After meticulously observing his mother’s habits and daily routine for two days, Lycoris finally felt ready to commence his plan.

 Admittedly, it wasn’t a good plan. His objective was to sneak into her room when she wasn’t looking, figure out where Athena was by checking the phone, and then try to reach her before Lilianna found out and dragged him back to dole out punishment.

 Choking down the barely-filled glass of sheep blood, Lycoris coughed and dabbed at his mouth with a cloth as he looked over from the dresser to the cupboard. One shelf had been replaced with animal blood, while Lilianna insisted on leaving the more "palatable" sort untouched, in case the taste ever proved to be too much for him. It was certainly repulsive, and he drank as little as he possibly could, but it was better than the alternative.

 He scrambled over to the mirror and touched his fingers to his lips, checking to see if he’d accidentally smeared his lip gloss. “Hmm, nope. Seems like I’ve at least gotten used to— Oh Goddess, have I really gotten this accustomed to makeup already!? I mean, it does make me look cute, but… why did I even waste time putting it on today? I’m gonna be hiding my face.”

 For the day, he’d chosen a simple ensemble consisting of a long-sleeved white blouse and a knee-length white skirt. Lycoris had intentionally avoided the color blue to make sure he stood out as little as possible, but it looked a little plain on its own, so he permitted a thin blue ribbon fastened into a shoestring tie around the collar. The buttons and seams on the blouse looked like woven gold, but he just had to hope that nobody noticed.

 “Why couldn’t she put anything like normal clothes in my dresser. I’d kill for a simple tunic…”

 Lycoris gently patted the loose bun he’d fastened his hair up into, feeling the wings on the Aphtangloa-crest hair brooch he’d used to hold it in place with. Considering how assured Athena had been that he was his mother simply by looking at his hairs and eyes, the brooch would obviously be an issue if anyone noticed it.

 However, it'd be hidden alongside the rest of his distinctive features, as he’d taken out the knife that his mother had given him and, after using it to stow his trick-scythe inside of himself—a rather arduous and uncomfortable process given its size—he modified a spare set of violet bed sheets from one of the service closets in the hall. The shawl he made wasn’t exactly pretty, but it’d do the job.

 With how much shorter he’d become, it’d cover his brow and hide his eyes as well from any curious-minded adults.

 I guess I should feel grateful for being so petite now… Though now that I think about it, Mom’s not exactly too much taller than me, is she?

 With his disguise secured, and his route… kind of planned out, he just had to get his hands on his mother’s phone. Thankfully she never seemed to use blood storage to tuck it away, perhaps because the enchantments within it were so complex that keeping them intact would be too difficult.

 Thankfully, that meant he had a clear window to pilfer it. Whenever she grew tired of handling deskwork, she’d always check on Lycoris before returning to her room, rest in there for a bit, and then head over to the baths to unwind.

 After assuring Lilianna that he was just fine—and forcing himself to still the embarrassed flutters of his heart when she complimented his progress with foundation and blush—he pulled his hood out from under the sheets and put it on before rushing off towards his mother’s bedroom.

 As he waited inside of a storage closet near his mother’s room, the young recusant began trying to remember the route that he and Mizar had carved on their way in. Lycoris had yet to actually plan how to get out of the Transfixion of Heaven once acquiring Lilianna’s phone.

 He probably couldn’t take the same tack that they’d taken on the way in. Or at least, it’d upset his mother even further if he cut down the rest of her guards. Plus, as he struggled to remember that adrenaline-soaked blur of combat, he could barely even remember which identical-looking halls they’d run through, or where they’d be in relation to his current location.

 Not to mention, killing several servants just to rescue one felt… backwards.

 When did I start worrying about the lives of vampires? He mentally sighed, hugging his knees in the darkness.

 There were more risks to his plan than just its haphazardly stitched together nature. If she somehow noticed him and he got caught, Lilianna would undoubtedly drag him off for an embarrassing mother-daughter bathing session.

 He couldn’t afford to let that happen, for multiple reasons.

 If he were particularly unlucky, it’d be one of the semi-uncommon days that she’d stop by his room a second time and ask if he wanted her to help wash his hair—to which he’d obviously say no. Even if she did that however, he’d probably still have enough time to at least sneak inside and check her phone.

 But she’d immediately be on the prowl for him, which would make stealing out of the palace all but impossible.

 Who would’ve thought her overprotectiveness would prove just as troublesome as her strength and authority? …I still don’t get why both she and Athena obsess over soaps and lotions so much. What’s wrong with just scrubbing the dirt off and running some water over to rinse it away?

 As he let his mind wander through inconsequential thoughts, his ears perked up as the nearby sound of the door creaking open alerted him to Lilianna’s presence.

 …Hopefully she wouldn’t notice that he was right nearby. He genuinely wasn’t sure if she was secretly omniscient.

 If that were the case though, why would she bother having a tracking app on her phone?

 He shook away the thought as he heard her footsteps cross right in front of him. He swallowed his spit and reflexively went to hold his breath when her footsteps approached, remembering that he hadn’t been breathing for the past several hours anyways. He only needed air in his lungs if he wanted to actually speak.

 Burying his lingering disgust, he waited for the sound of her steps to fade down the hall. Ever-so-silently, Lycoris poked his hooded head out of the closet and checked if the coast was clear.

 Seeing nobody around, he darted into Lilianna’s room and was immediately awash with a sense of wrongness. As if merely walking inside without permission was illegal.

 Quashing the feeling of being a naughty child, he looked around and spotted her phone, haphazardly left on the nightstand beside an open book and mostly-empty glass of bloodwine.

 An unpleasant feeling twisted inside him as he stared at the glass. Not because he was still thirsty—he’d purposefully handled that issue beforehand—but it was an unpleasant reminder of what his mom really was.

 At some point, he realized he didn’t want to confront that aspect of her and had chosen to push it aside instead.

 After a moment, he came back to his senses and forced his attention away from the glass, focusing on his actual quarry instead.

 Naturally, the phone was locked. Lilianna had taught him about security passcodes and mana signature recognition and all that, but he didn’t really understand how it all actually worked; he just had to cross his fingers and—for once—hope that he was similar enough to her that it’d grant him access.

 Lifting the phone, the screen automatically lit up as a tiny strip of text at the bottom appeared, along with an icon of a padlock coming undone. He couldn’t read what it said before the message disappeared, but miraculously… or perhaps bizarrely, the phone acquiesced without him having to do anything.

 Did… I break it somehow? Uh oh, if she finds out… Focus, focus Lycoris. You’ve got more important things to do first!

 Shaking away the tension, he did as Lilianna had shown him before and performed the same series of gestures to bring up the… “app” as she called it, capable of tracking her servants' whereabouts. Only, once he did so, he was faced with the realization that he had no idea how to spell Athena’s name.

 He wasn’t completely illiterate, his job as a commanding officer meant that he’d dealt with written reports before, so he knew the alphabet at least. But he’d only learned the bare minimum to handle those reports, and while Lilianna had brought up the fact that he’d have to learn how to properly read and write eventually, she hadn’t exactly given him a crash course yet.

 And of course, he’d never actually seen Athena’s name written out.

 “Just try sounding it out, Lycoris,” he mumbled to himself, “Her name probably isn’t that weird. Let’s see… A-”

 Unfortunately, typing in the first letter brought up a large enough list that the phone froze for a second. There was no chance he’d be able to go through the entire list in the time he had.

 “Eugh… let’s just keep going, umm… ‘th,’ where’s the thorn key…? … … …Weird, I don’t see it at all… Am I misremembering what it looks like? No, that can’t be it. Mmrgh…”

 With impatience mounting at his inability to find the right letter, he decided to change tactics. He tapped the little map icon and began dragging his thumb along the city streets, hoping to find where Athena’s signal was.

 Hopefully, she’d be in the same place as before. His mother had called it a… Volpini Building, or something like that.

 Before long, his anxious swiping revealed the shape of a familiar looking park, and a building with a matching name. And sure enough, within the structure was a small reddish colored dot.

 When he tapped on it, a pop-up appeared with a photo of Athena and a scrolling profile with… a remarkable amount of detail. Not that he could spare the time to read it all, but it didn’t matter—his objective was complete.

 “Yes! Now I just have to get there before they move her… and before Mom comes back.”

 He refused to entertain the possibility that the only thing waiting for him was her corpse. There was surely some means of detecting if the tracked individual was still alive, otherwise her database would be filled with a bunch of dead guards.

 Unless she’s managed to replace them all already, that is…

 Giving the glass of wine a final frown before turning away, the devious little child crept back out of his mother’s room and scampered down the hall.

 Things had gone smoothly so far, but he knew that no good plan survived contact with the enemy. He just had to hope that his next obstacle wouldn’t immediately try to report to Lilianna.

 ＊　＊　＊

 Just outside the ostentatiously gilded double doors stood a pair of guards. There were two stationed there at all times, ensuring that nobody got in—and presumably to ensure that Lycoris couldn’t get out.

 He could tell that one of them was crouched down, while the other was walking around stretching his legs. No doubt they almost never saw anyone pass through, and consequently maintained a fairly lax attitude when not expecting Lilianna to approach.

 That suited his purposes perfectly.

 Cautiously, he pulled down his hood and adjusted his bob slightly to ensure not a hair was out of place. If his assumption was correct, the pair of guards would simply assume he was his mother, just as Athena had. That’d give him plenty of time to deal with them.

 “—do you mean?”

 “I dunno, like… every time she comes back, she’s got this slight smile on her face, her shoulders are more relaxed…”

 “Shit man, she’s probably just glad to be done working. I know I get that way when I’m off my shift.”

 “Yeah, but…”

 “Plus I mean, there’s all that crazy stuff happening lately. Who’d expect not one but two break-ins?”

 “Hey, you know we’re not supposed to—”

 Boldly, Lycoris reached forward and pulled open the doors, clearing his throat loudly.

 “*ahem* And what, might we ask, are you two chatting about?”

 The pair of guards immediately fell silent. He couldn’t see through their reflective helmets, but he could still tell they were reacting with horrified shock.

 One of them was in fact crouched down, while the other was leaning against the walls with his arms folded.

 Or at least, they had been, before he walked out and glowered up at them. Somehow, imitating his mother felt almost natural. He wasn’t sure if he should feel proud or repulsed by that, but this wasn’t the time to worry over such things.

 Both of them snapped to attention and saluted him, the respect and fear in their gesture sending an intoxicating shiver through him.

 “N-N-Nothing, Your Majesty!”

 “We were just—”

 “Lazing about. In front of our private quarters. Which suffered a recent break-in.” He felt rather self-conscious of his voice, unsure whether to try and intentionally deepen it, or to lean into the sonorous songbell tone it had now. “Surely we needn’t remind the two of you as to what fate befell the guards at that time, no?”

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 “N-No, Your Majesty!”

 “Our deepest apologies for allowing our focus to waver for even one millisecond!”

 “R… Right… Then, shape up, you two.”

 He gave them a hard, lingering stare, before starting to march down the hall toward the opposite doorway, walking past the cold metallic elevator doors to his right.

 “Um, Y-Your Majesty?”

 He replied without turning around or breaking his stride, “Yes?”

 “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… why are you so… um… small?”

 Lycoris winced, slowly turning around to face the two of them. In truth, he’d expected them to comment on it. He was noticeably shorter than Lilianna, after all. Part of his reason for choosing the brooch he had was to hopefully convince these two that he was his mother.

 He took a deep breath, and stared daggers into the guard. “That’s none of your business.”

 Answering for his companion, the other stumbled over an apology. “I’m deeply sorry for his unprofessionality, Your Majesty!”

 “As you well should be. Now cease bothering us.”

 In a huff, he marched off through the door opposite them, heading down the hall and clenching his hands in irritation. It’d only partially been acting, he really was slightly irked at being so-literally looked down upon.

 Hopefully he’d put on a good enough performance that they wouldn’t suspect anything, at least.

 Once he realized that he’d been marching forward without express purpose, he stopped and looked at the rows of doors. He’d truly entered unknown territory now, as his objective was to figure out how to get out rather than to the armory that his mother had guided him to before.

 Deciding to simply check the doors one by one, he managed to find a long, twisting spiral staircase down after a few minutes.

 He pressed himself against the wall after taking a single peek over the guardrail, his vision blurring briefly as the knowledge of how high up he was came rushing back in full force.

 “It’s okay. You’re alright, Lycoris. Deep breaths, take it one step at a time.”

 Though, he didn’t actually need the air.

 Carefully pulling up his hood and making sure that his hair was as hidden as could be, he began making his slow descent, keeping his ears peeled for the sound of anyone else entering the stairwell.

 Thankfully, nobody else seemed to be making use of it during his slow descent.

 Lycoris hadn’t checked when he first started descending the stairwell, but when he glanced at his mother’s phone to see if there was a map of the palace’s layout somewhere, he noticed that it’d been at least half an hour since he first pilfered it and started his grand caper.

 He was still in unfamiliar territory, but he had to be getting close to at least somewhere that’d have recognizable landmarks… hopefully. Once he got far enough down, he recognized the floor tiles near the Exaltare’s throne looking similar to the kind these halls had. He'd taken to poking his head out the door every ten or so floors, hoping to find something that could help guide him.

 Eventually he reached the bottom of the stairs and had no choice but to venture into the hallway beyond. Marching quickly along the empty corridor, he soon heard the sound of people talking from the other side of the door.

 The moment he got his hands on the door, he froze. Assuming that it wasn’t just an entire assembly of guards and servants, this would be the first time anyone not belonging to Lilianna’s personal staff would see him like this.

 Granted, he specifically wore a disguise to keep himself hidden, but if anything that just made the anxiety worse as the realization that he’d be perceived by a metaphorical (and possibly literal) army of vampires sank in.

 On top of that, he wasn’t sure what sort of reaction the crowd would have to a random girl walking out of the hallway and joining the crowd, nor did he have any lines prepared if someone decided to approach and ask.

 The thought of turning back briefly crossed his mind, but he chased it away by focusing on Athena’s plight. Her life was far more important than saving face or soothing his social anxiety.

 Sucking in a breath of air to psych himself up, he straightened his back, relaxed his shoulders, and pushed his chest forward as he once more adopted the proper regal posture that Lilianna had drilled into him. Confidently opening the door, he walked out in a faux-casual manner.

 Several faces in the crowd naturally turned to look at him, but nobody raised an alarm or shouted anything; if they were making remarks about him, he couldn’t hear. Purposefully keeping his hood drawn low over his brow and his gaze pointed at the floor to avoid anyone noticing his scarlet eyes, he shuffled through the large hall as he made his way for what looked like the exit.

 Nobody stopped him, but unfortunately when he made it to the exit he only found another open hallway with beige tiling and more of those cold metal elevator doors. Somewhat nervously, he made his way to one and sized up the door, looking at the shoulder-high panel to the side that seemed to be related.

 It looked similar to the display on his mother’s phone, and reminded him of the door to her greenhouse that Athena had accessed before, but he had no idea which of the little apps to press to make the doors open for him.

 Just as he was about to give up and try pushing the little pictures at random—

 “Hello there little lady, need a hand?”

 —A warm, gentlemanly voice shocked his shoulders into stiffening, as he tightly hugged his makeshift shawl around himself as though he’d been caught in the middle of stealing a loaf of bread.

 “U-Uhm…” he stuttered.

 Calm down Lycoris, just think about what’d sound the most natural here. Maybe I can tell him I got lost? …No that wouldn’t fly, this is the Transfixion of Heaven! They don’t just let people wander in here! …Probably. Do I say I got separated from my friend and need to get down? Hmm, but that’d give away that I don’t know how to use the elevator maybe… is it a bad thing if I’m honest about that? I guess I do look like a child. But would such an ignorant kid be allowed—

 “Is this your first time here? You look a bit nervous,” the man interrupted his train of thought.

 Lycoris refused to meet his gaze—obviously; he didn’t want to expose his Aphtangloa features. Instead, he shyly nodded his head and stared at the man’s burgundy pants and polished leather shoes.

 “Y…Yeah. I had some business, and need to get back down now but…” It wasn’t exactly a lie, at least.

 “Well then, shall this humble aide serve as your escort?” The man spoke with the slightest hint of amusement. Like he was playing around with a child.

 “H-Huh!?”

 Anxiety gripped Lycoris’ heart as the man genuflected before him. He quickly turned his head away before the nobleman could look into his eyes, though he at least noticed pale mint-colored hair on his head.

 The stranger only held that pose for a moment, before quickly standing back up and pressing two different images on the panel without waiting for Lycoris to give a proper response.

 Once the doors parted with a slightly cute chime, he stepped over and gestured inside like a chauffeur, standing halfway into the elevator.

 “No need for such concern, I’m headed down as well,” he added.

 “O-Oh, thank you…”

 Lycoris shuffled into the elevator, keeping his gaze pointed at the wall as the man stepped in beside him.

 “You said you were heading to the bottommost floor, Miss…”

 “…Ah? Oh, um, yes.”

 After a moment of awkward silence, the elevator’s doors closed on their own and it began its descent. Despite the fact that the stranger’s posture was relaxed and casual, Lycoris felt an overwhelming pressure in the secluded space. Hoping to calm himself down, he forced his attention away from the other occupant and stared at the furnishing inside.

 The floors were more beige tile, though unlike the marble halls, it was some other slightly bouncy material. The lower half of the walls were covered in carved dark red wood, and above was reflective burnished gold plating starting at waist height—or chest height, for Lycoris. There was a light fixture in the ceiling, as well as a speaker that was playing unfamiliar music.

 They really don’t need live musicians to play music, huh? A luxury within a luxury… but I guess recordings would make it much easier to capture a performance for later.

 “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of making your acquaintance, Young Miss,” perhaps seeing Lycoris look around anxiously, the man decided to break the ice, “My name is Tethos Ochros, if you would grant me the honor of hearing yours.”

 “Huh!? Oh, I’m Lyco—”

 He froze in the middle of exposing himself, realizing he’d been caught off-guard thinking of inane nothings. He clamped his mouth shut and pressed himself up against the wall, pointedly keeping his head turned away from “Tethos.”

 “Just ‘Lyco,’ is it? Your mother must be quite proud of you, for bravely coming all the way to the upper floors of the Transfixion of Heaven for an errand.” There was no trace of sarcasm in the words he spoke, instead just… simple kindness towards a child.

 “Aha ha haha… yeah.”

 Proud? She’s gonna be mad as hell if she finds out I stole her phone and— Wait, did he say Ochros? As in like, one of the Seven? Oh crap.

 “Te—L-Lord Ochros, um… M-My apologies, I didn’t realize…”

 The hooded child began to bow, before realizing that his mother never actually taught him anything at all about how to properly show deference. He couldn’t very well just take a knee like he would’ve as a knight.

 Not to mention, the very thought of it caused a sense of revulsion to well up in his gut.

 Why did it have to be someone so important!? Am I cursed? I’m definitely cursed. Curse that Tatyana, there’s no way that one of her spells didn’t curse me!

 “No no, pay it no mind, Miss Lyco. You’re doing quite admirably despite your nervousness.”

 “Is… it really that obvious?”

 “Ahaha,” his laugh was almost obnoxiously cheerful, like the nobles she knew all-too-well. “You haven’t looked at me even once yet, my dear. I’ve no reason to pry, but it’s written all over your face… Or well, presumably so.”

 Well sor–ry for not wanting to expose the fact I’m Lilianna’s daugh— so— …Whatever!! Why am I even getting so worked up? I’m a grown-ass man! Just cause I’m unarmed, half his size, and need to avoid having my identity uncovered doesn’t mean I should be feeling this anxious, right?

 “What in the world is wrong with me…?” Lycoris sulked.

 In response, the man replied calmly, “I’m sure even at your age, you’ve plenty of worldliness. But you needn’t worry about me. I’m not like those of my family that think blood is the be-all and end-all, in so many ways… if you’re shy about the hue of your hair, rest easy. In here, we are just two people sharing a quiet reprieve. Moments like this are rather rare, and should be savored.”

 Tethos spoke like an adult trying to reason with and calm a child, which only made it all the more frustrating that he was right. Except, to Lilianna’s progeny, this was anything but a calm and quiet escape from the harshness of reality. Especially with the mint-haired man squinting down at his reflection in the gold-plated elevator.

 “If only it were so easy to ignore our differences,” Lycoris sighed.

 “Mm, too true,” the mint-haired man quietly agreed, before deftly pivoting to a new topic, “Did you by chance hear about what happened the other day?”

 “The other… There’s been quite a bit of commotion lately, hasn’t there?”

 He chose a purposefully vague response, avoiding the fact he knew exactly what had happened—and who the intruders had been.

 Not that he knew or cared to find out what the names of the ghouls had been. They were simply pitiful monsters who sold their souls for power and met the end they deserved.

 “It’s been quite the dreadful thing, hasn’t it? I’ve heard whispers that Her Majesty’s grip on the Royal Court has been shaken. It sounds as though people are starting to lose confidence.”

 “R-Really…? That fast?”

 He didn’t have a great grasp on the speed at which things moved in the political world of vampires, but everything that Lilianna had taught him gave the impression that they were far more deliberate and careful with things, matching their gratuitous lifespans.

 “Well, it’s an unprecedented affair! To have our ruler’s seat of power breached twice within the same month is most assuredly due cause for alarm. Honestly, I’m a little surprised they’d be willing to let such a young child in after that. Who can say if the danger has truly passed, after all.”

 Lycoris could feel the man’s gaze attempting to pierce the lilac veil he’d covered himself in, idly wondering if the discoloration of his reflection would be enough to throw him off. He hadn’t commented on it so far, at least…

 “Y-Yeah, I told my mother that it wasn’t safe, what with the humans and all…”

 “Really? Humans?” The man put a white-gloved hand against his chest in shock. “I’d only heard they were rebellious ghouls, seeking vengeance after Her Majesty decried the Sefer’s latest push for labor laws.”

 “Wasn’t that a whole decade ago…?”

 “Something as major as an infiltration of the Exaltare’s seat of power would take at least that long, no?” He’d stepped closer to Lycoris, leaving the child-sized vampire feeling all the more pressured. “Not that it amounted to much, I heard they used some forbidden magic and murdered a great number of the Exalted Guard and then hid inside the palace for several weeks, before being caught and ultimately disposed of.”

 Seriously? But Mizar and I… I guess we didn’t exactly go about it subtly, but did they really cover it up by calling us rebellious ghouls? We’re not ghouls! And Mizar would never fight for the sake of those monsters!

 He clenched his hand tightly around his locket, trembling with barely-contained indignant rage at the thought that their attempt at saving humanity from vampiric tyranny was covered up with something so tepid. It was as though they were dragging Mizar’s name through the mud.

 Lycoris couldn’t let that go, his impulse to defend his friend overriding his reason. But just as he was about to open his mouth…

 The elevator dinged with another cutesy chime, and the doors gradually slid open once more.

 “Ah, it seems we’ve reached our stop.”

 The tension he felt from Tethos vanished in an instant. Snapping back to his senses but still incapable of controlling the roiling emotions inside him, Lycoris hurried out of the elevator to escape, without even a wave goodbye.

 Blending into the crowded lobby area to escape the curious nobleman’s leering gaze, he made his way towards the towering front doors, eager to head back outside for the first time in weeks.

 ＊

 “Well well well, I hooked quite the big fish now, didn’t I? Here, I thought there was something odd about her, but the fact she knew about the humans… And she’s only a child?”

 The minty-haired man grinned like a devious fox as he straightened the jet-black tie, standing out against his white gloves and shirt.

 He briefly contemplated following after her, but intuition told him that would be unnecessary. Tethos already knew exactly where she was going. It was far, far too strange to be mere coincidence. She could do whatever she wished with the thin-blooded maid. That piece of bait had already far surpassed his expectations.

 “But… where did you crop up from, and who are you really, my little silver-petaled ‘Lyco?’”