Chapter 2: The New Master

“Let me inspect the goods first… Hm hm hm.”

Klal whispered with a light chuckle, her eyes gleaming with wicked amusement as she gazed at the frozen Cassia.

Then, under Cassia’s watchful stare, Klal leaned down slightly, parting her lips to reveal the sharp fangs unique to vampires, glinting with a chilling light.

She bit down, piercing into Alice’s slender, fragile neck.

“Ugh…” Alice’s body stiffened abruptly, a pained groan escaping her throat.

Yet even amid the immense agony of those fangs piercing her, her tear-filled crimson eyes remained stubbornly fixed on Cassia.

The arm she had extended trembled even more violently, but she still did not pull it back.

The girl seemed to be waiting…

Waiting for this final moment.

Waiting for her queen to bridge the chasm of arrogance and prejudice.

Waiting for her master to respond to this unacknowledged devotion.

Waiting to… hold her hand.

Cassia’s fingers curled in the blood-soaked mud, but the hand that should have risen, that should have reached out, ultimately…

Did not.

She remained rigid in place, watching with wide eyes as the last faint glimmer of hope in Alice’s gaze dimmed bit by bit under her silent rejection… until it faded entirely.

Alice’s arm finally lost all strength, falling limply… without a sound, devoid of life.

“Mm…”

Klal straightened up, savoring the taste as she licked her lips. The girl’s body lost all support, collapsing weakly right before Cassia’s eyes.

“Ara, I didn’t expect this child’s blood to be so delicious. I got a little carried away and sucked too much.” She feigned surprise as she spoke.

“But you too, Cassia—you managed to hold back from draining such a tempting one dry. Just one bite, and I’m already addicted, hm hm hm…”

She provoked mercilessly, narrowing her eyes before adding one final line.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway… From now on, she’s mine.”

Cassia remained kneeling there, unmoving, like a lifeless statue.

Her gaze fell emptily forward, on the small body slumped on the ground—half-open, clouded eyes staring blankly at her.

Klal observed Cassia’s death-like expression, a playful glint flashing in her eyes.

She chuckled lightly, casually nudging Alice’s limp arm with the tip of her shoe.

“It seems you really cared about her… How laughable. The mighty Vampire Queen, showing that kind of look for a lowly blood livestock?”

She paused deliberately, narrowing her eyes.

“What exactly did this child like about you? Your arrogance? Or your… incompetence? The way she looked at you earlier was truly touching. Even I felt nauseated by this deep master-servant bond.”

With that, Klal stood up straight, letting out a theatrical sigh of exasperation.

“However, such fervent ‘loyalty’ is troublesome for me… A toy with her heart full of her old master would feel a bit off-putting to play with, don’t you think?”

Then, Klal extended a finger, gathering a point of crimson dark light at the tip before gently pressing it against Alice’s forehead.

“How about… I help clean her up a bit, little cutie? Wipe away all those useless memories of the failure.”

She deliberately glanced at Cassia, the mockery in her eyes intensifying. The latter’s body tensed sharply, immediately realizing what was happening.

“Klal!!! Let her go!!!”

Cassia let out a near-desperate roar, but it sounded utterly pathetic.

The glow in Klal’s hand slowly seeped into Alice’s skin. The collapsed girl let out a faint, unconscious whimper.

Klal’s curse-like whisper followed.

“Watch closely, Cassia. Watch how she forgets you… little by little.”

The instant the light buried itself, Alice’s already scattered consciousness from blood loss jolted violently.

A terror from the depths of her soul somehow sparked one last burst of strength in her dying body.

She trembled fiercely. In her mind… those familiar memories began fading away, one by one.

“No… don’t…”

The girl let out a weak, tearful plea. Her clouded eyes struggled to focus in Cassia’s direction, tears bursting forth to leave stains on her pale little face.

“Please… don’t take them away… Those are… those are mine… I can’t forget…”

She begged humbly, fingers clawing helplessly at the ground, her whole body shaking.

Klal merely watched the scene with great interest, the light at her fingertip growing brighter. The erasure process did not slow—it became even more brutal.

“Shh… Relax. The dizziness is normal. Soon, those sweet memories of yours will only hold your new master, ‘Lady Klal,’ hm hm hm…”

“Lady… Cassia…”

Alice’s gaze locked desperately onto Cassia.

In those eyes was humble attachment and desperate pleading, as if using her last remnants of consciousness to etch Cassia’s image.

Cassia felt ice-cold all over.

She stared blankly as the intense, inseparable love and dependence in Alice’s eyes—the affection nearly overflowing—receded like a rapid tide.

That fervent attachment and hope wavered, wavered, grew faint, like a candle in the wind.

Then, the light extinguished… replaced by a bewildered indifference.

Alice continued staring at Cassia, but the emotions swirling in her eyes had completely changed. She looked at a stranger—an utterly irrelevant existence.

The feelings that once filled them were stripped away entirely, leaving only hollow reflections.

In the end, even those reflections vanished…

Now, Alice’s eyes held only an eerie calm, like stagnant dead water without a single ripple.

She no longer struggled, no longer cried. She simply lay there quietly, gazing emptily at the ruined dome of the hall.

And on her cheek, that final teardrop—carrying the last thread of attachment—fell to the cold floor below, only to be swallowed completely by the accumulated dust.

Klal withdrew her hand with satisfaction, the red glow at her fingertip dissipating.

She stood up, smiling cruelly as she called out in a deliberately sweet voice, testing.

“Dear… stand up.”

The girl’s body shuddered slightly. Then, unsteadily, she rose to her feet, her expression numb—like a mere doll.

Klal’s arms slithered like a venomous snake from behind, cupping the girl’s cheeks before glancing at Cassia on the ground.

“Dear, tell me—what is this woman’s name?”

“…” The girl did not answer.

“It seems I cleaned her quite thoroughly.” She chuckled lightly, stroking Alice’s now-lifeless cheek before asking again.

“Then, who am I?”

“…” The girl remained silent.

A flicker of surprise crossed Klal’s eyes.

“Ara, maybe I cleaned too thoroughly.”

Realizing something, she bent down, bringing her face close to Alice’s, pointing at her own cheek as she teased once more.

“Dear, give your new master a kiss.”

Alice blinked blankly. She tilted her head slightly, then—under Cassia’s despairing gaze—slowly rose onto her tiptoes.

The movement was stiff, like a lifeless puppet. Her body leaned forward, and her cold lips pressed without hesitation against Klal’s cheek.

Klal narrowed her eyes in enjoyment, letting out a deliberate sigh of satisfaction.

“Mm… So obedient.”

She looked provocatively at Cassia, only to find the other’s expression had changed.

Cassia no longer roared, no longer struggled.

She simply knelt there quietly, silver hair hanging down to obscure most of her face.

“Hm hm hm… As agreed, I won’t kill you, but…”

She stepped slowly toward the still-kneeling, motionless Cassia.

“I never promised to let you leave unscathed.”

Before the words finished, the crimson greatsword struck suddenly.

Splat—!!!

The blade tore through flesh, muscle, and bone…

The joints of Cassia’s limbs, her hand tendons, her foot tendons—all were cruelly severed.

Yet she made no sound, like a dead thing.

Then, Klal slammed her palm against Cassia’s heart. A powerful energy forced its way into Cassia’s body, directly shattering her remaining source of power.

The scarlet glow symbolizing vampire strength extinguished completely from Cassia’s eyes…

She became like a hollowed-out doll, so weak she could not even maintain her kneeling posture. Her body swayed feebly before softly collapsing forward, her bloodied face smashing heavily into the cold, filthy scorched earth.

Thus, the once-supreme queen—power depleted, tendons severed—became… a true cripple.

“Enjoy the rest of your miserable life, Cassia…”

“Alice…” She called once, wrapping an arm around Alice’s slender waist.

“Let’s go, dear… Let your master see just how compatible we are, hm hm hm.”

Klal’s cruel and delighted laughter echoed through the ruins engulfed in flames.

Finally, it vanished into this crimson cold night.