Chapter 742: Where Is Everyone?

After Carmela and Joy managed to escape from Cassius, they didn’t stop running.

Their legs trembled. Their breath came in ragged gasps.

But nonetheless they ran until they found an empty bedroom, one of the guest rooms near the back of the estate and locked the door behind them.

Just in case Cassius came back.

They then threw themselves onto the bed, and the moment their bodies touched the soft mattress, sleep swallowed them whole.

They had no choice. Their bodies were completely battered and bruised from the night of passion where Cassius had relentlessly tormented them, making them squirt over and over again until they had nothing left.

Every muscle ached. Every joint screamed.

Their skin was marked with hickeys, slap marks, and bruises—testaments to the way Cassius had played with them.

These were the same women who had fought in wars and battles that lasted for weeks.

They had endured sieges, survived ambushes, marched through frozen wastelands and scorching deserts.

None of that had drained them like this.

After a single night with Cassius, they felt hollowed out. Empty. Like someone had scooped out their insides with a spoon.

They needed rest.

They also didn’t dare tell anyone they were there. They didn’t call for help.

After all, their bodies were covered in evidence of what they had done.

Both women were proud. Both would rather die than let anyone see them like this.

So they kept to themselves.

The hours passed. Late morning came. Sunlight crept through the curtains.

Joy was drifting in and out of sleep when she heard whispers from outside the door from the maids

"...Lady Maria and the Young Master...they’re going out together..."

"...I saw them myself...she was laughing..."

"...can you believe it? The Saint is going on a date..."

Joy’s eyes snapped open.

Despite the pain in her body and the fact that she could barely walk, she forced herself out of bed.

Her legs screamed. Her back protested. But she still grabbed the windowsill for support and pulled herself up.

She looked out.

And there they were.

Cassius and Maria, walking through the garden together.

Maria was laughing, her head thrown back, her whole body shaking with joy. She playfully pulled Cassius’s arm, and he let her drag him around like a puppy on a leash.

Then Cassius did something unexpected. He crouched down, lifted up Maria on a chair, and started running.

Maria shrieked with delight, grabbing the chair for balance, her robes fluttering in the wind.

Joy watched and something in her chest loosened.

At first, she had been frightened.

That protective instinct, the one that had been drilled into her since childhood had flared up.

Someone was taking her mother away. Someone was pulling Maria into unknown territory.

But then she saw her mother’s face.

Maria looked...free.

The gloom that usually lingered in her eyes, the sadness that Joy had noticed for years but never known how to address was gone. Completely gone.

In its place was something bright. Something alive.

Joy also didn’t trust easily. Even if a man was a perfect gentleman, she would still be wary. She would never let her mother out of her sight.

But for some reason, she trusted Cassius.

He was infuriating. Arrogant. A womanizer who somehow kept winning no matter what she threw at him. She could never surpass him, no matter how hard she tried, and that drove her crazy.

But over the past few days, she had also come to realize something.

Cassius was a genuinely good person.

Compared to the nobles in the capital, the hypocrites, the self-righteous frauds, the men who smiled to your face and plotted behind your back—

—Cassius was a thousand times better.

He had flaws, yes. Many flaws. But he didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t.

And he protected his women. Fiercely. Completely.

So Joy let herself relax.

She watched her mother laugh and play, watched the gloom disappear from her eyes, and felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Peace.

She turned away from the window and went back to bed.

—

Carmela and Joy spent the entire day sleeping.

The sun rose. The sun set. They didn’t move. They didn’t eat.

They just slept, their bodies desperately trying to recover from the ordeal Cassius had put them through.

When they finally woke simultaneously, as if some internal clock had synchronized them—they were shocked to find themselves tangled together.

Their arms were wrapped around each other. Their legs were intertwined.

Joy’s face was pressed against Carmela’s chest, and Carmela’s chin rested on top of Joy’s head.

They looked like sisters who couldn’t sleep without one another.

They pulled apart immediately, faces burning.

Neither spoke.

The awkward silence stretched between them, thick and uncomfortable.

Neither knew what to say. Neither wanted to address what had just happened.

Then Joy noticed something strange.

Her body didn’t hurt anymore.

She stretched experimentally. Her muscles moved smoothly. Her joints didn’t ache.

The bruises that had covered her skin had faded.

"Carmela." She said slowly. "How do you feel?"

Carmela flexed her fingers, then her arms, then her legs. Her eyes widened.

"I feel...good. Better than good. I feel strong."

Yesterday, they had been at maybe sixty percent. Wounded, weak, barely functional. Now, they felt like they were at ninety percent—and climbing.

Joy concentrated, feeling the power coursing through her veins. It was strange. Unfamiliar.

She had spent her entire life accumulating strength the hard way.

Every advancement had been earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

Even the Goddess’s blessing had only given her a foundation to build upon.

But this felt different. This felt like someone had poured power directly into her.

"How is this possible?" She murmured.

Carmela was quiet for a momentz before she thought of something.

"When I drank Cassius’s blood before." She said slowly. "I experienced something similar. His blood healed me. Made me stronger."

Joy frowned. "But your were the only one who drank his blood last night. I didn’t."

Carmela’s face flushed before she shyly said,

"But...you did drink something else."

Joy stared at her in confusion.

Carmela looked away.

"His...seed." She forced out. "You drank his seed. Over and over again."

Joy’s mind flashed back to the previous night. To her kneeling between Cassius’s legs, taking him into her mouth, swallowing everything he gave her.

She had been so focused on defeating him, on winning that she hadn’t thought about what she was actually consuming.

But now, the implication hit her like a hammer.

His seed had power.

His seed had healed them. Made them stronger.

And Joy with the Goddess’s blessing flowing through her had absorbed it perfectly. She had benefited the most.

The realization made her furious.

Even now, Cassius was giving her favors. Even now, he was shaping her growth, her strength, her very future.

And he was probably enjoying every second of it, knowing that she owed him.

She didn’t know how to feel about that.

Carmela, meanwhile, was having her own crisis.

She realized that she didn’t need blood anymore. Cassius’s seed satisfied her hunger. It nourished her body in ways that blood never had.

The thought was deeply embarrassing.

But before either woman could dwell on their feelings, whispers drifted through the door again.

"... they’re still not back..."

"...one entire day now...Lady Maria hasn’t returned..."

"...the Young Master is apparently showing her around...there’s that old church on the outskirts..."

"...staying the night there, I heard from the letter Lady Maria sent back..."

Joy’s blood ran cold.

An entire day!

Her mother had been gone for an entire day!

She had assumed Maria would come back the same day.

But an entire day and night? With Cassius?

She freaked out for a second—

But then her rational mind kicked in and she didn’t jump to conclusions. Not anymore.

Before, when the Goddess had commanded her to hunt Cassius, she had obeyed without question.

But now she knew better. Cassius wasn’t who he seemed.

So instead of panicking, she decided to investigate.

"I need to see the letter." She said. "The one my mother sent."

But then she realised that she couldn’t step out since her horns and tail were still on her body.

Apparently, her body was still absorbing Cassius’s seed and her succubus form couldn’t be controlled.

There was no way she could go out and show her sisters such a devilish form when she was supposed to be a saint.

But fortunately Carmela was there to assist and she slipped out of the room. She returned a few minutes later with a folded piece of paper.

Joy read it carefully.

Maria’s handwriting. Undeniably hers. She recognized the loops of her letters, the way she dotted her ’i’s with tiny circles, the slightly uneven slant.

The letter said she had found an old church she wanted to explore. Cassius was accompanying her. She would be back soon.

Joy’s jaw tightened.

Her mother was staying with Cassius. Voluntarily. Happily, if the letter was anything to go by.

She should have been furious. Worried. She should have stormed out of the mansion and dragged her mother back by force.

But instead, she felt...calm.

She trusted Cassius. She trusted that he wouldn’t hurt Maria. She trusted that he would protect her, cherish her, treat her well.

But that didn’t mean she was happy about it.

Despite that, she didn’t do anything as she realised eventually that she had other problems to deal with.

—

The first day, she hadn’t noticed.

The second day, she thought she was imagining things.

But by the third day, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

Her sisters were disappearing.

Not all at once. One by one. A sister here, a sister there. At first, she assumed they were on missions.

But no one had told her about any missions. No one had left word.

By midday on the third day, she realized that half the sisters were gone.

By evening, there were barely any left.

And by nightfall, the room they were staying in was completely empty.

Joy, who who could finally hide her form stood in the silent corridor, her heart pounding.

Where had they gone?

Just then, Carmela appeared beside her, breathless.

"I found out." She said. "There’s a tavern. On the outskirts of town. They’ve all been gathering there."

Joy frowned. "A tavern? Why?"

Carmela hesitated.

"I don’t know. But something is happening there. Something strange."

Joy considered this.

Her mother was still missing. Cassius was still missing.

Now her sisters were missing too. All roads led to the same place, that tavern on the outskirts of town.

She made a decision.

"Carmela." She said. "You go after Cassius and my mother. Find them. Make sure they’re safe."

Carmela nodded. "And you?"

Joy’s eyes hardened.

"I’m going to that tavern. I’m going to find out what’s happening to my sisters."

Carmela placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Be careful."

Joy almost smiled.

"You too."

They parted ways—Carmela heading toward the church where Maria and Cassius were supposedly staying, and Joy walking through the dark streets toward the tavern that had swallowed her sisters whole.

The night was cold. The stars were hidden behind clouds.

And somewhere ahead, in a building lit by flickering lamps, answers waited.

Joy’s hand drifted to the axe at her side.

Whatever was happening, whatever had taken her sisters, she would find out.

And if someone had hurt them—

She would make them pay.