Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!-Chapter 572: It’s All A Misunderstanding

Joy’s smirk returned, faint and disdainful.

"Isn’t it obvious, you accursed creature?"

Carmela’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"It’s the aura around you." Joy continued coldly. "The moment I I saw you, I felt it—a miasma of suffering and pain clinging to you..Even when you tried to hide it, the souls of the tortured dead surrounded you."

"They scream from within your presence. Every step you take is trailed by the echoes of those you’ve slain."

She leaned forward, her tone sharp as steel.

"Even now, I can feel it. The anguish of the innocents you consumed. That’s why I tried to end you—because you reek of death and sin."

Hearing this statement that came out of nowhere, both Cassius and Carmela stared at her in silence, equally startled.

Carmela’s brow furrowed.

"What...What are you talking about?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

She demanded.

"What souls?"

"Don’t pretend." Joy snapped.

"Don’t lie to me. You’ve murdered countless humans and fed on their blood. The guilt of those lives is tied to your soul. I can feel their rage around you."

Her voice was like judgment itself—but Carmela’s glare was fiercer.

"I’m no liar." Carmela said, her voice trembling with restrained fury. "Yes, I’ve killed. Hundreds, maybe thousands. But not one of them was innocent."

Joy’s eyes narrowed further, while Carmela rose slightly in her seat, her tone steady, defiant.

"Every single one I’ve slain was a monster wearing human skin—murderers, slavers, rapists, hunters who butchered my kind for sport. They all deserved what they got."

Her crimson eyes burned brighter as she spoke.

"I’ll never deny the blood on my hands. But don’t you dare say I’ve slaughtered innocents. Not a single child. Not a single soul who didn’t deserve it."

For a moment, Joy almost scoffed...until she looked into Carmela’s eyes.

Those crimson irises burned bright, unwavering.

No deceit, no flicker of guilt—only raw conviction.

And then, against her will, Joy reached deeper—into the unseen.

She looked at Carmela’s soul.

Her breath caught.

It was red—blazing red, like molten fire.

A soul filled with fury, vengeance, and pain.

But it wasn’t rotting.

There was no decay, no blackness, no corruption clinging to it. Only that burning, relentless light.

Her hands trembled slightly.

That...shouldn’t be possible.

A being surrounded by the energy of so many slain lives should have a tainted soul—blackened by death, burdened by the weight of its victims.

Yet Carmela’s wasn’t.

In that moment, both women were utterly lost in silence.

Everything they thought they knew about each other—every assumption, every deep-rooted prejudice—shattered into confusion.

Carmela had believed Joy was like every other zealot of the Church, a sanctimonious hypocrite with a sharpened cross in one hand and righteous hate in the other, someone who despised her kind simply because she was a vampire.

Yet that wasn’t true.

Joy’s anger hadn’t been born from hatred of her race, but from something else entirely—something Carmela couldn’t yet understand.

On the other side, Joy had always thought of Carmela as an abomination.

A monster that thrived on the blood of innocents, a walking curse. The kind of creature her faith had taught her to destroy without hesitation.

But now...after looking into her soul, she saw no darkness, no corruption—only fire, pain, and purity. It broke every rule of her understanding of sin.

Both women stared at each other, their confusion mirrored. The room was thick with disbelief.

Then, out of nowhere, Cassius clapped his hands together with a triumphant,

"Ah-ha! I got it! I finally got why this misunderstanding happened!"

Both Joy and Carmela turned their heads toward him, equally startled by his sudden declaration.

Cassius leaned back comfortably, a knowing smile spreading across his face.

"It’s all because of the ritual." He said, pointing toward Carmela. "That damn ritual the cult forced you into. That’s where this entire mess started."

Carmela blinked, her eyes narrowing. "The ritual...?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Think about it. The cult made you perform that abomination of a ceremony—they forced gallons of blood down your throat, and not just any blood, but blood taken from hundreds of human sacrifices."

"That alone would leave a mark on anyone. So, it’s not you, Carmela. It’s the residue of them—the lives that were used. That’s what Joy’s been sensing."

A spark of realization lit in Carmela’s eyes.

Cassius continued.

"Because of that, your aura reeks of death. Not because you caused it, but because you were made to carry it. Joy feels it as an evil presence, and of course she thinks you’re some demonic creature."

"But you’re not. You’re the aftermath of a tragedy."

"That...actually makes sense..." Caramela muttered.

Joy, however, frowned deeply.

"Wait. Ritual? Cult? What are you talking about, Cassius?"

She crossed her arms, her tone sharp.

"Are you admitting to performing rituals now? Should I be adding that to your list of crimes?"

"No, no, nothing of that sort." Cassius rolled his eyes. "I wasn’t involved in any of it and stop trying to pin everything on me."

"Anyway I’m talking about the cult that was cut the throats of so many innocent people and bleeding them out for their ritual."

Joy blinked, her confident expression faltering.

"Wait." She said slowly. "That cult...the one that tried to awaken the Progenitor? I know that case. The Holy Guard was investigating it."

"Exactly." Cassius said, snapping his fingers. "And thanks to their investigation and the bravery of one of their knights, who gave her life—the cult’s hideout was discovered."

"They managed to destroy the ritual before it was completed, stopping the progenitor’s resurrection. They even saved over a hundred children who were to be used as offerings."

He paused, his tone growing solemn.

"But...they were too late to save Carmela from being forced to drink all that blood. For a short while, she did become the progenitor. A living embodiment of the ancient vampire’s curse."

"But she didn’t stay that way for long. She fought back, and with help...they pulled her back from the edge."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"That’s the aura you sensed, Joy. Not her own evil—but the stain of hundreds of deaths tied to that ritual. It’s not something she can cleanse easily. And if you want to blame anyone, blame that cult."

He chuckled faintly. "Though I’m afraid you can’t even do that anymore—they’ve all been wiped out."

Joy sat frozen, her mind trying to reconcile everything she’d just heard.

It sounded absurd, almost like a lie. And yet...

There was a strange logic to it.

The aura, the distorted readings, the inconsistency in Carmela’s soul—all of it fit together.

Still, she narrowed her eyes at Cassius.

"How can I believe that?" She asked coldly. "Do you have any proof? Any reports, documentation?"

Cassius shrugged easily.

"You can ask Julie, Skadi, and Aisha. They were all there. Every last one of them can verify what I just said along with the Holy Guard’s investigation files."

At that name Joy’s composure faltered.

She knew the Holy Guard personally. They were incorruptible. They would never cover for a man like Cassius unless the facts were true.

And Cassius spoke their name without a hint of hesitation.

That confidence...was hard to ignore.

Joy’s eyes dimmed slightly as realization began to settle.

She looked toward Carmela, studying her face, the faint tiredness in her expression, the sadness buried behind her eyes.

Slowly, everything she had assumed about her unraveled.

For the first time, she saw not a monster—but a victim.

And realising this only one thought went through her mind.

So, without warning, Joy stood.

The sudden motion made Carmela tense immediately, her muscles tightening as her hands flickered with the faint beginnings of defensive energy.

Cassius noticed too and half-rose from his seat, his hand twitching toward her shoulder to stop her.

But what Joy did next silenced them both.

She stepped forward, just once, until she was standing in front of Carmela.

Then—to their disbelief—she sank down onto her knees!

And then, slowly, reverently, she bowed.

Her head touched the floor.

And seeing this, for a moment, neither Carmela nor Cassius moved.

The Saintess of Judgment, the chosen hand of the Goddess herself, the woman whose very presence commanded nations—was kneeling, humbling herself before the vampire she had tried to kill.