You seem to have something on your mind."
The black tea was served at the perfect temperature, and the fragrant steam rose gently, moistening the eyes of the "ill-stricken general."
Elaine Soren wore a red dress, the vibrant skirt matching her long hair, giving a striking and passionate impression.
"Things on my mind..."
The azure sky was blurred, and Tracy stared blankly at the ice flowers that the cold air had casually sculpted on the glass.
"Perhaps."
She slowly raised the corners of her mouth, trying to brush it off with a smile, but Elaine wasn't buying it.
"perhaps?"
"Tracy, I'm not stupid, nor am I like you, always losing my senses over trivial matters."
Elaine sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her tucked-in legs, her chin resting in her arms. No one would imagine that this delicate and beautiful woman was a lone "hunter" who roamed the seas at this time last year.
"Some people on the ship are very dissatisfied with you. Although you can use charm and fear to suppress the voices against you, one day what you are trying to ignore now will become poisoned arrows and spears and pierce you back."
What exactly is troubling you?
"Can I take these words as you being jealous, my dear Elaine?"
Tracy was still avoiding the topic, but she tried to maintain a relaxed posture and open her arms wide.
A decadent and intoxicating pleasure grew indoors, the witch's invisible charm sweet and irresistible, Tracy stirring Elaine's heartstrings, just as she had done so many times before.
She desperately wanted to twist a conversation that might touch on her real troubles into pure sexual intercourse, injecting a hallucinogen into an increasingly serious reality.
Like many alcoholics who choose to escape, the famous "Disease General" was also tempted to deceive himself when faced with a predicament.
It's as if the nerves have been numbed, and all worries will float away and never return.
"Yes, I'm jealous."
The straightforward response surprised Tracy. She sensed the sincerity in the response and was momentarily stunned. She subconsciously wanted to let go of the mask she had been carefully maintaining and indulge in the confession from her lover that she had never heard before.
Fortunately, the "illness general's" mind was not completely filled with thoughts of love and affection, and in the final moments, she regained her rationality.
Tracy's smile was complex, a mixture of emotion and heartache.
"Then let's not talk about this anymore."
"Let me read for a while. Hmm, where are we in the story of Jack and Rose?"
"That's a literary masterpiece by Emperor Roselle, isn't it? Last time I fell asleep halfway through your story, we can start now..."
As she spoke, Tracy leaned forward and reached for the bookshelf.
Before she could find the story of "Jack and Rose" from the dense text that would make her dizzy, a hand that was not fair but soft and delicate grasped hers.
Equally slender fingers slipped through the gap in the other hand, pulling the owner of the hand towards them.
Having shared a bed with the witch for so long, Elaine has also learned the very things she used to despise: flirting and seduction.
It must be said that she was very talented; her bright green eyes were like the most precious gems in the world, in Tracy's eyes.
No matter how determined the "illness general" was, she couldn't take her gaze off those sincere eyes.
"I am jealous, Tracy."
Elaine spoke each word with a sharp, penetrating touch on the most vulnerable part of Tracy's heart.
"I don't know what you're hiding, but you've rejected many missions from the witch cult."
"Your mother is a high-ranking member of the Witch Cult, isn't she?"
"She might tolerate you out of consideration for your mother-daughter relationship, but what about your subordinates?"
"You are a pirate, and so are they, but ever since the incident in the Sunia Sea, you have stopped allowing them to plunder merchant ships and have devoted yourself to fighting against the Spirit Order."
"Every time the fleet is in distress, even if you personally lead your crew to seize jewels and wine for them from other pirates, they will not thank you."
"Your crew are pirates after all; you can't suppress their nature forever."
Elaine placed her hands on Tracy's shoulders and swayed gently.
"Don't tell me you've changed your ways, become kind, and are preparing to repent to the righteous gods like others, and turn over a new leaf to become a good person."
Elaine's speech quickened, and her smile held a hint of painful sarcasm.
Do you think you'll have that kind of opportunity?
"When you committed evil, you deprived me of my freedom, bribed fate, and made me truly fall in love with you through repeated dangers. And now you're trying to tell me through your silence and actions that you're going to seek death?"
What are you thinking?
"You've got me, but now you won't let me have you anymore. Isn't that enough to make me jealous?"
Of course not...
Tracy carefully removed the hand from her shoulder, her gaze sweeping across the room before lingering on the "gift" her mother had given her: a mirror that allowed her to communicate with her mother, and a compass that symbolized good fortune.
So she really did fall in love with me...
Elaine's confession caught Tracy off guard; love and panic surged forth almost simultaneously, each filling half of her heart.
However, reality doesn't change because of a person's sincere emotions, and she still has to make a choice.
It must be admitted that from the moment the light of miracles and destiny entered her life, a seed called ambition and revenge had uncontrollably sprouted in her soul.
Its roots run through Tracy's manipulated life. The choices she was forced to make time and time again were the fostering it needed to grow. There was so much of this fostering in Tracy's experience. What she had in abundance was the pain of being powerless to resist fate.
Over the years, the presence of her mother and the sect suppressed this pain under the mask of obedience she had created for herself, causing her to forget everything and truly become a good child who obeyed her mother.
So, when did I start to change?
It probably started from the day I snatched Elaine to my side...
Although the time I spent with her wasn't very long, it almost changed me, and of course, it changed her too.
It's as if we've swapped parts of our lives; she's starting to resemble a "witch," while I'm gradually becoming more like a "hunter."
In fact, when Tracy heard that Trensost had declared war on the Highlands, she clearly realized a fact.
If she wants to go further and reclaim what she has lost, she must seize the opportunity and throw herself into the war started by Trenshorst.
In other words, she must make a decision soon: whether to betray the "Primal Witch" and switch allegiance to the "God of Mysteries".
She didn't think the ancient, multifaceted monarch would be interested in a failed witch like her, but since she had been given the chance, why not give it a try?
However... this choice also means that she will face her mother's relentless attacks in the future...
"I never thought about starting over as a good person."
Hearing Tracy's answer, Elaine secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"But you really should think about your future, your prospects."
"What?"
Tracy's abrupt change of heart ignited Elaine's anger; she clutched her chest, her beautiful face contorted in pain.
"You ruined my future and prospects, took my virginity, and now you want me to think about things that no longer exist?"
"No, what I mean is, you've always wanted to revive the family, haven't you?" Tracy hurriedly defended herself. "Although the Soren family has declined, it still holds considerable power within Intis. That's where your stage is."
"Eleanor, I am a cultist. The title of Pirate General sounds impressive, but it's actually a joke."
"People call me 'Vice Admiral of Disease,' but I'm just a Sequence Five. A Vice Admiral in the Intis Navy is at least a demigod!"
Elaine opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
She lowered her head, her eyes filled with the vibrant red of her dress.
After a long while, a muffled sound came from the wrinkled red flower.
"I never thought I could revive the family."
Tracy hardened her heart and didn't offer any words of comfort, instead listening quietly.
"If the Soren family still has hope of revival, then its revival should come when Russell Gustav falls."
"Times have changed, Tracy."
"Even nobles now have to face financial problems, carefully calculating every gold Louis in their hands to ensure they don't lose their dignity and can maintain their distinction from the commoners."
"I left the family to venture out to sea, never to revive the family. When I watched my father die with my own eyes, bearing the noble name of the Sauron royal family, from the poison of alcohol, mistresses, marijuana, and gambling, I knew that this family was beyond saving."
Elaine raised her head and looked at the ceiling.
"You know, I only accepted the family's conditions and worked as a maritime merchant to pay off my debts."
"But do you know that before this, I had other choices?"
"You can live a more relaxed life, you don't have to be extraordinary, you can get rid of debt completely and not have to pay back a single penny."
Tracy froze for a moment, her face, which combined charm and heroism, suddenly contorted into a ferocious expression.
Elaine smiled, pleased with Tracy's reaction.
"Just as you guessed, I could have been married to Mr. Intis, the senator."
"My family has fallen so low that we have to fawn over the peasants they once looked down on in order to barely avoid being completely squeezed out of the inner circle by the Church of the Eternal Sun, the Church of the God of Steam and Machines, and now the Republican government and the 'Democratic Army'."
"What chance of revival is there left..."
"In our generation, there are hardly any left who will remember the glory of their ancestors and restrain themselves from bringing shame to the name of Sauron."
Tracy remained silent.
She often boasted that she knew Elaine well enough to give her all for the hard-won love, but only today did she realize that there was a part of Elaine's heart that she had never entered, and had never even tried to reach.
She naively believed that her lover was just like she appeared, a young girl who was immersed in ideals and detached from reality.
She believed that Elaine's misfortune stemmed from her, unaware that the "disaster" she brought was actually just a minor part of Elaine's life.
In that sense, they really do look alike.
With that thought, Tracy felt relieved.
She first glanced cautiously at the round mirror in the corner of the room that represented her mother, then embraced her lover, pressed her lips to Elaine's ear, and whispered her deepest secret in an almost inaudible voice.
"I intend to betray the Witch Cult."
The body in her arms trembled noticeably for a moment, and Tracy tightened her arms even more.
"There is a being, a great being, more noble than the 'original one,' who gave me the choice."
"I don't want to be a pirate, I want to be a 'hunter', a 'Iron Knight', and participate in the war of Trensost."
"At that time, we can do whatever we want."
Elaine's resistance was even more pronounced.
She resisted Tracy's embrace, trying to dispel Tracy's dangerous thoughts with her actions, but Tracy held her tightly, not giving her a chance to escape.
Finally, Elaine stopped struggling, and with trembling hands, reached out and embraced Tracy.
"Then let's give it a try."
"At least you still have a chance."
...
The scorching hot barrel stopped vibrating, and the high temperature created wisps of milky white in the cold air of Backlund.
The vampire count Mistral lowered his left arm, the exaggerated and enormous metal artifact standing in stark contrast to his rather thin arm.
He coldly looked down at the newly added corpses on the ground, then glanced to his side, where he met Emlyn's shocked gaze.
"Do you understand now?"
The young vampire snapped out of his daze, looking away from the reddened gun barrel, still processing what had just happened.
"Your Excellency, is this... a gun?"
Emlyn had certainly seen guns.
He had seen the revolvers issued to the police, the steam rifles privately owned by some gangs in the East District, and the hunting rifles that occasionally appeared in the Vampire Club...
However, the type of firearm in Count Mistral's possession far exceeded his understanding and knowledge of firearms.
With a firing rate of four rounds per second, it was almost a miracle given the large-scale deployment of single-shot rifles by the Rune army.
Not to mention the bulky drum magazine hanging from the barrel of the gun; Emlyn had just clearly noticed that there was an extraordinary force working in conjunction with the mechanical structure at the connection between the drum magazine and the barrel.
"You were born and raised in Rune, so of course you've never seen anything like this."
Count Mistral casually tossed a handheld machine gun—enough to shock the Loen military's equipment department—to Emlyn, his tone dripping with disdain.
"It was invented as early as the time of Russell. As the first prototype, it is now an old antique that can be put in a museum."
Count Mistral's complaint was brief, mostly expressing dissatisfaction with the current situation.
He never expected that Emlyn White would turn a simple observation mission into such a big fuss, attracting two MI9 squads to surround him.
Although the "law master" from MI9 looked smug after issuing the decree "extraordinary abilities are prohibited here," he was so frightened by the act of pulling out a machine gun that he seemed to lose his composure on the spot, which made him look very pleased.
But Mistral had not fallen to the point of having to compete with ordinary extraordinary beings.
If it weren't for Emlyn White's good relationship with V...
"Don't just stand there, let's go."
Emlyn said "Oh," and made a move to turn left. He had just taken a step when an irresistible force came from behind his collar, pulling him in the opposite direction.
"Your Excellency, my home is in the southern part of the bridge," Emlyn said, puzzled.
"You still want to go home?"
Mistral's gaze toward Emlyn was far from friendly.
"Because of your actions, your fellow members of the community will have to keep a low profile for a long time. Who do you think should bear this responsibility?"
He had given up on the idea of using Emlyn White for anything, leaving only the thought of making use of him.
Although this young vampire was truly wretched, he did possess enviable good fortune.
No one in the intelligence department had tried praying to the new name of the Lord before, so since Emlyn White was so lucky, let him be the first to try.