“Mmmpmhf—foot in mouth.” My fangs grazed across her shoes, there was a delicate uncovered part on top, but for me, it was still it her foot… which I luckily spat out before Rose attempted to bludgeon my brains out with her foot. Choke me out and shove her shoe down my throat.

Or something else.

However, when I looked up to check on her condition.

Her face was completely red as her namesake.

“What kind of maniac are you?” she said, flushed red then turned to the Princess seated on the sofa with a beseeching looking. “Your Highness, surely you understand my troubles with this… this lecherous Vampire.”

“You know, you keep insisting that I have certain depravities and yet you’re the one who’s completely red and keep insisting upon them.” I mused aloud while rubbing my chin. Smirking, I added. “Perhaps the real lecher between us is you?”

“R-Release me!” Rose fumed and tried to kick me with her now freed foot. “I have understood the situation and will not oppose you.”

“Hah, it’s funny that you say that and yet are still trying to kick me. You now remind me of the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

“What… what are you talking about?”

I frowned at her reaction, but then shook my head. Another ___ appeared. “Nevermind, it does not matter. You are free for now. Release.”

The silky web that kept her stuck and tied to the wall disintegrated and she landed on the floor. Without waiting for another moment, she rushed to Eleanor’s side and gently held the other woman’s hands. “Your Highness, are you truly alright?”

“I’m fine, Rose. What about you?” Eleanor smiled kindly at Rose, squeezing her hands. “You are the one who went out all alone. I was worried about you.”

Wasn’t the princess worried that she’d betray me earlier? Odd things.

I shook my head and finally clapped my hands. “It makes me wonder if the two of you are that kind of friends.”

“W-What are you implying?” Rose frowned at me. “The two of us are friends… even though my position is lower than Her Highness.”

“We are bosom friends, like sisters.” Eleanor added.

“I owe my everything to her, so do not mar us with your mind, fiend.” Rose glared.

It wasn’t honestly my business, so I shrugged and opened the doors with magic. “Since it is late, I believe it is time for the two of you to head to your rooms. There have not been many problems with the second and third room down the left hallway. It seems that the enchantment remained untouched there. Feel free to take them as your accommodations during your duration here.”

“Duration?”

“Until you expire naturally.” I pointed out the very obvious fact, then smiled for a moment. My eyes sparkled as I gazed at Rose. “Unless you wish to serve me far longer? I can turn the two of you into Vampires if you wish. All it will take is for me to sink my fangs into your flesh—”

“Let us go, Your Highness.” Rose practically dragged the princess out of the room.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Eleanor paused and then halted in her tracks. She looked around the room for a moment, until her pale blue eyes fixed on me. She smiled at me and then curtsied.

“Thank you for sheltering us, Lord Cassius Blackwell. Your magnanimousness is quite humbling… may you have a good night,” Eleanor said then turned to Rose. “Let’s go.”

And then they were finally gone.

The doors shut behind them and I shook my head, stifling a grin as I muttered. “It seems like she has forgotten that it is during the night where I am most active.”

It didn’t take too long for me to go to the window then reach the rooftop of my manor. Breathing in the cold air was oddly pleasant for my lungs, but more than that, I surveyed my surroundings.

The land before me was incredibly expansive enough that all I could see were the long-changed woods that seemed to have taken a far thornier and wilder appearance that would have made any Druids of the Wild be pleased.

Brambles, thorns and other flora decorated the woods and formed a labyrinth-like expanse below the hills where the Blackwell Manor was surrounded.

It was a relatively strategic place where we had once had the high ground.

Without much problems, it was easy to throw magic high above and detect strangers that dared trespass my land.

Once upon a time, many Vampires took flight in the air, some as the well-known bats, others as mere mists like wisps and even some borrowed witch’ broomsticks and took flight for fun.

Others traveled the forest on foot, daring and seducing nymphs, hunting beasts and men to deliver when they visited my manor.

The Blood Tyrant I was once was— still am—but never it be said that I treated my subordinates terribly. Instead, as the human princess said, I was munificent to those who were subservient to me and a heartless tyrant to others.

I closed my eyes and sighed inwardly. “My loyal servants… I wonder what has happened to them. Did they betray me or were they hunted down?”

There was much information to be gleaned from those two women, but for now, my gaze landed among a small party composed of knights and other people that hovered around the edge of the forest.

Since I didn’t see any specific insignia on Eleanor’s outfit earlier, she was actually dressed as if running away, and the fact that this group had an unfamiliar banner made me put two and two together.

“Is this the so-called Averon Kingdom?” I murmured. From this distance and my assessment, they do not seem to be worth much to me. Perhaps my fears of this newly changed world were mistaken?

I crossed my arms over my chest and hummed.

Words filled my tongue.

“The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It is one of the never-ending cycles in life… but is that truly absolute? Although perhaps I am outlier—”

An arrow suddenly flew at a blinding and break-necking speed that it was gone before I finished my musing and disappeared into the woods behind me. Chaos broke into the crowd.

Somewhere in that group, there was another outlier too.

I raised my thumb and brushed my cheek.

Blood oozed from the graze.

With an amused grin, I licked off the red from my thumb and then descended.