11. To Love You, I Would Let Both My Legs Rot Away

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/11/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

If I am going to enthrall someone anyway, I want to enjoy the process.
If I abandoned even that needless bit of pride, making someone mine would not be terribly difficult.
Now that I have begun to understand a vampire’s powers and how to wield the “shadows,” even breaking into a building is easy.
I can melt into the darkness and hide myself from every eye. With a trick like that at their disposal, perhaps it is only natural that vampires are called the rulers of the night.

I used that power to slip into the estate of a noble family called the Lindforgs, who lived in the northern part of the city.
The person I had come for was the family’s eldest daughter, Ainerinne Lindforg.
Apparently those close to her called her “Ai”—though she had only one or two people close enough to do so.
She was the very model of a haughty aristocrat. The moment she saw a commoner—or even a noble of the slightest lower rank—she looked down on them without a second thought.
Combined with her blonde hair, worn in twin tails of cascading ringlets, her personality was so overdrawn that I could almost mistake her for a character from a manga.

But even she looked adorable once she was asleep.
Her loosened blonde hair reminded me of Nunnally. Perhaps once Ainerinne became a vampire, she too would grow a little more demure.
With that hope in mind, I took the sleeping woman’s hand.
Thump, thump, thump.
The instant our bare skin touched, my power began to flow into Ainerinne.
She would fall in love with me as if in a dream.
When she awoke, I would no longer be there.
And yet, before she knew it, love for a stranger whose face she had never seen would have taken root in her heart.
You might call it a kind of bomb.
An exceedingly troublesome bomb that would burst the moment she saw me, flooding her with emotion.

“Ainerinne … no, Ai. I wonder what sweetly desperate side of yourself you’ll show me.”

I went on holding her hand until moments before dawn.
Would the Mark of her enthrallment appear the day after tomorrow, or perhaps the day after that?
Simply holding hands made for an extraordinarily dull night. I had also stopped elsewhere before coming to the estate, so even as a Demi-Vamp, I found myself rather tired.
Even so, whenever I imagined the melted expression my future Ai would show me, the hours flew by.

◇◇◇

The following morning, I returned to the church and sank into the sofa beside Ellis. As we cuddled and played, I considered how we might spend what would probably be an idle day.
After all, I had not managed to pour much power into Rellie yesterday. Surely she would not visit the church two days in a row.
Perhaps Ellis and I could spend the entire day touching each other.
I was smiling fondly as I stroked beneath her chin and she mewed, “Mrrrow,” when a knock echoed through the church, just like the one yesterday.
Naturally, Nunnally was the one who appeared.

“Mistress, it seems Rellie has come. What would you like to do?”
“Mm … She’s here again?”

Ellis was unhappy to have our time alone interrupted. I, by contrast, smiled with satisfaction.
It seemed that yesterday’s conversation had earned me more of Rellie’s trust than I had expected.
I never imagined she would come back the very next day.
If I held her hand again today, some measure of romantic love would surely begin to bud within her. Once it did, Rellie would never be able to leave me.
Whether I cherished her or broke her would be mine to decide.

I promised to make it up to Ellis later. Leaving her to embrace Nunnally in my place—the two of them already beginning to fondle each other’s bodies—I went to meet Rellie in the chapel.
She was sitting on a pew waiting for me rather than praying to God. Her expression was gloomy, perhaps because she was worrying, “What if she thinks I’m a nuisance for coming back two days in a row?”
To wipe away those negative feelings, I sat beside her and immediately said,

“I’m so glad I could see you again so soon, Rellie.”
“I’m not bothering you?”
“Of course not. I was feeling lonely because I thought I might not see you today.”

As I spoke, I took her hand as naturally as I could. She gave a relieved sigh.

“Come to think of it, you said yesterday that there was something else troubling you. Is that what you came to tell me about today?”
“Yes. Maybe telling you won’t change anything, Chigusa. But I wanted someone to listen.”
“Could someone be opposed to your marriage to Dick?”
“Huh? Wait … How did you know? I haven’t even told Nunnally.”
“It came to me naturally while I was thinking about you.”
“You were thinking about me …”

It was a lie, of course.
I had obtained the information from someone other than Nunnally, but at this point, what did the truth matter?
Not if the lie pleased Rellie and won me her trust.

“Somehow, Chigusa, I get the feeling you can see right through me.”
“Not at all. I’m hardly that perceptive.”
“There you go, being modest again. Well, having someone who understands how I feel takes a weight off my mind, so I’m grateful.”
“The heart grows lighter when we let our troubles out instead of keeping them bottled up.”
“Yes … You’re right.”

Rellie murmured the words as though trying to convince herself.
She was probably still torn over whether she should speak—whether it was right to involve me.
To give her the push she needed, I squeezed her hand and offered her a gentle smile.
I put everything I could not say aloud into my expression: “I will accept all of you.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rellie’s face grew serious, and she began.

“The truth is, the ones who oppose my marriage to Dick are his mother and his older sister.”
“Your future mother-in-law and sister-in-law, then. What about his father?”
“Apparently he’s in favor of it. Dick said his father has plans to expand the family’s influence through a marriage to a commoner.”

In short, not a single person sincerely supported their marriage for its own sake.
That was only to be expected. The noble family had nothing to gain from marrying a commoner.
Rellie, on the other hand, stood to gain far too much.

“They must think I’m marrying him for his money.”
“But you aren’t, are you?”
“No …”

Her answer was less than certain.
And no wonder. Rellie had a reason to need money.

Rellie had a younger sister named Miri.
She had been frail since childhood and, even now, apparently spent nearly the entire day confined to her bed at home.
Her treatment cost a fortune, forcing the whole family to live in poverty.
But if Rellie became a noble, their lives would change completely.

Miri was probably not the reason Rellie had accepted Dick’s proposal.
She had simply fallen in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of her life at his side.
But her circumstances could easily lead others to believe that she had “married him for his money.”
It was understandable that her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law suspected her. More importantly, Rellie had begun to suspect herself.
What if she truly had been after his money? What if she had decided to marry Dick so that she could pay for her sister’s treatment?
That, in other words, was the cause of her pre-wedding doubts.
Now that I knew the reason, all that remained was to exploit her vulnerability.
Given how I had dealt with Ellis and Nunnally, that was surely what I ought to do. This time, however, I deliberately chose a different path.
… I had begun to feel like playing a little differently than I had before.

“But somewhere in your heart, you wonder whether you truly approached Dick for his money.”
“How … How can you understand so much?”
“You’re a kind person, Rellie, so I wondered if that might be it. It seems I was right.”
“Kind? No! I’m having these thoughts because I’m greedy and contemptible!”
“Someone truly contemptible would not feel guilty in the first place. The fact that you’re suffering like this is proof of your kindness.”
“But …”

If even that would not convince her—I rose and cradled Rellie’s head against my chest.

“W-wait! Not this again …”

She was understandably flustered.
I knew I was being forceful, but on someone who trusted me as she did, it ought to be quite effective.
To persuade her further, I gently stroked her head as I spoke.

“Dick is a nobleman, so he knows how to judge people. A woman worthy of catching his eye could hardly be marrying him for money. If you keep trying to persuade them sincerely, I’m certain your future mother-in-law and sister-in-law will come to understand.”
“You … really think so?”
“I do. And if they still refuse, then for all their nobility, they have no eye for character. The church will take you in.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You’ll support me? Even if you’re joking, if I truly end up with nowhere else to go, I might take you up on it.”
“You will always be welcome here, Rellie.”

Those words provided the final push.
Rellie wrapped her arms around my back. At last, it seemed she had opened her heart to me completely.
Ah, how I wanted to take her to my room just as she was and press even more of our bare skin together.
At the present depth of her enthrallment, would another two hours be enough to make her fall?
I imagined Rellie trembling at the sinful thrill of betraying her fiancé, unable to resist the fingers stroking her bare skin, writhing and moaning as if in a dance. Merely picturing it made me—
But I was the one who had chosen this path.
If I lost patience and went any further now, all my preparations would go to waste.
I had to restrain myself.

“Thank you, Chigusa. I feel so much better now!”
“There is no need to thank me. Talking with you like this lifts my spirits as well.”
“Really? You haven’t just been telling me whatever I want to hear this whole time?”
“Certainly not. I mean it sincerely. After all, I like you, Rellie.”
“I like you too, Chigusa. If you don’t mind, I’d like to see you even when I don’t need advice … Would that be all right?”
“I will be waiting whenever you wish to come. If you stay away too long, I may have to turn up on your doorstep myself.”
“Maybe I’ll wait for you to do that, then.”

Before we knew it, we were laughing naturally at each other’s silly jokes.
Someone who could make even the most ordinary moments enjoyable was precious indeed.
At least, such a person could never have existed in my life before I came to this city.
What I had gained was precious, and that was precisely why I wanted it all to myself.
Even if everything in her broke except her love for us, her value to us lay solely in loving us all equally.
Just a little longer. Only a little longer.
Repeating that to myself, I once again watched Rellie leave the church with a smile.

◇◇◇

Once I had finished my business in the city that night, I secretly slipped into Ainerinne Lindforg’s bedroom after midnight.
I took her hand, then stood motionless beside the bed, gazing down at her face.
Her fine, smooth skin was impeccably cared for.
All at once, I was seized by the urge to touch it.
My frustration must have been mounting after restraining myself with Rellie.
But it was still too soon to harvest her. If I wanted to savor her properly, I had to wait until she was ripe.
Holding my breath, I continued to clasp Ai’s hand.
Then, after some three hours had passed—

“Mmm …”

Ai gave an uncomfortable moan in her sleep.
It was certainly humid tonight, so perhaps she was not sleeping very comfortably.
I had been observing her sleeping face, her mouth drawn into a displeased frown, when her eyes suddenly opened without the slightest warning.
Naturally, the first thing they found was me.

“Wh—”

Just before she could cry, “Who are you?” I silenced her with my own lips.

“Mm … mm!? Mmm! Mmmph!”

Naturally, Ai struggled and thrashed, but with her arms and legs bound by my shadows, escape was impossible.
I held her face firmly between my hands and ceaselessly stirred the slick flesh inside her mouth.
Then, it seemed, she realized that I was the one.
Her resistance soon faded. Before long, Ai’s eyes narrowed dreamily, and she began to twine her tongue around mine of her own accord.
Girls truly are more adorable when they are obedient.

“Mmh … shlurp, ah … hah, nn …”

As she swallowed the saliva streaming into her mouth, Ai’s body temperature shot up.
I could feel it through her skin.
Knowing that my saliva was arousing her sent my own excitement soaring.
Perhaps that was why I went on meticulously licking and sucking every corner of her mouth, giving her a kiss she could never forget, for tens of minutes without end.
When I finally drew my mouth away, Ai asked me with a look of rapture,

“Who … are you?”
“I am Chigusa. As you can see, I am the vampire you love.”
“I don’t understand. But … I love you. Anything you do to me feels wonderful … Why? Why do I adore you so much when I’ve never seen you before?”

As if such trifling details did not matter, I took her lips once more.
Then I began to strip away the nightgown she wore.
By the time my fingertips stroked her bare skin, every doubt about me seemed to have vanished from Ai’s mind.
I lavished my affection on Ai as she writhed her hips like a prostitute and begged, “More, more!”—until the Mark appeared. As dawn broke, I quietly slipped out of the Lindforg estate without being seen.

Only one woman remained in the room, sprawled limply across the bed.
She was still Ainerinne, but she was no longer Ainerinne Lindforg.
With pale skin, red eyes, and sharp fangs, she had become a vampire—one of my family.
My daughter, who had screamed her first newborn cry in a frenzy as my fangs sank into her neck.
Everything was now in place to make Rellie fall.
All that remained was for Ai to do as I had instructed and approve the marriage between her younger brother Dick and his beloved Rellie.
And then Rellie would be mine.