10. No Humans Needed on the Bridal Aisle

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/10/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

After turning Nunnally into a vampire, Ellis and I decided to make ourselves at home in the church.
As Sisters, of course.
Nunnally appeared to have earned even more trust from the townspeople than I had imagined. On the strength of her introduction alone, no one questioned our presence.
Our red eyes and white skin were taken as mere peculiarities—which suggested that monsters known as vampires were not particularly well known in this world.
Then again, the only people who had even noticed Nunnally’s eyes changing color were the children who often came to play at the church. Perhaps the people of this town simply paid little attention to others’ appearances in the first place.

“Mmh … hah, shlurp … mrrh … slp … ”
“Does it taste good, Ellis?”
“Yesh … mmh, nnh … lick … delishush … ”

I sat on the bedroom bed with Ellis kneeling before me, sucking on my finger.
Her slick, lukewarm tongue coiled like a tentacle around the index finger I had slipped into her mouth, coating it in saliva.
This had not been my idea. Ellis had asked me to do it.
She must have been terribly envious of what I had done with Nunnally the other day, because she waited until we were alone and then begged me for a turn.
However—

“Shlurp … nnah, slrr … Shishter … ahh … “

—I had not expected licking a finger alone to bring such rapture to her face.
Ellis truly did love me.
Merely looking at that expression made a smile steal across my face.
If so little was enough to delight her, I would gladly offer her my fingers as often as she pleased.
As I amused myself with Ellis, there came a knock at the door.

“Mistress, may I come in?”
“Nunnally, I told you this is your room too. You needn’t knock—just come in.”

Even after I said so, Nunnally looked faintly apologetic when she appeared from behind the door.
As her new form of address made clear, I had become an object of worship to her.
Of course, if asked whether there was no love in that devotion, the answer would be no. Even so, it was true that her bond with me had taken a somewhat different shape from Ellis’s.
No matter how often I corrected her, Nunnally would probably never stop knocking before entering the room.
I decided to surrender and regard it as another charming part of her.

“If you’re here, Nunnally, then—”
“Yes. Rellie is waiting.”

Rellie was the name of a woman who had long been a frequent visitor to the church.
She was the same age as Nunnally and exceptionally prone to negative thinking. Apparently, she came to Nunnally for advice whenever anything happened.
I had first seen Rellie the day before yesterday.
The moment I laid eyes on her, I had thought:
I could never hand that over to some filthy man. I would make her mine.

“Ah … ”

When I drew my finger from Ellis’s mouth, she watched the glistening thread of saliva stretch between us and gazed wistfully up at me, her tongue still extended.
My heart gave a tender squeeze. If I could, I would have stayed with her forever.
I licked the saliva from my finger, savoring Ellis’s taste thoroughly, then wiped away the lingering moisture with a towel beside the bed.

“We can continue tonight.”
“That’s a promise, Sister.”

We made love nearly every night even without such promises.
Still, the assurance of pleasure after dark did nothing to ease Ellis’s loneliness during the day, which simply would not do.

“Nunnally, keep Ellis company so she won’t be lonely.”
“Of course. That is precisely why I came.”

Ellis shot me a dissatisfied glance, then walked unsteadily over to Nunnally and threw her arms around her.
Without losing momentum, she crushed their lips together and entwined their tongues with ravenous intensity.

“Mmmwah … nnh, smk … ah, Nunnally … you taste so sweet … ”
“Aahn, Lady Ellis!”

Nunnally seemed far from displeased by the sudden assault. She wrapped her own arms around Ellis’s waist, pressed their bodies even closer, and fiercely returned the thrusts of her tongue.
Having been made vampires through the infusion of the same soul, Ellis and Nunnally were akin to sisters.
Humans who became vampires all cherished one another equally and loved one another equally.
No matter who they were.
Even two people who had once bitterly hated each other and fought at every turn.

 

◇◇◇

 

“Good afternoon, Rellie.”

I addressed the woman praying in the chapel before the statue of the goddess that served as the faith’s sacred symbol.
Rellie rose and turned, her short chestnut bob swaying with the movement.
She fixed her large, round brown eyes on me, tilted her head, and—

“Are you Chigusa?”

—asked the question.

“Yes. Nunnally has told me about you. I hope I can be of at least some help. This is hardly a conversation to have standing, so shall we take a seat?”

I ushered her to a pew and sat down beside her.
She seemed a little disconcerted by how close I sat—close enough for our thighs to touch—but I had no intention of allowing her to escape.
Without physical contact, there would be no point.

Now, if Rellie had come to the church, it meant she had a problem.
Nunnally had already told me what it was.
Rellie was apparently soon to marry a nobleman named Dick.
He had taken a liking to her at the bakery where she worked, making the match an indisputable rise in social standing.
But with her wedding fast approaching, all manner of anxieties had begun to swell in Rellie’s mind.
Pre-wedding jitters, in other words.
They were common among brides, and most vanished once the wedding was over. The proper advice would have been that she ought not worry too much—
Unfortunately, my objective was not to resolve her concerns.
To be perfectly frank, I did not care about them.

“Rellie, may I hold your hand?”
“My hand … Why?”
“When I hold someone’s hand, I can understand a little of what is in her heart. I seem to be able to judge from how much she sweats and how her temperature changes.”
“If that’s why … ”

With that reason fabricated on the spot, I succeeded quite neatly in bringing our bare skin together.
I took her proffered hand in a firm grip, pressing our palms flush.
The substance of her troubles no longer mattered. I could simply offer some noncommittal responses.

“So, um … How much did Nunnally tell you?”
“First, Rellie, let us relax. If you remain too tense, no helpful thoughts will come to you.”
“But … ”
“And please speak as you normally would, rather than using such stiff, formal language with me.”

I said this with my index finger resting against my lips.
She looked uncertain, but then breathed out a sigh and gave in.

“If you say so, Chigusa, I’ll talk like I usually do. Is this better?”
“Yes. I am sure it will help you think more positively.”
“You’re not changing the way you talk, though.”
“This is how I normally speak.”

For some reason, that made Rellie give a quiet laugh.
She appeared to be a cheerful person at heart. Had she only been optimistic as well, she would presumably never have suffered pre-wedding jitters.

“So, how much did Nunnally tell you?”
“That you plan to marry a nobleman and are anxious about your life afterward. I have not heard precisely what worries you, however. Are you afraid his eye may wander to another noblewoman?”
“It’s true that when he invites me to parties, I can’t help standing out as a commoner. Noblewomen just have a different air about them.”

Her rather plain dress likely contributed to that impression, but Rellie herself was not a particularly glamorous woman.

“Your makeup is so understated, yet you are this lovely. I do not believe you have anything to worry about.”
“… Lovely? Me?”
“Yes. Does he never tell you so? Even as another woman, I find you lovely enough to be captivated.”
“Uh … I-it’s embarrassing when you stare at me while saying things like that.”

Judging by how unused she was to compliments, this man Dick must have been terribly reserved himself.
What a waste. All he had to do was praise her to her face, and he could have watched her blush.

“Every one of your concerns would be resolved if only you had confidence in yourself, Rellie.”
“That’s easy to say … He has never told me any of that.”
“Can you not trust my word? Your wide, bright eyes; your full lips; your soft skin. And perhaps because you work in a bakery, you carry a faintly sweet scent touched with butter. Every part of you is alluring, Rellie.”

As I leaned closer and lavished praise upon her, Rellie flushed scarlet and opened and closed her mouth without managing a word.

“Your palm is perspiring quite profusely. Did that embarrass you so much?”
“Y-you don’t have to hold my hand to tell that! Are you teasing me?”
“I am not teasing you. Every word was entirely sincere.”

I abruptly turned solemn and declared it while looking her directly in the eyes.
There was not the slightest trace of a lie in what I had said.
From the beginning, I had found Rellie alluring enough to want her for my own.

“When someone as beautiful as you says it, Chigusa, it sounds like empty flattery. But … it doesn’t feel as though you’re lying, either.”

My feelings finally seemed to have reached her. She patted at her face as if checking whether she truly could be the sort of woman I had described.
To press my advantage, I whispered into her ear.

“If you still doubt me, I will say it as many times as necessary. Rellie, you are lovely.”
“Eeyah!?”

Perhaps startled to hear my voice from close enough to feel my breath, she recoiled with an exaggerated cry.

“Don’t suddenly whisper in my ear! You are teasing me after all!”
“Hee hee. Forgive me. Your reaction was so endearing that, just this once, I could not resist.”
“Honestly … When Nunnally told me you were a Sister and a friend of hers, I thought you’d be quiet and demure. You’re nothing like that.”
“I meant to take your concerns quite seriously.”
“Well, I do feel like I’ve gained at least a little confidence. If you’re willing to go that far, Chigusa, then I must be fairly pretty after all. Pretty enough to hold my own against noblewomen.”

Being a noble was no guarantee of physical beauty in the first place.
If noblewomen looked beautiful, it was probably because they could spend ample money on cosmetics and gowns.

“Um … I’m going home for today, but … there is actually something else I need advice about. So, could I come and see you again?”

Whatever it was, she must have found it exceedingly difficult to discuss, for her expression darkened as she spoke.
I had no reason to refuse. The more time we could spend in physical contact, the better.
I tightened my grip on her palm ever so slightly, summoned the gentlest smile I could possibly produce, and answered.

“I will be here whenever you need me. If you are in trouble, I promise I will help, so please feel free to tell me anything.”
“Thank you. I’ll come back when I have time.”

With that, she released my hand, waved, and said goodbye before leaving the church.
I watched until the church door had closed and she had vanished completely from view. Then I stared at my palm and began to calculate.
The time required to enthrall her.
The measures required to separate her from the nobleman.
There was only one possible answer: discard all that was unnecessary and bring everything I needed into my grasp.
Working backward from my ultimate objective, I calculated how many days it would take—then returned to the room where Ellis and Nunnally waited.
So I could tell them, “It appears I will not be able to spend tonight with you.”