Roughly twenty minutes later, in Cycelia's room…

Crrrrr-rrrreaaaaaak…

「Ah. Straf. You're back…」

Cycelia says when she notices Straf sitting on the bed with a tome open. She briefly turns to the door.

Clack.

With a loud noise of the internal mechanism, she locks the door with her key, and leaves it in the lock.

「…Yeah? I thought I said I'd wrap up a little early today. You are back surprisingly early, though.」

Straf remarks, momentarily glancing at her with his bored eyes as she drops her blazer on her chair, as usual.

「Weeell… We decided to end the ghost hunt early, since everyone was getting pretty poor sleep… And stuff…」

While she sits down on her bed, her emerald eyes escape sideways towards the window and the dying light from the sun on the dark sky outside.

「That right?…」

「Yes…」

「I see…」

Straf nods, returning his eyes to his tome after another quick glance at Cycelia. An awkward silence begins.

「Say, Straf… Can we talk?」

Cycelia hesitantly asks as her eyes dart back and forth between his handsome face and the window.

「We can always talk, Lia.」

He nonchalantly replies without taking his gaze off the book. He flips a page.

「What I mean is… When you are not busy.」

「Just because I'm reading doesn't mean I'm busy, Lia. If you want to talk about something, talk.」

Straf shrugs, and flips another page.

「Ah. Before you say anything…」

「Yes?」

He suddenly cuts in, remembering something.

「…Do you want me to join you in class sometime?-」

「Yes, yes! I'd really like that!」

Cycelia powerfully nods her head, excitedly clenching her fists while staring at Straf with sparkly emerald eyes.

「…Alright. I wanted to ask you that a while back, but I didn't get a chance to.」

With a light grimace, he nods, and turns his eyes back to his tome.

「Ah, but it'd have to be the day after tomorrow at the earliest. I need to finish something up first.」

「That's fine, there's no problem. I'm just glad to have you there with me again.」

Cycelia shakes her head, and returns a broad smile.

「Yeeeaaahhh, I was feeling a little bad about having you suffer through the worldbuilding alone.」

Straf lets out a little pitying groan while looking at Cycelia's warm smile, and turns his eyes back to his tome. A silence falls on the oil lamp-lit room again.

「…So, what did you want to talk about?」

He asks as he flips another page.

「Um… Straf… So the thing is… Um…」

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Cycelia bites her lower lip and looks at the window again. Her heart begins to thump in her chest while she shifts on her bed.

「Just spill it, Lia. I'll listen…」

Straf verbally prods her, and flips another page, still staring at the book in his lap with bored eyes.

「So, earlier today, we had beast anatomy and biology lessons… And… Um…」

She says, while fidgeting with her medallion. Her fingers covertly move to her shirt's topmost button, unbuttoning it.

「…I was wondering… Since you are so good at magic, and intelligent… Maybe you could teach me something about biology…」

Cycelia suggests, moving her hand lower to another button just above her cleavage.

「…I am not going to deny being intelligent, but I'm not exactly an expert on the biology of monsters, Lia-」

Thwump.

Straf lightly bounces as Cycelia abruptly changes beds, sitting right next to him.

「That's fine! I- I think regular biology would help a lot…」

She insists with reddening tips of her ears, undoing another button right at the center of her barely-contained chest. Her silver medallion sinks between her breasts beneath the shirt.

「…It would?」

Straf asks, side-glancing at her with his eye narrowed in suspicion. His attention is mostly drawn in by her huge, emerald eyes and her lips pulled inward and pressed together.

「Y- Yes! It would help a lot! Any lesson from you would help a lot!」

Cycelia nods her chestnut head, and just as his eyes return to the tome, she gently pulls it out of his hands and sets it aside, causing his brows to rise as he sits empty-handed.

「So… Could you teach me something, Straf?… Anything, really…」

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

She asks as she scoots closer to Straf, and places her dainty hand on his thigh. She stares intensely into his eyes while holding her expression, and flutters her long eyelashes.

「Uhhh… Sure?… My knowledge isn't that advanced, though. I know the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.」

He replies, furrowing his brows as he looks down at Cycelia's hand on his pants, much higher than most people would call casual contact.

「I'd love to hear about it!」

Cycelia exclaims, leaning in towards his face with her shining eyes wide open. Consequently, Straf leans away while her chest brushes against him. His eyes drift down, and he notices her medallion's chain is leading into the steep valley between her breasts, like a curvature in space-time, as if the rest of the medallion passed the event horizon never to return.

「Okay?… I could teach you a little about first aid-」

「Please do!」

Cycelia desperately cries out as she grabs onto his shoulders, leaning in further.

Thump-crreak!

Straf lands on his back, not quite resisting, but not quite doing anything with his hands either. His tight-lipped grimace grows increasingly confused as Cycelia crawls over him on all fours, holding onto his upper arms.

「So, uh… There's this thing called CPR that you do when someone's heart stops…」

With his index finger extended, Straf begins to explain the basics of first aid. Cycelia listens attentively, nodding her head each word while staring with an intense glare. Her emerald eyes rapidly dart all over his face.

「…Basically, you press your lips against other person's…」

His voice trails off, briefly distracted by Cycelia's full, pink lips. The silver medallion slips out of her cleavage, and hangs from her neck by its delicate chain.

Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump.

「Like a kiss?…」

She quietly asks, slowly closing her face in toward's Straf's.

「…Yeah, like a kiss, but by a carp- Hold on one second.」

He nods, before raising his extended index finger again and stopping Cycelia from closing in.

「Huh?」

Cycelia tilts her head as Straf places his hand on his chest, and holds it there for a few seconds. He then moves two of his fingers to the side of his throat, all while looking aside.

《…As I thought, my heartrate is up. I guess this is a good way to check if someone is dead inside.》

He thinks, feeling for his rapid pulse.

「Straf…」

She utters out as she places her hands on his cheeks, and gently turns his head towards her.

「…Will you show me?」

Cycelia softly asks, staring deep into his eyes while hers dart all over his face.

《Hold on… I think I know what this is…》

Straf thinks as his eyes narrow. Her large chest hangs over him, and he has the perfect angle to look into it through her partially unbuttoned shirt. Cycelia slides her hands down to Straf's collar, gently caressing him while they make their way down. The room is entirely silent, aside from their heavy breathing. Cycelia's shaky hands unbutton Straf's uniform collar, and immediately begin working on the one beneath.

《…Should I stop her, and let the dyslexiac bimbo have a chance?- Nah, fuck her. She had a chance, and she blew it.》

He glances aside, thinking about Athea. He quickly discards the thought, and lets Cycelia do as she pleases with a grin on his face. She undoes another button, breathing heavily.

《…This is fine, isn't it? I mean, it's like a college, after all… People do this kind of stuff all the time in colleges, right?》

Straf thinks, watching her dexterous hands work on unbuttoning his shirt. His hands slowly move to her thighs, and he places them just beneath the edge of her skirt, right above the knee.

「Straf…」

Cycelia softly says through a ragged breath, and gulps as her throat rapidly dries out. She undoes another button, right at the bottom of Straf's ribs, and pauses momentarily, placing her dainty hands on his well-toned chest.

「Straf…」

She says again as she slowly moves her softly smiling face in towards Straf's. Her twinned, gemmed medallion descends to Straf's bare chest, right beside his.

《Yeah… Had the bimbo not killed me, something like this would be long behind me already. It's not wish fulfillment if it's something completely normal… Right?》

「Straf…」

Cycelia utters out again as she closes her emerald eyes, and lets out a heavy, warm, damp breath close enough for Straf to feel on his lips. She gently tilts her head, and lightly purses her soft lips.

《Yeah, this is fine. How's this for a memorable time, you old bearded bastard?-》

Thud!

「Gyyaaa!!」

Her emerald eyes snap wide open in shock at the sudden loud noise, and she jolts upward.

「Gaaaaahhhhhhhhh!…」

《For fuck's sake!…》

Straf throws his head back, sinking it into his pillow with a heavily frustrated groan, while Cycelia looks over her shoulder at the window.

「Countess Blockula!… To what do I owe missing out on pleasure!?」

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Straf stares at Lily's lightly quizzical, pale face. Her crimson eyes look at Cycelia's terrified expression, then turn to Straf's lips. They are stretched wide, and tightly pressed together into an annoyed grimace.

「…I am hungry.」

She nonchalantly announces as she stands in the window, the dimensions of which appear almost tailor-made for her form.

「Of course you are!」

Frustrated, he throws his entire arms up, stretching them out towards the ceiling. Lily soundlessly jumps into Cycelia's open baggage with cat's grace, landing on one of the books' covers, and quickly hops to the empty space beside it. She looks at Cycelia's and Straf's disheveled, unbuttoned shirts, and tilts her golden head.

「…Why are your shirts open?」

She asks with her head tilted, ominously standing at the foot end between the beds while Cycelia is still almost sitting on Straf.

「'Cause it's hot in here.」

Straf replies with his mouth heavily scrunched to the side, and his eyes have their usual bored look mixed with heavy frustration. Lily stares for a few seconds and turns her eyes to Cycelia, who is very poorly attempting to cover up her exposed cleavage with her dainty hands, grinning nervously at Lily.

「…Is it?」

She asks, lightly furrowing her brows at Cycelia.

「Yes! It must be the lamp's fault!」

Cycelia shouts with her eyes wide open, blaming the oil lamp with her pointed finger.

Lily looks at the small, weak little flame steadily burning away from the wick. She stares at it for a few seconds, then glances at Cycelia, then turns her scarlet eyes back to the flame.

「…Indeed, that must be the cause.」

The golden-haired girl nods, and Cycelia lets out a large sigh of relief.

「But why are you on top of Straf?」

Lily asks as she approaches the bedside, and her eyes full of suspicion jump between the two.

「That's… Because he felt sick! From the heat! That's why his shirt is unbuttoned, I was helping him cool off!」

「And why is yours unbuttoned?…」

She tilts her head as she looks at Cycelia's vast cleavage with her mouth aslant.

「Come on, Lily, I'm sure you can guess…」

Straf grumbles, and plops down on his back with an extended sigh.

「Be- Because I was feeling a little hot as well! H- Haha!…」

Cycelia quickly comes up with an explanation on the spot, and exaggeratedly fans air at her chest with her hand.

「…Is that so?」

The little baroness asks, staring at the two with her red eyes narrowed. Straf shrugs, refusing to establish eye contact by looking aside, and Cycelia nods feverishly.

「…I see. The window should allow some cold air in, it is autumn after all-」

Lily nods, turning her gaze to the open window and the mountain range far in the distance.

「Hm?」

Her brows furrow, and her scarlet eyes open wider.

《That's right… It's autumn…》

She ominously turns her head towards them. Cycelia senses Lily might have realized a hole in her explanation, and she jumps off the bed towards her.

「H- Haha! That's right, how did we forget!? You might have just saved us from a heatstroke, Lily!」

Cycelia says as she grabs onto Lily's shoulders, smiling nervously at her, and nodding her head over and over in excessive gratitude.

「Hmpf… It is nothing for someone like me… More importantly, are you feeling well enough to feed me, Straf?」

Lily asks, turning her softening gaze to Straf while he remains lying on his bed. He silently throws his hands up again, and sits up.

「Yeah, I guess I am… But Lily, did you not run into trouble with the barrier on the way here?」

Straf asks, pointing his thumb at the open window. Cycelia skitters away to sit down on her own bed, and make herself small while twiddling her thumbs.

「Barrier?」

Lily tilts her head at him.

「Yeah. The Academy is surrounded by a barrier. But there is a problem with it now, and you can't leave.」

He shrugs, spreading his hands.

「…Why not?」

「Because if you touch the barrier on the way out, it will kill you.」

Straf bluntly explains, and shrugs his shoulders.

「Huh?」

「What nonsense… Straf, I already am dead.」

Lily scoffs, shaking her golden twin tails along with her head, and Cycelia's head perks up at the new information.

「Straf, that's news to me. Who told you this?」

Cycelia asks with her brows furrowed and eyes full of concern.

《Shit, I might have said too much…》

Straf clicks his tongue, briefly glancing aside before returning his eyes to her.

「The headmaster. He also knows who we are, by the way.」

He spread his hands as he replies.

「Huh!? He does!?」

「Yeah, but he's decided to keep quiet about it for some reason. Nobody else knows about us, and only most of the school staff knows about the barrier.」

Straf nods, throwing up his hands as the cat is out of the bag.

「Is this… Is this why he said we will be expelled if we leave?」

Cycelia asks as the realization dawns on her.

「Yeah, but it's just some bullshit they came up with. If you leave, you'll be expelled from life. So… I guess you're stuck with us now, Lily.」

He replies, then turn his eyes to Lily's skeptical gaze.

「Nonsense. I am not alive to begin with, the barrier can't kill me.」

「But the barrier does some magic stuff, Lily. It apparently sucks your mana real quick when you try to leave-」

Straf attempts to explain the barrier to Lily, but she begins to chuckle, shaking her head again with her small, half-closed pale fists on her hips.

「…What's so funny?」

「Do you know why healing magic does not work on the undead, Straf?」

Lily asks, smugly smirking at him.

「No. And I didn't figure you for a mage, Lily. Is blood magic all the rage among the vampires back in the capital?」

Straf asks, returning an amused smirk right back.

「I'm not, but something so basic should be known by all vampires… Healing magic manipulates the flow of mana within living things, and combines it with the healer's mana… Do you see the problem?」

「…You are not a living thing?」

「Indeed. I have no flow of mana of my own to manipulate, and you cannot manipulate the flow of mana of the dead, for they have none. Otherwise, resurrecting people would be trivial.」

Lily nods, then glances at Cycelia, causing her to shrink again. Her scarlet eyes return to Straf while he rubs his chin.

「…So, you can't be a mage?」

He asks, furrowing his brows.

「I could be. But being a mage and being a vampire does not pair well. There were a few vampire mages, but magic for vampires is full of frustrating workarounds, and considered not worth the effort.」

She explains, and shrugs her shoulders.

「Are you sure nothing will happen if you try to leave, Lily? I don't think you'll get another shot-」

「Absolutely certain. If the barrier works as you have described, Straf, then I have nothing to fear.」

Lily proudly declares with a smug smirk on her face.

「Now… May I?」

She asks, pointing her clawed finger at his throat. Straf rolls his eyes, sighs, and pats his lap for Lily to jump into it.

「Ow!… Fffuck. It just has to sting every time, huh?…」

Straf grumbles as Lily bites down on his neck. His shirt is still mostly opened, and Cycelia watches on from her bed with a troubled look on her face. She then lowers her eyes, and idly taps her fingers together…

…

Roughly half an hour later…

Lily pulls her fangs out of Straf's neck, and licks her lips. She lets out a quiet, contented sigh, and stands up from his lap.

「Ahh… Much better.」

She says as she takes a few steps back towards the window.

「Lily, do you have any idea who could be behind it?」

Straf asks, rubbing his neck where Lily bit him with his mouth aslant.

「The barrier? No. Although…」

「Although?」

Straf asks as Lily lowers her head to think, and idly glances aside.

「…The atmosphere as a whole is off in this place. Something is amiss, and I can't quite put my finger on what.」

She replies, looking at Straf with a serious expression on her pale face. She turns to the window, and gracefully navigates around Cycelia's clutter.

「Ominous. Next time you want to visit, don't whisper into my ear.」

He says as he crosses his arms, shaking his head with a light grin on his face.

「…What are you talking about, Straf?」

Lily asks over her shoulder with her brow raised.

「Back in the hallway, when I was coming back to the room. You whispered into my ear and disappeared before I turned around.」

Straf explains, only causing Lily to tilt her head further.

「…No I didn't, Straf.」

She denies with a light shake of her head, looking at Straf with a serious expression.

「No?… Alright, then. I might have been hearing things.」

He shrugs, and stands up, following Lily to the window as she climbs up into it.

「I am awaiting your return, Straf.」

Lily says, and her golden twin tails trail behind her as she leaps out, turning into a black blur almost indistinguishable from the night sky. Straf leans onto the window, watching the area outside the tall wall closely. Lily is slowly walking outside the wall's perimeter, then a patch partially translucent, red-colored space appears before her as she touches it.

Despite that, she forces her shoulder into it. After a brief struggle, she pops out on the other side, and the red patch disappears. Straf lets out a relieved sigh, and the two lock gazes with each other for a moment, before she turns into a black blur again, then disappears into the night off to somewhere…