Chapter 2: The Vampire Queen’s Motive

Blood Realm,авис

It was a full moon night, the most cherished time for vampires who shunned the sun. Their day and night were the opposite of humans’.

In the heart of the capital city, Montbelle, a gothic palace rose, built entirely from pristine quartz blocks.

Deep in the palace’s basement, a black stone coffin rested silently.

Atop the coffin, Larvia lay on her back, legs crossed, flipping through a comic book she’d confiscated from Silia, boredom evident in her posture.

Knock, knock, knock—

A sound came from the coffin beneath her. Larvia’s face lit up with long-awaited excitement. She snapped the comic shut and rolled off the coffin.

As she did, the coffin’s lid was shoved open from within.

Cough, cough…

A white-haired girl sat up inside.

She rubbed her eyes, scanning the room.

The gothic decor jogged her memory.

Her memories stirred, and a splitting headache followed. She clutched her head in pain.

‘That’s right. Larvia turned me into a vampire with her first embrace.’

‘This must be where I woke up.’

As the girl sorted her thoughts, Larvia’s head popped up beside the coffin, startling her.

“Yo, you’re awake?”

Larvia gripped the coffin’s edge, her crimson eyes sizing up the naked girl, nodding with apparent satisfaction.

“Head hurts? That’s normal. Drink some blood, and you’ll feel better, Klein—no, Chloe now.”

“Ch-Chloe?”

Chloe muttered, then froze as a realization hit. She looked down.

Seeing her long white hair and the changes to her chest, memories from before she blacked out flooded back.

She froze in place.

“Come on, drink.”

Larvia’s voice sounded as she held out a glass of red liquid.

“Larvia! You… how could you…”

Chloe’s cheeks flushed scarlet. She scrambled to cover her bare body.

“Why didn’t you kill me? And why turn me into a girl?!”

“Huh? I like you too much to kill you. Why would I?”

“You…”

“Besides, vampires are a superior race, way stronger than humans. You should’ve died, but I gave you a second life.”

Larvia blinked innocently at Chloe.

“Little Chloe, do you really want to die that badly?”

“I… cough, cough…”

A wave of dizziness hit, and Chloe’s body went limp.

“Drink up. It’ll make you feel better.”

Larvia brought the half-filled goblet of blood to Chloe’s lips.

Chloe stared at the blood, biting her lip.

The red liquid held a fatal allure for her now.

But she knew what drinking it meant.

“Still hesitating? Just drink.”

Larvia’s voice urged. Chloe, trembling, closed her eyes and brought her lips to the goblet. The rusty scent invaded her nose.

As the human Sword Saint, she’d grown used to blood’s stench in countless battles, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

She’d loathed that pungent smell from her core.

But now, blood was her essential sustenance.

Her mind rejected it, but her body craved the red liquid instinctively.

Pinching her nose, she snatched the goblet from Larvia and gulped it down.

As the blood emptied, Chloe’s strength gave out.

The goblet fell to the floor, spared from shattering by the carpet.

Chloe collapsed back into the coffin, feeling her strength return swiftly after the blood. She clenched her fists.

“Heh, that seals it. You’ve officially embraced vampire ways, Chloe.”

Larvia smirked, standing by the coffin, gazing at the weakened Chloe.

“Once you’re up, find Sheffield to register. I’ve already told her, so you don’t need to worry about the rest.”

With that, Larvia turned toward the basement exit.

Two steps in, she glanced back with a sly grin.

“Oh, one more thing. I suggest you don’t blab about us. You wouldn’t want others knowing you were once the human Sword Saint, right?”

“Larvia… what’s your real goal?”

“My goal?”

Larvia raised a brow.

“Five years ago, my precious daughter snuck out. It wasn’t her first time, so I didn’t think much of it. But that time was different.”

Larvia picked up a small blood vial and refilled the goblet Chloe had used.

“When she came back, she was like a different person, terrified of leaving the palace. It took ages to pry even a bit of info from her.”

Larvia sipped from the goblet.

“She said she met a human who called themselves the Sword Saint.”

Larvia pushed the goblet toward Chloe, smiling as she stared.

“Little Chloe, got any clues about that?”

Chloe looked at the blood in the goblet, her face paling with each word.

She remembered that day vividly.

That evening, after work with the Church Knights, she’d come home to find a black-haired girl rummaging through her cabinets.

The girl claimed she was just looking for food, but Chloe found her wallet—tucked away in a drawer—in the girl’s possession.

Given the girl’s theft and lies, Chloe revealed her identity, lectured her, and spanked her as punishment.

She’d planned to let the girl go after, but the girl’s hair turned white, and she unleashed vampire blood magic.

Chloe’s skill prevailed, and she subdued the girl.

Then she spanked her again, harder.

No mercy this time—the girl was left sobbing.

Chloe had intended to turn her over to the Church Tribunal, but the hassle of questioning deterred her. She decided to deal with it the next day.

Partly because she was exhausted and wanted sleep. Partly because it gave her an excuse to skip work.

But to her surprise, despite locking the girl up, she was gone by morning.

Chloe had let it go, pretending nothing happened.

“F-Five years ago? No clue. Probably some wannabe Sword Saint. I’m famous, you know—plenty of people in the human empire must’ve impersonated me…”

Chloe stammered.

“Really?”

Larvia locked eyes with her. Chloe looked away, unable to hold her gaze.

“Fine.”

Larvia shook her head.

“Oh, one last thing. Don’t sleep too long—Sheffield clocks out at sunrise. Find her before then.”

With that, Larvia strode out of the basement.

Chloe sat in the coffin, knees to her chest, staring at the spot where Larvia left.

‘Did I really get away with that?’

For some reason, it felt too easy.

Did Larvia believe her flimsy excuse, or did she not know the full details and let it slide?

Chloe couldn’t figure it out.

But for now, Larvia had let her off.

‘Whatever. It’s done. Time to sleep.’

When Chloe woke again, she stretched, the earlier weakness gone, replaced by brimming energy.

‘Since I’m already like this, might as well live with it.’

With that mindset, Chloe climbed out of the coffin, ready to follow Larvia’s instructions.

That’s when she realized something was off.

Here in the basement, she couldn’t see outside.

She searched the room but found no clock or timekeeping device.

Worse, Larvia had only told her to find someone named Sheffield—no description, no location.

But that paled compared to the real issue.

That btch* hadn’t left her any clothes.

“…”

‘Fcking hll…’