Volume 2, Chapter 6 – Wanting to Taste One’s Own Vampire Princess

Watching his subordinates leave, Nix turned back to Yisi with a complicated expression under the torchlight, as if he wanted to say something but found it difficult to bring up.

Recalling Nix’s earlier mention of significant cargo losses, Yisi pulled the cork from her water flask and spoke as if it were no big deal.

“You can handle the frostwolf corpses, Mr. Nix. Just give us thirty percent of the proceeds from selling them—the remaining seventy percent is yours as payment. After all, without your caravan, we wouldn’t have been able to transport these corpses at all.”

In truth, she could have let Nix keep all the money, but that might have made him too embarrassed to accept. Hence, Yisi suggested taking only thirty percent. Nix’s earlier hesitation was likely because he wanted to borrow money from her. Having lost most of his goods, he needed funds to restock and cover his losses.

Nix’s face flushed deeply, but he didn’t refuse. Instead, he bowed deeply to Yisi, who was drinking water, his voice filled with heartfelt gratitude.

“Thank you very much, Miss Yisi.”

“Mmm… Later, I’ll be running a tavern in the next town. If you frequently travel this trade route, Mr. Nix, I’d appreciate it if you could occasionally deliver goods for me. Of course, I’ll pay you for your services.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll do my utmost,” Nix declared, his chest puffed out with excitement, his face still red.

Yisi couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“There’s no need to be so worked up, Mr. Nix. Before that, I have one more request—could you take me to see the frostwolf corpses?”

“Those corpses are already your property. You don’t need my permission to take them whenever you wish.”

Nix was overreacting.

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Sighing inwardly, Yisi tilted her head toward Camilla.

“Camilla, wait here for a bit.”

“Mm.”

……

Before long, the water flask in Yisi’s hand had become a container filled with frostwolf blood.

Earlier, when she heard Nix’s subordinates mention draining the frostwolves’ blood, the blood sensor atop Yisi’s head had beeped insistently. After discreetly sending Nix and his men away, she quietly collected some frostwolf blood and returned to the unmanned carriage where Camilla was waiting.

“Whew, it took some effort, but I finally managed it.”

Sniffing the bloody scent wafting from the flask, Yisi’s face lit up with satisfaction. Under the moonlight, the silver-haired twin-tailed girl holding a bloodstained container would have been a surreal sight on Earth, but in this world where vampires existed, it was nothing out of the ordinary—especially since Yisi had positioned herself so no one else could see.

“Sister, did you… kill someone?”

Seeing Yisi raise the flask, Camilla—who was cradling the wolf pup—looked puzzled. After spending time together, she knew Yisi wasn’t the type to enjoy slaughtering humans.

“Huh? No, no, of course not! This is frostwolf blood. Frostwolf.”

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“Are you running low on blood reserves? You could’ve just used mine! Why torture yourself like this?”

For a moment, Yisi detected a mix of pity, reproach, sympathy, and urgency on Camilla’s face. While she understood the urgency and reproach, the pity and sympathy left her at a loss for words—Camilla probably thought she was so desperate for blood that she had resorted to drinking monster blood to stave off hunger.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Camilla. I just wanted to see what it tasted like. Even though the blood thralls back at the mansion said monster blood tastes awful, if I never try it myself, I’ll only ever know others’ opinions. What if it’s actually delicious? I’d be missing out. After all, even the same blood can taste different to different vampires.”

“But everyone says monster blood tastes terrible. Sometimes it even makes vampires sick.”

“That’s probably due to parasites…”

Yisi lightly wafted the scent from the flask, taking in the rich blood aroma. At first, she had been repulsed by the idea of drinking blood, but now she saw it as the essence of life.

“Mmm, smells fine.”

Ignoring Camilla’s worried gaze, Yisi nodded to herself, then tilted her head back and poured the blood into her mouth.

Bitter and pungent.

“Bleh—!”

The moment the taste hit her tongue, Yisi spat it out. The vivid red blood trickling down her lips had a startling, macabre beauty.

“C-Camilla, water!”

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“Here.”

Snatching the water cup from Camilla almost aggressively, Yisi repeatedly rinsed her mouth, spitting out the water each time. The taste was so vile that she couldn’t even describe it. The closest comparison she could think of was a stew made from inedible rubber and leather—though she’d never actually eaten either.

After nearly five minutes, Yisi finally recovered.

“Ugh… I thought I was gonna di—mmph!”

Mid-sentence, Camilla grabbed her arm.

“Don’t say that word,” Camilla pleaded, her crimson eyes reflecting Yisi’s face. “Curses can come true.”

Stunned by Camilla’s intensity, Yisi froze for a moment before awkwardly turning away.

“…I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“Sister, you always do such strange things.”

“It’s called an adventurous spirit.”

“You always say my blood tastes the best, yet you refuse to use it.”

“Well…” Seeing no way to win this argument, Yisi changed the subject. “Speaking of which, I’ve never actually tasted my own blood. Camilla, do you know if vampires can drink their own blood?”

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Yisi wasn’t suggesting some naive idea of self-sufficiency—she was purely curious about the flavor. If her own blood turned out to be delicious, maybe enduring a little pain for a bite now and then would be worth it.

“They can, but it won’t fill their stomachs. In fact, it’ll just make them hungrier.”

“I’m just talking about taste, Camilla. Taste. The blood reserves in my storage magic are enough to last me half a month.”

With that, Yisi turned her gaze to her porcelain-white right arm. Her skin was so pale that even in the dim firelight, the blue veins beneath were clearly visible.

It’s probably delicious…

Maybe it’s that champagne-flavored blood I’ve been searching for.

With that thought, she opened her mouth, aiming her fangs at her arm, and bit down.

“Chomp.”

Fresh blood flowed onto her tongue—and then…

“Bleeeeh—!!”

It was even worse than the frostwolf blood. A drink so revolting it could make one’s eyes roll back and their soul leave their body.