The Vampire Empress.
A cold breath resounded inside of me. Sweat dripped from my forehead as my hands held onto one another, clenching as hard as they could while I looked at her in the eye, “How accurate is your information, how do I know you are not just messing with me… how do I know you are trustworthy?”
“I am from another kingdom, after all. I understand your suspicion, but you can rest assured, this information that I am providing is highly accurate. After all… I have been watching over the situation for a while now,” she sighed.
“If you have been watching the situation then wouldn’t you know already about the attempted kidnapping, wouldn’t you already know which person bailed out the positions of Ayaka during her little journey?” I glared at her.
The fact that she didn’t flinch a single bit from my glare showed that she knew. She knew all this time, yet she didn’t tell me… no, even if she did tell me, would I believe it? After all, I was under the influence that the kingdom was my ally. I had the same mindset as almost all protagonists in stories, every kingdom that summoned you should be your ally… that was what I thought all this time.
“Do you want to know which person bailed the positions of Ayaka?” she asked, “I was afraid of telling you simply because this would make you someone who would be unable to trust your own subordinates even if they truly are trustworthy.”
“Did you know, there used to be a leader who was extremely trustful of her subordinates until a day of chaos ensued wherein the lives of the people she loved was killed by none other than her own subordinates.”
“That leader became distrustful to everyone and would kill anyone who she suspected was acting suspicious,” she showed a bitter smile as she looked out the window with a dark gaze, “That leader was me…”
After she spoke that last sentence, she turned her attention back to me with a smile, “That’s the reason why I didn’t want to tell you early on, I was simply afraid you would end up lonely like the past me but seeing you right now made me realize, not everyone is like me.”
“You have Ayaka with you and that little girl will definitely be your catalyst of trust,” she added before asking one more time, “Do you still want to hear the truth?”
“If I don’t hear it now then I won’t hear it in forever,” I showed a wry smile before she nodded as a dark orb floated around us before enclosing our entire surroundings in deep darkness. There wasn’t a single noise that could be heard from the outside which led me to believe this is some sort of noise-canceling barrier of hers. To think that I would be able to see one though. I wonder if I can do something like that.
“The one who bailed out Ayaka’s position was none other than your little royal knight leader Leo,” she replied, “You should know that being a royal knight leader means you are obliged to follow the royal king’s commands at all times.”
“Though even if he didn’t have to follow the commands of the king, he would still bail the position of our little girl since that’s what his nature is, a greedy bastard who wants to rise in power even if it is through nefarious means…” she answered.
I was taken aback… though if we are talking about reality here then who else would know their positions other than Felice and Iona who were both busy accompanying Ayaka. The only one other than the devil in front of me is Leo who had known their trip ahead of time.
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“But Leo was within my sight during the entire period, how could he bail out their positions?!” I looked at her confused.
“Is your world stuck in olden days?” she sighed, “Each noble family is given an orb which they can use to immediately contact the king, in case of emergencies, though only the heirs of the family and the head can use it.”
“At least that’s how it used to work, the orb could be activated with mana, and you could transport messages with mana as well which makes it extremely useful for transporting secrets or SOS messages but it has one flaw, the mana can be detected and read by someone proficient enough in reading mana,” she sighed, “Those idiots probably didn’t think I wouldn’t notice…”
I felt exhausted inside. My view has been a bit too narrow all this time. I was like a frog who had managed to jump out of a well only to find out that there are more dangers outside than I could have envisioned. I wanted to jump back into the well and stay there instead.
“I can tell what you are thinking, you don’t know what you are supposed to right? You can’t punish them directly as that would show your suspicion to the kingdom and would only lead to even more harm to the only person who can affect your emotions, you also can’t confront them. I also have experienced this feeling before,” she showed a wry smile.
“What do you think I should do?” I bit on my lips.
She stood up from her seat and came over to my side, resting her head over at my shoulder as she held my hand. It felt warm. I would be opposed to such interactions but right now, my emotions were as if a storm raging. I don’t know what to do. I am in another world. I have no allies to trust. I have no one that could help me.
“I am here with you, don’t worry. For now, act the same. As much as I want to crush this entire land, the protocol of this continent is pretty binding to me. All I can do is help you on the way. I’ve also increased the number of guards on the little girl, so you don’t have to worry about her… Focus on making this territory able to live by itself and I will handle the rest…” she gripped my hand tighter.
Her voice was like a soft melody that was pleasing to the ears. I understood that she was reassuring me that nothing would happen with her here, but I still can’t help myself but be worried. What if the people I am trusting will be the ones to throw their swords at me? I also have to remember that I am not a human like them but a vampire, inevitably, it might not be weird for us to cross swords in the future.
My head felt weak as I slowly leaned my head to her side, my eyes were getting exhausted. I felt tired from thinking of all possible situations. I am truly not fit to be a strategist nor am I fit to be a leader. I could only laugh myself inside as my hand was being held tight.
“You know, if you ever lie to me, I will personally kill you myself. Do you understand that?” I mumbled in the silence before she giggled as she continued to hold my hand.
“I understand… it must have been tough for you, go to sleep for now…” her other hand caressed through my hair as I slowly became drowsy with the dark orb that surrounded us slowly dissipating into the air.
And like that, I fell asleep in the embrace of someone who I don’t know whether I should trust or not…