"Guardian spirit, huh?" Lore muttered to himself. These words seemed to hold some sort of magic. The Islan family had its roots on the border of the Eternal Night. Generation after generation, they had safeguarded the duchy''s border, the Eternal Night Great Wall.


    On the other side of the Eternal Night Great Wall lay the Blood - Red Kingdom ruled by vampires. There, humans and other alien races were merely kept as livestock, living in eternal darkness, never seeing the sunlight.


    Before the Eternal Night War, the two races, separated by the Great Wall, had enjoyed peace for centuries. Most people believed that the vampires had become content with the status quo and would no longer cross the Great Wall.


    That was until that queen ascended the throne, and her blood - red gaze once again turned towards the human realm.


    Lore, newly arrived in this world, had only fragmented memories left by his predecessor about this world.


    He vaguely knew that in this world, there were powerful knights galloping freely on the battlefield, guarding the duchy; there were vampires that fed on blood and lurked on the other side of the Great Wall, shunning sunlight; there were withered undead, aimlessly wandering on the snow that never melted throughout the year...


    Yet, peculiarly, in his memories of his own family, there was no such thing as a guardian spirit. Had his predecessor''s parents protected him too well?


    "Sister Annie, of course I trust you... But how on earth can I summon the guardian spirit?"


    Lore vaguely sensed something amiss, but at this moment, he had no other option and could only place his trust in this housekeeper maid left by his parents.


    "Master, I''ll assist you," Annie whispered into Lore''s ear, her breath soft. Black mist swirled in her eyes.


    "Today, as long as you follow my lead, I won''t let you be taken away by the Grand Duke."


    Towards the end, her voice had grown so faint. A fleeting daze flashed in Lore''s resplendent eyes, as if he hadn''t quite caught what Annie was saying.


    His consciousness began to blur, and his body gradually grew feverish. Unable to hold himself up, he slumped weakly to one side, only to be caught precisely in Annie''s embrace.


    Annie took the opportunity to sit on the bedside and cradled the doll - like, dazed Lore in her arms. She tenderly stroked Lore''s increasingly warm cheeks.


    Her fingertips gently grazed Lore''s delicate eyelashes, teasing them slightly. Watching the young master''s dazed expression, her cherry - red lips slowly curved into a smile.


    "Nearly there. After nurturing you for so long, you''re finally about to reach maturity..." Annie caressed Lore''s exquisitely beautiful face, her eyes intently fixed on Lore''s tender lips.


    "I can''t let that madwoman from Sinthorn claim you by force."


    She gently brushed Lore''s long eyelashes, closing them bit by bit. Then, she slowly lowered her face and gently pressed her lips against Lore''s cherry - red ones, gently rubbing them.


    ...


    Lore seemed to have a dream. In the dream, a rich aroma of roses permeated the air. He was walking alone in the Islan manor. Although there was clearly no one around, he felt as if something was stealthily observing him.


    Lore walked in a daze, passing through the courtyard, the corridor, and reaching the spiral staircase. But instead of ascending, he spiraled downward.


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    Was there a basement in the manor? Lore thought subconsciously. The shadows around him began to wriggle, and whispers continuously drifted out from the shadows.


    They were words he had never heard before, like the gnashing of a wild beast''s teeth or the scraping of metal, harsh and unfamiliar. Strangely, gradually, Lore seemed to understand their words.


    "He''s still young..."


    "How alluring..."


    "A scrumptious sacrament..."


    Lore suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body. In the dream, he kept descending, and the spiral staircase seemed to lead to an abyss, stretching on endlessly.


    Until, until he came to the door of a stone chamber. The stone door had already been pushed open, and there were flickering candle flames within.


    "Ah, Master, you''ve arrived."


    There was someone quietly waiting in the stone chamber.


    "I have awaited you for a long time."


    Lore entered the stone chamber. The ground was damp and cold. Countless white candles were placed on either side of the path, leading him towards a high platform. On the high platform, a figure in a hooded robe awaited him.


    "Who are you?" Lore softly inquired. In the dream, his voice was tender and cold, tinged with the innocence of a child. Was this, was this an event from Lore''s childhood?


    "Master, I am the guardian spirit of Islan," the black robe trailed on the ground, and the face was entirely concealed beneath the hood.


    The young Lore spoke coldly. Even though he was but a child, his delicate features already foretold that he was destined to grow into a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.


    What was even more remarkable was that at this moment, Lore exuded a cold and majestic aura, utterly different from the gentle and submissive demeanor he would later display in the memory fragments.


    "My name is Lore, Lore - Islan," the indifferent words flowed from Lore''s lips, with an unyielding air of authority."I am Islan."


    A faint laugh emanated from beneath the hood."Then, Master, have you come to conclude a contract with me?"


    "I have indeed come for this very purpose." The dream - Lore spoke calmly, with not a ripple in his resplendent eyes.


    "Reveal your hood."


    "As you wish." The hood was slowly pushed back, and the charming and delicate face hidden in the shadows gradually came into view. The purple eyes were deep and otherworldly, making one unable to resist being entranced.


    Even Lore had to admit that in his two lifetimes, he had never beheld such a beautiful woman.


    She looked like a girl of merely sixteen or seventeen years old, yet she carried a strange air of maturity. Her alluring figure was completely hidden within the robe.


    Just by looking at her face, one couldn''t help but imagine what a stunning figure was concealed beneath the robe.


    Her features were so exquisitely beautiful that they seemed almost unreal, as if there was a layer of mist swirling around them. In it, anyone seemed to be able to discern the visage of the most beautiful person in their heart.


    The quality education Lore had received in his previous life had taught him that so - called beauty was a transient concept. In some eras, plumpness was deemed beautiful; in some, delicacy and slenderness were favored; in some, heroism and masculinity were prized.


    But the woman before him, her face might well be described as"beautiful under any circumstances."


    Not only that, but even the figure beneath the robe could be said to possess the same quality: she was the very essence of beauty.


    This was a beauty transcending the mundane.


    This could surely not be a human.


    Just by gazing at this transcendent beauty, Lore already felt his thoughts slowing down, making it increasingly difficult to think. Yet, his body involuntarily spoke.


    "Is the guardian spirit of Islan the legendary Goddess of Beauty?" It was incredible that the young Lore at that time could still maintain his lucidity and engage in normal conversation.


    "Precisely," the peerlessly beautiful woman smiled, and for a moment, it seemed as if the candle flames ceased to flicker, and the dim stone chamber brightened.


    "The Goddess of Beauty has long fallen from her pedestal. You are but a demon that has usurped the remains of the Goddess of Beauty."


    The young Lore''s tender voice reverberated in the stone chamber, yet he was uttering blasphemous words and astonishing secrets.


    As if her identity had been exposed, the peerless face of the woman before him seemed to crack, with hideous fissures appearing one after another. Black mist billowed out from them, and the purple eyes transformed into deep, pitch - black voids, sending a shiver down one''s spine.


    "Master, you are truly very bold."


    The demon''s voice turned hoarse. Countless black mists seeped out from beneath the robe, gradually filling the entire stone chamber. The small figure of the young Lore was also engulfed by the mist.


    "Even so, you still dare to come and conclude a contract with me?"


    "I have indeed come for this very purpose."


    The black mist filled the entire stone chamber. From within the black mist emerged the boy''s tender yet resolute voice, followed by a spine - chilling laugh.