Ryner and Lily sat face-to-face at the table in the kitchen. Unlike her usual half-naked figure, she was wearing a beige long skirt and a blue shirt that properly hid her skin. It was a modest appearance that wouldn’t normally be seen at her workplace.

“So… How you’ve been?” [Lily]

“Not bad.” [Ryner]

“… Been to any interesting places?” [Lily]

“Yeah.” [Ryner]

“That’s good…” [Lily]

The red-haired woman tried to start a conversation, but her guest didn’t seem to want to talk much. He took the glass of water offered to him and drank a sip. She stared at him in silence, feeling uneasy and arranging her hair to better hide her eyes.

“Show me.” [Ryner]

Her hand froze in place when he calmly ordered her after putting his glass down.

“S-show you? Wait! Stop!” [Lily]

He didn’t wait for her permission and, stretching his hand out, he moved her fringe to the side to reveal her face.

“Wow, that looks like it hurt.” [Ryner]

“You think?” [Lily]

Lily said in displeasure and roughly swatted his hand away. Bandages were wrapped around her head to cover her left eye. Although she tried to hide them using her hair, Ryner already heard about her injury from Madame.

“From what I see, that customer really liked to play rough.” [Ryner]

“No kidding. He ripped my eye out!” [Lily]

Lily sighed and took a sip from her glass of water. A small, wry smile floated on her face.

“… I actually thought I met the worst of them. Haha, but here I am, disfigured and too scared to go back to work. Well, maybe not all men would hate to bed a one-eyed woman.” [Lily]

She said jokingly and supported her chin with her hand. Using her remaining eye, she stared at the man sitting in front of her.

“Would you still sleep with me, scaredy-cat?” [Lily]

“… Who did that to you?” [Ryner]

Ryner ignored her question and shot his own. The smile that she forced herself to show fell and she looked down at the surface of the table.

“He’s dead. I don’t know if you saw it, but it was the perverted bastard that betrayed our self-proclaimed king, Sirius. He took controlled of the army, got them to side with him and died crying. That giant black bird turned him into chunks of meat before flying away. It was refreshing, to be honest.” [Lily]

“So, you feel better?” [Ryner]

“Yeah.” [Lily]

“But, it still hurts, doesn’t it?” [Ryner]

“… Yes.” [Lily]

“Can I see it?” [Ryner]

“… Ok.” [Lily]

Once again, Ryner stretched his hand out and moved her hair to the side to look at the bandaged eye. Lily didn’t moved and let him do as he liked.

“You don’t have healing potions?” [Ryner]

“There’s no way some prostitute could afford those.” [Lily]

“Can’t Madame buy you one? She seems rich enough for one.” [Ryner]

“She’s kind and treats us right, but there are still things that she won’t do. Buying healing potions isn’t even something anyone can do… Besides, my whole eye was ripped out. It won’t grow back. Healing potions can’t do that.” [Lily]

Ryner put one finger on the bandaged area. As a result, the injured woman winced in pain.

“Ow! You’re usually so good with your hands. Don’t tell me you lost your touch.” [Lily]

“Why the hell did he rip your eye out anyway?” [Ryner]

“That crazy pervert wanted me to call him ‘Your majesty’. Then, he wanted me to tell him that I love him and will follow him anywhere. I did the first, but I couldn’t bring myself to do the latter when he kept beating me up.” [Lily]

She pulled up the sleeve of her blue shirt to show a bruise on her arm that hadn’t healed yet.

“Can we stop talking about this? Remembering his face isn’t a pleasant thing, even if he is dead.” [Lily]

She crossed her arms and looked away.

“He was my last customer. The last man to have touched my body. I’d really liked to get rid of it… This feeling.” [Lily]

The young woman crossed her arms on top of the table and leaned forward.

“Ryner, I’ll ask again… Would you sleep with me?” [Lily]

There was anxiousness and a bit of expectation on her face.

“I’ll do that after you’ve been healed properly, like with a healing potion.” [Ryner]

She frowned at his answer. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear and his sleepy-looking expression that remained steadfast started to annoy her.

“I told you, there’s no point in getting a healing potion. My eye won’t come back. It’s better to wait for it to heal on its own.” [Lily]

“I know. That’s why I’m thinking.” [Ryner]

“About what?” [Lily]

Ryner stayed quiet and, while looking up at the ceiling, balanced himself on the two back legs of his chair. He mulled over his idea for a while, wondering if he should risk it. Lily watched him in silence, puzzled by his behavior.

“Lily.” [Ryner]

Finally, he made up his mind.

“What is it?” [Lily]

“I can get your eye back, but you’ll have to trust me.” [Ryner]

“… Huh?” [Lily]

She stared at him with her mouth agape. It was a nonsensical declaration.

“How about it?” [Ryner]

“G-get my eye back? I told you, it won’t grow back. Healing potions can’t return lost body parts.” [Lily]

“Do you want your eye back or not?” [Ryner]

“Of, of course I do.” [Lily]

“Then just trust me on this one.” [Ryner]

She watched him suspiciously.

“… What are you going to do to me?” [Lily]

“That’s a secret.” [Ryner]

“And you expect me to believe you?” [Lily]

“Yup.” [Ryner]

Ryner, acting laidback, drank a mouthful of water. He let Lily decide. She was struggling with her thoughts, wondering what to do. Such an incredible offer was presented to her, but she didn’t know if it was real. If she rejected it now, she might never get her eye back. As someone working in the red light district, her beauty was everything. It was what put food on her table. Many customers were picky. One small flaw and she wouldn’t be able to make as much money as before. Ryner could fix everything. More importantly, just like anyone else, she didn’t want to live her life with only one eye left.

She pondered on it for a while and in the end, chose to believe in him.

“… Alright. I’ll trust you on this, scaredy-cat.” [Lily]

“Great. Here, breathe this in.” [Ryner]

The moment she nodded and agreed, Ryner stretched his hand out right in front of her face. He was holding a small bottle of spray and squeezed the button. A spray of clear liquid like a mist hit Lily in the face, causing her to close her eyes and cough.

“What was that?!” [Lily]

“Relax. It’s nothing serious. Just a little something to knock you out.” [Ryner]

“Wha…?” [Lily]

The ominous words he casually said rang in her ears as her vision swayed and rapidly faded into darkness. Her upper body was slumped on top of the table and she fell asleep. After he emptied his glass, Ryner looked at the unconscious woman in front of him and scratched the back of his head.

“Now… How am I gonna drag you out of here?” [Ryner]

In the end, he opted for putting her in a large sack and jumping over the walls to leave Sakael. Once outside, he put some distance between him and the city. Once he was sure no one was around, he took a plane for Avalon.

Aboard the humongous flying ship, Lily was now inside a white, medical pod, naked. Through the glass, one could see that she was strapped to a metallic grill. The pod was filled with some sort of green liquid and a breathing mask was supplying her oxygen. Several small, mechanic arms were busy moving about as they worked on giving back the eye she lost. With the bandages gone, the empty eye socket was revealed along with deep cuts around it.

Standing in front of the pod that reminded one of a round coffin, Ryner stared at her for a while. He was currently in the medical section of Avalon. The vast room that had white walls and tiles were filled with rows of medical pods for treating any and all injuries. His healing potions couldn’t regenerate limbs and although his syringes of parasitic matter could, he didn’t know if Lily would be able to handle the strain.

Unlike him, or Cain, who regrew his hands that way, she didn’t possess a trained body or a trained mind. It was quite possible that the parasites would take over her body and kill her. That was why he decided to bring her to the Avalon and strap her in a medical pod for a few days to regenerate her eye. This process was longer, but safe.

“Ryner.” [???]

A female voice called him from the side. It was rather synthetic and devoid of emotion. He turned his sight to her.

An android was standing there, typing on a terminal linked to the pod. It had the appearance of a human woman in her twenties. She had fake, pale skin to hide her metallic body. A white shirt with short sleeves and a long hem that reached mid-thigh, similar to a nurse uniform, covered her hourglass-shaped figure. There were slits on each side of the hips for mobility and her legs were clad in white pants. Her black eyes had no light in them and were inorganic. Short black hair that reached below her chin framed her expressionless face.

“There are no abnormalities.” [Android]

She said as she moved away from the terminal. Two thick, black cords hung from behind her head and reached her waist as if they were her hair. The end of one of them was plugged into the side of the terminal and kept feeding her information on Lily’s condition.

“The bio-fluid is not causing her human physiology any complications. It will properly sustain her until the treatment has been completed.” [Android]

She reported in a synthetic, emotionless voice.

“Good. Contact me when it’s done and keep her unconscious.” [Ryner]

“Understood.” [Android]

Ryner turned around and left while the android stood by Lily’s medical pod. Since he couldn’t stay on the Avalon until she was fully healed, he activated a medical android to keep an eye on her. Aboard this huge ship, there were many more of these humanoid machines. In the medical section, they were designed to treat the injured, taking the position of nurses and doctors. Ryner assigned one to look after Lily. Now, he headed back to Sakael since a couple of people needed to know about her absence.

“Red will be gone for a while. I sent her someplace that might be able to heal her up.” [Ryner]

“Someplace that might heal her? You took her there quite quickly. More importantly, where would that be?” [Madame]

“I can’t really tell you where since it’s a secret. A very big secret. But, don’t worry, she’s safe.” [Ryner]

When he went back to the red light district to let Madame know that Lily wasn’t in the city anymore, she blinked her eyes in surprise. Then, the chubby old woman intently stared at him for a second. She took a puff of smoke from her pipe and exhaled loudly.

“Darling, are you treating my girl well?” [Madame]

“Yeah.” [Ryner]

“You’re going quite far for her. Taking her to some big, secret healing place. Is it love, perhaps?” [Madame]

“No.” [Ryner]

Ryner instantly and bluntly rejected her guess.

“Then, why help my girl?” [Madame]

“Because we’re not strangers.” [Ryner]

“Just that?” [Madame]

“We slept together.” [Ryner]

“This is that kind of place.” [Madame]

“It’s still a pretty big deal to me.” [Ryner]

For a while, no words were exchanged as Madame scrutinized him, trying to see through his intentions. Before long, she took another puff and blew the smoke in the air.

“… Then alright. I’ll trust those handsome eyes of yours, but how long until she returns? The other girls are worried sick about her.” [Madame]

“Two, three days, give or take. But, I don’t think she’ll want to keep working here.” [Ryner]

“You’re right. This job can be quite dangerous.” [Madame]

At the same time as she sighed, Madame exhaled a trail of smoke and shook her head.

“Why don’t you set up a stage for pole-dancing and forbid the customers from touching the dancers?” [Ryner]

“Pole-dancing? Some form of dance?” [Madame]

“Yeah, from very far away. It goes like this…” [Ryner]

For some reason, he was whispering in her ear. The old woman’s eyes would sometimes open wide and the corners of her lips would curl up.

“Oh? How interesting. The customers would certainly pay for that.” [Madame]

“Right? There are also things called cabaret clubs…” [Ryner]

After talking to the Madame and suggesting a few changes, Ryner left for the castle. There was one more person he needed to talk to.

“And that’s how it is.” [Ryner]

“… I see.” [Evelyn]

Unlike with Madame from the red light district, Ryner told Evelyn the truth. The blonde vampire now knew that Lily was getting medical treatment aboard the Avalon. Inside a private room that was prepared for her, she worked at a desk and sorted out various piles of paperwork. Having pulled out a chair, Ryner sat in front of her.

“I’ll keep her unconscious until her eye regenerated. Then, I’ll take her back to her house, wait until she wakes up and slap a couple of lies together. I’ll make her believe that she went to some hidden village of healing.” [Ryner]

“… I see.” [Evelyn]

“Well, if it goes well, she won’t keep asking questions since she’ll owe me one.” [Ryner]

“… I see.” [Evelyn]

“Hmm? What’s the matter?” [Ryner]

For a while, Evelyn kept muttering the same thing in an emotionless voice as her hands kept moving. However, her shoulders were now shaking and the pen in her hand snapped in two.

“This woman… Is a prostitute you slept with?!” [Evelyn]

She glared at Ryner, though her eyes were teary. The sharp tip of her fangs could be seen as she gritted her teeth.

“If you only want pleasures of the flesh, then I am more than willing to indulge you in anything you desire, anytime and anywhere! Why would you seek a whore and pay her to sleep with you!?” [Evelyn]

“Well, I only wanted to give some massages, but she was rather interesting after I got to know her. So, one thing led to another.” [Ryner]

“Still! The point is that you have me already for that! Or, is my body not to your satisfaction!?” [Evelyn]

Evelyn grabbed her breasts and squeezed them as if to show them off. Ryner scratched the back of his head and stared at her with half-closed eyes.

“Because that’s not the kind of relationship we have.” [Ryner]

“Guh! To think that there was a woman who you went to just to bed her… And you paid her to do it… You craved her so much that you were willing to pay… I’m jealous…!” [Evelyn]

“If you don’t behave, I’ll delete that picture we took together.” [Ryner]

Evelyn’s frustrated expression turned frantic and she began to appeal for his forgiveness.

“Please don’t! That’s the only one I have of you! I apologize!” [Evelyn]

She reflexively pulled out her phone and held it protectively to her chest. Seeing how big her shift in personality was when she was alone with him, Ryner couldn’t help but sigh.

“By the way, you’re not doing anything weird with it, right?” [Ryner]

“Of course! That’s what you asked, so I’m always showing restraints! But…” [Evelyn]

The blonde vampire brought up the picture she took of the two of them together and started rubbing her cheek on the screen.

“… Is something like this acceptable?” [Evelyn]

She asked while looking anxious.

“(… I definitely messed up somewhere when she was small.)” [Ryner]

Ryner lamented in his mind.

“That’s… Fine, I guess.” [Ryner]

“Thank you very much!” [Evelyn]

Evelyn smiled brilliantly with red cheeks.

“Don’t thank me for something like that. It’s weird. Anyway, just remember that we’ve got a guest aboard the Avalon, alright?” [Ryner]

“Yes.” [Evelyn]

After she nodded, he stood up and left the room while waving his hand. Seeing him off until his figure disappeared behind the door, she turned her sight to the picture on her phone. A small and bitter smile appeared on her face.

“… We don’t have that kind of relationship… It’s been a while since I last touched you.” [Evelyn]

She murmured before putting her phone away.

“(No matter. We’ll always be together.)” [Evelyn]

Pulling out another pen, she got back to work while reciting a chant in her head to motivate herself.

“(Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever…)” [Evelyn]

Right now, what mattered was that she was helpful to Ryner. If he wanted to help a country, then she would do her best to support him. If he wanted to treat an injured woman, then she would respect his will.

And if he ever wanted to become king, then she would gladly build a kingdom for him, or take one over.

Those were her last thoughts before she lost consciousness.