Chapter 45: River Lanterns
To be precise, it was a princess carry.
Wow…
Jasmine wanted to gasp. She felt like something was missing if she didn’t express some surprised admiration when being held in a princess carry. Although she had been carried in a similar way on the airship, the situation then was urgent, so she hadn’t thought much of it.
But now, when there were other options, Adele still chose to carry her like a princess.
Thinking back, when they were younger and snuck out to play, Adele usually carried her under her arm. Back then, both Adele and Jasmine were small, and being held under the arm wasn’t a pleasant experience. Her feet would drag on the ground, and she had to curl them up to avoid scraping her shoes.
Only she could endure it. An ordinary human child wouldn’t have lasted that long.
At that time, Jasmine had seriously considered revealing her true strength. She could just carry Adele herself if necessary. They even had a discussion about why Adele couldn’t carry her on her back. The younger Adele was very stubborn, firmly believing that her father’s words about vampires being “noble” were absolutely true. How could she let Jasmine ride on her back?
Later, perhaps because she had spent too much time with Jasmine and been brainwashed by her, Adele started to think that carrying a weaker being wasn’t a big deal. But they snuck out to the festival less often, and Adele only carried Jasmine on her back twice.
Now, she had probably completely broken through her mental barrier, so Adele could calmly carry Jasmine in a princess carry.
But this scene was still a bit too much for the second miss. She widened her eyes and asked her sister, “Adele, how can you carry her? She’s a lowly human! You’ll be contaminated by her!”
“Huh?” Adele was confused, “But I’m strong, and she’s weak. As a strong individual, I won’t be contaminated by the weak.” Adele first explained with her unique logic, then added a more reasonable explanation, “Besides, you just said that Jasmine walks very slowly, and it’ll be dawn by the time we reach the foot of the mountain. As a human, it’s difficult for them to walk on mountain roads. Even if you urge her, she can’t go any faster. So, wouldn’t carrying her and speeding up be a good solution?”
Jasmine, nestled in Adele’s arms and listening to her lengthy explanation, saw that the second miss seemed to have changed her mind, finding Adele’s words reasonable. She couldn’t help but offer a suggestion, “Then… if it’s really not possible, you can carry me on your back.”
Before Adele could refute this idea, the second miss rejected it with her hands on her hips, “No way! Do you want to climb on Adele’s head?!”
—Oh, so as long as she didn’t climb on her head, it was fine.
In the end, Adele carried Jasmine in a princess carry, and the three of them quickly descended the mountain. Along the way, they overtook the human maids who had left earlier than Jasmine. Jasmine, in Adele’s arms, could see everything clearly with her vision far exceeding 2.0, but to the human maids, it was just a gust of wind.
At first, the second miss could keep up with Adele’s speed, but after a while, she couldn’t anymore. She panted, asking her sister to slow down. Adele looked at her and thought that her younger sister was also quite weak. She simply picked her up and placed her in Jasmine’s arms.
While the second miss and Jasmine stared at each other, Adele demonstrated a rapid descent.
Jasmine couldn’t help but think: The second miss really wasn’t as capable as Adele. Adele could carry her all the way down the mountain when they were younger, but now the second miss needed to be carried. The second miss in Jasmine’s arms wasn’t quiet either. Perhaps she felt that Jasmine was a lowly human and didn’t want too much contact with her.
But a single sentence from her sister, “Stay still,” made the second miss obediently stop moving.
In no time, they reached the village at the foot of the mountain. Adele put Jasmine down, and before Jasmine could put down the second miss, the little girl jumped down herself. She excitedly wanted to follow Adele to the market, but as soon as they entered the village, they were spotted by the Blake family’s low-ranking vampire maids.
They exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my goodness, Second Miss, why are you here alone?!”
“What? I’m not alone…” The second miss turned around but found that her sister and the human maid had already disappeared. She was surrounded by the low-ranking vampire maids, and they quickly found the maid responsible for her.
They surrounded the second miss, their tone disapproving, “Second Miss, how could you come down here alone? We asked you if you wanted to come down and play earlier, and you adamantly refused.”
The second miss was actually raised even more delicately than Adele. She didn’t seem as independent, needing several maids just to comb her hair. Compared to Adele, who had no personal maids attending to her, the second miss was seen as a child who needed protection in the eyes of all vampires.
But Jasmine still felt that Adele was being a bit too shameless by ditching the second miss like this.
Adele pulled up her hood, covering her silver hair. She had also worn a sachet to mask her scent. As a vampire twelve years older than the second miss and someone who frequently snuck out, Adele already knew how to avoid the maids’ attention.
“The second miss will cry,” Jasmine commented.
“No, her maids will comfort her,” Adele retorted matter-of-factly. She took Jasmine’s hand and said, “Let’s go. I don’t want to take care of a child while enjoying the festival. Let the maids worry about it. They’re surely happy to serve her.” As she spoke, she led Jasmine away towards the market.
Because it was the Blessing Festival, the vampires were in a good mood and wouldn’t give humans a hard time. Many humans had set up stalls to sell things: grilled skewers, handicrafts, fruits. With a generous patron footing the bill, Jasmine had no qualms about buying whatever caught her eye.
At one stall, she even spotted a member of the outpost. Jasmine had told them to lay low during this period, but they couldn’t resist setting up a stall to gather information. Regardless, it was still considered her “business,” so Jasmine brought Adele over and bought quite a few things.
However… the outpost member’s culinary skills were truly subpar, and he had chosen to open a grilled skewer stall.
His clumsy movements reminded Jasmine of a video she had seen in her previous life, “Undercover cop setting up a street stall to catch a criminal, only to be recognized by the public.” The outpost member probably felt the same way. Jasmine sighed and couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, how long have you been doing this business?”
“I’ve been doing this for many years.”
Had undercover cops come to this world for training? Why were their lines exactly the same? For the sake of this “many years” experienced boss, Jasmine bought a lot of skewers. Adele paid for them and, seeing Jasmine carrying the skewers, assumed that she really liked them.
To avoid misunderstanding, Jasmine explained, “I bought them because his stall was empty. I felt sorry for him.”
Adele nodded. In her heart, Jasmine was indeed a kind person. They continued walking and bought some other trinkets. At the stall of another outpost member, Jasmine bought two river lanterns. This time, the owner was a woman, and Jasmine felt that she had plagiarized her idea.
If she hadn’t said that “floating river lanterns can carry your thoughts to deceased loved ones” to show off before, would this woman have thought of making river lanterns? However, human creativity was truly impressive. Based on just a verbal description, she had created something from Jasmine’s imagination. As Jasmine was buying the lanterns, the owner even explained their purpose.
Adele found it interesting and wanted one for herself, so Jasmine bought two. She didn’t buy more because, unlike the skewer stall, this one was doing very well.
While Jasmine was struggling to finish the terrible skewers, Adele unknowingly led her to the upper reaches of the river that flowed through the village. They found a rock by the riverbank and sat down. Jasmine slowly ate the skewers.
She couldn’t eat them any faster. They were too awful.
Adele enjoyed the breeze blowing past her ears. She looked at the village downstream, where lights still flickered. She could faintly hear the sounds of celebration from the bonfire burning in the village center. After Jasmine finished eating, she picked up the river lanterns. As instructed by the stall owner, she lit the wicks in the middle.
She didn’t even need a flint. As a noble, she possessed many magical abilities, including fire magic. Flames danced at her fingertips, igniting the wicks. She lit both wicks, then handed one lantern to Jasmine.
“Can it really carry thoughts to deceased loved ones, like the owner said?” Adele wondered. As a long-lived being, she couldn’t truly understand the feeling of losing a loved one. Her parents were still alive, and maybe even her grandparents were still active in the Council of Elders.
And at only eighteen, she couldn’t comprehend the concept of life and death.
Jasmine took the lantern and got off the rock. Holding it carefully, she walked to the riverbank and gently placed it on the water. Usually, river lanterns were easily capsized and wouldn’t float far before sinking and extinguishing. But Jasmine had placed it perfectly, ensuring that it would drift far away.
Jasmine shattered Adele’s illusion, “Whether it can reach them or not, no one knows. More than carrying thoughts to others, it’s a way to comfort ourselves. Look at these lanterns, they represent our own longing.”
Adele didn’t understand, but she still squatted down. She dipped her cold hand into the water, and the lantern followed, floating on the surface. She gently let go, and the lantern swayed for a moment before drifting downstream with the current. No one knew where it would end up, but as it drifted away, a hint of melancholy welled up in Adele’s heart.
“Don’t you think they’re beautiful?” Jasmine asked, standing before Adele. Adele, still squatting by the river, turned to look at her. The gentle breeze ruffled Jasmine’s hair, and her gaze as she looked at the water was indescribably soft. Adele looked at the lanterns again. Their two lanterns had already drifted quite far away, swaying gently.
The warm yellow light reflected on the water, like tiny stars in the sky.
“Yes, they’re beautiful.”
Leave a Reply