Free Web Novel“Sorry, did I hurt you?”
Vieya walked toward Laisa apologetically, reaching out a hand as if to help her up from the floor.
“Stay away from me!”
Laisa shrieked. She scuttled backward on all fours like a crab, crawling across the floor until her back hit the wall. Only then did she turn toward the Vampire Queen for help.
But to her despair, the Queen didn’t even glance her way. From start to finish, Elizabeth’s attention remained fixed entirely on Vieya.
“Interesting...”
Elizabeth’s crimson eyes gleamed. She had only come here for a casual sip of blood to pass the time, but this new “blood bag” they’d captured was far beyond her expectations—both in vitality and in the unusual energy emanating from her.
Since the day she was born, Elizabeth had sought ever finer, more exquisite blood to savor.
Over nearly five centuries, she had tasted it all—monster blood, human blood, elf blood, and that of countless other races.
Most monster blood was coarse and bitter. Elf blood carried the cloying scent of grass and flowers she despised. After all her searching, only human blood truly suited her palate.
Especially the blood of tender young girls—it was the finest delicacy.
Like the fresh bamboo shoots pushing through damp spring soil after the rain, only at that moment were they at their peak—soft, crisp, and unsullied.
“What’s your name?” Elizabeth asked Vieya, her tone calm, without a trace of anger.
Seeing that, Laisa, crouched by the wall, wisely kept silent and lowered her head.
“I’m a detective investigating the recent disappearances of children in the residential district,” Vieya replied instead, coolly inventing an identity of her own. “Didn’t expect to find leeches like you nesting in human territory.”
She shot a look of disgust at Laisa. “And to think some humans would willingly side with bloodsucking parasites—disgusting.”
Terrified, Laisa shrank in on herself, completely silent now, looking nothing like the arrogant little tyrant from before.
“Heh, you misunderstand.”
Elizabeth’s voice was soft and unhurried. “We vampires merely wish to coexist with humanity. Feeding is no different from you humans eating meat to survive.”
Vieya’s lips ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) curved coldly. “Save that line for the children you’ve already ruined.”
In a situation like this, with so many hostages under the enemy’s control, rash action would only lead to mutual destruction.
She couldn’t let her daughter worry about her again.
“Hehe, you’re amusing.” Elizabeth’s smile deepened. “Would you like to join us? I can bestow upon you a drop of my blood—your ticket to immortality.”
“And the price?” Vieya crossed her arms.
“The price?” Elizabeth tilted her head slightly, frank as ever. “Merely that you provide me with blood regularly. Don’t worry—your body interests me. No other vampire would dare touch you.”
Sorry.
There’s no “fresh blood” in this body of mine—just cool, wobbly jelly.
As Vieya remained silent, the air thickened with tension.
Laisa didn’t dare raise her head. Inwardly she begged her Queen to act—quickly! Beat this insolent human down to her knees...
Meanwhile, in the corridor, Sally sat slumped in confusion.
She didn’t understand how the little girl next door had managed to floor that terrifying vampire in one blow, nor what this “detective” talk meant. Why was she able to stand face to face with the castle’s mistress?
But she knew one thing—if Wei lost this confrontation, her fate would be even worse than theirs.
“Well?” Elizabeth’s tone softened, her patience surprisingly good. “Have you decided, human?”
As for what Akm had told her earlier in the great hall—that the city was under lockdown, that the vampires still hiding among humans might be in danger—
She couldn’t care less.
Those lesser blood thralls weren’t even worth her attention. She didn’t need to waste her own precious blood to control them—ordinary vampires scattering their seeds among humans was enough to harvest dozens more.
Among humans, there were always those willing to betray their kind in exchange for longevity.
Even if lowborn blood servants suffered all manner of flaws—fear of sunlight, insatiable thirst, loss of humanity, rising desire—there was never any shortage of mortals chasing eternal life.
Of course, some, like Laisa, started with low-grade blood but managed to evolve into full A-rank vampires free of such defects.
Elizabeth suspected the little blonde girl before her carried a potential far beyond Laisa’s.
If she could truly win her over—make her a loyal personal thrall—not only would she gain a powerful subordinate, she would also acquire a rare, indestructible treasure to keep at her side.
“Hehe...”
Elizabeth chuckled softly. “Human, have you made up your mind? If you agree to my offer, I can let that one—” she gestured with a finger toward the trembling girl on the ground, “—return to human society.”
Her blood-red nail traced a beckoning curl through the air. “Come here...”
Sally shook her head in fear—but she wasn’t shaking it at Elizabeth. She was looking straight at Vieya, eyes wide, silently pleading:
Don’t accept it!
“It seems my leniency lately has made you all a bit too disobedient,” Elizabeth mused, her tone troubled, as though already planning the punishment to come. “For tonight’s banquet, perhaps I’ll make you a side dish?”
“No...”
Sally dropped to her knees, trembling, begging for mercy.
“That’s enough. You’ve lived for centuries—do you really get a thrill out of threatening little girls?”
Vieya couldn’t stand it any longer. As expected, out of all the Demon Kings she’d met, not one of them—except her wife—was any good.
“Hehe, since you’re unwilling, then I won’t force you.”
Elizabeth smiled faintly, turning away. “Laisa, we’re leaving. Be sure to deliver this new friend of ours an invitation to tonight’s banquet.”
“Y-yes, yes, Your Majesty!”
Laisa scrambled to her feet, hastily smoothing her disheveled violet hair, and hurried after the Vampire Queen.
“......”
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Vieya watched their retreating figures, her thoughts pausing.
So they weren’t going to use force after all?
Trying to take the gentle route instead—slowly eating away at my humanity?
How laughable.
She shook her head inwardly, then hurried to lift the shivering Sally from the floor.
The girl’s face was as pale as paper, her frail body so thin that Vieya could feel her bones even through the clothes in her hand—she was even skinnier than Jasmine had been when they’d first found each other.
“Xiao Wei, don’t pinch so hard... it hurts,” Sally murmured, frowning slightly.
“Sorry.”
Vieya paused, then asked, “But didn’t you say the conditions here weren’t that bad? Why are you this thin?”
“Mm...”
Sally glanced enviously at Vieya’s figure. Remembering the soft, full warmth of her skin when she’d helped her bathe earlier, she sighed wistfully.
“We’re people, not pigs. Living in a place like this... only livestock could grow fat here, not us. Forget it, let’s not talk about that.”
......
“Your Majesty,” Laisa asked cautiously as they walked, “what if that human doesn’t come after receiving the invitation?”
“You needn’t worry about that,” Elizabeth replied coolly. “Just deliver the invitation. This banquet will require some special preparations... Oh, right—how is that human Hero doing?”
“The resistance is fierce. We’ve kept her trapped in the blood pool for three days and nights without letting her sleep, yet she still looks spirited... But with a human body, she can’t last much longer, hehe.”
Laisa’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. She’d never tasted a Hero’s blood before—she wondered if it would burn like strong liquor.
“Still, Your Majesty,” she continued, “we’ve yet to find that unknown intruder who slipped in last time. Could she be the Hero’s companion?”
“A companion? Perhaps.” Elizabeth’s lips curved faintly. “But tonight’s banquet will draw her out. My domain is not a place where one comes and goes freely.”
