I am not a daughter of the vampire queen!

A few minutes earlier.

Julia, in the company of the cat-eared maid, went to the room she had been staying in for the last few days. The reason, of course, was not to relax, as Nika has said, but instead to get away from the two girls that seemed about to begin fighting in the dining room.

Maybe I should have stayed and defused the situation. Julia started to feel a little guilty towards Nemi for leaving her alone with Nika.

Well, I don’t hear anything, so it’s fine... right? Julia looked back, worried, but since there wasn't anything audible that resembled a battle, it could be assumed that things were well on their side.

Yup. Nemi is definitively smart enough to not antagonize her. After all, that Nika girl is too powerful for either of us to- wait Nemi doesn’t know that.

Julia froze at the sudden realization. She completely forgot that the power discrepancy between them was only known to her. It's not like Julia would want to underestimate Nemi, but she clearly would not have a chance.

"Is something wrong, your majesty?"

The cat maid turned worriedly to Julia. As far as Julia could tell, the concern on her face was genuine. Julia kept looking silently behind her before shaking her head.

"I was just thinking... about having tea outside. The fresh air might be good for me."

Julia lied. She only wanted to go outside to test how far she could go as well as the level of supervision they would keep on her. though it wouldn’t be bad to enjoy a cup of warm tea as the gentle wind would blow her hair.

"Understood. In that case, I will prepare a tea for you."

"Make sure to prepare three cups."

Julia says offhandedly and opens the door of "her" room. As the door opened, Julia found her two companions on a bed.

"Ahh〜 that’s the spot. Hmm〜."

By all appearances, Lily was currently receiving a massage from Kana. And based on her face, which seemed to melt in excitement, she is immensely enjoying it. Her tail waved happily, hitting Kana every few seconds. Kana, though, ignores it, or she pretends not to notice and nervously asks.

"Do you think Master would like it too?"

Lily laughs softly, patting Kana’s cheeks with her tail. Then she looks at Kana.

"Of course, Master will like it too. With your soft touch and my fluffy tail, master is sure to be in heaven."

Kana stopped giving her a massage and looked at her hands, closing and opening them a few times.

"Is my touch really soft? I mean, I am a sword."

Kana’s voice had a tint of nervousness in it. but it seemed that hearing it from Lily made her happy.

"Of course. After all, sword or not, you are still a girl."

Lily smiled at her friend as she sat up on the bed. Kana looked down, blushing slightly.

Should I say something or bring some popcorn? Julia pondered as she became sure that she had started to see lily flowers blossom around them. Why Julia silently thought how sweet the scene in front of her was. Lily’s ears twitched, and she turned excitedly towards Julia excitedly.

"Master, you’re back."

Lily exclaimed and jumped into Julia’s arms. Julia hugged her and rubbed her ears, savoring how they tickled her nose in the process. Kana looked at them from the bed with a slight smile on her face. She seemed like she wanted to say something but just sat there in silence.

"Kana, come here."

Motioning with her hand for Kana to come over, Julia smiled. With a light trot, Kana comes to Julia. Guessing what Julia had in mind, Lily moved slightly to the side and made a space that was swiftly occupied by Kana. Julia rubbed Kana’s head just like she did Lily’s.

For a short while, the trio savored their group embrace, and after a few seconds, Julia broke the silence.

"Let’s go get some fresh air, you two."

Nodding their heads with a satisfied expression. Julia and her two companions went looking for a way leading outside. After a minute, they reached the door. Behind the not-so-noticeable doors Laid a garden covered in a thin wail of fresh snow, but despite that, the temperature was not that cold. If anything, it even felt pleasantly warm.

The moment they stepped into the garden, Lily sprinted out, jumping around like a little kid. It seemed like she had never seen snow in her life. Julia smiled as she watched her play in the snow. Kana’s expression also had a certain warmth to it as she observed Lily.

Julia found herself a cozy place to sit and, with her cheek in her hand, watched Lily. Kana, standing by Julia’s side, began to resemble a mother watching her child. Even though the two looked like they were the same age.

The cat-eared maid appeared with three cups of tea and silently placed them on a table. With a light bow, she positioned herself a little bit away from Julia.

"Kana, Lily, have a tea before it gets cold."

"Yes, master."

The two girls walked to Julia, took their respective cups, and sipped the tea. As well as helping themselves to cookies that were served with the tea.

Sipping the tea, Julia observed her surroundings discreetly. To anyone watching, it looked simply as if Julia was enjoying teatime, but in reality, Julia was assessing her chances to get out of this place.

The entire palace is built in an elevated position, just as expected. But it is not that high for me to safely get down. As for security, there are four- no six guards patrolling just this part alone. But since when do vampires use rifles?

From where Julia sat, she could see at least six guards. Each wearing a dark uniform and a shouldered rifle. The typical curved vampiric sword on their hips swayed with each step.

"…So, you're saying you two are dating now?"

"Yeah, we went on a date the other day. And then he-"

A part of the conversation between two guard women reached Julia. Neither of the two was a vampire, yet both spoke perfect vampiric. Weird. Julia thought about it and took another sip of tea.

"Huh? Isn’t that..."

Julia turned around curiously as she heard one of the guard’s surprised voices. As she did, her jaw dropped. In the distance, she saw a massive object flying towards the city. The longer she looked, the more it looked like...

Is that a dragon? Yes, the more she looked at it, the more it looked like the dragons she read about in old myths. She doubted her eyes. There was no way she was actually seeing this. But the guards were clearly also seeing it too. That or they all decided to watch the clouds collectively.

"Master."

Lily put her teacup on the table and swiftly moved between Julia and the direction that the dragon was coming from. Kana, on the other hand, just glanced over.

"Oh, she is still around."

Wait, do you know that dragon?! Julia wanted to ask as she heard Kana’s unconcerned voice. Not so long after that, the dragon reached the town and, with an immense shockwave, descended down into the garden.

"To think she would just venture so far away and not say anything and keep me away from the master, How cruel."

Within a few seconds, the dragon turned into a beautiful woman, with a pair of horns. Julia stared at the woman with her mouth gaping. Lily growled at the woman, while Kana just took a bite of another cookie. Lily’s growl attracted the woman’s attention, and she turned in their direction.

"At whom are you growling, dog-."

The woman opened her eyes wide, staring firmly at Julia. For a moment, the two looked at each other. The woman’s expression turned to one of relief and happiness as she threw herself at Julia.

"Whoa."

Julia sidestepped, and the woman flew face-first into the ground where Julia stood just a second earlier.

"How cold. After years of separation, to be treated as an annoyance. Haah… haaah…"

The woman started to pant as she crawled on all fours towards Julia. As the woman got close to Julia, Julia, with disgust in her face, stomped her to the ground out of instinct. Holding her face buried in the snow.

"Die pervert!"

Julia repeatedly stomped her foot down. Every time her foot came down, The strange woman let out a moan. The harder Julia stomped on her, the more she seemed to enjoy it.

"They get along as always."

Kana offhandedly remarked. While Lily wondered since when was her master like this. She could barely imagine her master being mean to someone, let alone beating someone like that.

"Haah. Master’s punishment. How much have I missed that."

Julia abruptly stopped. Why am I actually doing this? She tried to figure out why. But she was only sure that, for some reason, it felt like a natural thing to do. Coming back to her senses, Julia backed away from the pervert on the ground.

"My apologies, master. I got a bit overexcited to see you again."

The woman sat up and lowered her head toward Julia. Lily went to Julia and shielded her from this woman. Julia took a deep breath.

"Who are you? Am I supposed to know you?"

"M-master?! Ahhh, to treat me as a stranger. Haaah… my master, how cruel. Haaah…. Haaah…."

The woman began panting again. With a look of complete ecstasy on her face. Please tell me she isn’t like Nika. Julia broke into a cold sweat and glanced at Kana. Who, on her part, looked like she was used to this situation.

"You perverted dragon! Get the hell away from my sister!"