#Episode 10
And thus, the light seeping in from outside reached the dark room where Todd was.
Todd exhaled the breath he had unknowingly been holding and lifted his head. He froze.
The closed window had somehow opened, and the curtain was fluttering in the breeze. Behind the curtain stood a figure.
A beautiful woman with long, purple hair and gleaming red eyes appeared at the previously empty window.
With a sweet voice characteristic of a vampire luring its prey, she spoke kindly to Todd.
“I was worried you might still be unconscious since you didn’t respond to my calls.”
However, her kindness sent chills down his spine.
The fact that something non-human was pretending to understand human emotions made him instinctively reject it.
“It’s a relief that you seem more intact than I thought,”
She said, smiling and revealing her long fangs.
Despite the tension that made him feel like he could be devoured at any moment, Todd couldn’t take his eyes off her smile.
***
<Ego te invitare…..!>
The boy had invited her.
Only then did Vasha let out a sigh of relief.
‘It seems he has come to his senses.’
When Thomas, whom she had made into her thrall, died, Vasha realized her presence had been discovered. It was likely due to the cowardly guard who had been with him.
If only she could have created one more thrall, things would have been perfect!
But Vasha could only create one thrall at a time, so there was no helping it.
A high-ranking vampire could dominate an entire village, but that was still far off for Vasha.
Thus, Vasha had to anxiously watch the village from outside during the day, constantly on alert.
She felt frustrated, knowing the village was in chaos while she could only wait outside.
‘Should I have commanded the thrall to invite me last night? No, that would have revealed me even faster.’
Had Vasha entered the village last night, the Star of Lamphas would have instantly turned black, and the Lamphas Church would have flipped the village upside down in the morning.
Now, with Thomas’s identity only discovered at sunset, they had managed to last a little longer than expected.
Meanwhile, the boy seemed to have received emergency treatment, which was a small relief.
But Vasha couldn’t relax completely, sensing the villagers converging on the hospital where the boy was.
Considering the boy’s state last night, he likely wouldn’t be fully conscious. If they weren’t careful, he could be cremated on the spot.
She had to prevent that at all costs.
Vasha activated the brand she had left as a last resort.
When a vampire calls upon the brand, the branded person feels a searing pain. Vasha hoped this pain would wake the boy.
Though it would be painful for him, it would hopefully snap him back to consciousness.
The important thing was to save the potential familiar.
Fortunately, the boy seemed to have come to his senses and recited the invitation spell.
‘I need to get in there as soon as possible… When will the sun finally set?’
Vasha bit her lip in frustration. The boy had invited her, but the sun was still up. As a lower-ranking vampire, she couldn’t move while the sun was out.
Meanwhile, danger was closing in on the boy.
Sharp sounds of the villagers’ chatter pierced her heightened senses like spears.
“Damn it….”
Vasha desperately wished for sunset, praying the boy would survive until then.
Did the heavens hear her prayer?
Suddenly, the sky darkened as if a typhoon were approaching, with strong winds picking up. The gathering storm clouds quickly obscured the sun.
“Great!”
Vasha cried out in joy.
The sun was hidden. Now, there was no reason to hesitate.
Vasha immediately burst through the main gate of the village. The star of Lamphas guarding the gate turned black and disintegrated into ashes.
Humans panicked at the sudden thunder and lightning, like a bolt from the blue. Amidst their terrified chaos, Vasha swiftly ran to the hospital where the boy was.
***
“I’m glad you seem more intact than I thought.”
Vasha was overjoyed to see her prospective familiar looking healthier.
Though ‘healthy’ was still an overstatement given his weak state, she was moved to see the boy, who had been completely out of it, now wide awake.
“What do you want from me?”
“Hmm?”
If the boy hadn’t abruptly said this, Vasha’s joy might have lasted longer. He crossed his arms and glared at Vasha with hostility.
“You wouldn’t brand a kid like me just to get into a village. You must want something else, right?”
Vasha had nothing specific in mind… or did she?
Strictly speaking, there was something she wanted, but was it worth mentioning right away?
She planned to save him from this crisis, build some rapport, and then subtly introduce the Binding Contract with a line like, ‘You’re such a good kid. Would you be my familiar?’
However, the boy was overly wary and even mistook her for a high-ranking vampire!
How should she clarify and explain this?
Vasha hesitated, unsure how to start. On the outside, she appeared calm, making her thoughts hard to guess. Todd felt his mouth go dry under Vasha’s gaze, his nerves on edge.
After a long silence, Vasha finally spoke.
“There is something I want…”
“I knew it! So, what do you want? If I grant your wish, can you help me escape this village?”
Todd’s golden eyes blazed as he shot his questions at Vasha. His confrontational stance was a mix of defensive bravado and an effort to mask his fear.
Vasha was taken aback by Todd’s attitude.
‘So, this kid is trying to strike a deal with a vampire like me!’
What a bold kid. Vasha was impressed. No wonder he managed to escape the grip of the Lamphas Church.
Such cunning was a valuable trait for a vampire’s familiar. Her initial doubt about his potential disappeared, replaced by admiration. This boy had a promising future.
‘But his face looks familiar…’
With his black hair and golden eyes, and now that the bruises and swelling on his cat-like features had faded, he bore a striking resemblance to Hudel from her dreams—a boy who was a royal hound and monster hunter, constantly fighting various creatures.
‘But Hudel was around fifteen in my dreams. This boy is younger.’
Could this be a time earlier than what she saw in her dreams?
Reflecting on the letter’s mention that even the Vampire Lord was still asleep, it seemed to be a period before the events in her dream. If so, were her dreams premonitions?
She needed to gauge how far back this time was compared to her dreams.
But for now, she was sure this boy wasn’t Hudel. Hudel wouldn’t be hunted as a heretic since he was a homunculus of Van Drake raised secretly by the royal family.
At this age, Hudel would be living discreetly in a noble household, while this boy was just someone who coincidentally looked like him.
Regardless of who he was, it didn’t change the fact that this boy was the only one she could make into her familiar.
