Lortell's presence was intoxicating, her aura magnetic. Esdeath struggled to maintain her composure, trying to suppress the unfamiliar feelings surging through her. She knew she needed to act normal, to hide this sudden vulnerability. But it was proving to be incredibly difficult with Lortell standing so close, her scent, her voice, and her very presence overwhelming Esdeath's senses.

"No, no... I can't fall for her, I can't fall for her," Esdeath thought, giving herself a mental shake. She felt a surge of determination, but there was a deeper reason she didn't want to get involved with Lortell. "I don't know why I have black hair and red eyes, but I clearly know why Lortell Mariette has red eyes and pale white skin like a vampire," she thought.

"It's because she doesn't just look like a vampire; she is a vampire. And not just any vampire, but one from the progenitor vampire bloodline, the strongest vampire bloodline," she thought, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

In this world, there are things called "factors." When a human awakens, these factors can at any time turn an average awakened human into a vampire or werewolf. Usually, when a vampire awakens, they go berserk, killing everyone in sight, and often end up being killed by human armies. Very few can remain calm, and even those who do are often mentally unstable. Lortell Mariette, however, was different. She had awakened at the age of six—an age when most children hadn't even begun to think about such things. Typically, an average person awakens at fourteen, but Lortell was no average person. She was a prodigy.

Esdeath, on the other hand, had awakened at seventeen, explaining why she was so weak compared to others. But that was a problem for another time.

When Lortell turned seven, she awakened again, this time as a vampire. Not just any vampire, but a progenitor vampire, and she remained calm. So calm that, aside from her parents, no one else knew she was a vampire. Her parents believed she had avoided the typical drawbacks of becoming a vampire, but only Lortell knew how mentally unstable her personality was.

Esdeath's mind raced as she processed this information. She had to keep her distance. Getting involved with someone like Lortell could only spell trouble. "The main weakness of being a vampire is, they can't kill themselves even if they want to," she reminded herself. "That's why in the game, with always a grim and sad expression, she was just waiting for someone who could kill her."

"Esdeath?... Esdeath?" Voices called her out of her daydream. She snapped back to reality, her tongue slipping.

"Y-yeah, I'll start by kissing!" she blurted out, unaware of her surroundings.

"What?" Claus yelled in puzzlement.

Realization bore down upon her as she smacked her forehead. "Oh no, I mean, yeah, we were just going to play!" She was flustered, words tumbling out without coherence.

"Esdeath," Lortell's voice cut through her thoughts, drawing her back to the present moment. "Are you alright?"

Esdeath nodded, swallowing hard to push down the lump in her throat. "Yes, Lady Mariette. I'm fine," she managed to say, her voice only slightly wavering.

"Lady? Last time I told you to call me Lortell," Lortell said, closing the gap between them a little. Both Esdeath's and Lortell's red eyes locked onto each other. Esdeath couldn't help but mutter something in her mind.

"Eyes... eyes meet-meet, my future dar-k~" she started humming in her thoughts.

While she stood still, Lortell closed the remaining gap and placed her hand on Esdeath's head, patting her gently. "I heard your arranged marriage broke up. I'm so glad; I was against it too," she said with a charming smile.

The sensation of being petted by Lortell overwhelmed Esdeath. "Ahh~, Lady Mariette is glad, lay Mariette is glad, I'm so happy. She is patting my head like a pet. I want to be her pet. No, I am her pet. Keep patting me like that forever," she thought, Her red eyes glowing even more, Her ring shaoes seem like it was moving at rapid speed, slipping into a state of unhealthy obsession.

"Woof... woof!" she exclaimed, shocking everyone around her.

"Woof? Are you sure you're alright? Your whole face is red," Claus said, her anger momentarily forgotten, replaced by confusion and shock.

Realization hit Esdeath, and she smacked her head again. "I-I'm sorry, my head went blank for a second. I think I should go and get some rest," she said, trying to maintain a semblance of dignity.

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"What's happening? Something isn't right. My head is going blank, and everything down there is slippery, like some liquid is leaking from my private part!" she thought, panicking internally.

Lortell's eyes softened with concern. "Esdeath, if you're not feeling well, you should take care of yourself. Don't push too hard. I can't take the risk of anything happening to you."

Esdeath nodded, grateful for the excuse to escape. "Thank you. I shall be off then," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

As she turned to leave, her mind continued to spiral. "Why am I reacting like this? This isn't normal. I need to figure out what's going on with me," she thought, her heart racing and her body trembling with a mix of fear and desire.

As she slowly walked back to her palace, Claus forced a smile and turned toward Lortell. "Lady Ma—"

Before she could say anything, Lortell Mariette turned on her heel and left without a word, not even a goodbye. It was as if Claus didn't exist, a clear humiliation. No one would dare to behave like that—except the Archduke's daughter, Lortell Mariette.

Claus couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger. "Why does she always look after that good-for-nothing Esdeath?" she thought, consumed by envy.

Back in the palace, Esdeath finally arrived at her room. As soon as she entered, she hurriedly closed the door, exhaling deeply in relief. She slid down to the floor, her back against the door. "Huff... finally, I escaped. I thought I was about to go insane," she muttered to herself, relief washing over her.

She lifted her hand and slid her fingers inside her frock, checking something. When she pulled them out, they were covered in a thick, transparent liquid. "Damn, excitement between male and female is way different. I should take a bath and wash myself," she thought, getting up.

Esdeath moved toward her shower room, which was inside her bedroom. It only took a few steps to reach the door. Again, as she placed her hand on the handle, she felt her heart racing. This time, she didn't back down. Determined to find out what was inside, she opened the door with a dash.

As she entered the shower room, her eyes widened in disbelief. The entire room was covered with paintings of Lortell Mariette, in different clothes and settings. Her birthday dates were written everywhere, along with detailed measurements of her body.

It was a scene both horrifying and unbelievable. Anyone else would have been shocked by the sight—it was clearly madness, an unhealthy obsession.

Esdeath fell to her knees, her palms pressing against her cheeks, her eyes wide with realization. "I knew it, this girl is a f*cking yandere!"

Her mind reeled as she took in the details. Each painting captured Lortell in an intimate, almost worshipful way, showcasing her beauty from every angle. The dates and measurements were meticulously recorded, as if someone had painstakingly documented every aspect of her life. It was beyond infatuation; it was a deranged devotion.

Esdeath's breathing grew rapid, her body trembling. "This is insane... How could anyone go to such lengths?" she thought, horror mixing with a strange, unsettling fascination. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, the lines between fear and desire blurring in her mind.

The realization that this obsession was rooted in the previous Esdeath's emotions shook her to the core. "I inherited more than just her memories... I inherited her madness," she thought, a cold shiver running down her spine.

"Pffftt... Hehehe... Hahaha.... I don't even know why I am laughing, hahaha..." Her laughter echoed hollowly in the room, a manic edge creeping into her voice. The clear memories of her past lives swirled in her mind, blending fable's serene determination with Esdeath's brutal passions. The clash of identities threatened to tear her apart. She clutched her head, trying to steady herself as the world seemed to spin.

But with sudden determination, she stopped herself from laughing. "F*ck this, I don't care if I'm a yandere, tsundere, or kundere. My main priority is being alive!" she thought fiercely. The declaration felt like a lifeline, anchoring her amidst the chaos of her fractured psyche.

"I would like to become a vampire too. That couple easily made me strong, but for activating the factors, the person has to be strong, and there's no doubt I'm a weakling. So no matter how I look, I'm not a vampire and never going to become one unless some other vampire turns me into one," she reasoned, her thoughts gradually clearing as she got up.

"Okay then, time to take a shower," she muttered, bracing herself. As she entered the room, her gaze lingered on Lortell's painting. Every time she saw it, a burst of inexplicable excitement surged within her. She quickly closed her eyes, taking only a small peek outside.

She walked towards the wall mirror and started undressing herself. "Hmph... I'm not an average teenage kid who'll blush at seeing a girl's body naked," she snorted to herself as she slipped off her frock, remaining in only her bra and panties. Despite her words, she couldn't resist the urge to look.

As she opened her eyes to take a peek at her new body's reflection, her eyes fluttered open in shock. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart pounded in her chest. Her wide eyes stared back at her from the mirror, a mixture of astonishment and disbelief written across her face.

Her entire body was a canvas of torment, etched with dark, indelible ink and some of them were made with sharp objects likely to be a Knife. Words and symbols marred her skin, with Lortell Mariette's name dominating the scrawl, as though she were an object of worship. The letters started around bottom of her neck, dipped across her chest, and trailed down to her left abdomen, creating a grotesque testament to her devotion.

But it didn't end there. Her whole back was a landscape of agony, riddled with bruises and cuts, each one a silent scream of pain and obsession. The marks were a testament to a twisted love, a cruel self-sacrifice.

She looked down at her body, her eyes catching the chilling inscription just below her navel: "For Lortell only?" The arrow mark with it, seemed to mock her, a reminder that she had branded herself as Lortell Mariette's possession.

Panic surged through her. "Oh, shit," she muttered, her voice trembling. "No wonder she always wore frocks in every family photo, hiding the truth beneath layers of fabric. But what now? At the academy, I'll have to bathe with others. I'll be exposed."