Amare Na Xivia, youngest of Marjory’s ‘children’, sat on the uncomfortable bed and, absent-minded, stared at the dusty wall for an indeterminate amount of time. The laughter of two drunken men that passed next to her room snapped the vampire out of her reverie.

She tapped a small and round purple earring, causing it to momentarily glow then activate. After the passing of five seconds, Amare heard the familiar voice of Marjory.

“What’s wrong, Amare? Rare of you to contact me while on a mission.”

“My lady, I request permission to use Memoria. My investigation has borne no fruit so far.”

“Hmm…”

Marjory’s voice echoed inside Amare’s head as she contemplated for a long while. Finally, after a sigh, she responded,

“Alright, but don’t over-exert yourself.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Before the ‘call’ came to an end, Marjory added, “I’m confident that you’ll bring me both vampires… don’t let me down, Amare.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The purple earring returned to its usual inactivity as young Amare’s body was enveloped by a translucent swirling energy that lasted for half a breath before getting absorbed.

This was the first time Amare had ever used the earring to call Marjory to ask for permission to use their family’s unique magical ability. When she was sent back to Wilsden, she expected to meet difficulty but not to this degree, at least.

Even after investigating everything about the Blood Purge and Leonis Sanguis, Amare could not find any leads and was ‘stuck’ for a few days.

She thought it shameful to resort to Memoria, however, it was either that or returning home empty-handed, which would disappoint Marjory even more and possibly lose the trust Amare had gained over the years.

After mentally preparing herself for the backlash of using Memoria, Amare laid down and took a deep breath before slowly closing her eyes.

Memoria was the Xivia Family’s inheritable ability, one granted only to Marjory’s direct ‘children’. In essence, it allows the user to peek into the past of a specific location, but there are a couple of strict requirements, such as the need of having previously visited said location. Of course, it is impossible to interact with the past or alter it. Moreover, if the user gets distracted, the consequences could potentially be fatal.

In a matter of seconds, as she used Memoria, Amare found herself at the time of the incident. She heard the growls of the ravenous half-vampires and the cries of the fleeing nobles. Everything was realistic… vivid, but Amare was akin to an wandering ghost, unable to cause any meaningful change.

Nevertheless, the girl ignored the chaos occurring elsewhere and approached the eerily quiet manor.

She saw an unfamiliar young man get tied to a chair then forced to drink something. In front of him stood the real Leonis, calmly staring at his weeping captive.

As the victim’s began slowly changing into Leonis Sanguis, the real one said,

“From now on, you are Leonis Sanguis.”

“W-what? What did you do to me?! I beg you! Please let me go!”

Leonis, looking disappointed, shook his head and spoke again, “I’m not a sadist. However, you are a necessary sacrifice.”

“No! Don’t do it! I ppp-ppromise you I will no-”

“I contemplated many targets but you were the most suitable. We are the same height… and you are one twisted kid, so I thought to myself: ‘Who would mourn a degenerate fool like Brandon? Not me!’”

Soon after, Leonis poured oil on the floor and unhesitantly ignited as Amare was watching in silence, finally understanding what really happened that night.

The fire was spreading at an alarming rate yet the man did not seem scared or in a hurry. He had already prepared his baggage and went to the basement.

Amare saw him crawl through the clumsily dug tunnel, but he did not climb up immediately as both he and she heard someone talking.

Unlike him, Amare, who was invisible, climbed up and a golden-haired young man, seemingly a Holy Knight, hastily stood up and, with shock, stared at odd zombie mumbling inaudible words.

Very much like Rein, Amare was surprised to see an undead behave like that. The vampire girl kept her focus on the target and saw him finally climb up and help Julie.

When Leonis and Julie started talking, Amare felt a head-splitting pain and her surroundings began distorting. However, the girl gritted her teeth as she got closer to her target and continued listening.

Eventually, Amare could not bear the agony and was getting pulled away, but, before everything went black, she heard the man speak his real name.

“Hah!”

With a bleeding nose and an excruciating headache, Amare sat up and clenched her trembling fingers.

Even though she learned important information, it was still not enough to lead to Rodrick Donovan.

Still, Amare was more than certain that Leonis, or better say, Arthur, was behind everything.

As much as she wanted to uncover the whole truth, Amare was left with no choice but to contact Marjory again and recount what she had witnessed.

“He faked his death, you say? Interesting. Then he’s the one who actually poisoned the wine.”

“He could be the rogue vampire we’re looking for, my lady.”

“Impossible. Leonis Sanguis is Sancha’s cousin, if he were a vampire, I would know. He could have been working with Rodrick… or he could have become a vampire recently. Anyway, since we know he is living and breathing, it would be much easier for me to find him. I suppose your task there is done, go to Blackcrest and help Armen with the shipment.”

“My lady, I can continue-”

“There’s no need, Amare. I’m done waiting and I cannot tolerate any more complications. I will deal with it myself.”

“Yes, my lady.”

When the earring went back to its silence, Amare stood up and walked to the window, her eyes wandering upwards, getting lost into the star-filled night sky.

It was supposed to be a simple mission; Finding Rodrick Donovan and bringing him back. However, the vampire turned out to be a slippery snake and, before they caught up to him, he disappeared into thin air.

Circumstances notwithstanding, Amare and her two brothers were confident in their abilities and, if they had more time, they would have found their target. Then, the Blood Purge occurred and that drew more eyes to Wilsden and its surrounding areas, including Greenbell Forest, the selfsame place in which Rodrick was last seen.

As much as she wanted to continue her investigation, Amare did not oppose Marjory’s orders and immediately set off to Blackcrest…

****

“Honestly, I’m surprised.”

As Arthur walked into the cozy and expensive inn room, he glanced at the woman following him, genuinely not expecting this.

“They have a lot of free rooms, why wouldn't you pay for one?”

“It’s better this way, master. Frugality aside, I have to keep an eye on you.”

“Ever heard of privacy, my dear Evelyn? I’m rather fond of solitude, in case you haven’t noticed.”

The maid shrugged her shoulders, uncaring about his opinion. “Whatever you’re going to do, I will not bother you, Master. I will be as quiet as a statue…”

“That makes it creepier. Are you acting dense on purpose?”

Evelyn, feigning surprise, retorted, “I thought you would be pleased to have your capable maid by your side day and night, master. Even if you’re thinking about bringing a woman to have ‘fun’ with, I’ll promptly excuse myself.”

Arthur sighed and unceremoniously waved his hand then walked to an empty corner and took out the corpse he had stored earlier. The eviscerated body laid on the ground, tainting it with blood as its entrails were sticking it, making the sight gory and disgusting.

Evelyn did not seem disturbed, she walked closer and studied the corpse. Before anything, Arthur reached out and searched the corpse, hoping to find a clue, but there was nothing of interest.

The man had a few silver coins and an empty booklet.

After a couple of seconds passed, however, ominous dark green mist began emanating from the gaping slash wound. Evelyn flinched but Arthur ogled it with intrigue.

“Do you know what kind of magic this is?”

Arthur read about magic and knew a fair bit but that wasn’t enough to recognize whatever the mist was. Evelyn too, was at a loss and could only shake her head.

The mist lingered for a minute or two then dispersed. The corpse, however, convulsed twice then it started bloating and releasing unpleasant squirming noises.

With Evelyn present, Arthur was reluctant to show his ability to possess dead bodies. On the other hand, he did not want the corpse to be rendered useless for future use.

Since it literally dropped into his hands, it would be a huge waste not to make use of it, especially at such a crucial time.

“Aren’t you going to do it, Master?”

Her sudden question startled the parasite, who, with a deep frown, looked at her. Seeing confusion written all over his face, the maid let out a rare soft smile.

“I thought we already established that you’re not the real Leonis Sanguis. I don’t know who or what you are but don’t you think it’s too late to hide it from me?”

“Hide what?”

“Master, please.” She snorted and glanced at the bloating corpse, “I’m fairly certain that you can jump bodies. I’ve known that ever since I noticed Leonis’ uncalled forth change of attitude. That old man attacked Leonis in the forest, then-out of the blue- everything changed? You can’t expect me to be stupid enough to believe such lies, right?”

“..”

Sensing hesitation, the maid continued, “In fact, I’ve become more certain when you told me to go look for survivors back in the village. The corpses were next to your feet and the timing was most fortuitous. I don’t know why you needed them but let’s not act as if nothing happened.”

“Hah!” Arthur chuckled and shook his head as if he was mocking himself or his perception of Evelyn.

“It seems it’s hard to fool you. Still, I’m not going to reveal anything to you.”

“I’m not asking you to, Master. Just do your thing and, as always, I will refrain from commenting.”

Arthur pondered for a couple more seconds then leaned closer to the dead body. Evelyn was looking closely but, in the end, she did not know how he did it or when. It happened instantly… Leonis’ body fell on the ground and the corpse twitched several times.

The bloating came to an abrupt halt and then reverted, though the wound and entrails were ever-present.

The corpse’s eyes fluttered then slowly opened as Arthur took a deep breath then properly sat up.

He looked at Evelyn but did not speak, instead, he put his index over his dry lips and motioned for her to keep this a secret as he smirked.

“Can you first do something about… that?”

She looked at the gore and blood in his abdomen, which he didn’t pay much attention to at first. Eventually, with difficulty and disgust, stuffed the entrails back.

Since she had strong and quasi-confirmed suspicions, Evelyn suspended her disbelief and proceeded to aid the parasite fix his new ‘host’. The slash wound was knitted using impractical tools, the clothes were changed and the blood was wiped.

Once they were done, Evelyn looked up and down at Arthur and asked,

“Are you going to use this body from now on?”

“Why? Did you get used to Leonis?”

“I don’t particularly care, Master. However, this body… or man, has less of a chance to get recognized and he has not been declared dead yet, unlike Leonis.”

Sensing no change in her tone or expression, Arthur softly laughed and retorted, “I thought you’d be more freaked out by this.”

“Quite the opposite, Master. I find it intriguing and incredibly useful. Plus, when I decided to follow you, I already knew you were not human. Though… I first suspected you were a vampire.”

“Who knows? I could be one.”

“...”

“You should smile more, my dear Evelyn. If you do that, maybe I will consider telling you more.”

The moment he said that, a forced smile appeared on her face, but that only made him stretch his hand and flick her forehead.

“I’ve never seen a more soulless smile. Try again…”

She did as he said but nothing changed.

“Again..”

“Again..”

“I give up.”

In the end, the maid, tired of the shit-eating grin on his face, clicked her tongue and walked away…