The Smiling Death-Chapter 366: First One is Done

Amon looked ahead casually, pretending nothing had happened.

But a small smile remained on his face. After a moment, Scarlett quietly shifted her hand on the branch.

Her fingers brushed lightly against his. Amon noticed it. His eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t say anything. Their fingers remained close.

Almost touching. And then... Amon did it. He wrapped his palm around her hand.

Scarlett didn’t say anything.

After a moment of silence, Amon asked casually, "By the way... what are you going to do once you get back home?"

Scarlett looked ahead calmly before replying, "What will I do once I go back home?... I don’t know. The reason I came here for... was for nothing. But if there is anything that I want to do, then it would be... to spend time with my younger sisters."

Amon smiled slightly. "Oh... so you really love your sisters. What about your brothers?"

Scarlett replied in a calm tone, "Hm... my relationship with my younger brother, Ravion, is good... compared to my older brother Vesper."

Amon tilted his head curiously. "...Why is that?"

Scarlett answered with an indifferent expression, "Nothing... just the usual fights between elder siblings in noble families."

After a moment, Amon asked curiously, "You... did you want to become the next heir of your family?"

Scarlett stiffened slightly. Then she nodded. "Yes... I wanted to... but not anymore."

Amon raised one eyebrow. "Why not anymore?"

Scarlett thought for a while before answering slowly, "...Maybe because living in this village for three years has changed me a lot. There was nothing here... but one thing was always truly here... peace and kindness."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"I guess my interest in leading a high-ranking noble family slowly disappeared... rather, I would love to live peacefully... and maybe explore the world. After staying in one place for so long... I want to go outside."

Amon smiled happily. "That’s a good thing... this means we could meet again in the future. Since you won’t be busy getting the Duchess position... you can come to the human kingdom Valmoria. We could have a lot of fun."

Scarlett turned her face toward Amon. Her amethyst eyes locked with his black ones.

Her lips slowly curved. "That doesn’t sound bad... but getting into the human kingdom as a vampire... is quite hard, you know."

Amon waved his hand dismissively. "Just sneak in! If you still have problems at that time, then contact me. I do know the princess after all. We could go on a real date after that... I will also introduce Princess Selena to you."

Scarlett repeated softly, "Date..."

Her expression didn’t change much, but her cheeks slightly turned rosy. Soon the blush vanished.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You said... that the princess has a crush on you... don’t you?"

Amon froze. His smile cracked slightly, but he forced himself to keep it.

"What? Yeah... I mean yes... but well, does it matter?"

Scarlett let out a faint laugh. "Hehe~ of course. How can you go on a date with me... in front of her?"

Amon’s eyes darted here and there as he tried to make excuses.

"Haha! Don’t worry! It’s not like she and I are in a relationship... nor do you and I—"

Then his eyes turned crescent-shaped with mischief. He smiled widely. "Why are you asking with that annoyed voice... are you jealous?"

Scarlett was taken aback. "M-me? J-jealous? Why would I be jealous?!"

Amon grinned teasingly. "Of course, because another woman has her eyes on me."

Scarlett scoffed and replied sharply, "Ridiculous... you are just a boy. Why would I get jealous over you? Hmph."

She turned her head in the other direction, as if pouting.

"Hehe~" Amon just giggled and didn’t say anything further.

Above the quiet forest, two figures sat together on a tree branch, close enough to feel each other’s warmth.

Below them, the magical pattern slowly continued to expand across the clearing.

The gray-skinned, corpse-like figure looked up at them and shook his head.

"There they are flirting again. Tch! These young people," Vetaal muttered under his breath while continuing to carve the ground.

---

Hours passed. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The sunless gray sky slowly dimmed as evening approached.

The massive magical pattern was finally complete.

Across the clearing, an enormous circle nearly fifteen meters wide covered the ground. Within it were countless intersecting lines, smaller circles, triangles, and strange symbols carved deep into the soil. Every line was at least an inch deep, forming a complex structure that looked almost alive.

Once couldn’t tell what to call it. Magic Circle, Rune or symbols? It was constructed by all of them combined together.

Amon stared down at it from the branch.

With a slightly uneasy expression, he muttered, "...That looks terrifying."

Scarlett silently observed the circle. Even she could not understand the meaning of most of the patterns.

Below them, Vetaal wiped the dirt from his hands.

"It is done," he said calmly.

Amon and Scarlett climbed down from the tree.

They walked closer and looked at the massive formation.

From nearby, it looked even more complicated.

Amon asked with slight doubt, "Are you sure this will work?"

Vetaal replied confidently while floating slightly above the ground again, "It will work. Tomorrow another one..."

Since other people still didn’t know about Vetaal, he slowly faded from sight, turning invisible as he floated in the air.

Amon glanced around the forest and said, "Let’s go back."

Scarlett nodded.

Soon the two of them began walking toward the village side by side while Vetaal silently floated above them.

The forest was calm.

Only the sound of their footsteps and rustling leaves filled the air.

After walking for a while, Amon suddenly noticed a small figure running along the path ahead.

A young girl with dirt-blonde hair and small beast-like ears was running happily along the trail.

Amon recognized her immediately.

"Luna!"

The girl stopped and turned around quickly.

Her bright eyes sparkled the moment she saw him.

"Big brother Amon!" she said happily as she waved her small hand excitedly and ran toward them.

She then looked at Scarlett and smiled sweetly. "Hello big sister!"

Scarlett gave a small nod toward the girl.

Luna stopped in front of them, slightly out of breath from running.

Amon smiled warmly and asked, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I’m going home!" Luna replied happily.

Amon glanced around and asked, "Where is Ethan?"

Luna replied proudly, "Big brother Ethan is still training! He said he will become very strong!"

Amon chuckled softly. "That sounds like him."

Luna looked between Amon and Scarlett with curious eyes.

"You two were together again."

Scarlett remained silent.

Amon awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah... something like that."

The small beast-girl giggled innocently. "I may be small... but I know why you are always together."

Scarlett’s eyes slightly widened at her comment.

Even Amon looked shocked. "You little—"

Just then, "Amon."

A calm but aged voice called from behind them. They turned around. Walking slowly along the forest path was Malphas.

The old man leaned slightly on his cane as he approached them. His sharp eyes looked at both Amon and Scarlett.

"Come with me," he said calmly. "There is something important we need to discuss."

Amon glanced at Scarlett. She nodded slightly.Then Amon turned back to Luna. "Alright, Luna. You should go home."

"Okay!" She nodded obediently. "Bye big brother! Bye big sister!"

She waved both hands enthusiastically before running down the path again toward the village.

Soon her small figure disappeared between the trees. Amon then looked toward Malphas. "We are coming."

Scarlett walked beside him as they followed the old man deeper along the forest path.

Above them, unseen by anyone, Vetaal silently floated through the air, following them closely.