The Vampire Empress.

Slowly, light leaked out from the darkness before the sight of a familiar roof became clear. Two heavy hands rested on both of mine which confused me as I turned to my left to see Ayaka holding my hand, sleeping dearly on it while to my right was the Demon Queen who seemed to have exhaustion on her face.

As if noticing me waking up, she immediately snapped awake. Her gaze turned towards me as she immediately hugged me tight, “You are finally awake! Thank goodness…” which confused me a bit as it was not like her to do something like that.

“How long was I unconscious?” I asked.

“You were unconscious for around ten days, my lady,” the door opened to the sight of Felice entering together with Leo and Iana. The three had solemn looks on their face as the three of them bowed down deeply, “We apologize for our grave mistake, my lady!”

“It’s not your fault, what was the reason why I fell unconscious?” I looked at Helesta who had a more solemn look on their face than the three of them. After nearly a minute, she took a deep breath and showed a wry smile as she replied.

“That was because the apple that was used in the recipe was a special apple that increases one's mana, my servants told me that it wouldn’t have any effect which I took granted but to think that your body was already near its capacity limit and like a flood, the apple’s effects caused your mana to go beyond your body’s capacity.”

“To fight back, your body immediately knocked you unconscious and started using all the energy inside your body to forcefully increase its mana capacity which ended up with you breaking through your original limits, according to the physicians at my kingdom,” she answered.

Her answer matched what that idiot God told me which means she really has some talented physicians, though I hear quite a unique way of imagining how mana and mana capacity on your body looks. A flood, huh… so you can think of your body as a large dam and the mana being the water, during a heavy storm or in this case, a sudden increase of mana, the water or the mana would rise to the extent that the dam may or may not be able to take it all in.

But then there’s the issue… if we think of the body like a dam, why didn’t it use the floodgates to release the excess… or in this case, why didn’t my body let out as much mana as it could instead of building a higher capacity.

“I understand. I don’t blame you since I got quite the benefits from it. How about the three of you, was there any news over the town while I was unconscious? How is the new housing plan going and has a market been set up already?” I asked.

“While you were unconscious, my lady. Her Majesty Helesta voluntarily took over the affairs of the town with the assistance of Iana and Felice, the three discussed with the designers, Kyle, Aitsuki, and Mitsuki over the new housing plan and have started the project with all of their designs approved.”

“As for the market, a new one has been set up near one of the busier parts of the town which Her Majesty Helesta deemed was the best spot as the civilians don’t have to walk far to reach the marketplace in the morning,” Leo answered while still on his knees.

That makes sense, Helesta taking over affairs is also understandable since if there was anyone else who was better at politics and all those stuff then it would be her since she is the head of possibly the strongest kingdom in the continent. A marketplace near the busiest parts of the town is also sensible but that will also lead to problems where many would wake up early to the noise but that’s something they can adapt to.

“Thank you for your service while I was unconscious,” I looked at the Demon Queen with a smile before looking back at Iana and the others, “How is the situation over at the guards, is the security of the town guaranteed now, is there any news from the outside?”

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“The security of the town is well-stable now, my lady. Many of the former adventurers and guards of the past have taken up their swords once again and started working, some went to being hunters while others went to becoming carpenters, guards, and escorts,” Felice answered.

“The economy is also flowing nicely with the help of the early volunteers' program which brought in early revenue for people to spend with and restart the circulation of the economy. As for the news outside, there has been one major change that might affect us, do you wish to hear about it?” Iana replied with more confidence than she had back when we started.

“You don’t have to ask, go ahead and shoot it,” I answered before she nodded.

“The Kingdom of Resa has declared war upon its neighboring kingdom, Melaisa over a conflict that was said to have been caused by Melaisa. The conflict was their knights suddenly intruding over their territory while their princess was being escorted back, the Resa Kingdom inquired them, but Melaisa gave no response which led to the declaration of war,” Iana replied.

War huh… I tend to forget that this was not the same world that I lived in the past. I can only imagine the amount of bloodshed that will be spilled over the war, the number of graves that will be pop up, and the people who will be displaced because of the chaos.

“Prepare the town to receive a little bit of refugees, but make sure to place a limit over how much refugee. Prioritize the ones who can sustain themselves and can work themselves, we don’t want to receive refugees who will simply become people living in the slums and end up dying,” I ordered immediately before all three of them saluted.

I can only hope that the kingdom doesn’t get involved in this war since that would be chaotic, especially considering that it hasn’t been long since I arrived in this world and my powers are still lacking enough to protect Ayaka and the others.

“That war was already expected since a long time ago though, the Prince who was studying as an exchange student over at Resa had fallen in love with the Princess who had a secret crush over at another girl who was in love with the Prince. You could say, their relationships were chaotic and with that, the two kingdoms will also be chaotic,” Helesta sighed.

“You mean to say that the Princess swung that way like you?” I widened my eyes to a bit of surprise as she rolled her eyes.

“Indeed, she swung that way, but she wasn’t opposed to the other sex as I do. She knew that she would eventually have to give up her ways and kept herself at bay which is, in my opinion, a bit sad,” she showed a bitter smile.

She is right, the right of choice was not allowed with a Princess like her. Eventually, she would have to be betrothed to a Prince and live her life either as a Duchess or a Queen which is the fate that most Princesses I read have.

Amidst my thoughts, the little girl who was resting peacefully on my hand suddenly woke up, rising up as she rubbed her eyes before looking at me with surprise. Immediately, she jumped towards me and hugged me tighter than ever, “Mamaaaaa!”

“Yes, yes… Ayaka, can you please release me at least a bit?” I patted the little elf’s hair; it felt a bit weird as the words of that God suddenly appeared on my mind. If I were to take a DNA test which in this world would be a mana sampling test with Ayaka, she would come up as my biological because of the system… knowing that made me feel a bit weird.

It’s not that I oppose having Ayaka but it’s the fact that she is being considered as my biological even though I didn’t give birth to her whatsoever. Not to mention, a vampire having a biological elven child with no father… that’s pretty weird, don’t you think? And to add up, her hair and eyes don’t even match mine.

My body heaved a tiny sigh unconsciously while accepting the fact that the system is flawed but what can we do about it other than to swallow it… It’s not that I hate it anyway, Ayaka is precious to me since she was the one who gave me a bright star after coming to this unknown world.

“Mama… I miss you,” she hugged me even tighter with Leo, Iana, and Felice immediately nodding to each other as they saluted and left the room silently. Helesta stayed here and continued to watch over the two of us as Ayaka continued letting her tears flow.

After a few moments, she soon stopped crying as she rested on my legs while I caressed her hair. The door opened to Felice and Iana holding a wooden plate with some porridge and a few cups of water and milk.

“Leo has said he will continue to watch over the affairs of the town, the two of us decided to make some porridge for you, my lady to help you get back to health again. The milk is for Lady Ayaka but you can take it if you like,” Felice said as she and Iana placed the things on a table near my bed.

“Thank you for your hard work, the three of you can retire for the day if you like. Tell the knights and the others to also retire if they want,” I said before the two of them saluted, leaving the room as I tried to take the plate only for my hand to shake a bit too much.

It seems like sleeping for ten days with my body constantly draining all my energy took a toll over my body, Helesta immediately noticing that took the plate instead and suggested, “I can at least feed you while you are in this state, right?”

“Are you still asking?” I chuckled a bit before waking Ayaka up, “Ayaka, before you sleep, please drink your milk so you can grow healthy.”

The little girl woke up a bit and nodded a bit drowsy but still followed my words as she looked around the words before noticing the milk, drinking it as Helesta scooped the porridge with a spoon before looking at me with an expectant gaze.

I felt a bit embarrassed about being fed but there was nothing I could do about it but swallow it down as I turned off my pride and ego for the day and allowed myself to be fed before resting on my bed with Ayaka hugging me like the cute little girl she was.

“Goodnight, Aya,” Helesta who finished feeding me smiled with her beautiful wings flapping a bit like a happy dog which made me giggle unknowingly. Her tail was also wagging but that’s another thing for another day as I looked at her and smiled.

“Thanks for the help, but don’t get your hopes high. I still don’t accept you,” I laughed a bit before she pouted before leaving the room as I looked at Ayaka and kissed her forehead with a smile, falling asleep soon after.

And like that, another ten days passed by as the next month soon arrived like a storm bringing a lot of troubles, opportunities, hardship, and friends… but that’s a story that will be unfolded, slowly but surely over time.