Walking hand in hand with a pair of attractive young women should have been a dream for Lycoris. It was the sort of thing Mizar would joke about when describing the reception they’d receive as heroes—that Lycoris would undoubtedly have all sorts of women fawning over him with his rugged features and scarred physique.

 …Except he was roughly half their height, they were both vampires, and… he was a little girl now. He was also a vampire, technically, but he was trying to ignore that detail as much as he was trying to hide his silver hair. He’d lucked out with them thinking little of his eyes, but no doubt if it were paired with his hair, it’d turn coincidence into pattern, and he couldn’t afford that.

 Why didn’t I just try running away? Now I’m stuck with these two heading to whatever a cafe is. Even if they called the city guard, I probably could’ve outran them… Hell, I even know which sewers to hide in, technically! Augh, I’m so dumb!

 As he shadowboxed with himself inside his own head, he stole a glance up at the blonde woman, Seraphine.

 She’d been energetically swinging his hand back and forth as she walked, humming a tune as they marched through the bustling streets. Her youthful energy was somewhat endearing, but his arm was getting sore.

 He turned to the less intoxicated of the pair, the redheaded Emma, and sheepishly smiled. “Um… Emma?”

 Lycoris gently shook his hand free from hers in order to point at the one Seraphine had in a deathgrip, hoping she’d pick up on his intent.

 “Ah… Hey, Seraphine.”

 “Mmm~?”

 “You might wanna tone it down for the little miss.”

 Seraphine blinked twice, before letting go of Lycoris and rubbing the back of her head. The subtle scent of fresh apples lingered on his hand.

 “Ahaha, my bad. Forgot I wasn’t holding onto my dear Emma.”

 “Honestly…”

 “Are you tuckered out after all this walking, Lyco?”

 “Hm? No, I'm fine. Though I am kind of wondering… how much further is it?”

 “Wow, what a little trooper. Here I thought your legs would be jelly, considering… er.” Seraphine cut herself off, scratching a flushed cheek.

 “Considering…?” he asked.

 “Don’t take this the wrong way but uh… I mean you seem kinda like a noble daughter. That's all.”

 Lycoris froze, the other two walking another couple steps before turning around to look at him.

 “What’s wrong?”

 “H-How did…”

 “Oh, was I right? Ahaha, well… it's pretty obvious, between the clothes you have on and the way you walk. You sorta just radiate that ‘old money’ vibe, ya know?”

 Was I really walking like that? I thought I was acting casually… Ack, what if they put it together with the eyes and… wait, why would a noble be tired after a short walk? Aren’t they supposed to be vampires?

 Lycoris frowned as he puzzled over the newly discovered conundrum. He’d assumed all vampires were superhuman powerhouses, capable of leveling mountains and razing entire villages.

 But… it did make some amount of sense. If every single one of them was capable of such feats, then there’d be no reason to fear and revere the Exaltare. And there’d be nothing stopping them from wiping out all of humanity in a single fell stroke.

 Maybe he and Mizar really could have staged a direct assault on the capital, if vampires were mostly just… normal.

 Maybe Elham’s sacrifice had been for nothing after all…

 “I’m sorry for her behavior, Lycoris,” Emma said.

 He must have been frowning pretty deeply. He shook away the depressing thoughts and forced a composed smile instead. “No it’s alright. I just thought these clothes would be pretty… subdued…”

 “Subdued? The trim on your dress looks like pure gold.”

 “Well… I guess, but—”

 He wanted to say “this is the most subdued thing I could find,” but if anything that would probably deepen the hole he’d found himself in.

 Though, from his perspective, the fluffy intricately-woven white turtleneck, light brown ankle-length skirt, and thick dark brown boots Emma wore were far more elaborate and fancy than a bit of gold leaf.

 “…Actually, that’s not a bad point. Your outfit looks really amazing from my perspective, Emma!”

 She smiled politely in response, giggling with faux-demurity, “Oh? Why thank you!”

 “Hey, hey, what about my clothes, Lady Lycoris~?”

 “…Please don’t call me ‘Lady.’”

 It bothered him just as much as whenever Athena called him “Princess” or “Your Highness.” The maid would probably throw a fit if anyone tried addressing him as anything else, but she wasn’t here, and this was his first chance to be treated remotely normally in months.

 “Aww… *hic* She hates me!”

 “I do not! Y-You look nice… Just, please don’t treat me like a noble daughter right now, ‘kay?” He scrunched his face up in a nervous smile.

 “Yes ma’am!” Seraphine shot a surprisingly crisp salute, though her pose differed from what he was used to in the Goddess’ Rays.

 Ironically, he was more accustomed to this than being treated like royalty—though ma’am instead of sir was a bit… “Ahaha, I’m not your C.O. either.”

 Seraphine playfully stuck her tongue out. “I’m surprised you know what that means. Anyways come on, the shop’s right over there!”

 She grabbed Lycoris’ hand firmly and tugged him along, quite easily forgetting all of her earlier talk of nobles. With Emma following behind them, the trio entered the warm wood-tiled shop with tall planter-covered partitions separating several cushioned seats. There were a myriad of aromas in the air, some bitter, some sweet, but the quiet atmosphere was a welcome reprieve from the noise of the city, even if he’d managed to tune it out.

 It looked like there was a bar counter as well, with a glass display to the side, but it didn’t look like they had any bar seating… so he wasn’t sure where exactly they were supposed to sit or what to do. Hoping that the pair of women would regard his ignorance as normal for a “sheltered noble child,” he allowed them to drag him towards one of the booths.

 After gently pushing him onto the slightly sticky not-quite-leather cushion, Emma sat down right next to him—much to her partner’s dismay.

 “No fair, why do you get to sit next to her?”

 “The fact you even have to ask that question is answer enough. Here you go, Lycoris.”

 Emma handed a stiff folded-over piece of paper to Lycoris. Inside were several artistic yet realistically rendered depictions of drinks and sweets—at least one of which he recognized as one Athena brought by—accompanied by short paragraphs of presumably descriptive text.

 Not only did he not know what at least half the words they used to describe the confections meant, but the longer he sat there, the more pressure he felt from the pair of eyes on him.

 “Know what you wanna get yet, Lyco?”

 “Oh, uh… I can’t re— I mean, I’m not really… sure. Plus, I didn’t bring any money with me. I was just going to meet up with Mom, after all…”

 I can’t tell them that I dunno how to read this! What kind of noble scion can’t read a menu!? Come to think of it, why wasn’t that one of the first things Mom put on the list to teach me…

 “Sera already offered to treat you,” Emma turned to smirk across the table, “right? That is why we’re keeping her tied up here, after all.”

 Seraphine nodded eagerly. “Of course! This place just opened and they’ve already got a ton of positive reviews. I’d be remiss not to treat such an adorable little princess to her first parfait.”

 “P-Princess!?” He spoke perhaps a little louder than was proper for the quiet cafe’s atmosphere. “I, I mean… How’d you know that I’ve never had a parfait before?”

 “You were practically burning a hole in the menu with your eyes.”

 “Psst, Lycoris, you should pick this one,” Emma leaned over to mutter as she tapped one of the images on his menu.

 Lycoris squinted at it, sweat beading on his brow as he scanned the name as quickly as possible. “The… strawberry dee ecks?”

 “Ehhh? But this place’s been pushing their black forest currant as a specialty,” Seraphine pouted. “Plus, that one’s pretty expensive…”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

 “We’re not going to feed her alcohol, Seraphine. And she’s a nob—er… a prim and proper little girl. Meaning it wouldn’t do to hold back.”

 “Fine… you’re placing the orders though.”

 “Alright alright, ya big baby.”

 Seraphine opened up a small handbag and casually tossed a card onto the table, which Emma scooped up along with their menus as she slid out of the booth and headed to the counter.

 “Sooo Lyco~ What’s life like as a noble?”

 With her opportunity secured, the slowly sobering blonde immediately ducked around into the open space right beside Lycoris, looming over her with a broad smile as she began her “interrogation.”

 He didn’t see any particular harm in giving a truthful answer, as he politely began to explain, “Umm… well, I spend most of my time practicing social etiquette and how to present myself properly, or doing combat training… Oh! Recently I’ve started practicing magic more, and Mother helps me study when she has time for it.”

 “Whoa, seriously? …Did you say combat training?”

 “Er… y-yeah. Isn’t that normal?”

 “Hrmm… I guess us commoners do have mandatory service time. I don’t remember seeing any rich folk alongside us at boot camp though. I assume they were all given like… officer training or something. I never really thought about it before, I just assumed they were too important.”

 “Mm, well the nobility in the Kingdom served as army commanders, so its not that big of a stretch to think,” Lycoris mumbled to himself.

 “By the way,” Seraphine glanced down at Lycoris, putting a hand on his hood, “you said you practiced social etiquette, but everyone knows it's rude to keep a hat on inside!”

 He quickly moved his own hands up to clutch his hood. “Th-That’s just… I-I don’t want to stand out. You know?”

 “You already kinda do though…”

 Lycoris fumbled over himself as he desperately tried to come up with a reason to keep the hood up, but nothing came to mind. He briefly considered giving up and just letting her find out. He wasn’t good at lying after all, and the truth would probably be just as unbelievable. He nervously peered up at her lavender eyes, wondering what to do.

 He wasn’t sure if he could trust her. He wasn’t even sure who exactly his mother’s enemies were to begin with.

 Wait, but Mizar and I were… er, I mean we are… no but—

 As Lycoris averted his gaze, trying to figure out how to navigate the mental obstacle course he’d set up for himself, Seraphine gently tugged his hood down and smiled.

 At least, until she recognized what she was looking at. Her eyes widened in bewilderment, her mouth agape as she appeared to fully sober up in a single second.

 “Ack! W-Wait, I can explain, please don’t—”

 “Seraphine! You stole my seat! You’d better not have been doing anything weird to Lycoris.”

 But Lycoris didn’t get the chance to finish, as Emma returned at that moment.

 The blonde in question winced and turned around, covering Lycoris with her back.

 “No, no no we were just uh…”

 “Come on, get up.” Emma looked entirely unamused, beckoning with a hand.

 “S-Sera wasn’t doing anything weird.” Lycoris chimed in after securing the hood back over his head.

 Emma raised an eyebrow as she peered around Seraphine, but relented and sat in the seat opposite the two of them.

 Though, the ensuing silence was deafening, as Lycoris fiddled with his hands in his lap and stared at the table.

 Seraphine similarly scratched her cheek and looked away awkwardly, leaving Emma squinting across at the two of them.

 “…Alright, something obviously happened. I’m not that stupid.”

 “W-We were just—”

 “Lycoris was telling me what ro— noble life is like!? Haha… hahaha…”

 “A-Although I think Seraphine got the wrong impression, h-haha…”

 As Lycoris looked up at his accomplice(?), she trembled in terror.

 I’m not even trying to sound like Mom, and why would she go out looking like a child, without any sort of better disguise!? I mean… I did the best I could but, surely Mom could do better…

 Oh, wait…

 Struck by inspiration, Lycoris cleared his throat, causing Seraphine to nearly jump out of her seat.

 “Erm, promise you’ll keep this a secret, otherwise Mom— Mother will get upset with me, but…”

 Looking around to make sure nobody else was watching, he briefly lowered his hood and exposed his hair to Emma, who… had a remarkably similar reaction to Seraphine. The color drained from her face and her shoulders slumped, like a woman who’d accepted that her life was about to end.

 “Oh.”

 “L-Like I said, it’s not what it looks like! I’m not… you know… Sh-She doesn’t even have a mom! I think…”

 “…That’s true. But, isn’t it a crime to imitate her? Even for a child, it’s not something you should be—”

 “It’s not like this was my decision!” It really wasn’t. “It’s… a curse!” That’s certainly how he originally felt about it. “I’d rather not look like M— the Exaltare.” He… wasn’t actually confident in that, anymore.

 “A curse…?”

 “Y…Yes. I was made to look like this… M-My mother, um… She doesn’t let me go out because of it, but I— we didn’t have a choice, today.”

 “I… see.”

 Emma still hadn’t quite recovered from her shock, but Seraphine seemed far more accepting as she wrapped an arm around Lycoris, pulling her close and rubbing her head.

 “Oh you poor thing! It must be dreadful to be stuck cooped up every day.”

 “Yeah…”

 Lycoris looked away nervously as Emma’s sympathy only elicited feelings of guilt in him. In truth, he didn't exactly mind it. Life in the palace was rather comfy compared to constant drilling, or being on the streets in the cold.

 Fortunately, he was soon released from the awkward atmosphere when a waitress arrived with their orders, and Seraphine released him to focus on her treat instead.

 Served in textured glass goblets, all three were filled with creamy white mush with an assortment of different layered accoutrements stacked atop each. The one placed in front of Lycoris was particularly towering, with cream, nuts, fruit, more cream, and thick red syrup drizzled on top of the whole thing that ran down its sides and pooled at the bottom of the glass, with a proud crown of scarlet strawberries seated at the top.

 It certainly looked… extravagant. Looking at the other two orders, he saw they were served in differently shaped glasses, but looked no less intricately arranged. While it was undoubtedly different, it reminded him of the teacakes Princess Fawaris used to offer when he’d check on her…

 “It’s… like an edible sculpture?”

 “Wanna take a photo, Lyco?” Seraphine pulled her phone out of her bag and waved it.

 “Er, that—”

 “Sera, you can’t be serious,” Emma sighed. “She literally just finished explaining that she’s not even supposed to be out in public, and you want to take a picture? What if someone catches sight of her… you know.”

 Somewhat confused as to how a photo could expose the color of his features—and further flummoxed by how a phone could also perform the same function as a camera—Lycoris opted to wordlessly nod in agreement with Emma as he picked up the long silver spoon.

 He was a little worried about the price, given the lavish presentation and how even the silverware looked immaculately crafted.

 “Awww, don’t you want a pic of Lyco’s reaction though?”

 He turned to raise an eyebrow at her. “Of… eating a parfait?”

 “Of eating your first parfait! It’s like, your first step out into the world, towards independence or something, y’know?”

 The vampire was simultaneously both more and infinitely less correct than she could have realized. It was certainly the first time Lycoris had left “home” since being taken under Lilianna’s wing, but he’d long since accustomed himself to the wider world.

 Even if Vampire society was incomprehensible beyond his wildest delusions.

 “Go on Lycoris, eat up before it starts to melt~” Emma smiled encouragingly.

 “Alright…”

 Defeated, Seraphine set her phone down on the table and picked up her own spoon.

 Without a shred of hesitation, he stuffed a spoonful of sweet cream and tangy syrup into his mouth, the flavor deliciously melting on his tongue as a shock of delight raced over his taste buds.

 It was a strangely familiar flavor, the sudden chill making his head throb ever so slightly, while the sweetness of the syrup warmed his stomach. It was absolutely delicious, and somewhat filling despite its wispy and smooth nature. After suffering through meal after meal of harshly bitter animal blood and vacuous sweets, it was like a salve from the Goddess come to quench his soul.

 Briefly, he wondered why neither Athena nor Lilianna had thought to bring up such a miraculous foodstuff.

 Needless to say, he immediately abandoned the table manners his mother had painstakingly drilled into him, and devoured the towering parfait in record time.

 After he’d crunched on the mixed nuts and started to scoop out the pooled syrup at the bottom, the pair of adults giggled.

 “I think she’s a fan, Emma.”

 “Sure seems like it. I’m starting to regret not letting you take a photo, hmhm~”

 “I think her family would disown her if they caught her acting like this in public though…”

 “Honestly it’s the best endorsement I’ve seen for ditching that artificially sweetened and processed wild animal blood.”

 “…Mm?” Lycoris froze in the middle of a mouthful, his body instinctively trembling as his mind languorously stumbled toward understanding.

 “And it’s cheap too! I guess leave it to a Vanas family subsidiary. Betcha they got some secret to getting every drop out.” Seraphine winked and waved her spoon around.

 “D-Drop…?”

 “It’s ‘cause they’re old money, obviously. They got a lock on the entire industry, honestly it's a miracle that they even decided to share their product with us ‘commoners,’” Emma sighed.

 “Well, even if they’re Traditionalists, it’s not like they think non-nobles are less deserving of human blood.”

 “Yeah but, you know how long it took for them to even open a—”

 Emma stopped mid-sentence, cut off by the sound of Lycoris’ spoon clattering into the glass as his eyes widened in shock and horror.

 The sweetness stuck to his teeth, a chill gripped his heart.

 “Lyco…?”

 Their voices sounded so far away, his heart rate accelerated as a sense of nausea welled up in his gut, the cold spreading to his brow as sweat broke out across it.

 Oh… Right. That’s why it tasted so…

 Remembering just what sort of monsters the women were, and what he himself had become, Lycoris wobbled on his seat…

 …And blacked out.