After the sunset, in the courtyard behind the palace…

Lily is leisurely leading Straf towards the tall, spiked fence surrounding the palace perimeter.

「It may be a little early. It's not my time to rule yet, but I suppose there is no harm if I show you my subjects.」

She announces, glancing at Straf over her shoulder. Following her with his hands in his pockets, Straf's brow rises gently.

「I believe you'll have no trouble following me through here, Straf?」

She says quizzically, and gracefully leaps to the top of the fence in one smooth motion, like a cat. With her boots perfectly between the menacing spikes, and without struggling to maintain her balance in the slightest, she hops forward.

Lily eerily descends back to the ground outside the fenced perimeter, like a feather, sans its weaving and bobbing through the air as it gently floats down. She partially turns around, gently smiling at Straf through the gaps in the fence while she waits.

Straf looks up at the fence with an unimpressed, bored expression. He shrugs his shoulders, and hops up as well. Though with much less grace, he lands on top of it with one leg. He leans his upper half forward, and his other leg back to act as a counterweight.

Never appearing to lose his sense of balance, and casually keeping his hands in his pockets the whole time, he swings the leg still within the perimeter forward, and jumps towards Lily.

Tap!

He lands loudly with a tap of his boots against the cobblestones, gently bending his knees and torso before straightening out again. His landing is completely devoid of Lily's silent grace, incapable of matching it, or perhaps never intending to challenge it to begin with.

She says nothing, only letting an amused exhale out of her nose while her smile grows wider, and she turns forward again.

「So… The whole city is yours, right?」

Straf asks, looking around the faintly blue, lamp-lit streets while peculiar fellows slowly begin to replace the frightened people warily watching them as they flood the streets. Their smug red eyes and fanged grins are very telling of the dynamics between the two groups.

「Correct. And some of its periphery beyond the wall, too. Although not right now.」

Lily replies with a light nod of her golden head. Her twin tails trail behind her, riding the wind. As they walk down the street, the red-eyed night citizenry bow their heads towards her, and she makes no effort to acknowledge them, without returning as much as a glance.

「Would you like to see the arms of my power, Straf?」

She asks, looking at Straf over her shoulder.

「Sure, don't just tell me about them.」

Straf shrugs, and continues looking left and right with his bored eyes to note the societal changes that occur with the sun's disappearance.

Lily leads Straf towards the more dilapidated district of the capital, and the buildings slowly grow more and more weary of the world as they distance themselves from the palace. They arrive at a large building constructed with stone, and Lily enters like she owns it.

Straf follows in through the door, arriving at a tavern-like room. The tables are filled by members of the Ministry of Security, both in their new uniforms, and in their manhunter sets of armor. Some of the supposed people at the tables look at them enter with surprised crimson eyes.

「Minister?…」「Baroness?…」

The human and the vampire sides utter out, both equally perplexed. Straf snaps his fingers.

「Oh. Why didn't I think of that?」

Straf says, sounding almost stupefied. He approaches the handful of men still not wearing the militaristic uniform.

「Why didn't you show up at the bank earlier yesterday, prick?」

Straf asks, glaring down at the man out of his uniform. He appears both unsettled, and confused.

「Uh… That's because my shift just barely started, minister.」

He answers with furrowed brows, glancing at his colleagues at the table.

「…Alright. I'll allow it. No excuses now, though.」

Straf grimaces a little and lightly nods his head in response, while Lily is discussing something with the vampire side of the room. He opens his [Portable Storage], and pulls out the new Ministry uniform set.

「Put this on.」

Straf demands, throwing the pants, jacket and the peaked cap onto the table in front of the man. The Ministry agent hesitantly takes them into his arms, stands up from the table, and turns to leave somewhere.

「Where the fuck are you going!? Put them on here!」

Straf spreads his arms in annoyance, looking at the man with a tight-lipped grimace. He stops and looks over his shoulder, confused.

「Er- I- Alright…」

The man wants to come up with an excuse, but can't, and ends up relenting. He quickly begins changing his clothes, while Straf drops another uniform in front of another man and orders him the same.

「Stand there.」

Straf points in front of a wall, holding a camera in his hands. The now-uniformed Ministry agent complies, and looks at Straf.

「Now look serious.」

He demands, and the man looks at Straf with a grave grimace.

Fwap.

The room gets flooded by a bright light that quickly dies out, and the man is left wincing and blinking.

「Name and age.」

Straf is heard saying from across the room with a commanding tone, while Lily is talking to her subjects. She returns her scarlet eyes back to the vampiric Ministry agent.

「…So there have been no instances so far?」

Lily calmly asks, looking into his crimson eyes.

「No, baroness. So far, only human arrests.」

He shakes his head in response, looking at her with large eyes, appearing almost frightened and nearly outright groveling before her while the whole table looks onto her with nervous grimaces in silence.

「Not even blood theft?」

She asks, tilting her head. Her golden twin tails jiggle gently.

「None that have been reported, at least.」

The vampire replies, looking into her eyes. A long silence begins while the two maintain eye contact. Lily's expression is perfectly neutral, and yet the whole table is being crushed by her threatening aura. Straf arrives behind her, once again holding his hands in his pockets.

「Straf. Have you finished attending to your matters?」

She asks, looking up into his bored eyes over her shoulder.

「Yup. Now I have less work to do tomorrow.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, nodding his head a little with an indifferent grimace.

「…I see. So have I.」

Lily replies, turning her eyes back to the frightened vampire at the table, looking at him with an expression that's impossible to decipher.

「Who are these guys? Are they with the Ministry as well?」

Straf asks, walking a little closer and peeking past Lily's golden head.

「Yes, they are the members of the vampire society that I have picked out to deal with vampire crime. But so far, they are only dealing with human criminals. Ironic, isn't it, Straf?」

Lily says, with her eyes still locked on the Ministry's night member's uneasy eyes.

「Now that you mention it… I suppose I should make uniforms for these guys too, huh?」

Straf remarks, looking over the vampires either dressed in plain clothes, or a few pieces of leather armor similar to the once out-of-uniform manhunters.

「That won't be necessary, Straf. They can provide for themselves-」

She replies, looking at Straf once again. He rapidly shakes his head.

「No no no no no no, you don't understand, Lily. It's for the aesthetics. They have to be recognizable.」

Straf says, holding his palm out towards her, then points his finger at the frontmost vampire at the table.

「Aesthetics?…」

She echoes, a little puzzled with her head gently tilted.

「Yup. I'm thinking a lot of red and black like your dress. And edgy spikes and sharp edges, to make them look as comically evil as possible. What do you think?」

Straf asks, casually placing his hand on her shoulder while looking down at the vampires with her.

「Yes, that would be rather pleasing to the eye…」

She nods her head, finally smiling ever-so-slightly.

「…May I do it myself, Straf? If the intent is to make them look frightening, then I believe I can make them look quite metal. I will cover the costs out of the tax. It is only natural, they are my forces, after all.」

Lily asks, looking up at Straf, contently smiling at him.

「Really? You can handle that?」

Straf asks back, tilting his head.

「Of course, naturally. It is no issue to someone of my status.」

She smugly declares, turning her scarlet eyes back to the table. Straf lifts his large hand off of her tiny shoulder, causing her brows to furrow in disappointment as she looks at the now-empty space.

「Nice, Lily! That saves me so much trouble! Maaan, you look so much younger, but you act so much more mature than Lia. You are actually fiscally responsible, and you even have a functioning economy! I wish she'd be like that!」

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Straf says, sticking his thumb out and up in approval, grinning at Lily. After a moment, his hands form into fists and land on his hips.

「The Redwing girl is a child, Straf…」「Pot, meet kettle…」

Lily declares, smiling and somewhat pleased by Straf's praise while she looks at her subjects.

「…It is only natural. She is unfit to rule. While someone like her grandfather, or her predecessors could have ruled a respectable kingdom, she is no different than a mere human. Frail, short-lived, insipid, ignorant. How can I respect someone, who will die before I can even blink?-」

She continues denigrating Cycelia behind her back with a conceited smirk while looking at the vampires. Lily then chokes on her own words, and abruptly clenches her teeth. Her smirk disappears off to somewhere.

「…Would you like to see the arms of my rule now, Straf?」

Lily asks, in a completely different tone than before, devoid of her haughty conceit.

「You mean this isn't it?」

Straf tilts his head, and his brows rise.

「…Of course not. Come.」

She bluntly declares, and walks towards the stairs, departing from the table without as much as a nod towards the vampiric Ministry agents she was just talking with.

Straf follows her up the stairs. She walks down a corridor filled with doors, and picks one seemingly at random. She grabs the handle, and pushes the door open as if she was entering her own room.

「Baroness. Is something the matter?-」

A serious-looking, middle-aged, mustached man at a desk littered with various papers asks. His crimson eyes jump from Lily to Straf when he appears in the door.

「Minister? What is it? Is something wrong?」

He asks, standing up from his desk and approaching the two. He extends his hand towards Straf for a handshake while looking him into his eyes.

「No. I am simply taking Straf for a tour of my domain.」

Lily casually replies, looking up at the man's mustache. Straf reluctantly grabs the man's hand, and delivers a powerful squeeze. The vampire's eyes widen as if panicking the moment his hand is grasped, and he visibly shrinks before Straf, keeping his scarlet eyes locked onto his.

「I- I see… Well, you are very welcome in my office. Do you have any questions?」

Straf lets go, and the man asks. He turns around, walking back to his desk, before his head suddenly snaps back to Straf as if he just heard an unsettling noise. He backpedals the remainder of the way, never letting Straf out of his sight.

「Aa- Ah. Pardon my manners, I am Rufus Aldebaran. You are officially my supervisor, though we have never met.」

He introduces himself, bowing a little in his desk, with his clawed hand on his opposite shoulder.

「I guess. What do you do all night? Why are you here?」

Straf asks, shrugging his shoulders as he looks around the officer. Various trinkets decorate the walls, coming from all sorts of cultures, and seemingly random ones. Wooden masks, ships in a bottle, bonzai trees, and many others.

「I handle the administrative side of the Ministry of Security for the vampires, and a little of it for the human side as well. And I'm here because… Well, isn't it obvious? I have the honor of being hand-picked by the baroness herself for the position.」

Rufus proudly declares, spreading his hands at his desk, before dropping them back down to it.

「Yes… Rufus here was an acquaintance of my master. He handled administrative matters and logistics during the demon lord's rule as well, there are very few vampires left with his degree of experience.」

Lily adds, smiling smugly at him. A little amused, he lets out a rapid exhale from his nose with a smirk, and joins his fingers together at the tips.

「Being so cooped up ended up saving me in the end. I didn't even notice when the sky had cleared, hahaha…」

He shrugs, chuckling a little with a small grin beneath his gray mustache. He sighs, and his grin disappears.

「…It is a shame, what happened to your master, bar-」

「Silence.」

Lily barks a command, and the room abruptly falls silent. The man's face grows troubled, and he lightly grimaces for a few seconds.

「…Forgive me, baroness.」

Rufus says, and apologetically lowers his head.

「…As I have said, Rufus is experienced and of good character. He came to greet me shortly after I took power, and the choice for this role was obvious since.」

She continues after the tense silence, looking up at Straf's face.

「You flatter me, baroness.」

「They are not words thrown to the wind, Rufus.」

Rufus nods, accepting the high praise, and Lily replies with a matter-of-fact, serious tone.

「Is there anything else you'd like to ask, Straf, or shall I show you the rest of my domain?」

She asks, and Straf shrugs in reply with a bored face.

「I guess we can go.」

He says, and walks himself out of the room.

「Have a good night, Rufus.」

Lily says over her shoulder, walking to the door.

「And you as well, baroness.」

Rufus nods, and Lily shuts the door behind her as she leaves. She and Straf exit the Ministry barracks, and they spend a few hours meeting the various administrative, or otherwise managerial vampires acting as pillars of Lily's barony within the capital.

Lily then leads Straf outside the gate, towards a wooded area and a waterwheel-powered sawmill.

「Where to now? Don't tell me there's a vampire running the sawmill as some sort of a fucked up dismemberment workshop.」

Straf asks with a smirk on his face, and Lily lets out an amused scoff.

「Do not give me ideas, Straf… You have only seen the upper strata so far. I want you to see the commoners, so to speak.」

She replies, looking at Straf with an amused smile and fatigued crimson eyes.

They approach the sawmill. There, a man with a large axe is effortlessly clearing a large felled tree of branches. He cleaves through them with a single swing, blurring as he works up its length.

Thunk.

The axe makes a loud noise when he flings it at a nearby stump intended for firewood chopping. He lifts the entire, gigantic log with nary a grunt, and forces it onto the saw's guide, pushing it onto it with ease. Lily and Straf approach behind him. He jumps, significantly startled.

「Ah! Ah. Baroness…」

He calms significantly when his scarlet eyes take in Lily's characteristic silhouette. The saw noisily grinds through the tree, while the calm water at the creek rustles away softly through the night. The pink, almost red moonlight glitters in the crinkles on its surface.

「Is there something you need, baroness?」

He asks, bowing his head. His entire body language screams subservience, and respect or fear towards Lily, perhaps even both.

「Not exactly. What is it that you do here?」

She asks, in an obviously disinterested tone.

「At the sawmill?… Why, I process the trees. It's a really light job, very easy to learn.」

He explains, and his crimson eyes turn to Straf.

「…Is that human yours, baroness?」

He asks, pointing at Straf.

「Yes.」「No- Hey.」

Lily replies, faster than Straf can. He protests, and she simply replies with a silent glance up into his eyes, before turning her head back to the sawmill worker.

「…And I am his. Are you paid well here?」

The vampire shakes his head in mild confusion, furrowing his brows as if he didn't quite catch what Lily has said, but his confusion quickly clears when she impatiently tilts her head, with a calm but expectant gaze.

「Uh. Yes, baroness. The humans here are stupid. They pay me incredibly well. I barely do any work, and they're grinning ear to ear as I rob them of their gold.」

He bares his fangs at her, grinning, quite amused as he explains, heavily gesturing with his hands, and never fully straightening his head in Lily's presence.

「If they are happy, and you are happy, then all is going quite well, is it not?」

She asks the vampire, glancing up at Straf.

「Yes, baroness! Life's never been this easy!」

The man nods his head with a wide grin, keeping his head low still.

「It has been, you are simply far too young to remember it… Are you prepared for the blood moon?」

Lily asks, looking intently into the man's eyes. His head perks up, but he energetically nods right away.

「Yes, baroness. I have a place reserved at a trusted friend's. I will cause you no trouble, baroness.」

The vampire keeps nodding, doing everything he can to sucker up to Lily.

「You better noahhhhaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh…」

Lily replies, but a yawn surprises her, forcing her to cover her mouth with her pale, clawed hand while she shuts her eyes.

「…Do you mind if we conclude the tour here, Straf? I'm rather weary.」

Lily asks, turning to Straf, and ignoring the vampire entirely.

「No, go rest, Lily. I'll go grind my willpower some more in my room, I guess. The sun's going to come up soon, no?」

Straf asks while they walk away from the vampire, and head back to the city gate.

「Yes, in an hour or two perhaps.」

She nods her golden head, and looks up at Straf with half-open eyes with a satisfied smile on her face.

「So, what are your thoughts about my rule?」

Lily asks, turning her gaze to the distant gate.

「It's pretty well organized, I'll give you that. I suppose vampire nepotism comes with the upside of actually bringing some experience to the table.」

Straf shrugs, walking beside Lily with his hands in his pockets.

「Hmpf. Naturally. Hundreds of years is plenty of time to master a lot of skills. If you became a-」

She replies with her head proudly held high. Straf cuts in as soon as he hears a hypothetical begin.

「No, Lily.」

He bluntly refuses, without as much hearing what it is about. She lets out a sigh, and looks up at him

「…Goodnight, Straf.」

Lily says with a neutral expression and tone, albeit her crimson eyes appear almost as if sullen.

「Yeah, sleep well, Lily.」

Straf replies, and Lily turns into a black-red blur stretching towards the gate. She zaps through it, and disappears within the city walls while Straf leisurely takes his time to return, walking with his hands in his pockets…