The woman in the black dress had fair skin and long, elegant eyes. Her gown accentuated a kind of classical beauty. John Bennett stepped forward and bowed: “Caroline Justice, I have returned.”

Caroline did not answer him, still absorbed in her book. John Bennett stepped aside and stood quietly, waiting. After a long time, Caroline Justice finally put down her book. She glanced at John Bennett, stood up, returned the book to its designated spot on the shelf, and then said, “Anthony was a real talent. It’s such a pity he died. Now we have to find someone else who can handle business, and that’s truly a headache.” John Bennett did not respond. The Justice walked to the table and said to the player, “You sit down as well. Your brow is deeply furrowed—do you have some unresolved doubts?”

John Bennett nodded. “Yes. Before Anthony died, he questioned me: what is wrong with having children with the one you love? Or, as he put it, is there really any difference between us siring offspring through Embrace and humans having children? Doesn’t he have a point?” A wise light shone in the Justice’s long eyes. “There’s a huge difference! Having children with humans is extremely dangerous for us: our offspring would be assimilated by humans, since their mother is human. And, more importantly, human fertility would bring us great trouble. We are immortal, but their reproductive ability is too strong. If we grafted that onto our kind, it wouldn’t take long before there would be tens of millions of bloodkin in this world—old ones never die, new ones keep being born; our living space would quickly become overcrowded, and even food would become scarce. So this kind of thing must never be allowed to set a precedent!”

John Bennett nodded. The Justice pressed her fingers to her forehead and tapped lightly a few times. “It really is troublesome. Finding a replacement for Anthony won’t be easy. Such a large company, and to find a competent manager—it’s truly difficult. He was also the prince of that city, so we need to find a successor for that as well, and then there’s the matter of his lover and child… If you don’t want to cooperate on this, I’ll find someone else! Anthony is such a pity, but it’s not really his fault. After living in human society for so long, it’s only natural to be influenced by them.” The Justice looked at John Bennett. “Actually, this trend is already hard to control. Very few of your generation still wear black formal attire; medieval clothing is out of fashion. Just look at your clothes and you’ll know what’s trendy now…” The Justice’s words made John Bennett blush slightly. The Justice gave a generous laugh. “You don’t need to blame yourself. This trend is normal, and you’ve done very well. I’m just worried that if things keep developing this way, it might violate the rules of seclusion.”

Suddenly, the door opened and a burly man poked his head in. The Justice looked displeased. “Raymond Hager, didn’t I tell you not to come in without permission?” Raymond Hager gazed at Caroline with deep affection, but his words were at odds with his look: “I don’t want to see you, you bloodsucking bat, but there are things you need to know…” John Bennett found it amusing. The two of them were always like this—Raymond Hager could never control himself, always coming back for more even knowing it was poison; and Caroline always imposed unrestrained restrictions, yet Raymond Hager’s transgressions always found an excuse.

Both the man and the woman knew that love between a human and a bloodkin was unrealistic, so she turned him into a bloodkin. He loved and hated this woman, but could not let go; the woman did not want her lover to leave, but out of guilt, she hoped he would walk away on his own. No one knew how long their entanglement had lasted—at any rate, by the time John Bennett became a carnivore, they were already like this. The painful love of the bloodkin was always full of contradictions; from the day John Bennett became bloodkin, he had been warned about this.

“What is it?” Caroline asked. “Colleen is dead!” Raymond Hager said with a gloating smile. He always took pleasure in anything that went against Caroline, but if anyone threatened Caroline herself, he would be the first to stand up and protect her!

Colleen, like John Bennett, was a carnivore—a powerful one, and one of the three carnivores directly under the Justice’s command. Her death was a huge blow to Caroline’s power!

Bloodkin lives were always closely tied to two things: hunting and being hunted. Active hunting and passive being hunted. The Church was the mortal enemy of dark creatures, with a special clergy of seven ranks, the third of which—exorcists—were dedicated to dealing with dark beings. There were also many vampire hunters, a profession with many enthusiasts. Their abilities varied, but among them were some true standouts!

“How did she die?” Caroline asked calmly. Though she was deeply saddened, she could not show it in front of Raymond Hager. Caroline’s composure made Raymond Hager feel a bit bored, so he answered honestly: “Three hunters and six exorcists besieged her and killed her. They sent back her fangs.” This was a hunter’s custom: after killing a vampire, they would send the vampire’s fangs back to their family—a kind of announcement, and also a provocation.