26: Set off

Soft, smooth, and bouncy.

These were the adjectives that spontaneously surfaced in Locke Galahad's mind the moment his lips met Serena's ruby red ones.

Not only that, but Serena's lips also brought a cool sensation, making him feel as if he had just bitten into a piece of frozen jelly.

Serena's breathing grew somewhat rapid, her long eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly, trembling incessantly.

At this moment, she was so nervous that she was on the verge of forgetting how to breathe.

Locke, however, appeared far more experienced, feverishly exploring her mouth.

The two of them completely disregarded Erica's presence, kissing each other as if no one else were around.

Witnessing all of this, Erica felt a pang of jealousy, but she did not interrupt, instead silently turning her head away.

She quietly hid the feelings of love she had developed for Locke, stemming from the influence of a mysterious entity and those vivid, dream-like experiences.

After a few minutes, the two finally parted.

Locke lowered his head and found that Serena still maintained her iceberg goddess demeanor, though her cheeks, usually as pale as snowflakes, were now flushed with a rosy hue.

Serena poked his chest hard and urged, "You must come back, even if Elder Emilia dies, it doesn't matter."

"I know," Locke said affectionately, patting her shoulder.

"Alright, it's not like you're never going to see each other again."

Seeing the two being so lovey-dovey, Erica felt very jealous: "Time is almost up, you should hurry over, don't let Kraven discover anything."

Urged by Erica, Locke immediately turned and walked toward the door, but as he passed by her, he turned his head and said: "Erica, come out with me for a moment, I have something to tell you."

"Hmm??" Confusion and surprise flickered in Erica's eyes, but she didn't act immediately, instead turning to look at Serena.

"Then I…"

"Mm."

After Serena nodded, she followed Locke out.

She followed behind Locke until they reached a corner, where Locke stopped, turned around, bent down, and stared at her from a very close distance.

"Erica, have you remembered anything related to me lately?"

Erica suppressed her racing heart and tried to reply in a calm tone: "What do you mean? What exactly are you trying to say?"

Locke stared into Erica's eyes, trying to glean something from them.

Because over the past few days, he had noticed that Erica was always looking at him intentionally or unintentionally, and whenever she saw him being intimate with Serena, her tone would be filled with thick jealousy.

This was definitely not his imagination.

This made him suspect whether Erica had remembered what happened that night and was testing him now.

"It seems she hasn't remembered… but perhaps she's been influenced by something, which is why she's developed feelings for me."

Thinking of this, the corners of Locke's mouth curled into an arc: "Erica, let me ask you, do you like me?"

"Ah! Ah! Ah? Huh?"

His straightforward words caused Erica's brain to crash, just like a computer CPU burning out; the only difference was that smoke wasn't coming out.

Erica opened her mouth wide, at a loss for words.

"What 'ah'? Yes is yes, no is no. Is this question that hard to answer?"

Facing Locke's clear, bright eyes, Erica's heart pounded incessantly.

She first lowered her head, pondered for a long while, then suddenly looked up to meet his gaze.

"Yes, I like you. I don't even know when it started, but I've actually become infatuated with you. Don't you think that's funny?"

By the end, a bitter smile couldn't help but hang on Erica's lips.

Locke didn't say anything else; catching her off guard, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Mm!"

After a long while, Locke finally pulled away.

"Aren't you afraid that Serena… will be hurt by you doing this?" Erica's face was flushed red.

Locke smiled and hooked her chin with his index finger: "As long as you don't tell her, it'll be fine."

"Or are you saying you don't want to?"

"I didn't say that."

"Good. Remember, you must keep this a secret, otherwise you'll never have the chance to be like this with me again."

Erica clenched her fists and replied solemnly: "I understand."

Locke gently patted her back: "Go back. I still need you to continue helping me monitor Kraven."

"By the way, if Serena does anything impulsive while I'm gone, make sure to dissuade her."

Erica gave a soft "Mm," then, with an excited heart, returned to Serena's room, pretending to still be monitoring Serena for Kraven.

After placating her, Locke immediately quickened his pace toward the rendezvous point.

Of course, on the way, he took out the entire [bulletproof suit] and changed into it.

He was confident in his own strength, but he would never be arrogant; caution was paramount.

Although the suit had side effects, as long as he took it off immediately after killing a few people, he assumed there wouldn't be any problems.

Outside the castle.

Several hounds with blood-red eyes were vigilantly observing everything around them.

In front of the dogs stood five Vampire elite warriors in black trench coats, led by a slightly aged male Vampire named Claube. Seeing that Locke had not arrived for a long time, they began to discuss among themselves out of boredom.

"Tsk, that pretty boy wouldn't be too scared to show up, would he?"

"I doubt it. I heard he's been secretly training with Serena for the past few days; he probably wants to use this opportunity to show off."

"Pfft, if he dares not to come, Lord Kraven will definitely find a way to deal with him for desertion later."

"Hmph, if he dares not to come, not even that bitch Serena will be able to protect him." A trace of ruthlessness flashed across Claube's face.

When discussing Locke, the faces of the group couldn't help but display mockery or sneers.

Clearly, they looked down upon Locke, a newcomer Vampire who had only joined a few days ago.

"What are you all discussing?"

Locke popped his head out from behind them with an innocent expression, but in reality, he had already sentenced them to death in his heart.

He appeared to be smiling, but he had already silently memorized the face of the person who had just insulted Serena, intending to pay special attention to him later.

"Nothing." The leader of the five, Claube, calmly waved his hand to dismiss him: "Since everyone is here, let's go."

After saying this, he pulled open the driver's door, sat inside, and the remaining two followed suit one after another.

Another person went alone to drive the other car, intended to pick up Elder Emilia.

Although they didn't really want to pick up Emilia, they had to put on a show for the other Vampires in the castle.

Locke stared at Claube expressionlessly and thought to himself, "It's you. Just you wait; I'll make you pay for what you said just now."

Just then, someone pushed him from behind: "What are you staring at, kid? Get in, and sit in the middle."

Locke turned his head, his eyes cold, and memorized the person who pushed him.

This gaze made the Vampire who pushed him shiver involuntarily: "What's going on? I'm a Vampire who has lived for nearly 200 years, and I was almost intimidated by this kid? Strange, very strange."

The Vampire shook his head, dismissing it as a hallucination, and sat down right next to Locke.

There were five Vampires and two cars, and Locke sat in the back row of one of them, sandwiched between two burly men.

The reason these five Vampires arranged it this way was mainly to prevent him from escaping.

The red taillights drifted further and further away on the road in the dark night, while in a room on the top floor, Kraven was watching the departing vehicles from afar.

He squeezed the ring on his finger, a meaningful smile appearing on his face: "Kid, if you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck. Who told you to provoke Serena? Don't blame me when you die and go to hell."