Chapter 4: Forest of Beasts

At night, Irene was back to the city lord's mansion. The servants knew that she was still practically half-human right now, and she couldn't get rid of the habit of eating human food.

She could perceive their contempt as they moved around cutting fruits, preparing the cutlery, and making the dinner table. She simply put on an emotionless face. How could such a little thing bother her? In the end, they still obediently serve her.

She tasted the food. Even if some tasted too salty or too sweet, she didn't blink. She had eaten food which tasted way worse, and she also had begun to lose her sense of taste. The only thing she regretted was this loss, that she pestered her alchemist friend to make food that could be eaten by vampires.

She was served by a lot of servants. As she ate, one servant was washing her feet. Albeit she was eating pretty quickly, she still retained her calm and collected demeanor, not lacking the table manner of a lady.

At some point she felt that the maid washing her feet was plotting a little scheme. She would accidentally press too hard, with the intention of catching her by surprise, so that she lost her calmness, perhaps choking in disgrace or show a disgusting side that could be a hot topic for weeks.

Behind the scenes, a little servant made the most noble princess in the vampire race become a laughingstock and source of disgust. Wasn't that a great accomplishment?

Since she was bored, Irene didn't mind playing a little bit. Those who plot against her, she'd plot back against them!

The spoon in her left hand 'accidentally' fell, followed by her hand which suddenly lost balance and the plate in her right hand fell down. 

It didn't fall down on the table, but the head of the servant, who was still immersed in her own little scheme. The spicy beef chili soup spilled all over her head, splashing her entire clothes and the floor. The hot soup spilled onto other servants who were standing nearby.

Irene's clothes were still neat and clean, looking at the scene with a nonchalant smile. She had stood up, standing quite near to the scene without even a drop of the soup on her. "My hand slipped."

She looked like she was telling a joke to the people present. Her lips curved up, and amusement swirled in her eyes. 

"I am done eating. Go clean it." The tone was indifferent, and the cold mask was back. Her expression changed so fast that the servants momentarily lost the comprehension ability to process what was happening. 

The servant who had been cleaning her feet was rolling on the floor, her face was terrible. The skin splashed with chili soup was red, and was even blistering. She was whimpering, moaning in pain, desperately trying to get rid of the chili soup from her skin. Her eyes were closed and already terrifyingly swollen.

Of course, it wasn't normal chili.

Irene bent down to her ear, and the servant froze all of a sudden, the movement of her writhing in pain or her scratching hand abruptly stopped.

Irene whispered in a playful tone. "Whoever is behind you, go report it to him. In this vampire race, there's actually someone who thinks he's higher than the king. How amusing."

Theoretically, she, as a princess, was backed by the king. In addition, insulting a royal family member was a terrible crime. Not something that a mere servant could bear.

The servant seemed even more panicked when she heard this. The princess actually found out! If she reported this to the king, her entire family would be implicated.

At this point, the servant girl's entire face was already swollen. She could only shake her head desperately at Irene, guessing where she was based on the source of the voice just now. She stopped her attempt to get rid of the chili soup smearing her face and began to move her body toward Irene.

Irene watched on coldly. Her gaze swept across the other servants, each of them quivered in their position, not daring to meet her eyes.

Irene walked away, her high heels echoing in the quiet dinner hall.

If they called her ruthless, so just be it. She had experienced way worse than this. If she was an innocent little girl who hadn't seen the world nor was she not a princess, she'd undoubtedly suffer under this servant's hand.

Being soft towards the enemy means you are cruel to yourself. Enemies can come back stronger, as long as they are alive, there will always an opportunity for revenge, and you won't be so lucky each time. 

In fact, she had another purpose for acting this way tonight. If they knew she was in a bad mood, they wouldn't dare to bother her.

She usually didn't care much about those double-agent servants spying on her and reporting on their owner. However, when she was in a bad mood, it was another story. She had sent a presumptuous servant away, announcing her incompetence.

The servant had offended the princess. How could she survive after she was kicked out of the city lord's mansion?

Although Irene's position in the royal family was low, who would dare to offend her just for a servant? There were a lot more servants with a clean background to be hired out there.

Irene didn't want to be disturbed tonight.

She slipped away after making sure that the door to her room was locked. Then, in the cover of the night, her nimble figure blended in with the shadows. 

Very quickly, she arrived at the border between the Forest of Beasts and Blackcourt City. She gazed at the tall, mighty wall separating the two. In one leap, she promptly jumped up. Her figure appeared again among the tall, towering trees, unseen to the naked eye due to the mist covering the Forest of Beasts all year around.

Perceiving the howls and roar of beasts in the distance, the previously cold countenance turned sharper. The round, lovely eyes shone with bloodthirsty light.

She moved very fast, almost comparable to the speed of werewolf lords. To the very first wild animal she found, she didn't hesitate to fight it.

It was a lion, twice as big as normal ones on the human continent. The permeating death energy in the forest was beneficial to its growth. Most beasts here have been baptized by death energy, hence, turning them smarter and stronger.

The lion possessed some intelligence. However, its cruel nature was unleashed the moment it smelled blood. 

Irene had managed to tear a piece of its skin, the ear. Blood was pouring down from its head, sending the lion into a crazy state, maddened by bloodthirst and anger, pain fueling its fury.

The black dress was still spotlessly clean. The indifferent face was still emotionless while her body moved so nimbly that people could barely perceive her faint presence. The small, slender hand continued to slam into the lion's body.

The lion roared at her angrily, rushing with its eyes so bloodshot that it wished it could tear her to pieces. At this point, her hands were already covered in blood.

The fight turned into one-sided slaughter. The lion finally realized that this seemingly small figure possessed such a great danger. The dangerous aura was hidden very well in her small body that its usually spot on instinct failed to perceive her astonishing strength.

"Don't beg for mercy." The cold voice sounded like a death bell, erasing all the lion's thoughts of surrender. If it surrendered, it would only die faster.

A devastating roar sounded from its mouth. Irene's words made it fully unleash its true feral nature unhibited.

Irene's face changed slightly, a little more satisfied. She was ruthless, but not without the bottom line.

She was willing to walk into the Forest of Beasts, becoming a bait to any salivating fierce beasts. If they managed to restrain their greedy thoughts, she'd naturally just let them be. But once they attacked, she'd spare no effort to kill them.

She wouldn't provoke others unreasonably. 

Her dress was still spotlessly clean while her hands were covered in blood. She looked like a female demon who had just climbed out of hell.

The lion had turned into a pool of blood under her feet, attracting any carnivorous beasts nearby. She waited, and fought against them again. The sharp claws went against the bare hand with slender white fingers.

She was simply venting all her suppressed emotions. She was afraid that if she didn't let them all out, she'd take them out on an untimely occasion and lose control of herself.

For this thing, she was thankful to Stelian, who had originally given this Blackcourt City to make things difficult for her. As the closest city to the Forest of Beasts, even some areas had been covered in the grey mist, suitable for these fierce beasts to live.

Even the most docile animals could turn more powerful after they spend a very long time baptized by this mist.

She had a lot of anger in her heart, suppressed and unable to be let out. That damn so-called half brother Stelian had a part in it because of what he had done before she was brought here.

Even her full-blooded sibling, Kairos Hildegard, looked down on her. In their eyes, she was weak, right? She wouldn't bother too much about showing her real strength to them.

A few short years was a relatively short time to reveal a person's true heart and grasp their personality. In addition, they were old guys hidden beneath their tender and young looks, thus their experience in things was greater than hers.

As she was pulled out of the pondering, Irene's eyes flashed, and she pushed back all the distracting thoughts. She was so caught up in her emotion that she almost forgot about one thing and lower her vigilance.

"Come out. After watching such a show, don't you feel entertained?"

The figure was almost unable to be perceived by the naked eye. With her extraordinary senses, her pupils constricted abruptly when she noticed this man's speed.

His figure was wrapped in black, and he was wearing a mask. The extremely dangerous aura radiating off him made her turn solemn.

He didn't seem like an easy one. Nonetheless, she wouldn't let him go. She was in a bad mood today and someone just happened to provoke her ire. This man had used such an underhanded method to silently lead more beasts here while he watched her fight in amusement.

She didn't come here to entertain him.

As she charged forward at his figure, Irene didn't notice that his amber eyes belonging to the werewolf race were staring at her with astonishment.