“Ah— forgive me!” Stacy stammered as she recoiled. It was the first time I had seen her act so flustered. And as I started to realize what had just happened, I felt my own face turning hot and red.

Stacy covered her flushed face with a hand. “That was probably too far right? You agreed to give me your blood but, not this, I…” She stood from the bed and backed away.

“Wait,” I panted, grabbing her hand before she could get too far away. “I liked it,” I told her, looking up at her with pleading eyes, silently asking her to give me more.

She relaxed, crimson eyes glowing softly in the dim light, cheeks covered in a rosy blush. “Then, it’s not a part of our agreement, but,” she allowed me to pull her closer, and climbed atop me in the bed. “It’s okay if I do this?” she asked as she pressed her lips against mine once more, holding each of my hands against the bed.

It then that I finally understood my feelings for Stacy, they way that she always made me feel. I didn’t know if this was the effect of a vampire’s charm, but I didn’t care. Stacy made me feel alive.

“I really really like you,” I murmured as our lips pulled apart. I could feel her warm breath brush against my chin. “I really like you too,” she chirped, and kissed me again, and again.

Before we knew it, it was morning. Stacy had climbed in bed with me and we cuddled for the rest of the night. She was acting strangely bashful as we got out of bed, a cute contrast to her usual confident demeanor.

I was already wearing the dress from the day before, so there wasn’t much need to get dressed. Although, it was kind of ruined from the stab hole I put in it, and the slash from Mr. Knight’s sword. It was fine though, because Stacy let me borrow one of her cloaks again.

As we set out, my hand found itself within Stacy’s hand. I glanced shyly at her as we left the inn, and she smiled at me, her pale skin illuminated by the morning sunlight.

I don’t know if she really understood what I meant when I said I liked her, but I was also too shy to ask her to clarify. Really I just wanted her to kiss me again. But I suppose there would be plenty of time for that on our way to Lumedia.

Lumedia… I pondered our destination. It was Leslie’s home, but Gregory said he was from there too. I wonder what kind of place it could be. For the first time since coming to this world, I looked forward to my future.

— Leslie Levire —

Normally, it would be nearly impossible to meet up with someone out in the wilderness without knowing where they’re going to be. But this isn’t normal circumstances, this is me and Prissy. I can recognize her scent from across the continent, and I’m not exaggerating.

…Okay, honestly I might be exaggerating a little. But I do have a strong sense of smell, it’s one of my gifts. I’m especially good at tracking down the people I love, because, servant of Ashmay, duh.

Anyway, my flowery wings carried me gently over the treetops as I tried to pinpoint her location. As Stacy feared, she did seem to be a little further ahead of us at this point. In part due to her taking a more direct route to Lumedia than us.

I found her in the mountainous region between Castle Haimorrha and Lumedia. It seems rather than follow the roads, she chose to scale the mountain directly. A fair choice, we would have taken the same path had we not had Bridget in our party.

I gently floated down to the cliffside cave she was taking shelter in, which was tastefully decorated with the head of a mountain worg that must have previously lived here.

A pair of glowing red eyes behind a set of rectangle-framed glasses peered back at me from the darkness of the cave as she looked up from her kill, presumably the body of said worg. Her face and hands were covered in blood. “Lady Leslie?” she asked, caught off-guard.

I ran in a threw my arms around her in a tight hug, “Prissy!!” I gushed, “I missed you!!” I gave her a big smooch on the cheek.

Prissy laughed, I loved hearing her laugh, and I loved hearing her make other sounds too.

“Do be careful, Lady Leslie, I would hate to get blood on your beautiful dress.”

“We’re alone right now, Prissy,” I pouted, then smiled. “Just call me Lezzy, like usual.”

She turned away from me, “It would be inappropriate for a maid to refer to a noble in such a familiar manner,” she resisted.

“Oh,” I grinned, moving around to stay in front of her, “You don’t seem to have that kind of reservation when we’re in bed together,” I trailed a mischievous finger across her dress, and her face turned bright red.

“Y-yes Lady— L-Lezzy…” she whimpered.

I stood on my tip toes to meet her face to face, “Good girl,” I praised, and planted a kiss on her lips.