The vampire heiress is two-faced

Page 5

"Coco, there's still a month left, isn't there?"

Just as Coco was about to say something, Ludwig turned to look at her.

Even if another year passes, my answer will remain the same as it was at the beginning—

“I hate trouble the most. Being a queen is just a damn troublesome thing.”

She gave Coco a pure and innocent smile.

"And you, Coco. I'm so happy to have you cook delicious food for me, dress me up, and help me with the housework. I can't live without you anymore, my maid."

Ludwig laughed.

"If you leave me instead of becoming queen, then I might change my mind, okay?"

If Coco paused for a moment, she would turn her head away, avoiding her overly frank smile.

“Of course not. I cannot leave you now, because staying by Miss Ludwig’s side and protecting her is the highest order given to me by the council.”

Ludwig turned her head, seemingly oblivious to the large scythe held to her neck.

"Let's wait until another month later to talk about it?"

"Ludwig said easily."

"Alright, Coco. My nightlife is about to begin. I haven't done my daily routine yet."

Coco sighed and put away her sickle.

She casually folded it a few times, and as if by magic, it transformed back into a short stick, which she then tucked under her wide skirt. Afterward, she quietly left the room.

"Excuse me, young lady."

...

As the camera was activated, a silver-haired, red-eyed anime girl in the preview came to life.

Hi everyone! Did you miss me?

Seeing the rapidly scrolling support comments, Ludwig couldn't wait to start her game livestream for the day.

"I'm Hilulu, a vampire who excels at action games, and I'm streaming right on time today. Don't forget to follow me!"

...

If Coco looks like she's suffocating, no matter how many times she hears about her virtual anchor persona, she still can't catch her breath.

"What kind of vampire impersonates another vampire online?! At least impersonate someone else, right? Miss... this is just too outrageous!"

"This is called playing yourself, you know?"

Although Ludwig had already explained this to Ruoke, Ruoke still couldn't accept it.

If that's the case, then why is even her virtual avatar modeled after herself?

"Don't insult the virtual YouTuber industry, Miss!!"

Chapter 5 Dissonance

A few days later, in the evening.

"Hehehe, cocoa's blood cake, hehehe..."

Ludwig was fast asleep, while Coco took off her maid outfit and changed into a set of casual clothes for going out.

"It's not surprising that the young lady sleeps at any time."

That's what Coco usually says if someone asks.

...

Many vampires prefer to go out before sunset, because the evening sunlight is no longer a threat to them.

The orange-yellow sunset light will also make the vampire's red pupils less noticeable, avoiding many unnecessary troubles.

Coco doesn't need to wear a hood to cover her appearance when she goes out, because her ears and skin color are still those of a normal human, only her pupils have turned into the crimson color that is a hallmark of vampires.

Thanks to the lazy and gluttonous young lady in the family, Ruo Keke has to go out every week to buy enough "ingredients" to feed her for a whole week.

After vampires entered human society, many new restaurants or blood plasma purchasing points opened on the streets, catering to vampires.

This is thanks to the Vampire Council, which developed a method to produce artificial blood plasma without harming humans. This artificial blood plasma is synthesized from a small amount of blood from blood donors and artificial blood cells, providing the vampires with a minimal amount of food.

Without this groundbreaking invention, it would have been extremely difficult for vampires to integrate into human society within a few years.

Despite this, many discordant voices still exist among humanity.

...

Snapped!

A man wearing a jacket and a mask to cover his face slapped the thin man to the ground.

"Pah, monster!"

A physical altercation broke out on the street in front of a small shop. Although there were several onlookers, no one stepped forward to stop the masked man from punching and kicking the thin man.

If Coco happened to be going to this small shop to buy some daily necessities, she would stop and glance at it, and then she would smell the scent of vampires mixed with human scents—

The skinny guy who was beaten was a vampire.

"You're being unreasonable! You're clearly just looking for trouble!"

The skinny man shielded his face, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

"What's wrong with me coming to this store to buy some daily necessities?"

The masked man kicked him and slammed his head against a roadside utility pole a few times, but the skinny man didn't even break a scratch.

"Ha, a monster is a monster! No matter how much I hit you, you won't get hurt. I suppose disgusting monsters like you don't need to buy any daily necessities, right?"

Although vampires have a superior physique compared to humans, it does not mean that they are stronger than humans.

The skinny man was beaten unilaterally, unable to express his suffering, while the onlookers watched him being beaten with surprising calm.

From the masked man's foul language and the skinny man's retorts, Ruo Keke roughly understood what had happened.

It's nothing more than the usual social bullying targeting vampires. These lone vampires, who don't seem very strong, become targets of attacks from extremists among these humans.

...

Seeing this violent scene, Ruo Keke couldn't help but recall her own past.

Her memories spanned only five years. When she awoke, she was a vampire girl who appeared to be about seventeen years old, having lost all her childhood memories and not knowing who her biological parents were.

And her body will never grow any bigger again.

Under the care of the Vampire Council, she gradually regained her ability to live independently. Although she was a newly born vampire, she was the apple of the Vampire Council's eye.

The Vampire Council took meticulous care of her, keeping this vampire girl, who for some reason retained human features, in the castle and training her to become an excellent maid skilled in both literature and martial arts.

As one of the few new vampires in the power center of the vampire clan, with no memory of her past, she dutifully repays the vampire council that has bestowed favors upon her. Thanks to the physical abilities of vampires, she efficiently cleans every corner of the vast castle until it is spotless.

She loved this life because, for someone who had nothing, this was all she needed to be content.

But one day a year ago, the Vampire Council was in chaos. Coco finally managed to stop a councilor to ask her something, but the councilor refused to tell her anything.

More than a month later, when the chief councilor of the vampire council summoned Ruo Keke, she learned of a shocking and devastating piece of news:

The vampire queen has disappeared, vanished overnight. They searched for a month without any leads.

The vampire clan cannot be leaderless, as their position in the world is not yet secure. If humanity were to learn of the vampire queen's disappearance, the vampire clan would face annihilation.

After the Queen's disappearance, the Vampire Council initiated an emergency resolution that had never been used in thousands of years and was considered by the Vampire Council to be impossible to use: to find the successor to the Vampire Queen.

From the very beginning of the vampire race, from the time when vampires were first documented, from the millennia-long war between humans and vampires—

That supreme vampire queen already ruled over the vampires.

She is the spiritual pillar of the vampire clan, and the guardian deity who guides them forward; the worship of her by the native vampires can only be described as fanatical.

In the eyes of all the original vampires, the title of Vampire Queen should rightfully belong to her alone forever.

But she disappeared; she left without saying goodbye.

The queenly authority she possessed, the sense of dominance that enveloped the hearts of all vampires, vanished as if she, who had lived for over 1,500 years, had already died.

This was an unprecedented situation; the Vampire Council could not find any trace of her no matter what they did, and all members were thrown into panic.

They simply couldn't believe that the vampire queen had left them so mysteriously.

Five years after the great plague, the vampire population has expanded a hundredfold compared to the past. Without her rule, the vampires would be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter by humans.

The council pretended that the vampire queen had not disappeared and kept the news under wraps inside the castle, but such a pretense could not last long.

A month after the council initiated an emergency bill, the chief councilor, who was also Coco's teacher, summoned Coco, the castle's finest maid, and gave her a task she could not fail.

"Coco, our finest battle maid. We have found a suitable candidate to inherit the throne."

"Go to her side and protect her, keep her safe. Bring her here as soon as possible. In this day and age, vampires cannot hide from humans for too long."

"Her name is Ludwig Young. She is our future queen."

“We’re sending you out not only because we trust your abilities, but also because we… want you to return to that world and give you a chance to reintegrate into human society.”

“You originally belonged to the outside world, and you should not spend your days sweeping floors in this dark castle.”

...

When she came to her senses, the masked man's violence against the thin man was still ongoing. Coco shook her head, sighing inwardly:

"Do I belong to this world?"

“I’m sorry, Professor Torre. I can’t find a reason to stay in the human world. I also don’t understand why vampires want to integrate into the human world.”

She turned and left, sighing softly.

"Taking Lady Ludwig away from the human world is the main task you entrusted to me. If you ask me what I have accomplished this year, I think you will not get a satisfactory answer from me."

...

Snapped.

Someone put their arm around Ruo Keke's shoulder.

"Stop, woman."

Just as Ruo Keke was about to turn around, she found that the "onlookers" who had been surrounding the skinny man had suddenly surrounded her.

"Oh no, a female ghost."

The masked man walked up to her from behind, speaking in a rude and arrogant tone.

"Your breathing just now was a 'hissing' sound, right?"

The masked man pinched her shoulder, but Ruo Keke forcefully shook him off.

Coco calmly said, "Sir, if you're not out of your mind, could you please move aside for a moment?"

She probably already knew that the so-called "onlookers" around her were just this guy's gang.

The masked man shook his hand, which had been flung away, and sneered:

"Sure enough, your body temperature is so cold it's like...a dead person."

The masked man looked at the "onlookers" around him and shook his head: "Right?"

"Humph."

If Coco brushes aside the bangs in front of her eyes, hidden beneath her brown hair are a pair of clear and resolute red eyes.

The sun had already set. In this dim corner where the streetlights couldn't reach, the girl's eyes shone with a clear crimson light.

“I never attack humans, but it seems I have no choice today.”

The masked man laughed a few times, then clenched his fists together, his knuckles cracking.

"I never hit women, except for 'female ghosts,' you disgusting monster!"

...

Snapped!

The masked man's wrist was forcefully gripped from the side, preventing his fist, which was aimed at Ruo Keke, from moving.

"Who are you, kid? Trying to be a hero and save the damsel in distress?"

The masked man tried to shake off his hand, but found that the man's wrist was extremely strong and he couldn't budge it.