The Smiling Death-Chapter 360: Scarlett Bloodhart

"My name is Scarlett Bloodhart."

Amon’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t told him anything about herself... not even her surname. Finally, she had decided to tell him something.

Amon gulped down his saliva.

He turned his face sideways. She was still staring at the sky.

"...Bloodhart... sounds like some high-ranking family," he said thoughtfully.

Scarlett replied calmly, "Yes... you guessed it right." Her palms rested on her stomach.

Her breasts rose and fell with each breath.

"My family... is the Grand Duchy of the Noctariom Kingdom. Having authority over the kingdom, only second to the royal family."

When she said that, Amon went silent. What should he say? He did think that Scarlett was from a high-ranking family... but to think she was from a Grand Duke’s family... he had never made that assumption.

Now what surprised him more was her behavior. Not only was she from a Grand Duke family, she was also a vampire. Yet she... she was so lenient toward him.

’Also... why is every beautiful woman I am trying to get closer to... from high-ranking families?’

Amon cursed himself. It was his own fault after all. First he tried to get closer to Adelia and Seraphina. But it was not a big deal since he thought there was no chance for him to make them fall for him.

But for some reason he had felt a few times... that there was a chance for it to happen.

Now even here... he flirted with Scarlett... a high-ranking noble lady.

Though he didn’t regret it... it might also lead to big consequences for him.

Just then he was pulled out of his thoughts by her voice.

Scarlett spoke calmly, still looking at the sky. "My father. Sebastian Bloodhart. The current Grand Duke of the Bloodhart family. He is one of the 7th-rank vampires in our kingdom. Who reached the Mythborn stage."

Amon gulped down his saliva again and replied awkwardly, "O-Okay."

Scarlett continued in a steady tone, "I am his second child... I have an older brother. Also a younger brother who is third. Then two more sisters... who are the youngest."

After a moment of silence, Amon asked curiously, "By the way... why did you come here? On this island?"

Scarlett let out a small sigh and said, "Hah... well... I think I was being foolish at that time."

Amon raised his eyebrow at her words. "What do you mean?"

Scarlett answered calmly, "Well... among us siblings... the oldest... Vesper. He was the most genius out of all of us. A prodigy. So... things like jealousy and competition... they were common between siblings."

Amon nodded slightly. "Yeah... I know that much... how things go between siblings of nobles."

She continued, her tone thoughtful. "You see, many vampires worship the Abyssal Goddess."

Amon nodded. "Yes... I know that."

Scarlett hummed softly before continuing. "Hm... so do many noble families. They have much more fascination toward this island. The grave of the Celestial Tree."

Amon frowned slightly in confusion. "And why is that? What does it have to do with the Abyssal Goddess?"

Scarlett replied thoughtfully, "It’s said that many years ago... on this island... those who used to live here were devotees of the Abyssal Goddess. When I say many years ago, I mean thousands of years ago. Maybe during the Second Era."

Amon didn’t say anything and just continued to listen to her quietly.

Scarlett went on, her voice calm. "In some scriptures it is written that this place... which used to be the home of the Celestial Tree... was corrupted by her. She killed the Celestial Tree. Then eroded everything here."

Amon frowned slightly and interrupted, "Wait... but didn’t you say many people here used to pray to her?"

He remembered seeing a temple on this island. Where there was a statue of a woman with multiple hands, holding different kinds of weapons.

’Now that I think about it... that statue actually did look like the Abyssal Goddess... or more like... the Goddess of Chaos.’

Scarlett muttered under her breath, "That’s what makes this more confusing."

She frowned."There are many temples dedicated to her on this island. That clearly shows she was worshipped here. Yet at the same time, the records claim she was the one who destroyed this place"

She paused briefly before speaking again.

"Well, that aside... because of many mysteries, many questions... many contradictions arises. Our kingdom from time to time sends people to explore this island. To gather information. Since knowledge is always important. Three years ago, the mission for exploring this island was given to the Bloodhart family. To lead this operation."

Her gaze remained fixed on the sky. "Some scholars believe the origin of vampires may be connected to this place. So gathering knowledge about it is considered important."

"My father was going to appoint some high-ranking knight of our family... but I wanted to... I wanted to prove something... to show that I am also as good as Vesper... Not inferior to him. So I asked him to send me on this mission. He clearly refused me... but I insisted."

"After lot of pleading...he gave me permission. To accompany with the expedition team he was assigning this mission."

Amon nodded slowly. "And let me guess... something went wrong."

Scarlett gave a faint smile. "Yes. Unfortunately, we encountered two Rank-Six monsters."

Amon’s eyes widened slightly. "Most of the team was killed," she continued quietly. "The survivors scattered while trying to escape. I ended up separated from them."

"One night, while searching for a place to rest, I found a cave. It looked safe enough, so I went inside and slept there."

She turned her head slightly toward him.

"But when I woke up the next morning and walked outside...I found myself here."

Amon frowned. "Wait... what do you mean? You didn’t explore deeper inside the cave?"

"No," she replied. "I only walked a few meters inside and slept. The next morning I simply walked out in the same direction I had entered."

Amon clicked his tongue. "Tch... so the cave itself was a trap."

He looked toward the sky thoughtfully. "Once someone enters it... they end up in this place."

Scarlett nodded slowly. "Yeah... it seems that way."

Both remained there. Lying beside each other.