After awakening Camilla from her slumber and rescuing her, the two now had to face the next issue.
"Camilla's identity as a Blood Clan member can't be easily exposed," Sylutia pondered how she would explain things to the two members of the 'Review Hall' later.
Using the excuse of forced recruitment by the Blood Clan might provide a rough explanation, but there were still many loopholes. For instance, Camilla had already been researching potions related to 'Bloodline·Secret Word' before this. Moreover, the Review Hall had many detection methods at its disposal, and she didn't know how many means the 'Origin Hourglass' faction possessed either.
Given the school's characteristics and past track record, if they really conducted a thorough investigation, Camilla's Blood Clan identity probably wouldn't be concealable.
Troublesome. The young girl lightly brushed her fingers through the hair over her forehead, trying to think of a solution for Camilla.
"I'm making things difficult for Hedra," Camilla said apologetically. This was supposed to be her own problem alone, yet this time she had dragged Hedra into it, and the process had been especially perilous.
"I'm not very good at lying, honestly," Sylutia admitted, feeling genuinely troubled.
"It's better not to implicate Hedra any further," Camilla thought it over. If her identity was exposed, staying in the Mage Alliance would already be too dangerous. Taking any more risks at this point would be unwise and would also implicate this young girl.
"But Camilla doesn't really have any other good place to go right now, does she? You'd be pretty lonely wandering alone and living in seclusion," Sylutia mused.
What if she sent Camilla to the Hidden Grove Alliance? She had plenty of connections there. Even if not the Hidden Grove, she could go to Regas to find Mursa—that young queen could certainly arrange a decent place for Camilla to stay.
However, that would mean exposing her own identity as a member of the Hidden Grove Alliance. Besides, they still hadn't escaped the secret realm yet, and she would have to explain things to the two members of 'Origin Hourglass' soon.
Thinking about it, Sylutia felt for the first time that she couldn't find a perfect solution.
Seeing her so troubled, Camilla thought carefully and then offered a suggestion.
"Why not just say it like this: I turned into a Blood Clan member halfway through. The reason I was concocting potions before was out of curiosity to see if I could transform into a Blood Clan member without being controlled by the Sea Cliff Blood Clan royalty."
"That way, with truth mixed with lies, we can handle things for the time being."
"Even though it makes me look somewhat like a traitor to the Mage Alliance, it's not a capital offense. If I hand over the secret arts for resisting Blood Clan transformation, the faction should be able to reduce my punishment."
"That's true in theory, but it's still very dangerous," Sylutia said, thinking it over. She looked at Camilla and suddenly remembered the strange sealing blade she possessed.
Could it completely suppress Camilla's own Blood Clan bloodline and characteristics?
Worth a try. But she would need to consult Camilla's opinion first, since losing her royal bloodline might leave her in an unimaginably weakened state.
"Camilla, would you be willing to trust me?" Sylutia asked, then realizing the phrasing sounded a bit ambiguous, she explained in detail.
"What I mean is, I can try a method to completely seal your bloodline traits. But this will leave you extremely weak, even dropping your rank. I'm not sure if you'd be willing to try."
After hearing this, Camilla nodded without hesitation.
"Sure," she said. The fact that she was now awake and able to speak with this young girl was all thanks to her. Why wouldn't she trust her?
"Then lie down first, close your eyes, and don't resist," Sylutia said, increasingly aware that her words sounded prone to strange interpretations, but this was the only way for now.
"Mm." Camilla slowly lay down, her hands resting naturally at her sides.
Seeing the Blood Clan princess completely defenseless like this, Sylutia felt a profound sense of trust. She too closed her eyes slightly and summoned the ethereal seven-colored picture book.
The picture book, radiating colors that didn't belong to this world, slowly materialized. It was illusory and transparent, seeming both right before her eyes and yet far away in another dimension.
The young girl reopened her eyes, now shimmering with starlight within them. Her Aspect level briefly shifted to 'Fourth Order·Alien Star,' and a strange aura spread outward. The pages turned by themselves without any wind, rustling as they flipped, revealing the blank pages at the back.
In an instant, a dazzling radiance blazed forth. The aura spilling from the pages temporarily froze the surrounding space-time. Then, specks of starlight sank deep into the depths of Camilla's soul-consciousness.
There, a Fate Card entwined with blood-red roses emitted a faint glow. During the phase of evading pursuit, Camilla had already reconverted her Aspect back to 'Bloodline.'
Now, the starlight gradually seeped into that card, slowly bringing it to a standstill. Faced with this invasion by an alien force, Camilla initially resisted unconsciously. The blood-red rose vines grew thorns that lashed out, dispelling the state of stillness.
Seeing this, Sylutia had to calm Camilla once more. She placed her finger again on Camilla's brow, and a faint, cool sensation evoked Camilla's earlier memories.
Following that cool and gentle touch, Camilla's body and mind slowly relaxed, allowing herself to stop resisting the infiltration of the starlight.
Thus, the scattered, faint starlight gradually took control of Camilla's life force. The figure within the card, clad in a bright red princess gown, also slowly fell into slumber.
But this wasn't enough yet. Sylutia needed to strip the power of the royal bloodline away from Camilla.
If this had been in the past, she certainly wouldn't have known how to do it, nor would she have understood the Blood Clan at all. But after experiencing the entirety of Colivante's life, her knowledge of the Blood Clan probably surpassed even Camilla's.
In the later period of the Blood Dynasty, civil wars were frequent, and infighting among the royalty was the norm. Under these circumstances, the Blood Clan had developed many secret arts specifically to deal with their own kind, including methods to strip bloodlines used for punishing felons.
Inside the cave, Sylutia's eyes were slightly closed. She raised one hand gently, and faint, deep red light particles were drawn from Camilla's body, gathering little by little in her palm. Meanwhile, Camilla's face grew increasingly pale beneath her.
Two hours later, Camilla's royal bloodline had been completely stripped away. Condensed in the air was a special 'True Crimson Blood,' its color like marrow of blood, radiating a soul-stirring beauty.
Sealing this blood bead—along with the power Camilla had lost—into the pages of the book, a beautiful painting emerged upon the paper.
In the painting, Camilla was clad in a blood-red gown, walking through a palace. In the corners of the palace bloomed dark red roses, whose petal tips and stems were pure black. The entire image was filled with only black and red hues, appearing dark and mysterious.
[Sealed Page·Blood Clan Princess Camilla]
The twin sister of Blood Clan Queen Catella, now a fugitive. Her own royal bloodline has been sealed and stripped, temporarily stored here.
Effect [True Crimson Blood]: The sealed 'True Crimson Blood' can be granted to another person, transforming them into a Blood Clan member and allowing them to inherit numerous royal Blood Clan knowledge and secret arts. If granted back to Camilla, it can also restore her, allowing her to regain mastery of her royal bloodline's power.
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