Volume 2, Chapter 39 – Blushing, Heart-Pounding, or…?

Time quickly passed to the next day.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Fia stood up.

“Hah, that should be enough for now.” Shaking the documents in her hand over the table, Fia gave a wry smile. “Although I told Anastasia I had something to do tonight and would come find Estelle, the sky is already getting light. If I don’t go back soon, I’m afraid they’ll worry. We can continue with the rest after breakfast.”

As Fia said, she had stayed in Estelle’s room the entire night. It should be noted, however, that after the initial emotional exchange, Fia had no more intimate contact with Estelle. Especially when Estelle, whose emotions had gradually stabilized, heard Fia’s news that Noreen was still alive, her expression changed from relaxed calmness to overjoyed delight.

It was worth mentioning that Fia felt that after such a huge emotional fluctuation, Estelle should have felt tired and needed to sit down for a short rest. However, a quarter of an hour after reuniting with Noreen and the sisters embracing in tears (only Estelle was crying), Estelle, on the grounds that “vampires don’t rely much on sleep” and “sleeping for a whole day was enough,” began to fulfill her obligations.

That is, to do what a Count of Oro should do.

Although Fia didn’t know how much Estelle understood the phrase “the mastermind of the disaster is the Despair Demon General,” for now, there was no need to worry about Estelle’s state. The still-living Noreen had given Estelle infinite hope. Even if Noreen only maintained the most basic, instinctual communication ability, it was enough to give Estelle a spiritual anchor. After this, as long as the duchy’s support arrived, everything could get back on track.

Estelle, sitting opposite Fia, let out a long breath. A wry smile appeared on her charming, tear-free face.

“Mm, let’s stop here. I’m sorry for making you do these miscellaneous tasks, Fia. These should have been handed over to capable retainers, but we’re too short on manpower right now, so I could only ask you.”

“It’s alright. We’re close friends. This little bit of help is nothing.”

Fia smiled gently. It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, Estelle’s face had been filled with only despair and hysteria.

As for what the two of them were doing, it was undoubtedly the urgent miscellaneous tasks in the Oro territory. These complicated tasks could not be handled by Estelle alone in a few days, so Fia had stayed to help Estelle process the information.

Originally, detailed maps of the territory, tax information, and the number and distribution of the populace were not supposed to be shown to outsiders. But after a series of events, Estelle no longer treated Fia as an outsider. Not only that, but Estelle also felt apologetic towards Fia—besides Fia pulling her back from the brink of falling off a cliff, accumulating several life-saving debts, there were other reasons.

Realizing this, Estelle glanced to the side, her fingers touching the large black ribbon that tied back her golden hair. She looked at Noreen, who was standing behind her, as if asking for help. Unfortunately, Noreen had no reaction. She could only endure the embarrassment and stammer.

“Um… I’m sorry, Fia.”

“Sorry for what?”

Fia blinked, puzzled. She didn’t understand why Estelle was apologizing.

“It’s about last night, last night’s…”

Feeling extremely embarrassed, the thin-skinned Estelle twisted her fingers together, and her cute toes under her white socks also curled up.

Her mumbling appearance made Fia tilt her head slightly.

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Could Estelle be referring to last night when she was crying her eyes out while hugging me?

Fia suddenly understood. It was probably like how she didn’t know how to face Anastasia after crying while hugging her in the past. Estelle was probably feeling embarrassed. After all, last night, Estelle had been shedding tears and bleeding, getting her clothes all dirty. Her crying, weak appearance was truly not something to be seen by others.

Fia showed a magnanimous smile—if Fia had cat whiskers, they would surely be twitching upwards with pride—she gently patted Estelle’s head.

“I won’t laugh at you, Estelle. You can rest assured.”

“Huh?” One moment she was feeling shy about Fia patting her head, the next moment Estelle’s expression became extremely stiff. Her cheeks involuntarily turned red, and she coughed into her hand. “Ahem, although that is also something I should apologize for, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“I wanted to say that last night, I questioned the relationship between us. You know, that… saying you were toying with me just like the Despair Demon General. Fia was clearly helping me, yet I used that kind of attitude… I’m sorry.”

“Oh, so that’s what it was.”

Facing the head-bowed, shoulder-shrinking Estelle, Fia couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t take it to heart, because she knew from the beginning that it was just an irrational statement from Estelle, who had been overwhelmed by madness. The real her wouldn’t think that way.

However, just as Fia was about to wave her hand and say she didn’t mind, Estelle beat her to it. She was still bowing her head, her fingers touching, but her whole body exuded a visible sense of urgency. Her flushed face even gave Fia the illusion that the surrounding temperature had risen.

“C-can I do something to express my apology?”

You don’t have to do anything, Fia initially wanted to reply. However, as the words were on the tip of her tongue, Fia suddenly remembered something she had been curious about for a long time but had never had the chance to verify. It was very simple and wouldn’t take much time. It was only because she might get the side-eye from Estelle that Fia had kept it hidden in her heart.

Fia’s expression immediately became serious.

“Are you serious, Estelle?”

The drastic change in Fia’s expression made Estelle’s heart tremble. She answered timidly.

“O… of course.”

Fia’s eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. If not for something called “modesty” holding her back, she would have been rubbing her hands in anticipation by now.

She first glanced at Estelle’s sister to confirm the distance between them—this was to avoid being suddenly cut by Noreen’s sword—then she said with a straight face.

“Actually, my lost memories are not only in terms of interpersonal relationships, but I’ve also lost a lot of common sense. So… I’m very curious about Estelle, who has wings. I want to see why a pure-blooded vampire’s wings grow on their waist. Can such wings really support the body in flight? Uh, I don’t mean to ridicule Estelle. I mean, I want to see what the connection between the base of the wing and the body looks like.”

Although in the shining era where Fia had lived, people already had the ability to artificially create winged humanoid creatures, due to ethical and legal constraints, no one had ever really combined human genes with bat genes. And in the twilight era after the shining era, which was plagued by wars, although there were mad scientists who were not bound by morals everywhere, no one had created such a life form that was obviously thankless and would consume a lot of energy.

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After all, if one wanted to fly, a household-type flight booster could easily do the trick. The people of that time favored bodies with high energy efficiency, not fancy appearances.

Therefore, after seeing a real vampire, Fia couldn’t help but want to take a look at the wings. Did the wings feel cold or warm to the touch? What did it feel like to be touched? Were there fine hairs on the wings? How were they connected to the bones? All these questions, like why an elf’s Mana Surge would turn into ashes the moment it left the body, troubled Fia.

In fact, if not for the special nature of the Mana Surge, Fia would have already taken it apart and studied it thoroughly.

Estelle’s expression instantly stiffened. Fia wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but Fia even felt that Noreen, who had no signs of life, also stiffened. She suddenly felt guilty, almost to the point of quickly saying something like “if it’s not okay, then forget it.”

“You… I’m seriously apologizing to you, not joking around.”

“I-I’m serious too.”

“You…”

Estelle was at a loss for words. She had been prepared for Fia to punish her physically, but she hadn’t expected such an improper request. Estelle was in a dilemma.

Although Estelle’s wing had always been on display, the thought of Fia wanting to see how the wing was connected to her body made her feel embarrassed, because that would definitely involve pulling back her clothes and seeing a place that others usually couldn’t see. In addition, as a pure-blooded vampire, her wing grew on her waist, not her back, which was near her panties… This was really embarrassing.

In the end, for Fia to be able to make such a request meant she was quite a pervert, not at all like a princess.

For a moment, Estelle couldn’t help but feel that Fia must have had designs on her wing for a long time and had only been holding back due to politeness. The moment this thought appeared, the way Estelle looked at Fia became strange.

“You haven’t been planning this for a long time, have you, Fia?”

“…It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea? Th-that, I was just curious, with no other intentions. I already have Claire.”

The latter half of Fia’s sentence was not directed at Estelle but was an explanation for Noreen, who was behind Estelle. Noreen probably understood it as something like “lewdness” or “sexual harassment,” as her hand was already on the hilt of her sword.

“Tch.”

“Is that a no?”

Estelle’s click of her tongue made Fia give up decisively.

However, Estelle, as if in a fit of pique, crossed her arms and turned her face away.

“Then take a good look. The wing has always been on display anyway. There’s nothing strange about it.”

What Estelle didn’t say was that the reason she had clicked her tongue was simply because she was dissatisfied with Fia always comparing her to Claire, a person she had never met, making it seem as if she had no value and was completely inferior to Claire.

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It could be considered a small bit of jealousy.

“Then I won’t be polite.”

With the expression of a child who had just gotten a new toy, Fia moved behind Estelle, her fingers cautiously stroking Estelle’s waist. Fearing that the wing was covered in capillaries and nerves, she didn’t use her nails but gently stroked the most obvious bone part at the top of the wing with the pad of her finger.

From the middle of the wing, she slowly stroked down to the base, near the dress.

Her fingertips carefully felt the direction of the bone—it didn’t feel cold and rough, but warm, smooth, and even elastic. Fia didn’t know how to describe it. If she had to, it was somewhat like a cat’s belly. However, a cat was covered in fur, while a vampire’s wing only had a layer of very short, white fine hair that could only be seen when held up to the light.

Fia could even feel the pulsation of the blood vessels under the wing. She couldn’t help but imagine that in winter, Estelle’s wing on her face would surely be both warm and comfortable.

However, what was a very wonderful feeling in Fia’s eyes was like a punishment for Estelle.

As a part of her body, Estelle had long since gotten used to the existence of her wing. In her daily life, even if her wing hit something, Estelle would only feel pain and nothing else. However, the feeling Fia was giving her now was completely different from usual. This incredibly gentle, tingling current that ran through her entire wing made her involuntarily focus her attention on it. Her thoughts moved along with Fia’s fingers.

Though it was only her wings being stroked, Estelle’s whole body tensed. She even tried instinctively to pull them away, but the moment they slipped free of Fia’s hand, she found herself placing them back again.

She didn’t know whether it was purely to express apology, or because the strange, tingling warmth was unexpectedly addictive. Either way, her feelings were complicated.

Especially with her sister right there…

The shame was unbearable.

If she didn’t know Noreen wouldn’t scold her, she might have stopped immediately. No—just the thought itself was odd. Shouldn’t she have asked her sister to wait outside? But then, wouldn’t that make her guilt even more obvious? It was only a “normal inspection,” after all.

Struggling inside, Estelle bit her lip, trying not to let out any embarrassing sounds. But when Fia pressed her cool fingers to the exact joint where the wing met skin and murmured “Ah, so that’s how it connects,” the unprepared Estelle let out a small, sharp cry—“Eep!”

What Fia didn’t know was that the base of a vampire’s wing was covered in nerves. In addition, a pure-blood’s wing was on their sensitive and fragile soft waist. Her action just now was like suddenly poking someone in the waist. It wasn’t strange for Estelle to make an evasive move.

Fia quickly pulled her hand back and asked with concern.

“Are you okay?”

“…I was just a little unprepared. Are you done?”

“Not yet. I actually wanted to try what it feels like to hold it. Estelle, can I?”

Hold it…

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Hey, hey…

Estelle swallowed. She feigned composure and shrugged.

“There’s nothing strange about it. It’s fine to try.”

“Then—”

As her voice fell, Fia gently held the base of Estelle’s fragile wing. This was the place where the wing’s contraction arc was most obvious, and thus the most slender part, just right to hold in her palm.

The moment she held the wing, Fia clearly felt that Estelle’s body had tensed up, the warmth had become more obvious, and Estelle’s wing had started to tremble slightly.

This must be very uncomfortable for Estelle, Fia thought, and was about to let go. However, in the next moment, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open with a bang. Along with it was a loud, angry question.

“Estelle, where are you hiding my siste—huh?”

As her purple hair fell, Liti’s wide-eyed expression entered the vision of the three people in the room. Liti first looked at Estelle, who was holding her knees with both hands, her back arched as if she was enduring something. Then her gaze fell on Fia, who was holding the wing in her hand. Finally, her gaze stopped at Noreen, who was on the other side.

Although she couldn’t understand what was happening, the shock was no less. In a way, it was even more shocking than seeing Fia and Estelle hugging each other naked in bed with Noreen standing beside them. This was truly too strange, so much so that Liti didn’t even know what to say.

“What… what are you doing?”

And right after Liti, Anastasia also appeared at the door. Her reaction was exactly the same as Liti’s. First, her pupils shrank, and she showed a look of shock. But after she got a clear look at what Fia was doing, the shock turned into relief, and then quickly into a strange feeling. In the end, she tilted her head subtly, her lively blue eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

The richness of her expression and the speed of its change were astonishing.

“Your Highness… staying in Miss Estelle’s room all night was for the sake of…?”

“Uh.”

Fia quickly pulled her hand back and rubbed her nose. Estelle on the other side immediately straightened up with a flushed face. As for Noreen, as if she could read the awkwardness, she dissolved into liquid and vanished on her own.

Hmm… although it’s easy to explain, it still feels strange somehow.

I hope Anastasia and Liti don’t misunderstand it as something unhealthy.

Thinking this, Fia’s mind worked at high speed, filtering through the words of explanation.