kscans

Chapter 14 - The Suicidal Lady and the Finest Meal

"Kill me."

Instead of fleeing the tower, Adolnel had, for some reason, asked for death.

"Why? You're free to go. You don't consider the lord family, do you?"

In fact, she hated them. That meant she would never become my enemy, so there was no problem in letting her live.

"Because of this."

Adolnel brushed her hair aside, revealing her violet, glowing eyes.

"My Cursed Violet Eyes are reviled as a symbol of misfortune. Even when I hid them with my hair, the servants wouldn't look at me and hated even touching me. If someone like me were to go outside, if anyone saw the loathsome color of my eyes, I would be rejected without question."

Ah, right. There was that problem. Humans are an intolerant species. If they find even a single element about someone they find unpleasant, they will reject them with all their might.

"I'm sure it won't stop at just rejection. Besides, I've been locked up here my whole life. I don't know the first thing about how to survive in the outside world. So, even if I were free, I'd die soon anyway."

Adolnel wore a weak smile as she spoke such sad words.

"So please, kill me. Kill me and make me your undead servant. I will offer my everything to you, my benefactor, the one who gave me the only truly wonderful moment in my entire life."

With that, Adolnel stepped back from me and stood perfectly still, ready to be killed by me. I see. For this girl, even freedom offered no hope.

In my past life, my death led to my reincarnation and gave me the wings of a Vampire Bat. This girl, too, must be hoping to cast everything aside and be reborn anew.

"Alright, I understand. Then I will take your everything."

"Yes."

I approached Adolnel and gently placed my hands on her shoulders.

"...!"

Her body flinched for a moment, but she steadied her breathing and stopped trembling. Her body was so small and thin, yet she was trying so hard to hold back her shivers. It was almost endearing.

"It's okay. It won't hurt. You will become my meal and fulfill your life's purpose. You will become a part of my body, and your blood will live on with me."

"Your sustenance..."

I gently bit into Adolnel's neck.

"Ngh..."

I drank her blood slowly, trying to make it as painless and comfortable for her as possible. I drank her blood. I drank her blood. I drank her bl—

"!?"

I recoiled from Adolnel's neck in shock.

"Wh-!? Wha-wha-what!?"

"Huh!? W-What is it!?"

Adolnel cried out in surprise, but I was in no state to respond.

"W-W-W-W-Wha—"

"W-What's wrong? Did... did I not taste good?"

"N-No, that's not..."

Not good? That was the furthest thing from the truth. This... this flavor was...

"Too delicious!!"

"...Huh?"

What is this, what is this, what is this!? I've never tasted blood this good before! Does blood this delicious even exist!? The incredible taste sent a shiver through my entire body that I couldn't stop.

I wanted to drink Adolnel's blood again. I moved closer to her neck, drawn to drink her blood.

"Haaah... haaah..."

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Okay, I can do this. Chomp.

"Ngh..."

Once again, I lost myself in Adolnel's blood. Ah, how delicious. Amazing. I'd never eaten anything this good, not even in my past life. It was a flavor more alluring than the satisfaction of meat, the melting sweetness of dessert, or the intoxicating bliss of alcohol.

—a person like you—

As I drowned in that sea of blood, an unfamiliar scene flashed through my mind. What was that?

My lady, as the heir to the Fenesia family, you must study.

This time, an unfamiliar woman was speaking to me.

"Huh? Fenesia... that's Adolnel's..."

But the woman didn't answer my question. She just began to lecture me on the knowledge necessary for an heir, without looking me in the eye, wearing a look of disgust as if she were looking at something filthy.

I have brought your meal.

A maid brought in food.

Hey, why won't Father come to see me?

...

The maid ignored the little girl's voice that escaped my lips, finished arranging the food on the table, and left as if fleeing.

"Ah, I see. These are Adolnel's memories."

Perhaps because I was drinking her blood, I was seeing glimpses of her life. The scenes were just as she had described. The only ones who spoke to her were the servants, and their words were kept to the bare minimum. They wouldn't even answer her questions.

Why can you not understand something this simple? At this rate, you will never become a worthy heir.

The tutor shot Adolnel a contemptuous look when she couldn't answer a question. This was absurd. And this tutor's teaching methods were terrible. He just droned on, reading from a book, without ever trying to help Adolnel with the problems she was struggling with. The teacher who taught me history at the castle was a far better instructor. He would patiently repeat things until I understood.

Hahaha.

Hehehe.

A man and a woman walked down the mansion hallway, laughing happily. They must be Adolnel's parents.

F-Father... Mother...

When Adolnel spoke to them, their faces twisted into expressions of clear disgust.

Hey! Is anyone there! Take her back!

Without even looking at Adolnel, her parents called for someone to drag her back to her room.

You were told not to leave your room, were you not?

An elderly maid scolded Adolnel in a cold, oppressive tone.

I-I just... Father looked like he was in a good mood, so I thought maybe he would talk to me...

Do not leave your room again. We will be posting a guard at the entrance.

After a series of such memories, she finally left the mansion for the first time in her life. But it was not to freedom, but to an even greater solitude.

Finally, a true heir has been born. You are no longer of any use. However, it would be bad for our reputation to kill one who carries the family blood. Therefore, you will live out the rest of your days in that tower. Be grateful we are not disposing of you.

Those were the first and last words Adolnel ever heard from her father.

Fatherrrrr!!

From then on, Adolnel was confined to the dim tower. She was even deprived of her lessons with the tutor. The only stimulation she received from the outside world was the one-sided, non-conversational announcements of meals and daily chores.

I'm looking for the lord's family. Have you seen them?

Until the moment she met me.

"!?"

Adolnel's memories cut off, and my consciousness resurfaced. Ah, I see. This was the life this child had lived.

"How..."

How horrible. Is this how you treat a child who has just been born? I said that monsters had more compassion, but I was wrong. Monsters who love their children are far, far more compassionate!

"Haaaah..."

This child had lived such a life. No wonder she wanted to die. Even if she were freed from the mansion, when she remembered the way the servants treated her, when she remembered those glares, there was absolutely no decent future waiting for her. In fact, for this child, death could even be called a salvation.

So, what should I do with her? As a monster, as a creature that is not human, how should I respond?

I listened to my inner voice.

'I want to drink more of this blood. I want to drink it all. Drink it dry. She wants to die anyway, so it's perfect. I'll suck every last drop of blood and kill her. She'll be happy!'

But the reason within me screamed back.

'To drink this all dry would be a travesty. If I drink all of this exquisitely delicious blood, I will never be able to enjoy this taste again. This flavor must be preserved, no, it must be cultivated!'

"Wait, huh?"

I thought a more human opinion might surface, like 'I should save her because I feel sorry for her' or 'I should take her in and give her a happy life,' but nope, nothing. Am I really that inhuman? Well, I'm not human, but still.

Ugh, now that I think about it calmly, I'm actually shocked by my own cruelty. Well, I can't help it. Her blood is just too delicious.

And I'm not human anymore. I'm a monster that devours humans. Yes, that's my excuse.

And so, I writhed, desperately trying to suppress the intense conflict between the violent urge to drink her blood and the equally violent emotion to savor it.

"H-Hey, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine, just... stay back a bit..."

Adolnel approached me with concern. But right now, from the bite mark on her neck, a scent that couldn't be described with a word like 'fragrant' was wafting toward me, a scent that assaulted my appetite. If I smelled that up close, the reason that was barely holding on would shatter in an instant!

I smashed a hole in the tower wall to ventilate the room with fresh air.

"Kyaa!?"

"Phew, I'm calm now."

Taking a deep breath to regain my composure, I resumed my train of thought. For some reason, Adolnel's blood is incredibly delicious. Shockingly so. Is it because we're compatible? Or is there something in her blood that Vampires prefer?

"No, that's not the important part right now."

What matters is what to do with this blood. The answer is obvious. It would be a waste to drink it all now. This blood should be sipped, little by little. To lose this blood would be a loss to the world. Just as you wouldn't slaughter a prize milk cow for its meat, but instead raise it to get milk every day, I should keep this child alive to obtain her blood on a regular basis.

Besides, she's so thin. Given her circumstances, she was probably only given the bare minimum of food. So what would happen if I gave her moderate exercise, a comfortable living environment, and delicious, nutritious food? Her blood would surely become even more delicious. More delicious! The moment I imagined it, I had to fight back the urge to bite her right then and there.

I can't eat her all at once. I have to keep her by my side and protect her!

No good. No matter how seriously I try to think about this, my thoughts are all about my appetite. I'm so sorry. I really have stopped being human. I realize that now. This is just too inhuman. I mean, in my past life, I was betrayed and oppressed by the people around me, and my relationship with my family was the absolute worst. So I do feel sorry for Adolnel. I really do, but... Her blood is just too delicious!! Yes, I said it again.

"I've decided."

I told Adolnel, desperately maintaining my composure.

"I'm not going to kill you."

"What?"

Adolnel's expression filled with despair.

"Does that mean... I'm not even worthy of being killed, of being eaten?"

"No, that's not it. You're incredibly delicious."

"Then why!?"

"Because you're so delicious, I don't want to eat you all at once. I want to keep you for the rest of your life and continue to drink your blood."

"My whole life?"

I looked at her, careful not to get too close, and spoke to the purple glow hidden behind her hair.

"I think you already know, but I'm a Vampire who drinks human blood. And as a Vampire, I can assure you: Adolnel, your blood is unbelievably delicious. That's why I've decided to keep you alive as my personal food supply. Refusal is not an option. You will be my meal for the rest of your life. Not as the lord's daughter, but as my personal meal."

"!!!"

I was saying something truly awful, I knew. I'd said I would kill her parents, said she could go free, and then said I would grant her wish and kill her, only to declare that I would neither let her go nor kill her, but keep her as livestock. Of course Adolnel would be devastated. But I'm a Vampire. I can't just let blood this good go to waste. Um, I'm an enemy of humanity, and I swore when I was reincarnated that I would live as an enemy of humanity. Yeah, I think I resolved to do something like that when I was reborn.

When I was first reincarnated, I hated humans because of my past life. Well, after getting used to the wild, that memory has faded quite a bit. But anyway, that's the deal, so sorry, but for my sake, you'll have to be a sacrifice...

"...I'm happy."

I was about to finish, but... what?

"I can be of use to you."

"Huh? Oh, well, yes."

I mean, I guess she is useful? As food, though.

"Me... the girl they called the cursed daughter, who was reviled, who was told she would never be loved by anyone, who was nothing but a spreader of misfortune... you need me, even if it's as food!"

"Y-Yes."

That's right, but is that really something to be happy about? Or is this just how people in this world are?

"I understand! I'll be your food! For my entire life! I will dedicate this blood to you!"

"Ah, well. I'm glad you agree... I think?"

And so, I obtained my very own personal food supply who willingly offered her blood to me. Um, I was the one who decided this, but was this really okay?

"I wonder if the humans back at Father's place were in a similar situation to her?"

Only now did I begin to wonder why those humans had been at the castle in the first place.