18. I Will Keep Calling It a Happy Ending

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/20/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

The next morning, after I woke, I received the news: a soldier’s body had been found outside the castle, and Leia had been discovered collapsed within it.
I had lain awake for a long time last night, lost in thought, and my body still felt heavy. But this was no time to complain.
I hurried to the room where Leia was resting and was relieved to find her looking better than I had expected.

“Thank goodness you’re safe, Leia.”
“Miyako …”

Her complexion was good, and she had no visible injuries.
Yet there was little strength in her expression, and her unsteady eyes watched me anxiously.
More importantly—

“Wait, Leia … you’re talking!?”

At my remark, Leia shyly covered her mouth with the blanket.
This might have been the first time I had ever heard her real voice.
I wondered whether someone had attacked her and destroyed Reese—but the black cat doll was sitting on the room’s table.
What had brought about this change of heart?

“I met Chigusa Hinata …”
“What …? Then was Ms. Hinata the one who attacked you? But why!?”
“Just as I told you yesterday, Miyako … had been affected by a charm. I think that vampire was … Chigusa.”

I had already guessed that Ms. Hinata was a vampire when Leia explained charm to me yesterday.
But that did not explain why she had entered the castle.

“There was another one with her. A vampire named Ellis. I think she was … after your life, Miyako. When I tried to stop her, Chigusa appeared.”
“She came to save her companion?”

Ellis was the girl who had called Ms. Hinata “Sister.”
If she had targeted me, then perhaps it was jealousy.
Ms. Hinata had called her merely a friend, but their closeness had not seemed like friendship alone to me.
Perhaps that was why she had come all the way into the castle to save her.

“Yes … probably. In the end, I was no match for her at all. Chigusa was so strong—nothing like the other vampires. If she had wanted to, she could have done something to you too, Miyako … But you were unharmed, so she did not come only to save Ellis.”

Leia hesitated to say the conclusion aloud.
But I understood well enough.
Chigusa had come to stop Ellis from killing me.

“Chigusa also … asked me to give you a message.”
“A message for me?”

Leia nodded without speaking.
It must have been humiliating for her.
Leia hated vampires deeply.
Vampires had destroyed her hometown, along with her family and closest friend.
Even so, because these were words that had to reach me, she took a long pause, wrestled with herself, and then clearly delivered Ms. Hinata’s message.

“I’m sorry. Thank you for everything, Mya-nee.”

The instant I heard those words, nostalgic feelings flooded my chest like overflowing snowmelt.
Feelings I had forgotten—feelings I had sealed away with my guilt—came rushing back all at once.

“Chigusa said it was goodbye. So … Miyako, you do not have to see her again.”

Leia’s trembling voice seemed to carry some of her own wish as well.
Please do not see her again.
No—once I knew Ms. Hinata was a vampire, I should not see her.
Even if that meant betraying her for the third time.

“If you do not try to see her … she probably will not come to see you.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
“Then … Miyako. Please …”

Leia spoke in a voice so frail it sounded ready to break into tears.

“Don’t make that face. You look as if you want to see Chigusa.”
“ … ”
“Miyako and I are friends, aren’t we? You would not choose a vampire … over me, would you?”
“ … ”
“Miyako … don’t stay silent. Say yes! They are vampires! They are not human! They kill people—they kill everyone! So, so—!”
“ … I’m sorry, Leia.”

At that, Leia, who had been speaking to me without pause, fell completely silent.
Her eyes widened. Despair filled her face as she could only stare at me.

“You’re right. Vampires are not trustworthy. I understand after hearing your story that they are dangerous creatures who kill humans.”
“Then why!?”
“But more than that—I want to stay by Ms. Hinata’s—no, Chii-chan’s—side. Even if she is no longer human. It is the only atonement I can offer, and it is what I want for myself.”
“I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all!”
“I cannot explain it logically. That is what it means to love someone.”

Now that I had recognized those feelings and made my choice, there was nothing left for me to fear.
If I had felt this strongly when we had been teacher and student, perhaps I could have saved Chii-chan sooner.
I could have taken her hand and led her out of that classroom, handed the principal my resignation, and asked her to live with me.
It surely would have been difficult. Still, we might have been happy; without her ever becoming a vampire, I might have restored Chii-chan’s smile through my own efforts.
It was too late for regrets. Nothing I said could change that now.
All I could do now was stay close to her—even if I had to force my way into her life.

“Goodbye, Leia. I truly enjoyed the time we spent together.”

Staying any longer would only make this crueller.
I rose easily from beside her bed and moved to leave the room.

“Wait, Miyako! All right, I’ll try harder! I’ll do my best to make you like me more than you do now!”

I put my hand on the door.

“O-okay, I’ll change my face! My body, my voice—magic can do it, can’t it? I’ll become Chigusa! Please, Miyako!”

I opened the door, stepped out, and shut it behind me.

“No! No, no! Miyako, please don’t go! Please don’t take anything else important away from me!”

Even outside the room, I could hear Leia’s anguished cries.
I was cruel.
I had known that for a long time when I considered what I had done to Chii-chan, but I felt it anew.
Even so, my heart would not turn toward Leia.
Thinking only of Chii-chan, I left the castle without even taking my belongings.

 

◆◆◆

 

“I will not say anything more. I am in no position to. Still … I know it makes me a troublesome woman, but I cannot help being jealous.”

With that, Ellis vanished from the chapel.
I sat on a pew and waited, as I did every day, for Ms. Mikage to come.
Though I had only sent Leia my farewell the previous night.
Human feelings are troublesome: lingering, stubborn things.
I intended to give up for good once today was over.
But determination is always fragile when one has finally made it.
As I stared up at the statue of the goddess, I heard the door creak open.
Expectation made my heart race.

“Chii-chan.”

The old, familiar name in her voice made my heartbeat grow still louder.
I put a hand to my chest, rose, and turned around.

“Mya-nee.”

The affectionate name slipped naturally from my lips.
Mya-nee’s face softened happily. She came toward me and—of her own will—embraced me.
Magic flowed in through the places where we touched.
She was under my charm, and she understood that.
Understanding it, she had embraced me.
I was not incapable of grasping what that meant.

“Are you truly all right with this, Mya-nee?”
“I promised you.”
“But … there will be no taking it back.”
“I know. I came because I do not want to take it back.”

Then so would I.

“Shall we go to my room? We can be together more peacefully there.”
“Mm … this feels strange. Being alone with Chii-chan should be nothing new, but I’m so nervous.”
“Naturally. We are about to do something improper.”

When I said so with a smile, Mya-nee faltered for once, her cheeks reddening as she looked away.

“Chii-chan, you’ve grown up while I wasn’t looking.”
“Perhaps. At least enough that I will not let you take the lead merely because you are older, Mya-nee.”
“ … Please be gentle with me.”
“I will do my best.”

And so we entered a room where no one could disturb us.
There is no need to describe what happened there.

 

◇◇◇

 

Mya-nee and I remained together behind closed doors.
What happened there is left undescribed. At first she was nervous and uncertain; as the night continued, she accepted the changed relationship and the supernatural bond growing between us.

When we were alone together, the past felt impossibly distant: the other world, my death, and the person I used to be.

“I still cannot believe I am really doing this with you, Chii-chan. You were like a little sister to me.”
“This world itself is unbelievable. I survived by becoming a vampire. Loving you now changes nothing.”
“You adapt too easily. But … you’re right. There is no point overthinking it. Right now, I want to be honestly happy that we can be this close.”

At last, the tension left Mya-nee, and the rest of that private night passed behind closed doors.

 

◇◇◇

 

The Mark appeared on Mya-nee’s neck the following morning, after we had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Apparently, she had awakened before me and spent nearly thirty minutes watching me sleep.
What poor taste.

“Mmm—ahhh! W-what is this!?”

In retaliation, I touched her neck. Mya-nee arched back with a startled cry.
I leaned close to her ear and explained the Mark.

“It is proof that your preparation to become a vampire is complete.”

Mya-nee’s body jerked.

“S-so that means … the charm has taken hold, and I have become your captive, Chii-chan?”
“That is correct.”
“ … It does not feel very different.”

Heat rushed through me at Mya-nee’s matter-of-fact answer.
How could she say something like that so easily?

“Then perhaps you were mine from the beginning.”
“Oh, I see. Heehee. I suppose that makes me unfit to be a teacher.”
“That has been true for a while. Now then, I am going to bite you.”
“Yes. Make me the same as you, Chii-chan.”

In the end, Mya-nee had not changed.
She waited with the same smile she had worn when we played together long ago.
And this time, I would abandon my humanity completely by dragging Mya-nee—the last attachment I had left on the human side—over to mine.

I pressed my lips to Mya-nee’s fever-warm neck.

“Ah …”

A small gasp.
There was no hesitation in that voice, only acceptance.
She accepted, from the bottom of her heart, becoming the same kind of being as me.
Certain of that, I sank my fangs into her skin.

“Ngh …”

A pained sound slipped from Mya-nee’s throat.
It will be all right. It will feel good soon.
I drank her blood, and with it gave her a portion of myself: a vampire’s soul.

“Ah … I understand. I understand, Chii-chan is … coming into me …”

She understood. I was so happy.
More—I had to give her more, so she could feel me flowing into her.

“Chii-chan … Chii-chan … together … forever …”

Yes. Together. Forever this time.
I would never let her go. A vampire’s life does not end, so we would remain together eternally.
No matter what happened, this promise would never be broken.

Mya-nee gradually went limp in my arms.
Her skin had turned pale, and her body now felt almost like mine—as though we truly were sisters.
And when I buried my face against her, her scent seemed richer even than it had been the night before.

“Mmm …”

The time of awakening.
I watched her eyelids rise slowly, waiting for the ruby color beneath them.

“I …”

Her eyes looked at me.
When she understood that the person before her was me, Mya-nee’s matching red eyes grew wet. She reached for my cheek.
This time she wore an adult expression, one that seemed ready to take the lead for real.

“Did I become a vampire?”
“Yes. Like me, Mya-nee—you are now a Demi-Vamp.”
“A Demi-Vamp … heehee. Together with Chii-chan.”

We kissed again. The coolness of her changed body satisfied my desire to possess her.

“Now then, Mya-nee. Shall we go?”
“Where?”
“Next door. The others are waiting. From today on, you are one of us too.”
“Does that mean …?”
“Yes. Today is your welcome party.”

Imagining what awaited her, Mya-nee put both hands to her cheeks and smiled with delighted rapture.
Seeing how completely she had embraced this new existence, I was certain once again that there was no going back.