The rest of Lycoris’ evening passed without incident, though the girl found herself quickly flagging after returning to the upper floor ballroom, her earlier dose of adrenaline rapidly evaporating. Perhaps it was just because of how stuffy a room packed with nobles always ended up being—the perfumes or… whatever—but she couldn’t stifle a yawn as she waited for Lilianna to finish conversing with her current companion.

 She’d been startled to see her mother actually dancing and talking to some of the other vampires—including ones that’d introduced themselves to her earlier.

 And of course, having their attention shift to Lycoris once more made her lock up and become a wallflower. Even though she’d done fine speaking to the lesser nobles, the initial reception from the Speaker left her too nervous to strike up a conversation with any of the truly important and powerful people. To say nothing of her concern if she slipped up at all.

 Lilianna had quickly taken notice of her, however. After ending her conversation with Margravine Tamisrah, who was dressed in something closer to business attire than ballroom clothing, she approached her daughter to escort her back to the Elysian Sanctum—their private wing.

 Lycoris was quite thankful to have an excuse to shuffle away from the son of Margrave Mano. Arnen Mano was one of the younger individuals in the upper ballroom, but still a full hundred years older than her.

 The idea that he was at least twice her age and yet spoke like a starry-eyed (if politely restrained) child to her about everything from their family’s orchards to the purity of the latest batch of rubies they’d just had shipped in—with a subtle nod asking if she had any interest in them as he brought up her lack of adornments—left Lycoris flummoxed.

 Of course, he withdrew with a polite bow and some vacuous words when Lilianna walked over, saving Lycoris the trouble of having to escape to her side. Leaving the party in her mother’s company was mildly embarrassing—she was pretty sure there was no need for Lilianna to hold her hand—but at least it meant that she didn’t have to worry about whether or not she was committing some sort of social faux pas.

 But when they reached Lycoris’ room, Lilianna kept escorting her down the hall.

 “Mm? Where are we going?”

 “There was one more thing we wanted to show you tonight, my sweet little flower. Are you too tuckered out? Little Arnen certainly seemed enthused this year. Typically he tends to avoid speaking out. Perhaps he felt emboldened by how you handled Lucretia’s uncle.”

 “No, I’m fine. …Though I wasn’t expecting children to play politics too… Who’s Lucretia?”

 To Lycoris’s surprise, Lilianna hesitated, a wry smile crinkling across her face. “She is… A handful. We are quite thankful that, though you’re her junior, you are far more composed. But enough about that, We’re sure you’d rather be anticipating the first of three presents we have for you.”

 “Present…? Is that part of the banquet?”

 Lycoris furrowed her brow as they continued down the hall, past both the training hall and Lilianna’s private garden, heading further than Lycoris had any reason to go before. It reminded her of when Lilianna first brought her to the armory to pick a weapon.

 In a sense, that’d been the second gift Lilianna gave her. The first was… a little too embarrassing to admit, but as the still-novel warm feeling filled Lycoris’ chest, she looked up at her mother.

 “Well, no, but your birthday coincides with Moonsend. We thought it fitting to celebrate your birth across all three days of Moonsend. There’s certainly no shortage of birthdays to make up for.”

 “Make up for… how?”

 “Are you… Surely you’ve celebrated your birthday before?”

 Lycoris nervously shook her head. She’d been invited to Fawaris’ on occasion, before the King relieved her of her position, but she never had a reason to do anything special for her own.

 “Do those wretched barbarians not even have such traditions!? No matter, it simply means our plans to make up for lost time are just that much more poignant.”

 “You know, I’m… I used to be human too.”

 Lilianna gave her a placid smile, “If you say so, dear.”

 “…So, um. What’s my present supposed to be?”

 “A surprise, dear. You’ll find out soon enough. And I’m sure there’ll be many more gifts arriving from the other noble families to celebrate your formal debut…”

 “Did you pick a day near my birthday for my introduction on purpose?” Lycoris squinted up at her.

 “It was simply the best opportunity, and a lucky coincidence besides.”

 Turning away with an innocent look, Lilianna stopped in front of another pair of gilded doors, though these had an access panel beside them reminiscent of the elevators’. There were only two options, and an indicator of the current time on it as well.

 She placed her hand against the panel and allowed it to scan her mana signature, pressing the prompt with the little moon icon. The doors opened and revealed an elevator so basic, there wasn’t any sort of ambient music playing from the speakers.

 “What sort of gifts do they usually give to… Heir-Significates?”

 “Hmm… Perfumes, jewelry, fine clothing, luxury liquor… Things that are relatively safe to give without knowing the tastes of the recipient.”

 “They’d give alcohol to a child?”

 “Hahaha, I see our daughter has come to terms with her tender age.”

 “I have not!” Lycoris pouted in a decidedly child-like manner. “I mean, rather… They wouldn’t have any reason to think I’m not, though.”

 “Well… typically the title is granted to heirs that are a couple hundred years older. You are the first genuine ‘princess’ in Vampire history.”

 Lycoris fell silent as she contemplated just how astounding of a fact that was. Vampiric history spanned a much greater length of time than Human history, given their longer lives and more advanced record-keeping. That said, she knew time eroded all things, and the further back one looked the more inaccuracies inevitably appeared. That was why the Goddess’ teachings were so precious, as they’d spanned beyond the lengths of known history.

 But still, the fact she was the first one…

 “That’s a lot of pressure to put on someone…”

 “Never fear, Lycoris. Your mother is right here by your side. We would never think of making you walk such a road alone.”

 Lilianna squeezed her hand, and Lycoris leaned against her mother. It was strange, feeling so reassured by a few simple words. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to relying on someone so completely. Not that she had been left with any other choice.

 Nor would she willingly make a different choice now.

 “Life really is strange…”

 “Nothing truly can prepare you for every twist and turn it’ll take,” Lilianna agreed. “That’s why it’s important to have those you can trust at your side. On that note…”

 Lycoris shivered as her mother’s saccharine tone grew ever so slightly more serious.

 “Outside of darling little Arnen, who did most of the speaking, we noticed that you didn’t spend all that much time socializing.”

 “Th-That’s… because of what I did to the Idra guy. I was worried how people would react. The reception I got on the lower floor was pretty positive, at least.”

 “Oh? Do go on. Tell us about our little flower’s first celebration.”

 Lycoris bashfully cleared her throat, starting off timidly. By the end of her recounting of how she’d won over the audience, however, she was puffing her chest out proudly. It was something worth taking pride in, after all—she’d managed to avoid fumbling over herself even though she’d never danced before.

 As she finished, her mother let go of her hand to clap cheerfully, before scratching her chin.

 “Choosing those commoners sends a rather particular message, but… Hmm, I suppose it’s not the worst position to take. Building popularity with the chaff means an in through the Sefer, and you’ve already positioned yourself counter to the Idra. If we have you show magnanimity to them next, we can demonstrate that your stances are the same as our own. But that seems like a bit of a waste, when we could instead position you more favorably with the Progressives than ourselves. You don’t have any particular expectations from or ties to Drimus like we do, after all. If we chip away at the Traditionalists’ power bloc—”

 When her mother began hypothesizing future political maneuvers, Lycoris felt herself deflate somewhat. It was, admittedly, a weakness on her part that she chose not to think too far ahead when it came to matters other than combat.

 “—but that would mean Lucretia would be your best avenue… No matter, that’s a problem to solve next year. Do you see now why we didn’t waste time on dance lessons?”

 Lycoris snapped back to focus, shaking her head. “Not really…”

 “Because it is already second nature to you, dear.”

 “You could’ve said something, though.”

 “Do they not hold banquets in Human lands, either?”

 Her mother looked down at her with genuine curiosity.

 Something Lycoris learned over the past several months was that Lilianna truly had no idea what life was like in Human society. Lycoris had admittedly been averse to talking about it, but not just because her memories of her past had grown somewhat murky. Dredging up a lifetime of unpleasant and painful memories she’d at one point tried to bury with the bottle was hardly something she wanted to do, even in the safety of her mother’s presence.

 “They do, but… I only coordinated security. It’s not like the guards here were doing any dancing either.”

 “We would have them disciplined for doing so, yes,” Lilianna nodded in agreement.

 The conversation had naturally died down by the time the elevator reached its destination, a sudden alarm stifling the yawn Lycoris was in the midst of. Naturally, Lycoris’ first instinct was to panic, but Lilianna placed a hand atop her head reassuringly as she operated the security panel once more.

 As the doors opened and a gust of freezing air rushed in, Lycoris flinched and hugged her shoulders.

 Beyond was… a rooftop. There wasn’t much in the way of decor, just tall dark-black gothic style railing around the edges and smooth concrete for a floor.

 But what captured Lycoris’ attention wasn’t the bland roof, but the sky high above.

 No gloomy clouds hung overhead. Instead she witnessed a long-forgotten blanket of twinkling and dancing lights, though many of them were either dim or absent, with the radiant moon hogging the sky.

 It looked slightly bigger than she remembered, or perhaps that was simply because they were that much closer to it than Lycoris had ever been before.

 “Whoa…”

 She couldn’t resist gasping in awe, as though this was the first time she’d ever seen the night sky.

 One might argue that wasn’t entirely incorrect.

 Lycoris almost immediately forgot the cold as she walked out, twirling around as she took in the sparkling stars that greeted her. It immediately reminded her of the times they’d been able to camp on open ground and witness the night sky unmarred by the evening lamps of civilization.

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 She felt a slight twinge of dizziness as her attention was drawn back down to earth by the Exaltare’s chuckle.

 “Take care not to step too close to the railings, dear. They aren’t kept properly maintained as this location is off-limits to all but ourself.”

 “What happened to the clouds?”

 In response, Lilianna simply pointed to the side, and as Lycoris gazed out past the metal bars, she noticed lumpy black hills rolling all around them, lined with silver light.

 “We’re… above them…” she muttered.

 “Our palace is not called the ‘Transfixion of Heaven’ for naught, after all. This is the highest point in all the world, save perhaps for a mountain or two that we have not yet leveled.”

 “Why would you do that?”

 “It wouldn’t do for there to be a taller structure, natural or otherwise, than our palace.”

 She couldn’t tell if the woman was joking or not, but decided against asking if she’d ever actually leveled a mountain before.

 It wouldn’t have surprised her if she had at least ordered it, if not seen to it personally…

 “It’s beautiful…”

 If this was her gift, it was certainly a special one.

 “Now then, as for your first gift… We suppose we should begin with a demonstration.”

 “Why do I get the feeling this is secretly another lesson?” Lycoris asked with a hint of suspicion.

 Lilianna smiled vaguely and reached behind her back to fiddle with her dress, unbuttoning some sort of flap or sleeve at her waist.

 In a rare gesture, she inhaled slowly and closed her eyes, and a moment later Lycoris gasped and tripped over backwards as she witnessed her mother in fullness.

 From her back, Lilianna sprouted a pair of sterling silver wings that caught the moonlight and glittered. Flexed to their full length, they were twice as long as she was tall, the scarlet interior making them look like a natural cloak, amplifying her already-imposing aura.

 With a mighty flap and great gust of wind, she nimbly leapt from the ground and soared over Lycoris, flying around above her as she twirled and rolled. She looked like she was enjoying herself.

 After stretching her wings, Lilianna touched down in front of her daughter once more, the moon high overhead casting her shadow across the small girl.

 But rather than feeling terrified, Lycoris was struck by how gorgeous her mother looked in that moment. Her wings spread wide, a serene smile on her face, Lilianna looked as though she knew exactly what her place was in the world. As though everything was simply in its correct state.

 Her wings fluttered and folded around her waist like a skirt as she stepped forward and knelt in front of her daughter, placing one hand atop her head as she grasped her wrist with the other.

 “Our present for our precious daughter’s forty-sixth birthday is the gift of flight. They say it’s important to teach it early, or else you’ll struggle to develop the proper muscle memory for it.”

 “Fli— I have wings!?”

 “Any vampire with blood purer than third generation does; though, they do not form immediately at birth. While a faux-pas to unveil them in polite company, it is the simplest and purest sign of one’s status as true nobility.”

 Thoughtlessly, Lycoris reached forward and gently brushed her fingertips against one of her mother’s wings, feeling the fine hairs coating them. They were incredibly soft, like an adolescent rabbit.

 She gave in to the urge to pet them, pressing her hand into it as she slowly rubbed the furred wing.

 “Can you… feel them?”

 “Of course, they’re a part of our body, after all.”

 Lilianna chuckled at her daughter’s naivete, startling her by flexing her wings out once more before scooping Lycoris up into an embrace with arms and wings alike.

 It was remarkably warm, like a blanket had been draped around her; the thought made her feel a twinge of embarrassment.

 While she was distracted by the sensation of a warm, living blanket wrapped around her, Lycoris felt her mother reach down and fiddle with buttons on the back of her dress as well.

 Suddenly, the folds on the back of all her clothing made a lot more sense…

 “Would they really… be grown in though? I mean, I’ve never noticed them or anything. And it’s… only been half a year, so…”

 “We’re sure you’re nervous, little flower, but it’ll be as natural as blinking after you’ve felt them once. ‘Tis no different than riding a bicycle.”

 “What’s a bicycle?”

 “…Let us focus on the wings, for now.”

 Lycoris wasn’t convinced, but she’d come to know better than to question her mother. There’d yet to be an occasion where Lilianna fumbled or found herself at a loss. Even when speaking about humans, her conjecture was uncannily precise with just a few details given.

 “Then… um,” Lycoris peered shyly up at Lilianna, “what do I do?”

 “Right,”

 Lilianna placed her hands on Lycoris’ shoulders and stepped back, flexing her wings out once more, wagging one of them like an arm.

 “Try to visualize an extra pair of arms around your lower back. Think of yourself stretching them out in the morning after waking up, and slipping them through the sleeves of your garment. It’ll feel much the same as when we were first teaching you how to draw upon the mana in your body.”

 Lycoris nodded and closed her eyes.

 The comment about mana felt like a hint, even if it was something physical she was creating. Perhaps it was the same principle as blood storage, and extracting something from within herself. Except in this case it wasn’t a foreign object, but a part of her own body.

 Though it reinforced the unpleasant notion of “Vampire” in her mind, she couldn’t help but feel her heart swell upon seeing her mother sail through the skies.

 Taking a deep breath, Lycoris tried to hold the image of her mother standing before her in her mind as she directed her focus to her back. She felt the mana in her veins, directing it toward her back, felt the pressure build… until a sudden wave of heat washed over her as a slight feverish discomfort tugged at her mind.

 To continue her mother’s analogy, it was as though she were trapped beneath bed sheets pulled too-tight around her, and she’d only just realized it after waking up. The sense of discomfort only grew more pronounced, until she did just as her mother suggested, and “stretched” her arms. A shiver ran up her spine as the heat inside her was instantly replaced with a frigid sensation, the expanded surface area coming in contact with cool air causing her to tremble.

 Without even thinking, Lycoris opened her eyes and hugged herself with a gasp, her own wings wrapping around as well.

 She blinked as her mother clapped in delight, feeling a hint of dizziness as she stumbled to maintain her balance.

 The sudden new sensation of an extra pair of limbs was profoundly strange. Like raw skin beneath a sore or around a wound, she was hyper-sensitive to everything they came in contact with.

 “See, dear? It’s a natural instinct, of course you’d be able to do it. Especially since we… had you tackle things backwards, in a sense.”

 “Oohhhh…”

 Lycoris barely paid any attention to her words, instead looking down at her own wings. She ran a hand along the edge of one, trembling as she felt the newly created—Emerged? Spawned?—fluff against her fingers.

 “H-How am I supposed to fly with these though? They feel so ticklish…”

 “…You will get used to it in time.”

 Completely enraptured by the literal growth of a functional pair of extra limbs, Lycoris timidly stretched her wings out, poking and flexing and curling and flapping them like a confused fawn stumbling about. She found it rather difficult to imitate the gestures her mother had shown off, her hands bumping into her wings and her sense of spatial awareness and balance being thrown off. Even just folding them around in front of her like an apron was challenging enough.

 Still, she quickly began trying everything she could manage with them. Despite her earlier exhaustion, she’d found quite a bit of energy tucked away alongside the new appendages.

 Lilianna watched on with an easygoing smile, seeming quite entertained by her daughter’s confusion and amusement.

 “We haven’t even begun explaining yet, and already this is the most enjoyable this night has been since you flung that bastard about.”

 “Huhwha?”

 “Have you gotten used to them yet? We’d like to teach you how to actually make use of them if so.”

 Lycoris frowned and raised an eyebrow up at her. “Are you seriously asking someone who’s lived for forty-six years almost if they’re adjusted to suddenly sprouting wings?”

 “Forty-six years isn’t exactly all that long compared to four thousand one hundred and ninety-two, darling. We were a child once too, and though it was quite long ago, remember the excitement we felt in discovering new things; surely you would like to know how to make use of those lovely little limbs, no?”

 Lycoris hesitated, thinking about what exactly that sort of education would entail. She’d gotten so excited, she forgot where flying was generally done.

 And where the two of them were currently standing.

 The girl hung her head, her wings drooping naturally beside her.

 “Um, actually… I’m… not sure how to say this. I don’t wanna disappoint you, but… I’m… kind of, bad with heights.”

 “…”

 “…”

 A cold breeze blew across the rooftop.

 “Even climbing trees is pretty tough for me… Looking over the edge of castle ramparts often made me nauseous, too.”

 “Th-Then how on Earth are you fine up here!?”

 It was the first time Lycoris heard her mother’s voice crack.

 “Mm… Unless I really think about it, the clouds look more like muddy hills. I think it’s more about being able to see the ground. Though, there was that bottomless ravine…” She shivered, thinking back to that horrible adventure beneath the surface. “Is there nowhere indoors we could practice? Or like, maybe a field somewhere nearby?”

 “We could forcibly vacate a park for a day… but that would draw too much attention. What if we held you whilst flying? That is typically the first step regardless.”

 “I don’t think that’d be any better. If anything it might be worse. What if you drop me!?”

 “We won’t. And if you somehow fell, we would catch you regardless. Your life will never be in danger so long as we are around.”

 “W-Wait, put me down! I didn’t agree to this!”

 Lilianna ignored her daughter’s complaints as she reached forward and scooped her up, hugging her from behind as the girl squirmed around in her grasp.

 “Lycoris, you’ll be okay. We aren’t going to drop you. Please, stop… squirming around. You are making this quite difficult.”

 “Ah… mmgh… nnn…”

 Lilianna had only just picked her up and was holding her up under the arms, but even just the thought of her mother suddenly taking off with her held like that was… She’d rather go through four back-to-back teleportation circles.

 It’d probably be less nauseating than how she felt at the moment.

 “Y-You know what, I think I wasn’t made for flying after all! Can I put these away? Actually, how do I even put them away?”

 “We’re not even holding you above our head, dear.”

 After several seconds of flailing in place and flapping her wings like a startled pigeon, Lycoris finally settled down. She had agreed to follow whatever terms her mother set, knowing that she only had her best interests at heart, but…

 “I thought presents were supposed to be nice! P-Please, I’m scared…”

 Her legs had gone numb from trembling.

 Firmly defeated by her daughter’s overwhelming fear of heights, Lilianna slowly lowered her back down into a calming hug. She slowly caressed her daughter’s head as she stared up at the moon.

 “We thought the scenery would make for a momentous backdrop for your first flight.” The disappointment in her voice was soul-crushing. “Apologies, Lycoris. We were unaware you had such a phobia.”

 “I’m sorry Mama. I didn’t realize… I should’ve… If I knew sooner I wouldn’t have… ruined your gift.”

 “It’s alright, Lycoris. You did nothing wrong,” her mother said softly. “We shall find another means to teach you to fly, and help you overcome this weakness.”

 “B-But…”

 “At the very least, you still have the sight of the night sky and those wings. There will always be more opportunities in the future, dear.”

 Lycoris fell silent, her ear filled with the sound of Lilianna’s heartbeat as she was held against her breast.

 Only when they entered the elevator did she find herself calming down at all, as stress, fatigue and relief freed her from the disappointment in her chest by pulling her consciousness under the blanket of comforting darkness, before her mother could even return her to her room.