"Tedious..."

The echo of "bang bang" reverberated through the empty library.

"It's so boring..."

Patting the cover of the thick book in her hands, Shirley lay back in the chair and complained about her boredom.

She had recently cut her once-long hair and replaced it with a short, cute style that fell to her shoulders.

Originally, she wasn’t a fan of long hair, so it didn’t matter whether it was long or short.

After all, considering her beauty, she could look good even bald!

Hmm...

Forget the baldness...

After thinking about how she would look bald, Shirley couldn't help but shudder.

It would be better for her to die than to become bald!

She threw the magic book in her hand away as if she wanted to vent her frustration.

At that moment, she had exhausted her patience with long study sessions.

Coming to another world was like gaining a second life, which was quite a windfall.

Moreover, as a vampire princess, she didn’t need to worry about survival.

No one dared to intimidate her, and there were always people waiting to serve her wherever she went.

All of this was truly wonderful.

However, the only and most fatal flaw was that the entertainment activities in this other world were truly incomparable to those on Earth.

No Internet, no anime, no games...

Without these things, she always felt like a part of her soul was missing.

"Ah..."

Shirley scratched her hair irritably and jumped out of the chair.

At this moment, she could only go play with Karina.

It had been ten years since she met Karina, and they had long become good friends.

Especially Karina, who, after their first meeting, always rushed to play with Shirley.

Even Shirley didn’t know what special attraction she had that drew Karina, the little beast, but if she thought about it, it was really because of her beauty...

Thinking so narcissistically, Shirley quickly left the library and hid in her room.

She found a familiar red ring on the vanity, sat on the bed, and said to the ring, "Karina, Karina, are you there? It's me, Shirley."

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The ring flashed red in response to Shirley's words.

After waiting a moment, the red ring turned green, and at the same time, Karina’s excited voice came through.

"I’m here! Want to go out and play?"

"Yes, I’m almost dying of boredom..."

Shirley complained to Karina.

When she first mastered the magic power, it was truly exciting, but she couldn’t endure studying like this every day.

Besides, she had recently been forced to learn various strict aristocratic etiquette rules at her mother’s request.

To be honest, it was amazing she had tolerated it for so long.

"So where should we go to play?" Karina asked.

During this period, they had almost visited every nearby safe area, and it was hard to find something new.

"How about going somewhere farther today?" Shirley suggested.

Among other entertainment activities, it was the exploration of the unknown and wonderful world that attracted Shirley.

If possible, she planned to visit all parts of this other world.

Like the Elven Kingdom in the southeast, the Mermaid Kingdom at the bottom of the Eastern Sea, the endless desert in the west, the extremely cold land in the north, and finally, the human world.

These places greatly interested her, but because she was still so young, she couldn’t travel to such distant places and could only explore near home.

"Okay, I’ll find you now!"

With that said, Karina hurriedly cut off the communication.

Shirley also put the ring on her finger and left the room.

Through this communication ring, she could contact Karina from a distance, which was, to some extent, as convenient as a cell phone.

"Your Highness Shirley."

"Your Highness Shirley."

Along the way, all the vampire maids she encountered greeted her respectfully.

Even if she wanted to escape, she didn’t need to avoid others.

As long as she could avoid seeing her mother, it was fine.

Shirley exited through a side door of the castle and arrived at the garden in front of the castle.

A path paved with stones could be seen in the center of the garden.

However, Shirley didn’t move in that direction.

Instead, she randomly found a place and entered the garden.

As she moved forward, the dense and thorny vegetation in front of her quickly receded, as if it were making way for Shirley.

In fact, the path through the middle of the garden was merely an illusion.

Any strangers trying to cross it would be violently attacked by the garden plants.

As the owner of the garden, it didn’t matter which way you entered.

"Your Highness Shirley, do you want to go out and play again?"

In the castle, Luna observed Shirley’s actions through the window but did not advance to stop her.

After all, even Shirley’s mother didn’t restrict her outings.

As a servant, she naturally wouldn’t interfere with her master’s actions.

"However, we need to report this..."

If Her Majesty Shirley were somehow wronged outside, it would be a dereliction of duty.

She would report the matter to Shirley’s mother and would have to obey her instructions.

...

Arriving at the “old spot” where they had agreed to meet, Shirley looked around but seemed to not notice Karina.

Was she late for something?

According to the distance, Shirley was indeed closer, but Karina’s mobility was much greater than Shirley’s, so Karina usually arrived first whenever they met.

Looking at the ring on her finger, Shirley was about to contact Karina to ask about the situation.

At this moment...

"Shirley!"

A sudden cheerful voice came from above her head, and then her vision was engulfed in darkness.

"Ah—Shirley, you arrived so slowly, I’ve been waiting for you forever. Today, should we go east, south, west, or north? Or we could go down as well. I recently heard that there are many interesting things buried underground!"

Karina was perched on Shirley’s shoulders, warmly hugging her head and rubbing it affectionately.

"You!" Shirley almost lost her balance and fell to the ground due to the sudden attack. "Get down right now!"

As she spoke, Shirley pushed Karina away with her hands.

"Eh——" Karina extended the sound, dissatisfied. "No, no, we haven’t seen each other in so long, can’t you show a little affection?"

"How long has it been? The last time we went out together was only five days ago!"

Pushing Karina away, Shirley breathed a sigh of relief, as what bothered her most was how clingy Karina could be.

And it was in the literal sense of "clingy."

"So, where are we going today?" Karina, who had been pushed away, looked at Shirley with a resentful expression.

After tidying up her disheveled hair a bit, Shirley said confidently, "Valley of Despair."