Sitting up straight in her throne, drumming her fingers against one of its armrests, Lilianna listened with displeasure as her loyal blade delivered a report.
More and more lately, she’d felt the doldrums of her job grating at her, every moment a reminder that she could be with her precious little flower instead. She recognized it as a problem—she couldn’t very well hand the keys to the empire off to someone else—but that didn’t make it any less obnoxious that this report really could have been an email instead.
Lycoris had been surprised that vampires rarely wrote anything down in a permanent capacity, but their race lived long enough that they had all the time in the world to spend sharing information verbally instead.
It only became a problem for the Exaltare now that she was in a situation where every second mattered. Her daughter’s naivete and innocence would only last so long, after all!
But she couldn’t demand Lesath submit a written or digital report instead. Such an outlandish demand would raise suspicion for far too many reasons.
And this was something important.
Apparently a ghoul from the Sefer Family had brought the two intruders in. Naturally his life had been swiftly ended, and the courtier in charge of his visits to the palace was apprehended and brought in for questioning. But according to Lesath, the man was oblivious to this scheme and had never met the two ghouls who’d accompanied his own.
The fact he decided to let them in anyways was enough justification to strip him of his holdings, if not execute him outright. Given that, there was little reason to doubt the veracity of his words, but she still deemed it necessary to interrogate him personally.
“Is he still being held in one of the interrogation rooms?”
“Yes, ma’am. Shall I have him brought before you?”
“Please.”
“At once, then.”
The woman, whose countenance was sharper than a blade, stood up straight and pivoted on her heel, her short hair bobbing as she marched to the door.
As she opened it, a familiar blue-haired and gold-eyed maid stood there with a troubled look on her face. Lilianna felt the temperature in the room drop as she completely ignored the Executioner and rushed into the grand reception hall.
“Forgive my supreme discourtesy, Your Majesty, but I bear an urgent report! …F-For your ears alone.” She turned around to look at the hall filled with staring eyes all focused on her.
Lilianna felt a twinge of anxiety, an emotion quite foreign to her these days. She mastered herself quickly, masking the unnecessary feeling with her deepening irritation. This was twice in the same day that her usual proceedings had been interrupted. Had this woman already failed Lycoris somehow?
“What is it?”
“Hiieee! U-Um w-well, uh…” Athena glanced over her shoulder at the bewildered ash-haired butcher, swallowing her spit. “It’s about… you know…”
“We understand,” The Exaltare snapped her fingers, “everyone, leave. Immediately. Return only once we permit you to. Failure to comply will be treated as an act of sedition. We trust you to understand what to do to any dissenters, Lesath.”
“Ma’am!”
At her command, every single guard and courtier rushed out, leaving just her and the quivering maid. It was almost nostalgic, reminding her of a scant few weeks ago when she’d first encountered her darling Lycoris in this very room.
“Speak. If it is serious enough to warrant interrupting our affairs, hold nothing back. We’ll decide what we do with thee after.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty. It’s about…” she looked around the empty room, before shuffling right up to the throne and muttering quietly, “Lycoris.”
“Obviously. Cease stalling.”
“R-R-Right! My apologies! Um… Well it turns out… she… she seems to have developed hemophobia.”
“What.”
“Hiiiieeee! I-I’m being quite serious, I’m afraid. She hadn’t touched any of the blood left in her room, and after downing another glass she… screamed again. I was forced to use a sleep spell on her and put her to bed. M-My infinite apologies! If I had known that’s what had set her off before, I would have informed Your Majesticiousness of it immediately!”
“Is that what it was…”
“A-Also she was… v-very insistent that she was a human. I'm not sure what sort of entertainment she's been watching but surely that's inappropriate behavior for a princess of her age, no? N-N-Not to say that Your Majesty has somehow failed to raise a perfectuous little girl! But… I think she might’ve been… c-cursed by those ghouls.”
Lilianna placed a hand to her head, brow furrowed in deep displeasure and pain. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that Lycoris would starve herself for weeks on end. All her time with her daughter had been exclusively spent imparting every bit of knowledge she’d need to present herself in public, and to one day take her position.
But in hindsight, it was so painfully obvious that she felt just as foolish as the day her sister had swapped their seats at the selection ceremony. She could tell that her daughter had been looking more and more haggard, and had been growing fatigued quicker each day, but in her distraction she assumed that she’d just been pushing Lycoris too hard.
“No, no they didn’t lay a finger on her. How blithe we’ve been… that we would forget the simplest of lessons.”
“Y-Your Majesty?”
“It is nothing, watch over her. Do not pressure her. We shall tend to things once our work is done. The Sefer boy has much to answer for, and the Tamisrah wished to whine about the geolles or some such. Ideally we won’t have to gather the entire council for that… Spoil her as we would,” she flashed a sharp smile, cutting down whatever concerns Athena was about to give voice to.
“As you wish! Then, if that is all,”
Athena wobbled as she turned around and rushed out of the room, leaving Lilianna scowling to herself once more. Lycoris must have avoided bringing it up for a reason, but just as with everything involving her little flower, Lilianna couldn’t understand what was going on in her child’s head.
＊
Athena was bewildered as she wove her way through the crowd of whispering voices outside of the Exaltare’s reception hall, making her way to the elevator. The thought never even occurred to her to change into street clothes before venturing out into the city below; she was too focused on Her Majesty’s reaction to the news.
She didn’t seem at all shocked by Her Highness’ behavior, but perhaps that was merely because she was still seated in a public place and couldn’t risk causing a scene. Even if the hall had been emptied, there were no doubt spiders crawling on the walls attempting to pick up whatever morsels they could.
Athena would have to stay on her guard, the true overseers of those ghouls could be anywhere.
Her Majesty is so impressive though, she’s always prepared for any circumstance! She must’ve already foreseen this, otherwise why else would she say she’d handle things? But if she’d seen through this, why didn’t she speak with Her Highness already…? Hmm…
She definitely seemed as though she realized exactly what was going on with the Princess. Who was Athena to dare question Her Majesty’s plans? Perhaps it was simply tied to Her Highness’ education.
But if that’s the case… D-Did I mess up somehow by feeding her!? No but, she looked so hungry, and Her Majesty didn’t flay my skin for upsetting her efforts… Mmmggh, I don’t get it!
She waited politely at the elevator for its passengers to disembark, following her usual unobtrusive servant routine as she covertly examined every single one, deciding to press the confused thoughts aside for the moment. Most of them were either lesser nobles or courtiers come to speak with each other in the privacy of Her Majesty’s palace, but among them she saw a rarity: Stooping down to go through the elevator doorway, wearing an earthy brown toga over its gray skin covered in shaggy moss, she exchanged looks with a geolle.
Everybody going about their business gave the towering golem a wide berth, though Athena knew it wasn’t because of the imposing sight of its tusks sprouting from its mouth. They were simply a troublesome race to deal with, as conventional weapons bounced off their hide and they were quite resistant to magic.
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Not to mention, they didn’t have drinkable blood flowing through their veins, making them useless to vampires outside of the ore they harvested and sold.
Once she stepped inside and pressed the reflective metal button for the first floor, Athena resumed brooding. How could Her Majesty be so sure of the Princess’ condition? Perhaps she already checked for curses after I left? But then where would her hemophobia have come from? Arrgh, great going Athena, one day on the job and you’ve already botched it! This is why I was disowned, wasn’t it…
Athena frowned in the privacy of the elevator as she rode it down.
On top of her mounting failures, she’d been given quite a vexing task. She couldn’t possibly know—nor dared to consider, really—how the Exaltare treated her daughter in private. Even just thinking back to the two of them in an affectionate embrace filled Athena with an unplaceable anxiety.
And yet, she’d have to figure out how to “spoil” the Princess.
The only things she ever really splurged on were junk food and entertainment, and Athena was wary of showing the impressionable princess any form of media that might further endear her to humans, if even incidentally.
She wanted to avoid anything that’d mess up the Exaltare’s curriculum for Lycoris, but had to do something for her all the same, without any knowledge of what exactly Her Majesty had planned.
But Lycoris’ own desperate and pitiful words resonated in her mind, and inspiration struck like lightning as she clapped her hands loudly in the small elevator.
“Of course! Hmm, I don’t know if Her Highness will appreciate oily peasant fare, but… the novelty of it might cheer her up somewhat at least. And surely Her Majesty will be okay with it just this once.”
As the doors opened at the bottom foyer, Athena strode forth with renewed ambition and a determined smile.
＊ ＊ ＊
For the third time in the same day, Lycoris awoke atop his fluffy bed. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but he was still in the dress Athena had forced him into, and had been sleeping atop the covers rather than beneath them.
Noticing the slightly sweet aftertaste lingering in his mouth—and smelling it in the air—he rolled onto his side and stared at the opened wine bottle on the bedside table.
He should’ve been disgusted, but after being browbeaten mercilessly by his own hunger and the maid’s words, Lycoris was too mentally fatigued to envision the disappointment the Goddess and her followers would’ve looked down upon him with. He wanted to curl up and fall back asleep forever. He wanted to go wherever his friends had gone.
He wished Lilianna were there.
Lycoris couldn’t even deny it anymore; she was smart and wise, she was kind to him, and showered him with patience and mercy. Maybe that's how an actual mother was supposed to be… He wanted her to somehow fix all of this, even though it was all her fault to begin with. Lilianna was the only lifeline he had in this place.
He couldn’t leave, he had nowhere to go.
He couldn’t hide, for it was his own body that betrayed him.
He couldn’t escape, because he was too weak and stupid.
This was the price for his foolishness.
But even still…
“This sucks.”
Three times a day? It was an untenable amount of blood, ignoring the fact that it was no different from how often the average human had to eat. Did they really source their entire supply from humanity? There was no way that could be sustainable. Unless vampires happened to have a starving peasant class as well…
He thought back briefly to his old life, and imagined a dead-eyed field of humans instead of corn, swaying silently in the wind.
“Eugh.”
He rolled back over, hiding from the container of dismal delights. Without anything else to do, Lycoris closed his eyes and began to think of his companions and their journey again, praying that wherever they were now, they’d forgive him.
His hands cradled the locket like a platinum egg. He prayed to the Goddess, begging for some way out.
At the same time, there was a knock at the door.
His prayer interrupted, he slowly sat up and looked at it. Probably just the maid again. Would she force him at scythe-point to down the rest of the bottle, perhaps?
“Come in… I know you’re going to anyway.”
“How do you feel, Your Highness?”
Athena entered gracefully, carrying a large crinkly brown bag in her hand.
“Like a Grandwood Runner trampled over me. Like death warmed over. Like I’ve been cursed by the Goddess for my sins.”
“A whowhat? The huh?”
“I thought the plainstriders were allies to the vampires.”
“Oh! Well, some are yes, but it’s not as though I’ve ever been out of the country. I um, don’t know much about anything outside our borders, really.”
She crossed over and pulled one of the chairs off of the wall, sitting down beside the bed. Making room for the bag by pushing the bottle and cracked glass aside, she began taking out several wrapped sheets of crinkly colored paper.
“…What’s that?”
“Well, I spoke with Her Majesty, and afterward decided that maybe what’d fix you up is a nice treat!”
“It’s not… more blood… is it?”
“Ancestors no! Her Majesty told me not to force anything upon you. Unless you want—”
“NO!”
“R-Right, understood, Your Highness. Anyway I visited a restaurant and ordered some things to go. I thought it might be fun to try them! It’s certainly popular, at least.”
Lycoris nervously picked up one of the wrappings. It was still warm, like a baked sweet potato almost. He gently peeled away the paper; inside was a rounded loaf of bread with sliced vegetables and… some kind of ground meat patty.
In one of the other paper bundles were several thin strips of hot salty potato rations, coated in salt.
“What is it?”
“Hehe, Your Highness has never been outside of the palace, have you?”
“Not since I met Lilianna… There’s no blood in this, right?”
“There shouldn’t be! Maybe there’s still some in the meat, but I did make sure to ask first! I admit, I’ve never actually bothered to try a burger myself. If it’s no good, the fries are definitely blood-free though! The worker at the counter gave me a pretty weird look when I asked but I endured for your sake, Princess!”
Athena unwrapped a second burger and bit into it in front of Lycoris, as though demonstrating it wasn’t poisoned.
“Oh! This really is good…”
Lycoris was certainly no stranger to meat, and it didn’t smell like cooked human. At least, not like a human cooked inside a suit of armor by fire magic. He pushed the unpleasant thought aside and stared down at the burger with a hint of reticence. It was the first thing he’d seen resembling actual food in weeks. And his own words of “not being a picky eater” came back to him.
Athena had certainly tried, that much was obvious.
The innocent(?) princess timidly sank his fangs into the burger, the juicy, savory, and greasy flavors mixing together in his mouth. It was unlike anything he’d ever tasted in his life.
Unfortunately, it was plainly obvious as he swallowed it down that there was barely any sense of satiation for his appetite, but it was definitely tasty; he devoured the entire thing in a scant few moments, licking his fingers afterward.
“Princess! That’s no way to behave.”
“Mm?” he looked up at her, sucking on a finger.
“Your mother entrusted me with your care, I cannot allow you to behave in such a slovenly manner!”
She immediately took out a cloth and began wiping Lycoris’ hands for him.
“E-er… even in private, though? I know she said ‘always comport thyself as a ruler must’ but… also why are you wiping my hands off!?”
“Because I am your servant!”
“…Does Lilian— M-Mom have servants handle that for her as well?”
“But of course!”
“Huh…”
Lycoris fell silent after that, trying—and failing—to imagine his mother making a mess and having someone clean up after her. The only way he could imagine she could ever be so clumsy is if she were spilling the blood of an enemy and it splashed onto her, or something of that nature…
Pulling him out of the thought, Athena waved a small golden wedge in his face.
“Say ahn~”
“I am not a chi— ahmph!? Mmh, don’t tell me I shouldn’t be eating on my own either. Not even the King was that vain.”
“King…? No, I just wanted to try that at least once! It’s every servant’s deepest wish to personally wait on their master in such a manner! …I saw it in a movie.”
“How is the blood-drinking the most normal part about her…” he grumbled to himself.
Resigning himself to the not-so-awful fate of being hand-fed by Athena, he let the salty warmth suffuse him, his spirits gradually recovering after his second real meal.