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Chapter 31 - White Knight and The Imprisoned Princess(2)

Notre-Dame Underground Dungeon

"Sophie, you're… a vampire?" Bishop Alan Castet peered through the cell door's small window, shocked at the bound Sophia. He seemed to recognize her.

"Bishop Castet, is that so surprising?" Her familiar voice echoed from the cell.

Thirty years ago, the woman who called him "Little Alan" was as radiant as ever, while he'd aged into an old man. Her calling him "Bishop Castet" felt oddly formal.

"Forgive my bluntness, but I can't help you," Castet said, upholding his principles as Champagne's cardinal.

"I'm not asking for special treatment, Bishop. I only want a fair trial."

"What concerns you?" Castet thought she worried needlessly.

"Shadow beneath the sun," Sophia said in Silandrian. In Church doctrine, it meant the underground wasn't always pure, harboring filth and darkness.

Castet understood—Sophia implied the Church was tainted by corrupt figures. In fluent Silandrian with a Goulens accent, he replied, "Then I'll request to join the tribunal."

Satisfied, Sophia continued in Silandrian, "Clement. Beware of Clement."

Castet knew Clement's influence permeated the Church, just as the Church infiltrated the mage academy. Olivier had explained how he "seized" Sophia from Clement.

"If this repays your life-saving grace, I'll do my utmost," Castet said earnestly.

"Farewell, Sophie. May God be with you."

"And with you," Sophia replied, bidding her old friend goodbye.

Thirty years ago, as a priest in Silandria, Castet aided missionary work. Unlike the corrupt, power-hungry Churches of Qitalia or Goulens, Silandria's was remarkably pure, devoted to divine will.

Yet darkness existed. The Duncanhoff family ruled unchecked, bound by few rules. As an outsider priest, Castet nearly became a victim of Count Duncanhoff, who craved priest's blood, rumored sweeter than a virgin's.

A brash witch hunter named Sophie saved him, scaring off Duncanhoff. They traveled Silandria together, untouchable by vampires, zombies, ghouls, or necromancers. Sophie, arrogant and haughty, called him "Little Alan," leaving cooking and camping to him while she reveled in luxury. Still, her charm captivated him. Had he not been a priest, he'd have pursued her, even forsaking his family.

Now white-haired, he saw her unchanged, but… less arrogant? Her calling him "Bishop Castet" felt wrong compared to "Little Alan," though most addressed him formally.

"What can I do for you, my lady?" Castet asked, pained, closing his eyes as he left the dungeon.

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Later

Sophia's ears, once filled with mercury, now had human-level hearing since the Church distrusted her. Olivier had removed her plugs, and she'd purged the silver and mercury from her system.

Olivier returned to the cell door.

"What is it, Olivier?" Sophia recognized his footsteps.

"I want to help you, Sophia. You're not evil, I'm certain!"

"You were certain yesterday."

"Yes, but you're a creature of darkness."

"Heh, yes, Silandria's bloodthirsty Impaler Prince. Tell me, Olivier, how many have you killed?"

"That's different—I serve divine will."

"I don't mock your faith. I understand your duty. But how do you know my kills weren't self-defense or to protect others?"

"That's not my point, Sophia. You're a creature of darkness. Repent, and I can help."

"Repent? If I've wronged, I'll admit it. But I won't repent for my nature. I was born this way. No one should atone for what they didn't do." Her trust in Olivier, built from his rescue, led her to reveal her origins.

"Sophia, as a creature of darkness, repentance will save you! You're not evil!"

"Olivier de Guinea! I won't apologize for my existence!" Sophia snapped, frustrated by his stubbornness.

"Sorry, I just want to help," he said apologetically.

"If I've erred unrepentantly, I'll face punishment. But I won't atone for what I haven't done or my birth. You humans preach justice—should I not exist?"

"Sorry—"

"I don't need your pity, knight. If you think all vampires are inherently evil and must repent, that's your view. I don't want to see you." Sophia felt she'd relinquished the false safety Olivier offered, like her ex-lover.

"Fine, but two friends are here. I'll go."

His footsteps faded, replaced by two others—Anna and Isaac. Sophia's heart lifted.

"Well, well, who's locked up again?" Anna's face appeared at the window, teasing.

"Anna Belmont, long time no see."

"Not 'little bitch' anymore?"

"If you want that title, fine, but it's not fitting here."

"Oh, the noble countess—no, princess—knows some words don't suit certain places?" Anna mocked Sophia's past arrogance.

"It's good to see you, Anna," Sophia said warmly.

"My, the countess is so polite now," Anna said, incredulous.

Sophia laughed. "If I get out alive, you'll be 'little bitch' again."

"Can't wait," Anna replied, their rivalry easing.

"You tipped the Church I was at the academy, didn't you? Thanks, Anna." Sophia deduced Anna's deep Church ties, as top witch hunters like her held privileges to judge and burn witches independently.

"A vampire thanking me? Not the apocalypse, is it?" Anna teased.

Isaac pushed Anna aside, pressing his face to the window. "Sophia, you okay?"

He noticed her outfit had shifted from the gothic suit to the leather bodysuit from their first meeting, unaware the Church's mages crafted it per her request. "Your clothes…"

"Little Zack's first concern is my outfit?" Sophia teased, turning playfully.

"N-no…" Isaac blushed, Anna fuming beside him.

"Not worried they'll burn your princess tomorrow?" Sophia's tone turned menacing.

"What? No way!" Isaac jumped.

"Haha, I scared you! They're trying me tomorrow."

"Not burning? Good, good."

"Look how your vampire princess spooked you," Anna said, smirking. "Need my help as your defense, vampire?"

As a witch hunter, Anna had judged countless cases, burning witches and vampires. She knew many accused weren't true dark mages, but sometimes, for safety, she convicted without evidence. Her courtroom experience was vast, especially in religious tribunals.

"Little Anna, I know more than you. I'll defend myself. Don't need you," Sophia retorted.

"You vampire! I'll watch you burn!" Anna snapped, pulling Isaac's head. "Tell your vampire about Jane!"

"Jane…" Sophia's mind flashed to the dungeon, Clement, and Ding Yangchun.

Memories of those fangless, mindless days flooded back— dressed as dogs kissing, Jane fitted with a false phallus to "love" Sophia without plugs, racing as a mare while Sophia was the dog "Domi," the loser facing…

Her pupils dilated, terror overwhelming her. Cold sweat poured, her bladder straining.

"Sophia! Sophia!" Isaac's voice anchored her. This was real, not Ding Yangchun's drill.

"Huff… huff…" Sophia panted.

"You okay?" Isaac asked.

"I… I'm not. Turn around, I need the toilet." The fear had triggered a flood of urine; only Isaac's voice stopped her from losing control.

She wouldn't pretend strength before him anymore.

"Okay." Isaac turned as Sophia approached the filthy toilet, cleaner than her academy "dog bed." Her hands, cuffed in an X, struggled to remove her latex bodysuit. As she did, she said, "Little Zack, don't mention that woman's name…"

Anna, uncaring, peeked. "Looks like the vampire's got some mental trauma," she mocked.

"Shut up, little bitch!" Sophia snapped, reigniting their feud.

"Anna, stop! Sophia, how's… that lady?" Isaac asked.

"Bad. Prepare for the worst…"

Anna's face fell. "Is she alive?"

"Anna, swear you won't fight a short, sleazy Zhendan man."

"What?"

"Swear, and I'll tell you about her."

"Fine, I swear not to fight a short, sleazy Zhendan man."

"That man… from Zhendan, I can't say his name, only a title… She's likely become… a pet like Domi…" Sophia slipped back into calling herself "Domi" under the trauma.

"Domi is… what?" Isaac sensed dread.

"Don't say that name." Sophia's pupils turned blood-red, startling Isaac, who'd peeked at her toilet use.

She instinctively bared her fangs to intimidate, forgetting they were gone, revealing silver tiger teeth.

"Your teeth?" Isaac asked.

Anna, realizing, pulled him back. "Thanks for the info, Sophia. We'll see your trial tomorrow."

"Huff… huff…" Still on the toilet, sweating, pupils contracted, Sophia nodded. "Okay…"

"We'll see you tomorrow. Our time's up," Anna said, leaving with Isaac.

"Okay… I'll wait," Sophia mumbled to the empty doorway, sweating.

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Leaving Notre-Dame

"So the vampire was badly abused by Clement," Anna said.

"How do you know?" Isaac asked.

"She's aged a hundred years overnight."

"So we did right by tipping the Church?"

"Yes. We only knew Jane vanished in the dungeon. She's likely being tortured too."

"Why'd you pull me away?"

"Don't ask about a vampire's fangs. I saw her silver tiger teeth."

"She was… defanged?"

"It's the cruelest blow to a vampire's dignity. Humans can't grasp that cultural loss."

"Really? That's…" Isaac couldn't fathom her pain.

"But they grow back."

"So they gave her silver fakes."

"What about magic? Can it remove the silver?"

"Does she look like she can cast now?"

"We've got to help her!"

"In your state, can you help your princess?"

Outside, D'Artagnan and Sergei waited.

"Did your friend give useful info?" D'Artagnan asked Anna, enlisted to save Jane.

"Yes, Miss Lancas may have…" Anna trailed off.

"Ura? Teacher's dead?" Sergei interjected, panicking.

"No… possibly turned into something inhuman…"

D'Artagnan grimaced in fear and disgust. Sergei crouched, clutching his head. "I failed Teacher and my savior, Domin—"

"Don't blame yourself, Sergei," Anna said, patting him. "Tomorrow, if the trial goes well, we'll save Jane immediately."

"You're sure it's Clement?" D'Artagnan, disliking Clement, found storming the academy insane.

"I'm sure," Anna said, staring at him. "Charles, trust my judgment?"

"Of course," D'Artagnan bowed gallantly.

A voice called, "Sir Isaac, Sister Anna!"

Vivian approached, climbing Notre-Dame's steps for prayer.

"Mr. Sergei," she nodded to the despairing Sergei, then saw the imposing D'Artagnan. "And this is?"

"Baron Charles D'Artagnan. Call me Charles," he said, bowing and kissing her hand nobly.

"Anna!" Vivian hugged her, treating Anna and Isaac like family.

"Vivian, no tailor shop today?" Anna embraced the orphaned girl.

"It's Sunday, worship day," Sergei muttered, head in hands.

"I forgot. Here for worship?" Anna asked.

"Yes. Need holy water, Sister? I can get some from Notre-Dame."

"I make my own. I'm a top witch hunter."

"You can make it? Amazing!"

"I just can't mass-produce like the Church."

"I'm useless, can't help you or Sir Isaac," Vivian said.

"Joking, but you could snoop on Clement. Someone like you wouldn't draw notice," Isaac teased.

"Isaac, don't!" Anna recalled Stone's warning about a spy.

"Kidding, Vivian. Be careful."

Anna eyed Vivian. A spy? Then D'Artagnan. Why'd he agree to fight Clement so easily? Chanel? Even Charles, my old friend?

Sergei, despairing, seemed least likely. Or is he the spy?

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Notre-Dame

"I said I don't want to see you," Sophia said, hearing Olivier's footsteps.

"You know Belmont?"

"I don't want to talk."

"I was wrong. You're right—your nature isn't your fault," the chief paladin admitted, a first.

"So why don't I want to see you?"

"It doesn't matter. I want to protect you."

"Do I need your protection?" Sophia said coldly.

"It's not about need. You're unsafe. The academy tried to snatch you."

"Arrogant paladin, your morning attitude ruined your image."

"Then, Princess, let me redeem it."

"Humans don't recognize me as Silandria's princess, do they?"

"I spoke with Castet. I know what you did thirty years ago."

"Oh?"

"From him, I believe you love that land and protect its people."

Olivier, enthralled by Castet's tales of Sophia's adventures, continued, "I misjudged you, but your judgment of me isn't fair either."

"Interesting. You think the rumors about me are human fabrications?"

"I can't say all, but I trust you and Castet."

"Why are you here? Just to apologize?"

"No, because of Castet, I'm sharing vital information."

"What?"

"You'll have no defender."

"I knew that. Who'd defend a vampire? Locked up, I can't hire one."

"So familiarize yourself with the charges you'll face tomorrow."

"No, knight. Don't violate your chivalric code."

Sophia's bluntness snapped Olivier from his reverie. Telling her the charges would break his oath. Why was he, the chief paladin, so enthralled by her? Just because she saved him? Why did she, a vampire, remind him of his knightly honor? Why was Castet also captivated?

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Countess Chanel's Estate

[If you don't want her dead, come find her. You know where.]

The mage-knights' note from the morning held only these words.

"Damn Clement!" Isaac slammed the floor.

"Sir, what do we do?" the butler asked.

"What?" Isaac was confused.

"You're the only Chanel family member now. If the Countess is gone, we follow you…"

"Me?" Isaac was stunned.

Anna sighed. "You didn't know? Chanel registered you with inheritance rights."

"That's… too much…"

"Many bastards never get that. The Chanel men died in the Hundred Years' War, and her parents died in a plague. Without her, there's no heir. That's why joining was easy. You lucked out."

Gab's like a sister now? Her only "family"? A brother must save his kidnapped sister, especially if it's his fault.

"Sir, what do we do?"

"You sure it's Clement?" D'Artagnan leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes blazing with intent to kill.

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A Dark Alley

Princess Isabella, who once danced with Isaac, wore an exquisite purple gown under a brown hooded cloak, concealing her face.

"Your Highness," a gray-robed figure bowed.

"Here's her letter." Isabella extended a gloved hand, holding three thick envelopes.

"Thank you. Please deliver these to my lady." The figure took them, handing her one envelope, which she tucked away.

"One more thing," Isabella said, displeased. "My friend, Jane Lancas, is still missing. She hasn't visited in days."

"You're right. Only the vampire was freed," the figure replied.

"She's my best friend. I'll send people to the academy—"

"Please, Your Highness, that's beneath you. They won't heed you and you'll tip them off. Give me time—I'll save her."

"Fine, I trust you," Isabella said.

"Absolutely."

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Mage Academy Dungeon

Countess Chanel was bound to a pillar, still in her white qipao-style gown. Tape covered her eyes and mouth, muffling her to "Mmph, mmph!"

"A Goulens woman in a Zhendan qipao? But with a Western skirt and a chest-revealing cut to tempt me!" a sleazy, accented voice said. "Reminds me of Zhendan."

"Want me to send you back?" Clement teased.

"I'd be tortured to death. I turned the emperor's sister into a docile mare for the Montague Khan. The Jinyiwei or Eastern Depot would kill me," Ding Yangchun replied.

"But don't tame this one yet—she's a countess," Clement said.

"I, Ding, love taming Roseland noblewomen," Ding Yangchun said.

"Don't tame her, but you can play," Clement added.

"Can't wait." Ding Yangchun lunged at Chanel, his short frame reaching her chest without stooping, hands groping her waist through the gown, head pressed against her bosom.

"Mmph… mmphhh!" Chanel gasped through the tape.

"She's like a noble Zhendan heroine I captured," Ding Yangchun said, licking her chest through the fabric.

"Mmph… mmphhh!"

"Taming Zhendan women was nostalgic, especially when I told them my father was Montague."

"Mmph… mmphhh!"

"Your eyes, when you know I'm Zhendan, are just like theirs when they learned my heritage. Feels good to be toyed with by a despised race, huh?" He licked her gown and stroked her elegant updo.

"Mmphhh!" Chanel's lower body leaked fluids from his touch.

"Enough, entertain our countess," Clement said, ripping the tape off her eyes.

Chanel saw Ding Yangchun—a short, sleazy Zhendan man with an ugly mustache.

"Mmphhh!" Terrified, she struggled futilely.

"Curious about your new family member, Isaac, and his efforts for Miss Lancas?" Clement sneered.

"Mmph?"

"Ding, bring out Ranko."

"Yes, Master Clement."

"Mmph?" Hearing Isaac's name, Chanel felt a spark of safety. If he clashed with them, he'd know she was taken… He'll save me.

Ding Yangchun led a creature by a collar—a woman resembling a dog. Dog ears limited her hearing to her master's voice within a meter.

From her mouth downward, she wore yellow latex, matching her blonde hair. Her breasts, exposed, bore piercing rings leaking milk from lactation drugs. Clement periodically healed her to prevent complications.

Despite the latex covering her mouth, she wore a harness gag. A golden ponytail adorned her head, hinting at her past as a "mare." Plugs sealed her anus, urethra, and vagina, the anal plug sporting a golden dog tail made from her hair.

Her forearms were folded and bound to her upper arms by latex, hands encased, fingers invisible. Elbow pads, enchanted for comfort, prevented injury. Her thighs and calves were similarly bound, with knee pads.

Her eyes were vacant, utterly submissive to Ding Yangchun, yet her mind remained active, obeying every command, including casting magic. Unlike Sophia, who lost her mind to defanging, Jane wasn't a soulless puppet. Had Olivier not saved Sophia, she'd be like this.

Her buttocks bore a brand: Meat Slave Ranko, Mage Academy's Public Pet.

Chanel moaned in despair. "Mmphhh, mmph, mmph!"

"Don't worry, Countess. Your Isaac will come," Clement sneered.

"Ranko, stand and spin for the countess," Ding Yangchun tugged the leash. The "dog" rose on her knees, lifting her forelimbs like a dog, spun twice, then crawled to kiss his shoes.

"Good Ranko." He patted her head, kissed her cheek, and set her down.

At 162 cm, Ding Yangchun was dwarfed by Jane's 174 cm, his "pet" looming like a pony.

"Ranko, respect the human countess. You're a dog, but soon, she might join you."

"Mmph, mmph." Jane nodded, wagging her tail eagerly, excited for a playmate.

Chanel's eyes held despair—and a faint hope in Isaac.

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