Dempus, who seemed controlled, walked slowly out of the villa beside Ying Zhao.

Outside the villa, a dark mass of blood clan members and church people were already standing.

One could imagine how much they feared Dempus.

Fully armed and on guard against the man, they were very afraid of his strength.

Fritsch saw Ying Zhao bringing Dempus out and immediately rushed up.

He seemed very eager for Ying Zhao to hand Dempus over to them.

However, Ying Zhao still showed a somewhat reluctant expression and did not act for a long time.

Seeing this, Fritsch hurriedly comforted Ying Zhao, saying, “Asa, don’t worry; we won’t really do anything to Prince Dempus!”

“We just want to temporarily control him and put him into a deep sleep so that he won’t destroy this world.”

“Asa, you understand, I’m just afraid you will get hurt.”

Ying Zhao heard Fritsch’s soft words and pressed his lips together.

In the end, he seemed to be persuaded by the other party and, helplessly, nodded, handing Dempus over to them.

Soon after, the strong members of both the blood clan and the church restrained Dempus, one on each side.

The many executors from the church then placed several holy light shackles on Dempus.

At this moment, Dempus appeared to have completely lost his ability to resist and was thoroughly suppressed.

However, just when they were about to turn around and leave with Dempus, the Pope suddenly stepped forward.

Then, with lightning speed, he drew a silver dagger and stabbed it straight into Dempus’s heart.

The dagger instantly sank into Dempus’s heart, and the man’s body fell to the ground.

Blood flowed from his mouth; it was evident that he had been harmed by a silver dagger specifically soaked in holy water meant for slaying blood clan members.

Seeing this, Ying Zhao shouted angrily at the Pope, “You clearly said you wouldn’t harm Dempus!”

But the Pope, upon hearing this, revealed a false pity in his eyes and softly said, “This is also for the safety of this world!”

Upon hearing this, Ying Zhao looked around and saw that everyone, including Fritsch, remained silent about Dempus’s demise.

He realized that everything had long been premeditated.

With his eyelids slightly lowered, Ying Zhao’s face no longer bore the earlier sadness.

He merely bowed his head in silence, not saying a word.

Fritsch saw this and was just about to step forward to speak a few words to Ying Zhao.

But he noticed that the other person’s figure swayed, fingers together, revealing the blood clan’s long, sharp nails, which directly stabbed toward the Pope.

At the same time, Dempus’s corpse on the ground instantly transformed into a blood mist.

It turned out that the earlier Dempus was merely an illusion created by a necromancer.

Dempus, who had been hiding in the shadows, and Heavenly Dao attacked simultaneously, with their targets aimed at the Pope.

Ying Zhao knew that the thing had been waiting for this moment.

So, when they thought Dempus was in their hands, the other party would undoubtedly act impatiently.

Fortunately, he had bet right; the other party had indeed revealed their flaws.

That thing was constantly dispersing its aura in order to control the entire small world.

Everything around them was stained significantly, making it impossible for Ying Zhao to discern the other party’s location.

However, just now, when the Pope attacked Dempus, he indeed sensed the most intense and repugnant aura and energy coming from the Pope.

Thus, it was most likely that the true form of that thing was attached to the Pope.

Ying Zhao suddenly launched an attack, but the Pope was nimble.

Even though his cheek was still scratched by Ying Zhao’s nails, he managed to escape in time.