Kirie awoke again.
She blinked at the ceiling, mumbling dazedly, "This time… I do recognize the ceiling."
"You're finally awake, girl." A lazy male voice called out.
Turning her head, she spotted the same red-coated man she'd once betrayed in a moment of desperation—sitting nonchalantly in a chair beside her.
Dracula glanced over as she stirred.
"Not bad, girl. But clearly, you're still too green. You couldn't even handle the sound of my soul."
No—it's just that your music sounds like a duet with Azathoth. No one could survive that!
"Then they're all trash," Dracula said smugly, chuckling.
"Sir…" Kirie hesitated before speaking softly. "Did you… save me?"
"Yep. Came home and found you playing dead on my doorstep," he said with a shrug. "Out of courtesy and principle, I dragged you inside. You actually woke up once already, but then got too moved by my music and passed out again."
"Thank you… for saving me," Kirie said, struggling to her feet. She gave him a small curtsy and then asked, a bit timidly, "May I ask your name?"
"The name's Dracula. Yes, that Dracula. The infamous one you're thinking of."
He added lazily, "And don't worry—I'm not mad about you selling me out before. Honestly, I'm used to it. Compared to the old vampires, you're pretty nice. At least you didn't finish the job after selling me. Those guys would've stabbed me on the way out."
Yawning, Dracula stood and shuffled toward the door.
"Rest up here. Once you've recovered, you can go wherever you want. Just don't mess with anything in my castle."
Another yawn.
"I'm gonna go nap. That performance drained me."
Thud!
The door shut behind him with a heavy slam.
Kirie listened as his footsteps faded away. Then she lay back down on the bed.
Dracula was right. She had run too far, drained all her magic, and then been shattered by his infernal music. Rest was the only option now.
Dracula… the King of Blood…
She pulled the blanket over her face.
He acts like a grumpy old uncle… nothing like the legends say.
She closed her eyes and drifted quickly into slumber.
---
The next morning.
Though technically "morning," the castle remained drenched in the blood-red glow of the eternal moon—thanks to its recent upgrade by Dracula and the system. After all, it now existed in an isolated dimension.
At the very top of the Demon Castle, inside the throne hall, Dracula was currently butt-up on the floor, rummaging beneath his throne.
"Hey, system? System?" he grumbled, searching. "Where the hell is that magic tome I used to prop up my throne? It's missing."
[Host, while you were sealed in slumber, Skar entered the Demon Castle. He sneaked into your throne room and took the book.]
"…Skar?" Dracula blinked. "Who the hell is that?"
[That acne-faced, pure-hearted middle-aged vampire?]
"Oh, him?" Dracula said. "How'd he sneak in here?"
[Didn't you absorb all the monsters in the castle before you went into hibernation? With only a few traps left behind, it wasn't hard for a careful intruder like that vampire to sneak in.]
"I got rid of them because they were too noisy," Dracula scratched his face awkwardly. "And that damn Death—he always goes easy on those little Belmont brats and keeps encouraging them to rebel against me. I'm not afraid of him, but playing house with him every time is just so exhausting. So I thought, screw it, I'll absorb them all and be done with it."
He paused, then asked in surprise, "Now that I think of it, why did that guy named Scar go for the book under my throne instead of the ones in the library? No wonder my butt's been sore lately."
[Apparently, he thought the grimoire under your throne was a treasure you were secretly hiding. The look on his face when he dug it out—like he'd found the Holy Grail—was downright hilarious.]
"Idiot," Dracula spat and scratched the back of his head. "Wait, which book was I sitting on again?"
[The Book of the Dead you stole from Zobek, the Necromancer King. After memorizing it, you just used it as a cushion. Now that Red from the Fawkes family has it, he's planning to summon Zobek and make a big scene. Stopping that is your final task in this world.]
"Oh, that idiot." Dracula rolled his eyes. "But how did Zobek manage to escape last time? I'm sure I destroyed his core."
[He foresaw his defeat and split his core beforehand, attaching part of it to a remote skeleton in the deepest part of Hell. After you killed him, he was able to regenerate. He kept hidden until you waged war and went down in a blaze of glory alongside Satan and God. Now, he's expanded his power in Hell, becoming the second most powerful force after the new Satan. If he makes it back to the human world, the consequences will be catastrophic.]
"Clever bastard." Dracula gave a cold laugh. "But third time's the charm. This time, he won't escape."
"Anyway, that's a problem for later. Right now, I need to fix my throne." He bent down again, butt sticking up, and began fiddling with the seat.
"Um, Lord Dracula? May I come in?"
It was Kirie's voice. A moment later, the silver-haired girl stood at the entrance as the throne room doors opened on their own—one of Dracula's old dramatic contraptions that still worked.
So Kirie walked in… just in time to see Dracula's raised rear.
"Lord Dracula… what are you doing?" she asked, visibly troubled.
"My throne's a little off-kilter, I'm fixing it." Dracula didn't care that she'd caught him in an embarrassing pose. Or rather, he was too lazy to be embarrassed. He stood up and patted his clothes. "So, what do you need?"
Kirie nodded, then suddenly dropped to one knee. Lowering her head, she said earnestly:
"Kirie begs you to shelter her, Lord Dracula. I don't want to go back to Paris. I don't want to become that man's bride. Please, let me serve as your maid."
Dracula looked at her and sighed, "Get up. I don't need a maid."
She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
Dracula continued, "It's not that I'll never need one, but this kind of thing needs to be mutual. You asking me to take you in doesn't mean I have to. I need to observe you first. But I'm not kicking you out either. If you want to hide here, fine by me. Just don't expect me to come rescue you if you get caught."
"Understood! Thank you, Lord Dracula." Kirie stood up happily.
"Anything else?" Dracula asked, seeing her linger.
"…My lord, is there any food for vampires here? I'm hungry…"