Rose patiently waited for her mother to return. She'd been surprised when she'd suddenly left, and she wasn't sure as to the reason why.

Still, Rose wasn't about to anger her mom over something as trivial as refusing to stay in place for a bit. She was a good potato, as her mother just loved to call her.

Her ears perked up, hearing footsteps from some distance away. Since having been reborn into a vampire, and despite only being a baby, all of her senses were far superior to those she held when she was but a human man. It was... strange.

Rose got up from next to the Nightmare, who was laying down with its head on its deadly hooves that looked more like claws. It opened one eye, snorted, and went back to sleep.

Ignoring it, Rose ran (wobbled) her way over to the coming sound, and as expected, her dear mother showed up. What wasn't expected was that there was a little girl walking behind her, who stared at the ground uncomfortably.

"Mum!" Rose yelled, launching herself at Yukio, who for her part, laughed at her potato's actions and caught her mid-air.

"Hello, little potato. I'm back. Have you been good?" She asked jokingly, with Rose nodding along for her mom's sake. She turned to the girl, finding her looking away while fidgeting. "Who that?" She asked, pointing at the girl while staring at her mom.

"Dear, that's Francis. She's our new... friend." Yukio said, choosing her words carefully. Rose tilted her head in confusion while cynical thoughts ran through her mind.

"Friend?" She asked, wiggling in her mother's arms. She got the hint and put her down, allowing for Rose to wobble her way over to the young girl. She stared up at the girl who'd taken a step back, putting on her best doe eyes.

Yukio secretly cast a translation spell behind her back while looking at her little potato.

"Helo. Are you friend?" Rose asked, utilizing both her baby eyes and voice to neutralize the girl. The girl looked hesitant, glancing at her and then at her mom, who nodded. Then, the girl looked back at Rose and nodded shily.

"Friends play?" She asked, reaching up to the girl's sleeve. The poor girl looked so completely lost that it almost made Rose feel bad. Almost.

"Pick her up, Francis." Her mom jokingly said, but although she said that, she was looming over the duo, eyes trained on Francis like a hawk waiting for its prey to make a mistake.

Francis nodded frantically, trembling arms reaching out to pick little Rose up. "Oof..." Francis exhaled, arms still trembling, but now for a different reason.

She held Rose by the armpits, face scrunched up in concentration. Rose didn't know whether to take her actions as her being fat, or Francis being weak. Probably both considering how much of that orange stuff her mom had her drink every day, and from how skinny the girl looked.

A couple of seconds later, Francis was forced to abandon the attempt and put Rose on the ground, trying not to directly drop her. Rose giggled evilly as Francis flushed with effort and embarrassment.

"Up?" She asked again. The poor tortured girl's expression turned to that of pure horror, but she was rescued by the most boring mother ever.

"Come now, Rose. Francis is very tired, you see. She was with her... Friends... For some time, and she needs to rest. Follow me, girlie." Yukio said in her no-nonsense voice. Rose pouted slightly, and with a harrumph, she wobbled her way over to the Nightmares, who didn't look all that unhappy receiving her attention.

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Once both her mom and Francis had retreated into the carriage, Rose's face fell as she leaned on the Nightmares for comfort. She wasn't a genius, nor did she even consider herself particularly smart, but she could put together the pieces.

Judging from how thin the girl was, and from the whole 'I'm terrified of everything that moves' attitude she carried, Rose could tell that the girl had either been a slave or worse. She was positively sure her mom had cast some cleaning spells to remove both bad smells and make her clean again.

This world truly was a brutal one, Rose thought to herself, burying her face in the soft but cold fur of the Nightmares.

Meanwhile, Francis was sitting awkwardly on a couch inside of Yukio's own room, separated from that of Rose. Her eyes darted around, taking everything in as though she was a trapped mouse.

The door opened, and in came Yukio. In her hands were several sets of clean clothes, which she handed over to Francis.

"T-thank you..." The young girl murmured, hugging the clothing to her chest. Yukio simply shrugged. "It's nothing. If you're going to work for me, I naturally won't allow you to live in squalor." She commented. "Tomorrow, I will begin instructing you. For now, just sleep. Your room is behind that door, I left some food there for you."

Francis nodded, body feeling heavy as she dragged herself over to her room, keeping her eyes firmly locked to her own feet. Yukio watched as she vanished behind the door before shaking her head and sighing.

She'd offered the girl a deal she simply couldn't refuse. While she hadn't signed it with any magic, or with any paper, Yukio felt as though this was better since Francis had already admitted she was illiterate.

Truth be told, she'd already been thinking about finding a companion for little Rose. Someone she could play and be with that wasn't her mother.

Francis came about at the right time, and although she was a bit traumatized, Yukio was sure she'd get over it eventually.

She'd also just gotten an endless blood-supply if managed right, which was quite convenient. 

Yukio leaned back on the sofa, putting one leg over the other as she brought a glass filled with perfectly red blood up to her lips. Taking small and measured sips, she quickly drank the entire thing.

Yes. Convenient indeed.

When night came, Yukio brought a reluctant Rose back into the carriage for sleep time. Although she wanted to stay outside and be with the nightmares for a bit more, Rose didn't make too much of a fuss when she was tucked in, and quickly fell asleep.

Then, Yukio went over to Francis' room. It was quite a bit smaller than both her room and that of Rose, but it was still plenty spacious. It wasn't very decorated, but it did have all the necessities she might need.

A funny-looking little bump was in the center of the bed. Yukio felt her lips twitching upwards at the sight, and she almost went over to poke at the bump.

She stopped herself, however. She had her own little potato to poke and play with, it wouldn't be good if she got too comfortable with a human. 

She retreated from the room, making no noise whatsoever. Then, she went to meditate.

The next day was a rather... chaotic one. The comfortable routine that Rose and Yukio had going was quickly thrown out the window as Yukio had Rose and Francis complete several small tasks together for fun. Simple things, like arranging some blocks or drawing some stupid image. 

It was dumb, but it worked. Rose seemed to enjoy spending time with newcomer Francis, and Francis herself felt a lot more comfortable around the mother-daughter pair afterward.

After feeding both the human and her potato, the latter was sent back to her room for nap-time while Yukio took over Francis' time. For the first day, she kept it simple, getting to know the girl and her life story.

Although she was reluctant to share, she eventually told Yukio that her parents had sold her into slavery, and she'd been eventually captured by the bandit boss during a transfer. 

It was actually a pretty common story. Starving peasants selling their children into slavery was nothing new, and it likely would not stop existing as a practice for a long time, but that didn't make it any less tragic for Francis.

After Francis finished explaining, Yukio shared her sympathies but didn't say much else, instead launching herself into a lecture over reading and writing in Common, only stopping when she felt Rose stirring a couple of hours later.

"I have some homework prepared for you. It should help you get comfortable with the basics. Finish it by tomorrow, other than that, do whatever you want for the rest of the day. If you wish, you may come to Rose's room to play with us." Yukio said with a small smile as she left, leaving behind a stunned-looking Francis.

Francis looked at the closed door for a while, then, she looked around the room. With trembling hands, she pinched herself.

It hurt.