The Vampire Empress.

A bright light soon covered my sight as my eyes slowly opened themselves up to the sight of an adorable blonde girl looking at me with sparkling eyes, her golden eyes looked beautiful like the sun as she looked at me with a smile.

“Good morning, Mama!” she spoke.

“Ayaka, aren’t you too active early in the morning?” my hand petted the little girl’s chin as she tilted her head in confusion.

“Mama, why are you calling me the same as my elder sister, I am Ayane—!” she replied as her eyes turned red before a sudden surprise blasted through me as I woke up for the second time but this time with Ayaka sleeping on my lap. I was confused and looked around before sighing.

My mind was a bit confused, but I quickly calmed myself down as I looked at Ayaka while caressing her hair… it seems like I had fallen asleep last night from exhaustion, though I still am confused over what that dream was. I was clearly sure that was Ayaka but remembering it again, she wasn’t an elf but more like a vampire.

“Mama, what’s wrong?” Ayaka who seemed to have been woken up by my surprise looked up at me with a confused gaze, “Are you okay, Mama?”

“I am okay… how about sleeping some more?” I kissed the little girl’s forehead before catching a glance at a cup of tea placed on the drawer beside the sofa. The cup of tea seems to have magic actively keeping it warm which was nice of Leo and the others.

Taking the tea, I took a few sips as the warm and soothing taste of the tea entered my throat before Ayaka looked at the tea with sparkling eyes, “Mama, what are you drinking? Is it tasty?”

“I don’t think you will like this drink though, but it is called tea and it is made out of specific leaves that give it a pleasing taste,” I looked at the curious little girl with a smile before offering, “Do you want a little taste?”

“Mhm!” she nodded enthusiastically which made me chuckle as she sat on my lap before looking at me as if she was waiting. I moved the cup to her lips before she took it and tried a sip, immediately spitting it out as she showed a bitter expression, “It tastes weird! Bwaah!”

She immediately handed the cup back as a loud laugh escaped my mouth, her reaction was well within my expectations. This adorable girl clearly loves sweets more than anything… maybe coffee will suit her more since I used to be a heavy coffee lover paired with sweets.

“Do you want more?” I teased before she immediately shook her head.

“It tastes weird! I don’t like it!” she complained, leaving a wonderful smile on my face.

All of a sudden, the door to the town hall opened gently as Kyle and the twins came inside before glancing at me a bit surprised as Aitsuki asked, “Did we disturb your sleep?”

“Not at all. I was awake by the time the three of you came in, do you need me for something?” I looked at them with a smile which somehow took them by surprise. I guess I do rarely smile but Ayaka’s influence on my emotions has been increasing each passing day.

Aitsuki and Kyle quickly revived back from their surprise while Mitsuki looked to be in a daze as Aitsuki came closer while replying, “We wanted your opinion on our initial sketches after our little survey of the town, the theme we have came up with is more leaning towards nature which we thought would be a good theme for a town like this.”

Kyle then handed me a few papers that contained both teams’ work, taking the papers together with Ayaka, the two of us looked at each sketch they have made. There were around five of them which I can already tell which belongs to who since Aitsuki and Mitsuki’s art style has this more manga-style look while Kyle’s was more realistic.

The design Aitsuki and Mitsuki came up with was a simple wooden house that looked like something you would find in a forest or a camping spot with a fireplace and glass windows. Their art made it look super comfy and warm to live in which made me interested at first glance.

Meanwhile, Kyle took a unique approach to his concept with his usual balanced aspects which both balance comfort and efficiency, compared to Aitsuki’s and Mitsuki’s design which focused more on comfort with a bit of cost-efficiency. Kyle really went all the way for his design as it consisted of mainly cheap materials that can be acquired at a large scale.

The art he made was a modern-looking wooden house. The wood he wrote is of Juna Wood which can be found in the forest easily and is very cheap to produce, though he also added some luxury aspects like a few bricks on the wall and glass windows.

“To be honest… I find all the sketches to work well. I can’t decide which one to pick and since I can’t decide that would mean there would be no winner. You already know what a draw means, right?” I looked at them with a smile, “All of these sketches will be approved, though you can make several more iterations or sketches if you want and I will review them.”

“Aitsuki’s and Mitsuki’s design while a little bit on the expensive side does indeed guarantee the comfort of the residents but still the expensiveness is a drawback, if you can work on lowering the costs a bit more then that will definitely be best.”

“As for Kyle’s, a balance between the two is indeed nice but that balance is also causing a bit of a problem since we don’t want to sacrifice much-needed comfort for the price. Remember, this town is located on the west side where winter is cold, minimizing the fireplace on your design is a huge flaw that would cause plenty of issues in the future,” I handed Kyle and the others their design with a smile.

The three looked at me and all nodded at the same time which continued to bring my mood up as I caressed my cute little penguin’s hair who was clearly enjoying herself with the designs a while ago, she really loved Aitsuki’s and Mitsuki’s sketches which I can tell is because of their art style which really brings the comfy feeling out of their design.

“Also, are you three adapting well with the town? Where did you three sleep last night?” I asked.

“Mitsuki and I managed to share a room that was used by Dame Felice last night while Kyle slept together with Sir Leo from what I know,” Aitsuki replied as I nodded with satisfaction.

“The three of you can do whatever you like, if you need me, feel free to find me on the fields later this noon since I will be conducting some inspections over there. If you can’t find me there then I am most likely on the town hall or you can ask Iona or Felice since the two of them will be updated a lot over where I go,” I said before they nodded, “You can leave now if you like.”

All of them bowed down before leaving silently as I looked at Ayaka who looked adorable as always, picking her up from the sofa before asking, “Do you want to take a bath with me, or are you perhaps hungry and want to leave me alone to bath, my cute darling?”

“I won’t leave Mama alone!” she said with a determined gaze which made me chuckle as I hugged her tight. I truly wish I could keep doing this routine every morning with her, she reminds me a bit of a softer Teil… I wonder how she is doing now without me.

Ayaka isn’t annoying like Teil though, she is extremely obedient and somehow fills this empty gap on my heart that really needs to be filled. I can feel my emotions slowly changing each passing day just by being near this adorable creature.

“You said it, now let’s go take a bath, shall we?” I poked her cheeks before she nodded as the two of us went upstairs towards our room before we soon took a bath.