Kirie, being only a somewhat advanced vampire, still needed to consume fresh blood. She was nowhere near Dracula's level—able to eat anything, or even go without food entirely. So the slothful King of Blood had no choice but to shuffle to the castle's kitchen and grab two blood bags.
Seeing her hold the bags like a squirrel with snacks, Dracula scratched his head with a troubled expression. "Looks like we'll need to solve your feeding problem too. The blood stores in the kitchen should last you over a month."
He waved his hand lazily, "Well, we'll deal with it when the time comes. You know where it is, right?"
Kirie nodded.
"Good. Just help yourself when you're hungry. Ration it out. I'll think of something when it runs out."
He turned to leave for the throne room, waving casually. "Do as you like. I'm heading back."
"Where are you going, my lord?" she asked.
"Back to sleep," Dracula replied weakly.
A whole month passed since Kirie had settled into the castle. Dracula remained the same—rarely leaving his room and living a self-indulgent life. Kirie, still holding onto her noble upbringing, would greet him every morning and night.
She eventually took it upon herself to clean the massive castle. On the first day, she was exhausted after barely finishing two floors. But she was smart. From the library, she found a necromancy grimoire and began learning how to summon undead to do the cleaning for her. Thus, Kirie became the castle's Necromancer Maid.
Over time, she discovered that the fearsome Blood King was surprisingly easy to get along with. He never lost his temper. So her normally hidden snarky, deadpan personality started to show. Occasionally, she'd throw some sarcastic barbs at Dracula's laziness, though she kept her distance.
Dracula, for his part, couldn't care less. Aside from being lazy, he was busy trying to recreate the divine seal that once bound him—crafted by God himself. He knew that his "old friend" Zobek wouldn't expose his weaknesses unless he was sure Dracula was still sealed.
So Dracula needed to perfectly reproduce that seal. Only then would Zobek drop his guard, and only then could Dracula strike him down for good.
It's not like Dracula couldn't march into Hell and look for him, but Hell's enormous, and Zobek could be hiding anywhere. And Dracula, being terminally lazy, wasn't about to go looking for trouble.
That night, Dracula was in his coffin chamber, chanting in a sacred tongue. A divine light radiated from his palm, wrapping the coffin as golden runes began to form—a sign the sealing spell was almost complete.
Suddenly, his hand paused.
[Host, you have visitors.]
"Yeah, I know," Dracula muttered. "It's that whatever family's young master—the one who wants to marry Kirie, right?"
[Could you be a little more refined? You're the King of Vampires! I expected grand speeches, not… vulgarity!]
"Yeah, well, I'm an orphan. Even named myself," Dracula continued casting.
[Aren't you going to save Miss Kirie? She did clean your castle for over a month.]
"Her undead minions did the cleaning," Dracula said. "And besides, I'm one day away from finishing this seal. I can't stop now or I'll lose everything."
[So you're just going to let her get dragged off to be some rich kid's bride?]
"Whatever. I'll rescue her tomorrow if I have to. No way that smug little punk will win her over in just a few hours."
He smirked. "Besides, he's probably about to summon Zobek. I'll just take care of both of them at once."
Meanwhile, Kirie was humming as she entered her room…
She suddenly came to a halt—then turned around, beginning to summon the undead from within the walls of Castlevania. While conjuring skeletons to obstruct the approaching invaders, Kagarino Kirie transformed into a small, agile cat and swiftly climbed up to the ceiling beam.
She knew full well that her half-baked necromancy would never hold off the Fawkes family's infamous squad of executioners. So she held her breath and quietly nestled on the beam above, waiting patiently for the right moment.
The door to the room burst open.
The black-robed executioners, having cleared out all the summoned dead, entered the chamber with the silence of death itself.
There were four of them—cold, methodical killing machines in robes—spreading out as they searched the room, which still faintly held traces of Kirie's scent.
Suddenly, one of them sensed something.
He looked up—only to be greeted by a pair of dainty cat paws.
The paws struck his face with monstrous strength, collapsing his skull with a single stomp.
Kirie flipped through the air. By the time she landed, she'd already returned to her human form. Her vampiric claws gleamed as she lunged into battle against the three remaining executioners.
Though none of them could match her individually, their teamwork was formidable. She was soon forced back, retreating to the doorway, panting lightly as she prepared to strike again.
But just then, a sharp, burning pain pierced her neck.
Kirie turned her head—and realized with horror that there had been a fifth executioner, lying in wait outside the door this whole time.
Her vision dimmed.
With unwillingness and frustration clouding her gaze, she collapsed to the floor.