"Who are you, wandering around aimlessly in broad daylight?"
Both Xino and Yi Beixuan were clearly startled by her sudden appearance, and they frowned at the same time.
"I got enough rest last night. Now, I just wanted to take a walk," Mu Qingyun said casually, reaching up to pull off her hat, revealing her true face.
"A beauty?" Xino raised an eyebrow and gave her a smile, though it was hidden beneath his mask and went unseen.
"Duke Xino," she acknowledged with a nod. "You can call me Yun Jie—'Yun' as in 'allow,' and 'Jie' as in 'pure.'"
Yun Jie?
Upon hearing the name, Xino and Yi Beixuan exchanged glances.
"What is it? Is there something wrong with my name?" Mu Qingyun's heart skipped a beat when she noticed their reaction.
Could they also have watched her live streams? Were they fans of hers?
She remembered once seeing in the comments that her clay sculpture fans called her "Sister Yun." Thinking of another name was troublesome, so she decided to use this one—it required no extra thought.
"My nickname sounds similar to Mu Qingyun from the military school livestreams. I even saw fans call him 'Sister Yun.'" She decided to explain it herself to prevent any suspicion.
Mu Qingyun?
Realization seemed to dawn on both Xino and Yi Beixuan—they finally understood why the name had felt strangely familiar. It was because of Mu Qingyun.
"That livestream was not long ago. How long have you been a vampire?" Yi Beixuan asked, confused.
"Just a few days," she replied.
"Do you want to return to being human—to live a normal life again?" Yi Beixuan asked immediately, drawing even Xino's attention.
That direct?
Mu Qingyun frowned slightly and glanced at Xino. Was Yi Beixuan not also turned into a vampire only a few days ago? And his master was standing right beside him. Was it really okay for him to ask that in front of Xino?
She studied Xino's expression through the mask, but the full mask concealed everything except his eyes—eyes that showed no clear emotion. She could not tell if he was angry or indifferent.
"You're asking if I want to?" she countered, not wanting to take any risks.
"…Right, I forgot." Yi Beixuan scratched his head and glanced at Xino—he had forgotten that this man was now Duke Xino.
"I do want to," Yi Beixuan said, nodding firmly.
Mu Qingyun gave Xino a subtle glance and saw that he remained expressionless.
"I want to, too," she responded, following suit.
"To be honest," she continued, "I've been wandering around here trying to find any humans who are still alive. I want to escape and bring them with me."
She did not appear to be lying, and Xino gave Yi Beixuan a meaningful look.
Yi Beixuan understood immediately. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small capsule wrapped in foil, handing it to her. "This is Qing Su."
"I cannot take it right now, but thank you," she said, overjoyed as she carefully stashed the capsule away.
She had been worried about how to obtain Qing Su before Hidden's blood reached her heart. She never expected Yi Beixuan to offer it so readily.
"I'm Yi Beixuan, from the military academy. This is Duke Xino—he's from the academy, too." Yi Beixuan, now trusting her, decided to be straightforward.
From the military academy?
That was not right. Wasn't he Su's childhood friend? And she clearly remembered him being eliminated in the first round. How could he be part of the military academy?
"You lied to me," she said coldly, taking a step back to distance herself from them. She pulled out the Qing Su capsule and hurled it at Yi Beixuan.
Wait, what? Why is she reacting like this?
"Please don't be afraid. We're not lying," Xino, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. He glanced at Yi Beixuan. "He joined the military academy livestream trials. Su Qiluo took a liking to him and kept him around—he basically got in through the back door."
The back door?
Yi Beixuan stared at Xino in disbelief. If this girl did not believe them, they could just knock her out and take her back—why drag the military academy's reputation into this?
But Mu Qingyun was not concerned with reputation. What struck her most was that Su Qiluo had already chosen someone else.
The person she had most hoped for… had not chosen her.
"What is it?" Xino noticed her sudden change in expression and asked gently.
"Nothing. Why are you both here, and why are you pretending to be dukes?" she asked, voicing her curiosity.
"Many girls have gone missing here. Some leave no remains, while others are found as shriveled husks." Xino lowered his gaze to meet hers. "I am part of the Planetary Guard. I was sent here to resolve the issue."
"Resolve it?" she echoed. "If we truly want to stop more girls from getting hurt, there is only one way—to eliminate the Dracula vampires entirely."
Vampires had long lived in seclusion. It was their core principle—their first rule. If someone tried to disrupt that isolation, that would bring true disaster.
"There may be another way. Every race deserves its own place to survive."
Xino spoke slowly, "The three Dracula princes do not trust one another, and none of them has the strength to defeat the others alone. We plan to cooperate with one prince and help him become the sole ruler. We have developed a serum that mimics the taste and scent of human blood perfectly."
"I understand now," Mu Qingyun caught on quickly. "You want to raise a king, then have him order the rest of the vampires to obey."
"Who have you chosen?"
"For now, Ancest is the most reliable—though he harbors hatred toward humans, he is far more reasonable than the other two."
Ancest?
Mu Qingyun narrowed her eyes. She still did not know why Ancest made her a blood slave rather than fully turning her into a vampire. A prince like him could not have chosen her simply because of her looks… right?
"All right, then—"
"My blood slave, what are you doing here?"
A familiar, magnetic voice rang out behind her. Mu Qingyun froze and slowly turned her head to find Hidden leaning lazily against a wall, watching her with amusement.
"Prince Ancest," Yi Beixuan greeted politely with a slight nod.
Hidden ignored him and kept his eyes on Mu Qingyun. "I asked you a question, my blood slave. You snuck out of your room to come here—why?"
"I like her," Xino said, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder in a gesture full of possessiveness.
Yi Beixuan nearly choked—why was this duke picking a fight with a prince?
"So," Hidden said with a faint smile still playing on his lips—a dangerous sign for those who knew him, "you snuck out to meet him, my blood slave?"
"…"
Mu Qingyun stared at him, unsure of what to say. Her instincts told her one thing: now was not the time to provoke this man.