A little over a millennium ago…

Hundreds of feet stomped through the wet, muddy streets of the city, and carelessly splashed the puddles of water left by the cold autumn rains.

A young, golden-haired girl's feet, too. Wrapped in dirty rags, they barely rose above the waves of mud that were as if frozen still, stomped into their shapes.

She hacked out a series horrendous coughs, wheezing for air between them, and hugged her skeletal-thin body for warmth.

But her cheap rags of a dress were ill-suited for the season. She trembled for warmth, burning away the last shreds of energy that she had.

「Ah!?-」

Splat!

Until she was too weak to raise her foot for another step above the waves of mud, and tripped face-first into it. Some of the muddy water splashed the passersby, eliciting muttered curses.

The dirty water pooled in the mud was quick to soak into her dress and her long golden hair, staining both. In no time, it started sapping her warmth, too.

With her trembling arms, she attempted to lift herself up. Her breath shivered with her.

Splash.

After almost lifting herself up to her elbows, her arms lost strength, and she dropped back to the mud. As it made her feel slightly warmer, she stopped moving at all, only trembling.

Just this much effort was enough to cause her to wheeze and gasp for air, and the inside of her chest to intensify the painful burning feeling.

《…Why won't anyone help me? Why are they just watching?…》

She thought with her brows furrowed, while she gasped for air. Her sad, blue, sunken eyes looked up at the faces in the crowd.

The faces of the men and women walking in a wide arc around her ranged from disdain and disgust, to slight frown of pity, usually from the women.

And yet, nobody in the crowd was willing to do as little as help her stand up. Cold water splashed on her cheek, by a boot of an uncaring man who quickly continued on his way.

Her sore throat tightened painfully as she clenched her teeth, and tears began to build up in her eyes.

Someone even stepped in, and took away her warm rays of the sun that were shining weakly through the overcast sky.

「Poor child…」

The man standing over her said, with an open umbrella rested against his shoulder. He squatted down, nearly entirely covering them both in its shade.

「…Where are your parents?」

He gently asked. His long, sandy blond hair's tips almost dipped into the mud like a quill into ink. The girl looked up at him.

His soft crimson eyes intently stared into her blue ones. Though his umbrella was very plain and cheap, his clothes were very obviously extravagantly expensive.

The blue-eyed girl tried to answer, but the words were stuck in her throat. She began blinking rapidly, and her eyes drifted to his lightly stained, fine leather shoes.

「…I see. Are you hungry?」

He tenderly asked another question. The girl's golden head nodded softly.

「Are you cold?」

He asked, and the girl nodded her head again, but then was caught in another coughing fit. She gasped and wheezed, and the man waited patiently.

「You're sick, aren't you?」

He sighed, and asked another question. She hesitated to answer, but nodded again.

「I see…」

The man simply said, and lifted his umbrella's rim to peek at the uncaring crowd.

「…Would you like to not be? Ever again?」

He softly asked, turning his vertically slit crimson eyes back to the girl in the mud. She met his gaze with furrowed brows on her face.

《…Does he mean he'll kill me if I ask him to?》

The girl thought, and greatly hesitated to answer, questioning the man's intent.

《Why did my life turn out like this? Why can't it be normal? All the other girls have a normal life, why can't I!?》

She lowered her head, and clenched her small fists in the freezing cold mud.

《I don't want to die! I want to live a normal life! I want my parents b-》

The girl thought as she clenched her teeth in anguish, but then another vicious coughing fit came.

She coughed and coughed, then wheezed for air, and coughed again. As soon as he caught a gasp, she started coughing again, worse than before.

The inside of her chest burned as if seared with hundreds of branding irons, and her throat felt as if ripped apart by werewolf claws from the inside. She gasped, but no air came.

「Hrrrrrrk!-」

She gasped again, but only made stifled wheezing noise.

「Hrk!…」

She gasped again, and her eyes widened in panic. She clutched at her bony chest with her mouth and her terrified blue eyes wide open.

「Hrk…」

She gasped, weaker than before. Tears started streaming down her sunken, pallid cheeks, both from pain and from fear.

A genuine terror of death washed over her, and her panicking mind could not form a coherent thought for a while now. Then, someone placed a hand on her back.

She felt a gentle, tender caressing touch on her back. A hand softly moved up and down her emaciated spine, and caressed her bony shoulder blades.

「Huuuuurk!…」

The girl gasped loudly, heaving and panting for the air she was lacking, and now could take in.

「Better?」

The man quietly asked. The girl had forgotten he was even there, as she was too desperate for another breath of air. She nodded, bit her pink lip, then started sobbing and sniffling.

《I don't want to die, huh?… I don't get a choice.》

She thought, with her teeth clenched and eyes forced shut from anguish. The man waited patiently for a few minutes for her to calm down, and her sobbing slowed.

「…Do you not want to not to be sick anymore?」

He once again tenderly asked. The girl swallowed her tears, and tearfully looked up into his crimson eyes with a massive stifled frown on her face.

《What a sick irony. A childkiller is more compassionate than the rest of you.》

She thought as her eyes glanced sideways at the forest of legs marching past them both, wanting to take no part in the spectacle in the mud. Her eyes returned to his.

The girl hesitated again for a few moments, and the man's soft, crimson-eyed gaze waited patiently for her response.

《I just hope he's gentle…》

She thought, lowering her head, before powerfully nodding it with her teeth clenched.

「I see… Come here.」

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He nodded his own, sandy-blond head, and reached out for the girl.

「W- Wait! You'll get sick!-」

She exclaimed with a hoarse voice, as she cautioned the man with her eyes wide open, and her brows heavily furrowed.

「I won't, it's okay.」

He reassured her softly, smiling at her gently as he lifted her off the mud into his arms, tenderly petting the top of her golden hair.

The girl allowed him to lift her up. Brown, dirty water dripped to his fancy clothing from her rags. He paid it no mind, and moved his mouth closer to her neck.

「…It will hurt a little. Be a strong girl, okay?」

He quietly said right into her ear, and she went limp in his arms, giving in completely.

「Ow!…」

Two gentle pinpricks in the side of her neck. She yelped softly with tearful eyes, and quickly blinked a few times, but made no attempt to escape the man's grasp.

「There. Now let it take you, do not resist it. You'll be fine.」

The man pulled his fangs out of her neck, and reassured her again as he slowly set her down on the mud. He then stood abruptly up.

「I will come back for you, when it's time. Until then, rest here.」

He said, stepped away, and merged seamlessly into the crowd.

「Wait! Resist what?…」

She asked, but he had already disappeared. The girl laid her golden head down on her forearm, too weak to do anything else, or resist anything for that matter.

A few hours had passed, and she had noticed her cough hasn't returned even once yet. She smiled softly, thinking of the man as a magic healer.

The sun had gone down, and the indifferent forest of legs grew sparse. Even her trembling had stopped, though it was replaced by a burning fever.

《…At least I'm not cold…》

She thought, and chuckled weakly, looking at the many boots walking past with her tired, half-closed blue eyes. Feeling incredibly weary, she closed them.

But the watery mud was far from a comfortable place to sleep, and far too loud as the boots and shoes kept splashing spatters of dirty water in her face.

Regardless, she was too tired to open her eyes. Being able to breathe freely was a newfound luxury, and she realized she hadn't needed to breathe so deeply anymore.

Though she could still hear it in her ears, her heartbeat slowed and calmed, too. It was almost as if she could fall asleep despite the adverse conditions.

Then, she had noticed she felt fine without breathing at all. An odd feeling, considering the panic from a few hours ago.

And then, she had realized the drumming, slow heartbeat in her ears disappeared some time ago as well, without her noticing it. Content, she fell asleep…

…

「Mhrnmm…」

She groaned quietly, and opened her crimson eyes. The extravagant man from before was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, patiently waiting for her to wake up.

「Are you awake now?」

He asked with a smile. The girl shot up to sitting position on the soft bed below her. Confused, she looked around.

It was dark. She knew it was dark, yet the room was bright. But there were no candles, no moonlight, and nothing to otherwise cast any light.

「Where am I?…」

She asked, and blinked with confused eyes at the man.

「I rented this house for the rest of the week, you can relax.」

He nonchalantly explained.

「I bought you a new dress, a pair of boots, and other such things a lady your age might want. But you should wash off that mud first.」

He added, and pointed at a dressing screen off in the corner of the room. The golden-haired girl looked down at her filthy rags.

「Rented?… Bought? Are you a nobleman, sir? Who do I thank? I am Rose. Rose Acker.」

She asked, tilting her head in confusion, before she introduced herself with her fingertips on her flat chest.

「Rose is a nice name… But you don't need it anymore. I will explain everything. Come see me downstairs, when you're bathed and dressed.」

He shrugged his shoulders, and stood up, then headed for the door.

「Ah. A nobleman I am. I am Baron Hemaluna, but you can simply call me master. I have a lot to explain.」

He said over his shoulder with a soft smile before he left, and shut the door behind him. Rose stood up from the bed, and walked up behind the screen.

Indeed, a beautiful, extravagant, ornate dress was waiting on a chair next to a steaming bathing tub, along with a pair of tall boots, and woolen socks of matching length.

She gingerly slipped the stained, dirty rags above her golden head, and discarded them onto the floor.

Splash!

The warm water was comforting, especially considering the contrast of the muddy, cold puddle from a while ago. She put her fingers on her cheeks to wash them.

Immediately, she noticed two odd things. Her cheeks were no longer sunken, instead, they were plump and soft.

On top of that, her fingernails were oddly extended. Almost claw-like, and hard as a rock. She easily carved notches into the seemingly soft bathtub wood with them.

She sighed with relief and comfort after a long bath, and dried herself with the towel hanging on top of the dressing screen. She then slipped the black-red dress on.

The young girl put on her new socks and boots on, too. Though struggling with the laces, she pulled at them, and tucked them inside. Curious, she happily ran up to the mirror.

「Eh?…」

Rose let out a soft confused gasp, when the reflection she expected to be there was surprisingly missing. She stepped left and right, furrowing her brows at the mirror.

For a minute or two, for the life of her, she could not figure out the reason for why her reflection was missing. She stared at the reflected empty room, and the dirty rags on the floor.

Ultimately, she gave up, and shrugged. She left the room, and rushed to join the long-haired man downstairs.

「Sir-! Er… Baron Hemaluna! I think the mirror is broken!」

She exclaimed as she stomped down the stairs.

「Ahahaha… You think so?」

Baron Hemaluna asked, laughing softly with an amused grin. Rose emerged from the stairs' corner, and continued stomping down to the ground floor in haste.

「Well, aren't you a beautiful lady!」

He remarked with a broad smile, as she drew near the small dinner table he was sitting at, in the center of the room.

She looked down at her boots, breaking eye contact as she gently, bashfully clutched at her dress with her clawed fingers.

Though she knew it was just empty, polite flattery, she yearned to hear words like these from an older man. An embarrassed smile forced its way to her pale lips.

「Sit down, I have a lot of things to explain. Important things.」

Baron Hemaluna said, as he pointed his hand at the chair at the corner next to him. Rose hastily obliged, and sat down sideways on the chair, staring into the baron's eyes.

「We are vampires, you and I.」

He said with a light smile, and she tilted her golden head.

「…Vampires?」

The young girl asked, and blinked her crimson eyes at his, with great confusion on her face…