Chapter 605: Swept Away By His Charm

By the time the sun had set, the Holyfield estate was wrapped in a deep violet hue, and the faint sound of crickets and hooves filled the air.

The five of them were finally heading back toward Cassius’s mansion after what had been one of the most emotionally draining days any of them could remember.

But the most striking change wasn’t in the scenery—it was in their formation.

Normally, Maria and Joy would ride together on one horse, the mother and daughter inseparable as ever.

But tonight, that wasn’t the case at all.

Now, Joy rode alone on her dark mare at the front, her posture perfectly straight and her face calm as ever.

Behind her, on another horse, were two figures riding side by side—Maria and Carmela.

Maria was smiling so warmly that she looked as if she could melt the night sky itself, her arm linked around Carmela’s for balance, while the poor vampire sat rigidly on the saddle, looking like she’d rather face a firing squad than this much affection.

Maria, of course, had no such restraint.

After proclaiming Carmela as her daughter, she had wholeheartedly committed to the role.

She was determined to know everything about her new child—and she meant everything.

"So." Maria began with bright curiosity, leaning forward slightly. "What kind of music do you like, dear? Oh, and what foods?"

"Wait, you do eat food, don’t you? Of course you do, you’re not one of those vampires who only drink blood, right?"

"So, do you like sweets? Spicy food? Oh, and do you have any hobbies? Painting, knitting, collecting shiny things?"

Carmela, caught entirely off guard, blinked rapidly and stammered.

"I-I don’t...really have any hobbies—"

"What?" Maria gasped in horror, sitting straighter on the saddle. "No hobbies? Oh no, no, no, my dear, that won’t do at all! A lady must have at least one passion! You can’t just work and fight all day."

"What about music? Dancing? Singing? You must do something for joy!"

"I—uh—I...sometimes polish my daggers?" Carmela offered weakly.

Maria frowned so hard it could have frozen the moon.

"Polishing weapons does not count as a hobby, Young Lady!"

Carmela’s eyes widened slightly.

"Y-Young lady? I’m—I’m older than you!"

Maria only smiled, completely unbothered as she said,

"Not in my heart, you’re not."

A faint pink dusted Carmela’s cheeks as she looked away, muttering something inaudible.

"What was that?" Maria leaned in closer with a teasing grin. "Did you say something, my dear?"

"I said...nothing!" Carmela snapped quickly, her ears twitching slightly from embarrassment.

Maria chuckled softly, clearly enjoying every second of it.

"You’re so adorable when you’re flustered. You remind me so much of Joy when she was your age."

Carmela groaned quietly under her breath.

She had slain kings and faced armies without blinking, yet here she was, feeling like a helpless child under the gentle fire of Maria’s endless affection.

And when Maria began asking about love, Carmela nearly fell off the horse.

"So..." Maria said with an innocent tone that was anything but innocent. "Have you ever been in love, dear?"

"Surely, someone as beautiful as you must have—"

Carmela’s cheeks flushed a deep red, torn between irritation and embarrassment.

"Y-You’re being far too nosy, Miss—"

"Mother." Maria corrected instantly, leaning closer.

Carmela stiffened, her ears heating up.

"I...can’t say that."

Maria pouted so hard it could have melted stone.

"Come on, Carmela, please! Just once. Say it!"

"M-Maybe later..." Carmela muttered, looking away again.

"Later?! You wound me, my child!"

Maria dramatically slumped forward, leaning against Carmela’s back as if she’d been struck by divine betrayal.

" I gave you my heart and you reject it so easily!"

"Stop dramatizing!" Carmela groaned, though her lips trembled as if she was suppressing a smile.

And the sight was so absurdly sweet that both Aqua and Isabelle, who were sharing another horse a few meters behind, couldn’t help bursting into soft giggles.

"Look at them." Aqua whispered between laughs. "That’s the same woman who looked like a block of ice this morning, and now she’s blushing like a shy little girl!"

Isabelle smiled faintly.

"Lady Maria does have that effect on people. Even someone as cold as Miss Carmela isn’t immune."

Aqua snickered. "Oh, but I’m not sure Joy’s going to be happy about it."

At that, she turned her head toward Joy, who was riding alone beside them, her usual composed posture unchanged as her horse trotted smoothly forward. "

Hey, Joy!" Aqua called out teasingly. "Look over there! Your mother’s being stolen right in front of your eyes. Carmela’s taking your place!"

"What do you have to say about that?"

Joy didn’t turn her head. She merely kept riding, her tone perfectly calm and detached as she said,

"Normally, if anyone tried to get that close to my mother, I’d drag them into an interrogation room, and starve them until they confessed their true motives."

Aqua’s grin vanished instantly. "W-What?"

"The world is a cruel, filthy place after all."

Joy continued in the same matter-of-fact tone.

"You can’t trust anyone who suddenly takes an interest in her. So I’d usually take precautionary measures. A few weeks of questioning. Maybe a little torture, if necessary."

Aqua let out a nervous laugh, tugging on her reins.

"...Ahaha...very funny, Joy."

But Joy still hadn’t smiled. "I wasn’t joking."

That made Aqua visibly gulp and shrink back in her saddle, while Isabelle bit her lip, suppressing a laugh at the poor girl’s terrified expression.

But then Joy finally glanced over her shoulder and the faintest smile curved on her lips as she saw Maria laughing and Carmela blushing under the woman’s barrage of questions.

"But this time...it’s fine."

Aqua blinked, startled by the shift in her tone.

Joy’s gaze lingered on the two riding behind them.

"Carmela’s not like anyone else. Her story...it’s too similar to mine. The only difference is that I was lucky—I broke free. But she...she lost everything."

Her fingers brushed lightly against her chest as she added quietly,

"The thought of my own mother suffering like hers did...I don’t think I could survive that."

"So if my mother can give her even a little of what she’s lost, if she can feel that warmth again, even through someone else...then I don’t mind."

Aqua stared at her, completely speechless for a moment before letting out a quiet, amazed laugh.

"Wow, Joy. I...didn’t expect that from you. You’re usually so sharp and cold, but right now..."

She smiled gently.

"You actually sound human. I’m proud of you."

Joy gave her a sidelong look. "Don’t get used to it."

"Too late." Aqua grinned. "Character development’s already noted and approved."

But Joy’s next words made her grin freeze.

"Actually." Joy said calmly. "I’ve been considering re-evaluating my mother’s daughter list. Since there are only limited seats, and Carmela’s taking one...I might have to remove someone."

Aqua blinked. "W-Wait. What do you mean ’remove someone’?"

Joy’s smirk was faint but undeniably smug as she said,

"Exactly what it sounds like. You’re fired, Aqua."

"What?! You can’t fire me from daughterhood!"

Aqua gasped, clutching her chest.

"That’s not even how it works!"

Joy shrugged. "Motherhood has rules. Limited capacity. Too much emotional chaos otherwise."

"You’re too much!" Aqua cried, throwing her arms up dramatically. "I was just praising you and you you just end up bullying me! You’re the worst!"

Joy let out a quiet chuckle that made Aqua puff her cheeks in indignation.

Isabelle, meanwhile, had both hands over her mouth, trying not to burst out laughing.

But just as the laughter started to spread among them, Isabelle suddenly froze, her expression shifting.

Then she gasped.

"Oh no."

Everyone immediately turned toward her.

"What’s wrong?" Joy asked, her hand instinctively moving toward her weapon.

Carmela’s eyes narrowed. She scanned the surrounding treeline and the open path ahead, hand instinctively drifting toward the hilt at her side.

"Do you sense trouble? Bandits? An ambush?"

She frowned deeper.

"But that doesn’t make sense. We’re practically on the manor grounds already. No bandit would dare come this close to Cassius’s territory. They’d have to be suicidal."

But Isabelle shook her head quickly.

"No, no, it’s not that. I just realized..."

She swallowed, looking genuinely worried now.

"All the sisters—the ones who were with us earlier and the rest who stayed behind—they’re all back at the mansion right now. With my Young Master."

"They’ve been alone with him for...quite a while."

The group fell quiet for a heartbeat before Joy’s gaze sharpened like a blade.

She leaned forward in her saddle as she asked,

"Are you telling me your master might have done something to them while I was gone? That he waited for me to leave so he could move against my sisters? That he really is the monster everyone says he is?"

Even as the accusation left her lips, though, Joy didn’t fully believe it.

Not anymore. Not after everything she’d seen today.

The families. The healing. The genuine love blooming in broken places.

A man who orchestrated all of that didn’t strike her as the type to need her absence to launch some cowardly attack.

It didn’t fit. None of it fit anymore.

And just as she expected, Isabelle immediately waved both hands in frantic denial.

"No, no—nothing like that." She said firmly. "My Young Master isn’t that kind of man. He would never use force or coercion. He doesn’t resort to cowardly means."

She hesitated, however, before adding wryly,

"It’s...just that, my Young Master has a certain charm about him."

Aqua tilted her head. "Charm?"

Isabelle sighed softly.

"Yes. A sort of...natural magnetism. No one can really resist it, especially women. It’s not something he does intentionally, but it’s there."

"The way he speaks, the way he carries himself...people end up drawn to him without realizing it."

She gave a faint, almost embarrassed smile.

"I’m not saying he’s manipulating them. But I am saying that with all of them there right now—Lady Maria’s followers, the sisters of the Church, all women—well...I don’t think my young master would simply let them leave unaffected."

That made Joy scoff immediately.

"That’s ridiculous." She said sharply. "Those women are mine. They’re the finest warriors of the Church, handpicked and trained under my command. The elite of the elite."

"They’ve been offered bribes before—estates, gold, positions of power and they refused them all. You think a smile and a few words from a nobleman could sway them?"

Isabelle didn’t look offended in the slightest. In fact, her smile grew slightly more amused.

"My Young Master doesn’t use money or power, Lady Joy." She said lightly. "He doesn’t need to. His ways are...unique. Subtle. And no matter how composed one believes themselves to be, they eventually get caught up in his flow."

Aqua gave a faint laugh. "You make him sound like a storm."

Isabelle looked at her meaningfully. "That’s because he is one."

"You’re exaggerating." Joy crossed her arms, her voice cold. "He’s not a god, he’s a man. And my sisters are not children who can be led around by flattery."

"I hope you’re right." Isabelle said simply, her tone gentle but firm. "Because from what I know of him, even the strongest women find themselves drawn in before they realize it."

"It’s never malicious, but...it’s inevitable."

"So...Lady Joy, when we get there, please don’t take it the wrong way." She politely warned. "Don’t be too angry at him. He doesn’t mean any harm."

"He just...does what he does."

Joy frowned deeply, ready to retort—but before she could, Carmela suddenly straightened in her saddle.

"Wait."

Everyone’s attention snapped toward her.

"What is it?" Aqua asked.

Carmela pointed toward the far ridge, her eyes narrowing.

"Look."

They all turned their gazes in the same direction—toward Cassius’s estate.

And what they saw left them momentarily speechless.

In the distance, rising from the estate, were bright, colorful lights flickering and dancing in the sky.

It looked as though someone had set off a display of magical flares—hues of gold, crimson, and emerald bursting and shifting in mesmerizing waves.

And along with it came faint, rhythmic sounds—upbeat, thumping, and strangely melodic.

Aqua leaned forward, her ears twitching.

"I...I can hear music." She said in disbelief. "Loud music. And...are those people cheering?!"

Joy’s brows furrowed. "Cheering?"

"Yes! It’s...It’s wild!" Maria nodded rapidly. "There’s shouting, laughter—I’ve never heard anything like it! It sounds like—"

"—a party." Aqua finished, eyes wide. "Is that a party? That can’t be right! No one told me there’d be a celebration tonight!"

"Not to mention..."

She squinted at the glowing mansion in the distance, her voice filled with bewildered fascination.

"I’ve never seen such a bright, noisy event in my entire life! It looks like the entire estate’s been turned upside down!"

Carmela’s lips twitched. "If he’s hosting a feast, he’s certainly not doing it quietly."

Isabelle sighed softly, rubbing her forehead. "It seems my fears were justified after all."

Joy turned sharply to her. "What do you mean?"

Isabelle gave her a small, helpless smile.

"I told you, Lady Joy, my Young Master’s charm has its ways. And I think my young master has already started his...influence."

That was all it took. Without another word, Joy snapped her reins, and her horse leapt forward in a gallop.

The others exchanged one quick glance—half alarm, half burning curiosity and immediately followed, spurring their mounts into a gallop.

Hooves thundered against the path as they raced toward the mansion, toward the riot of color and sound, toward whatever madness Cassius had somehow conjured in the heart of his estate.

Joy’s mind spun with a single, relentless question:

What the hell has he done to my sisters?