Dominic slowly shook his head. "I don't suppose so."

"Suppose?" Austin, taken aback, was ill at ease by his uncertain tone. "I haven't done much research on venomous symbiotes," Dominic explained, "and what I know is based solely on ancient texts. I've never encountered them in real life, so I can only guess." He felt it prudent to be cautious, as he couldn't be certain. Austin understood and nodded. After a moment, he asked, "So... how does the disease transmit?" He subconsciously glanced at Alexander, who had also been in contact with him. If the disease were transmitted through direct contact, many more would have been infected by now.

"My guess is through blood," Dominic concluded thoughtfully.

"Blood?"

Dominic nodded. "You've been in contact with many people since returning. Yet, so far, only my servants and I are infected. Since you've stayed here for some time, we can't be the only ones if transmission is through direct contact. Therefore..." He paused, then looked at Austin. "I think it's because we were all exposed to your blood."

"You guys?" Austin was stunned. "That's not possible!"

"Uncle Dom, you came into contact with my blood, but not all the servants, right?" He found the idea far-fetched.

"They did," Dominic insisted. "All of them, directly or indirectly."

Austin was baffled.

"You bled heavily, and I was the one who contacted your blood directly, while the servants washed your clothes or cleaned you. In other words, we all did." It wasn't a wild guess; the typical transmission for infectious diseases is through blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids—unless it's a respiratory virus causing a pandemic. But Austin's affliction wasn't that kind of virus; if it were, the infection would have been widespread, not confined to the estate. This led Dominic to his conclusion. "So, my parents were exposed to my blood as well..."

The thought made Austin shudder. 'If Uncle Dom is right, then my parents...'

"I'll call them now!" He desperately needed to know if Dominic was correct. He reached for his phone, then suddenly remembered something. He whirled around, eyes wide. "Lily too..."

Silence fell.

'That's right! Lily was exposed to his blood and even gave him acupuncture. If Dominic is right, she's infected too.' Alexander looked alarmed. He knew how severely Dominic had suffered and couldn't bear the thought of Lily experiencing the same.

"Galen..." Austin hesitated. "He hadn't come into contact with my blood, right?"