My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 64: Higher Blood 1/2

Cornelia walked slowly toward Sevette’s unmoving body.

Each step felt heavier than the last, not because of exhaustion, but because of the strange silence that followed the battle.

The cracked ground still smelled of iron and scorched stone. Blood that had once moved like a living thing now lay still, dark and dull, seeping into the fissures beneath their feet. The guards stood frozen, hands hovering near their weapons but unsure whether to intervene.

Vance hovered several steps away, pale and shaken, his pride bruised far worse than his face earlier.

Cain remained where he was, arms loosely crossed, eyes fixed on Cornelia’s back with an expression he himself did not fully understand.

Cornelia crouched down in front of Sevette.

She stared at her for a long time.

Sevette lay there with her long curly hair spread across the ground like spilled ink, her chest rising faintly with shallow breaths. Her face, once so confident and sharp, looked oddly peaceful now, lashes resting against her cheeks.

There was no trace left of the woman who had mocked her, flirted with her husband, and challenged her openly in front of everyone.

Cornelia felt her fingers curl slowly.

So this is how it ends for you, she thought, though there was no triumph in it. Only a strange, heavy calm.

She raised her hand.

Slap.

The sound echoed sharply across the courtyard.

Sevette didn’t move.

Cornelia blinked, then frowned. She leaned closer, studying Sevette’s face, searching for any sign of consciousness.

"Wake up," Cornelia said quietly.

Nothing.

Her jaw tightened. She lifted her hand again.

Slap.

This time, it was a harder kinda slap.

Fwap!

Sevette’s head rolled slightly to the side, hair shifting, but her eyes remained closed.

The guards exchanged uneasy glances. Vance swallowed, his throat dry. Cain raised an eyebrow, watching with a mix of disbelief and something dangerously close to amusement.

Cornelia inhaled slowly through her nose.

Slap.

Harder still.

The sound was sharper, more violent. Sevette’s head snapped to the side, and a thin line of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. Still, she didn’t wake.

Cornelia stared at her hand, then at Sevette again, irritation bubbling up beneath the surface.

"You don’t get to sleep through this," Cornelia muttered.

She grabbed Sevette by the collar and slapped her again.

And again.

Each strike landed with growing force, frustration bleeding into her movements.

The silence between each slap grew heavier, more uncomfortable, until finally, on the next strike, something flew out of Sevette’s mouth and skidded across the ground.

A tooth.

Blood splashed across her lips as Sevette gasped sharply and jerked awake.

"Ah—!"

Her eyes snapped open, unfocused at first, then slowly sharpening as pain flooded her senses.

"What... what is—?" Sevette groaned, trying to lift her head.

Cornelia was already there, her shadow falling over her.

"Where is the military token?" Cornelia asked flatly.

Sevette blinked at her, dazed. "What...? What happened?"

Slap.

Sevette cried out, "aaaah!" her head snapping sideways again.

"Where," Cornelia repeated, voice cold, "is the military token? Don’t tell me you’re backing out of our deal."

Memories rushed back into Sevette’s mind all at once. The duel. The pressure. The crushing force that made her body scream and beg. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"No," Sevette whispered. "That’s not possible."

Slap.

"I don’t believe this!" Sevette shouted, pain and pride mixing into a raw scream.

Slap.

"You remembered that you lost?" Cornelia said, her voice steady despite the violence of her actions.

Slap.

"No!" Sevette screamed again, blood splattering as her lip split further. "I don’t believe it! You can’t—!"

Slap.

The exchange became grotesque, almost surreal. Cornelia slapped her every time she spoke back, every time denial spilled from

Sevette’s mouth. The guards shifted uncomfortably, some turning their heads away.

Vance clenched his fists, torn between fear and fury.

Cain watched it all in silence.

This is getting ugly, he thought, though he made no move to stop it.

Finally, Sevette let out a hoarse, broken scream.

"I don’t believe this!"

Blood surged across the ground once more.

The pool formed beneath her almost instantly, reacting to her desperation. Her body dissolved into it, sinking like a shadow pulled underwater.

Sevette reappeared behind Cornelia in a violent splash of blood, her eyes wild, her voice shaking as she screamed, "I don’t believe that you are a higher being than me!"

Her hands reached out, claws forming instinctively.

Cornelia didn’t even turn fully.

But her body released a red like mana that rippled like mist.

This time, it wasn’t sudden. It wasn’t explosive.

It poured out of her like a tide.

Red mana seeped from her body, thick and suffocating, filling the air with an invisible weight that pressed down on everything it touched. The ground groaned under the force.

The guards gasped as their knees buckled slightly.

Sevette who was the nearest froze mid-motion.

Her scream died in her throat.

Her limbs trembled violently as the pressure wrapped around her like chains.

It was different from before, heavier, deeper, as if something ancient had placed its hand on her chest and decided she was insignificant.

Blood Pressure was supposed to be harmless.

That was what Sevette had always believed.

It was a technique meant to subjugate weaker vampires, to assert hierarchy without killing.

To force obedience from those lower on the chain.

And that was exactly why she couldn’t accept this.

She wasn’t weak.

She wasn’t lower.

She was proud.

She was talented.

Yet her body betrayed her.

Her knees hit the ground first, cracking the stone beneath them. Her arms fell limp at her sides.

The blood pool shrank rapidly, retreating back into her body as her control shattered.

"No... no..." Sevette whispered, eyes rolling back.

She collapsed face-first onto the ground, unconscious once more.

The pressure lingered for a moment longer before fading.

Vance rushed forward instinctively.

"Sevette!" he shouted.

He took two steps.

Then the red mana brushed against him.

His breath was crushed out of his lungs as his legs buckled instantly. He dropped to one knee, then both, his hands slamming into the ground as panic filled his eyes.

"M-me too?" he gasped, confusion and fear twisting his face.

The pressure surged slightly.

Vance collapsed fully, unconscious before his body even hit the ground.

Cornelia didn’t spare him a glance.

She walked back to Sevette and crouched again.

Slap.

Sevette didn’t wake.

Slap.

Harder.

Still nothing.

Cornelia frowned, then released a small pulse of blood pressure directly into Sevette’s body.

Sevette jerked awake with a scream.

"What is happening?!" she cried.

Slap.

"Where is the military token?" Cornelia asked calmly.

"I—!"

Slap.

"I don’t—!"

Slap.

The cycle repeated.

Wake. Slap. Pressure. Collapse.

Again and again.

Sevette’s face swelled, bruises blooming across her cheeks, blood staining her lips and chin. Her pride shattered piece by piece with every awakening, every crushing reminder that she was powerless here.

The guards on post stood frozen in horror.

Cain exhaled slowly, rubbing his temple.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice resounded.

"...What is happening?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered, as Cornelia stood over Sevette once more, her eyes burning red, her presence heavy enough to silence the world around her.