Volume 3, Chapter 44 – The Proposal

I think the voice that escaped me sounded incredibly stupid.

“Fiene-sama! Wait, what on earth is going on here?”

Whether it was good timing or bad timing, I couldn’t tell, but Chris-san and the others arrived at a strangely perfect moment.

As my gaze went back and forth between Adelrose-san and Chris-san’s group, Adelrose-san followed up with another attack.

“Now, Fiene. I’m serious. Please, marry me.”

“Wh-what?”

“Eh? Onee-sama?”

A-Are they both women?!”

Between the shock of being proposed to by a beautiful woman I had just met, and the embarrassment of having Chris-san and the others see it happen, my mind went completely blank.

…

…

…

Gasp!

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

Okay, I’m fine. I’m alive. Um, what was it again?

Ah, right. I was proposed to.

“Um, excuse me, you want to… marry me?”

“That’s right. It was love at first sight.”

“Um, well, I’m a woman, though.”

“Gender doesn’t matter if there is love.”

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“Ah, well, um, hmmm?”

Wait!

What was I even hesitating for? Getting married after meeting someone for the first time is impossible.

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine marrying someone I don’t even know.”

“So that means it would be fine if we got to know each other better, right?”

“Pardon?”

“Yay! Then I’ll come visit you often. Unlike you, I’m not very good during the day, so I’ll come see you at night, okay?”

“Eh, um? Excuse me?”

“Also, make sure you sleep in a large bed, okay? If it’s a single, it’ll be too cramped once I get in. Oh, but pressing close together in a cramped bed doesn’t sound too bad either.”

Wait, are you planning to sneak into my bed at night?!

“No, please don’t come. I-I can’t just suddenly start sleeping in the same bed as you!”

“So, as long as it’s not ‘suddenly,’ it’s okay, right?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

I was shocked by how ridiculous this whole situation was, but basically, isn’t she just a total pervert?

“Ehh, why not?”

She tilted her head, striking a cute pose, but I wouldn’t be fooled. Yes, she is a pervert.

Between Liera-san and this woman, why do perverts keep spawning around me?!

“Because I don’t want to!”

“Butooo—”

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“Enough. Let go of her hand. Fiene-sama does not like it.”

Chris-san stepped between us and pried Adelrose-san’s hand away from mine.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!”

Adelrose-san glared at Chris-san with a look of anger, so I hurriedly stepped in to intervene.

“Please wait. Stop fighting here. Also, Adelrose-san, these people are my precious comrades. If you do anything to them, I will purify you.”

I meant to sound intimidating, but Adelrose-san didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Eh? Really? I guess it can’t be helped. Fine. If Fiene says so, I won’t do anything. But in exchange, call me Ade, No honorifics, okay?”

“Eh? Um?”

“Ade.”

“A-Ade?”

“Fufu, Fiene. Good. Very good. I’ll give up on taking you home for today. But I’ll be visiting you over and over and over again, okay? There’s no bride as wonderful as you. I’ll never let you get away. Whether it takes a hundred years or two hundred, I’ll keep courting you until you change your mind.”

With that, Ade glided away from us. After leaving a final “See you later,” she vanished, melting into the shadows.

“Fiene-sama, who on earth was that woman?”

Chris-san asked me, looking flustered.

“She said she’s a Vampire Noble named Adelrose von Sternennacht.”

“””A Vampire Noble?!”””

The three of them shouted in surprise in perfect unison. It was so perfectly synchronized that even I was surprised.

“A Vampire Noble… as in the Higher Species of Vampires?!”

“Apparently.”

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“You were proposed to by such a being, Fiene-dono?”

“…It seems so.”

“Onee-sama, amazing!”

Yeah, I guess. I think it’s “amazing” too, but it’s so nonsensical that I have no idea what’s actually going on.

“So, Fiene-sama, what do you intend to do?”

“What do you mean ‘what do I intend to do’? I clearly turned her down.”

Why is Chris-san looking at me with those judging eyes?

“Fiene-sama. To put it simply, why didn’t you purify that Vampire Noble?”

“Eh? Why would I need to purify her?”

At my response, Chris-san looked like she had been hit by a bolt out of nowhere.

For some reason, Shizuku-san also wore a slightly surprised expression.

“Eh? Is that strange? I mean, she didn’t attack us, and she didn’t come here to harm the townspeople. If a Vampire is evil just by existing, then I’m evil too, and I’d have to be purified, wouldn’t I?”

“Fiene-sama… you’re still saying things like that…”

Chris-san wore a sorrowful expression.

Hmm, I’m pretty sure I heard Felhi flatly state that I was of the same race.

“Fiene-dono? What exactly does that mean?”

“Shizuku-dono, a word over here.”

Chris-san led Shizuku-san a short distance away and began a whispered conversation.

I can hear everything, as usual.

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Sigh.

As she listened to Chris-san, Shizuku-san’s expression grew increasingly clouded.

Then, saying things like, “So that’s what happened,” she began glancing at me with a sympathetic look.

Hmm, the reaction is subtly different from when it was Lu-chan. That’s quite interesting.

Wait, since when did people-watching become my hobby?

“Fiene-dono. I understand the situation, indeed. I shall also lend you my strength, indeed.”

She looked me straight in the eye with a dead-serious expression and said that.

Ah, I keep telling you, it’s not like that! It’s not!

“Now, Fiene-sama. Let us return to the inn. Spending too much time in the night air is bad for your health.”

This is “Overprotective Mode” Chris-san. Once she’s like this, there’s no point saying anything.

She probably thinks my Chuunibyou has flared up again. I haven’t made any Vampire-related comments since the Tukat incident, after all.

“Yes. You’re right. Besides, the hostage parent and child are probably waiting in the lobby. Oh, by the way, what happened to the Lesser Vampires that Felhi turned into thralls? Felhi already turned to ash and vanished, but…”

“I disposed of all those who were rampaging. Those who weren’t should die once their master dies. He likely hadn’t rooted himself here, so there shouldn’t be any thralls with enough power to survive their master’s death.”

“I see. And if any remained, Ade probably took care of them. She said she came here to dispose of Felhi.”

“Was that so?”

“Yes, she said so herself. Now, let us return.”

And so, we returned to the inn and informed the mother and child who had been held hostage that the Vampire had been dealt with.

They thanked us profusely and returned to their respective homes.

And then, dawn broke…