11. Gift.

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

 

Yuri Yuri, wearing a fancy black dress, approached.

On the front of the belly area, there was a pattern that looked like a peacock’s eye, which was quite eye-catching.

Looking closely, each of the ‘eye’ parts was studded with expensive jewels.

 

 

What was amazing was not that she digested it as ‘luxury,’ but that she digested it as something natural.

The dress embroidered with various jewels is beautiful, of course, but if it’s not a fairly attractive woman, she’ll be buried in the dress.

But she flaunts her own charm without any of that.

 

 

 

 

“Hmph. This time you pronounce Your Highness correctly. Looks like your tongue is finally loosened.”

 

Hancock sneered with caution.

Yuri just smiled as if she would play along, but she didn’t say anything else to her.

 

 

“It’s all over between us, so let’s stop being hostile.”

“Well… Knowing your identity, I can’t help but be wary.”

 

 

She’s not a welcome opponent.

Above all, she is a Vampire Lord.

She might recognize that Aran has the power of Bamgeunil.

 

 

“Hehe. Is that so?”

 

 

She gestured to the back with her eyes.

Then a black-haired beauty approached with a demure gait.

 

 

For some reason, I felt an ominous feeling from her.

 

 

“As a sign of reconciliation, I’ll give you this child. Her name is ‘Geuma Yuri’. She’s one of my family.”

 

Geuma slightly bowed her head in greeting.

 

What should I say, she looks polite on the outside but glares on the inside? Aran’s senses caught that kind of thing.

 

 

“I don’t understand your intentions. Out of the blue….”

 

 

Of course, Aran was wary.

First of all, aside from the energy she exudes, I can’t understand her intentions.

 

 

Frankly, isn’t it possible that she could be a spy?

 

 

Yuri, reading his thoughts, smiled softly.

Then she brought her red lips to Aran’s ear.

 

 

“This child’s original name is ‘Geumsa’. You know who he is… right? Hehe.”

“?!!”

 

 

He was greatly surprised by her whisper.

He stared intently at her face, which was laughing, hehe.

 

 

If that’s really true, this is a huge incident.

Although he was kicked out, Geumsa was the Emperor’s husband.

To make such a person into a Bamgeunil….

 

 

“Even if you don’t directly sit him, you’ll surely enjoy having him by your side. Especially when you hold the Princess, Your Highness.”

 

She, who was smiling seductively, looked cruel today.

 

She was piercing through the man’s psychology.

 

 

“I, I don’t have that kind of hobby.”

“Oh my, is that so? Then try it this time. I heard men like that kind of thing. They say there’s a strange pleasure.”

“….”

 

 

Aran looked at Geuma….

She was also looking at Aran, and her eyes were full of anger.

 

 

“Well, if you think he’s useless… you can just dispose of him. By the way, when he came to me yesterday, he asked me to give him the power to kill you. But I refused. I want to be close with Your Highness.”

 

 

She raised both hands.

A gesture as if surrendering.

 

To be honest, I didn’t know what her intentions were in approaching me, but at least she didn’t seem to be hostile right now.

 

 

“Honestly, I don’t know what you want. What’s the reason for approaching me?”

 

Aran went straight to the point.

What does this vampire want?

Could it be that she still hasn’t given up on me?

 

She shrugged her shoulders.

 

 

“It’s just as I said. I just want to be close with Your Highness.”

“….”

“To add, is it about the preservation of the ‘territory’?”

“Territory?”

“Yes.”

 

She smiled brightly.

Suddenly, I thought she was also a beauty.

 

 

“Your Highness will be the only human who knows my secret. Ah, and the person next to you too. It would be troublesome if it leaked out, so I hope the two of you will keep your mouths shut.”

“…Is that all?”

“Yes. If you keep the secret, I’ll give you this child and that princess, what was her name, Ekaterina? I’ll hand her over to you. Even if her body belongs to Your Highness, I have the right to control her. Hehe.”

 

It seems like she really came to make a deal.

 

 

“You’re going to put that woman on the throne of Srodia, right? But if you do, I’ll have Srodia. Hehe. Shouldn’t we solve that?”

“….”

 

 

That’s true.

As a prince, I can’t lie.

 

 

I said I would make Ekaterina a queen, so she has to be the queen.

The problem is that she is Yuri’s Bamgeunil.

 

 

In fact, Srodia is a vassal state of the Mei Empire anyway, so it doesn’t really matter whether Yuri is the real owner or not.

But for some reason, the nuance of what she was saying sounded like she was going to hand over even the remaining northern Srodia.

 

 

Was Aran’s intuition right? Yuri took something out of her bosom.

There was red blood in three small glass bottles.

 

 

“Each bottle contains this child’s blood and two bottles of my blood. I’ve marked the bottles with my blood.”

“?”

“If you drink my blood first and then drink the Bamgeunil’s blood… you can subordinate her to Your Highness.”

“!”

 

 

She smiled slightly and held out the bottle.

Aran unconsciously received it.

 

 

“This is only possible with my blood. I’m giving it to you especially because it’s Your Highness. You can just drink one drop, so you can leave the rest… keep it or use it when you masturbate, do whatever you want, hohoho.”

 

 

She, who said strange things until the end, left Geuma behind and left far away.

Even though Aran didn’t give a definite answer, she seemed to firmly believe that he would.

Is she generous or is she testing the waters…?

 

 

“….”

 

 

Aran eventually put the bottle of blood in his bosom.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It’s a shame I couldn’t hunt.”

 

Hancock grumbled.

 

Throughout the banquet, the only people who approached Aran and his party were the imperial family of the Mei Empire, Duke Yuri, and some lower-ranking nobles.

This was because the perception that they were still barbarians remained strong.

 

 

“…I’m really curious. What are you thinking about, Hancock?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“I’m thinking about Your Highness.”

“…….”

 

 

It’s a touching thing to say that I can’t put into words, but that’s not what Aran wanted to hear.

 

 

“No… well, let’s say that’s the case, then why are you gathering women? If you’re normal, shouldn’t you hate it when I hold a woman?”

“Why?”

“Why? Isn’t that human instinct?”

“…Is that so?”

“….”

 

 

She really doesn’t understand.

 

 

But she has definitely been jealous before, and she has been sulky.

Didn’t she puff out her cheeks the day after she spent the night with the Emperor?

If she’s not jealous, then what is that?

 

 

“Um… no, I’ll just assume that’s the case.”

 

 

Aran wanted to ask more, but he decided to stop because it didn’t seem to make sense.

 

 

“You’re bland. How about sprinkling some salt on it?”

“Empty Milk Jeha, I can’t help but be amazed that you’re still talking nonsense.”

 

 

Lamias and Muninn came out of the next room.

A servant carried the luggage behind them.

 

 

“Tsk. Cow. You’ve gained weight since I last saw you.”

“You see me every day. Could it be that there are not enough nutrients on your side, so your brain is strained? Maybe you couldn’t recognize it because you sent the energy you should have sent to your eyesight to Jeha’s Empty Milk. Well, it’s still a pitiful size, though. Puh!”

“Shut up.”

 

Lamias is Hancock’s natural enemy after all.

They fight every time they meet, but Hancock rarely wins.

 

 

Muninn was making an awkward expression next to her.

 

 

“…Be quiet, let’s go.”

 

When Aran took the first step, Geuma followed behind him.

 

“Ah! Let’s go together!”

 

Hancock bounced up and Lamias followed,

Finally, Muninn walked over hesitantly.

 

 

 

 

 

“You’re late.”

 

When they left the building, Moe was there, glaring with her eyes wide open.

 

“How could you make a super-pretty girl like me wait so long? You’re so mean. Even the sun wants to see me and is sticking its face out from early dawn!”

“…That’s a natural phenomenon.”

 

 

Aran retorted with a tired look.

 

 

“Since I have all the beauty in the world, you should treat me better.”

“Oh my. Princess. That’s a line a woman should say to a man. How can a woman try to cling to a man without any backbone?”

 

 

The drill sergeant (?) Hancock cut in the middle.

She’s presumptuous for a countess, but no one pointed it out because she was known to be that kind of person.

 

 

“Hmph. It’s okay for me. Because I’m beautiful.”

“The weather is getting colder because of that narcissism. It’s going to snow soon.”

“That’s because nature is too hot for my beauty, which is like the sun, and caught a cold.”

“Where does that unimaginable creativity come from?”

“It’s not creativity. It’s reality.”

 

The way she swept back her hair was very beautiful and lovely. The downward gaze is also extremely beautiful.

 

“In front of my beauty, everyone kneels. Yes, even the stinging winter wind becomes a warm fan. Because I’m beautiful.”

“Are you sick right now? Tell me honestly. The Prince, Your Highness, is generous, so he’ll understand.”

“Sick? Ah, in a way, you could see it that way.”

“Oh my, are you admitting it now…”

“Even if it’s me, I’m still human. Such beauty beyond this realm cannot be handled by the human body. Yes! I’m sick right now. Maybe I’ll die soon….”

“Bullshit, you….”

“Yes. That’s enough. Both of you be quiet.”

 

Aran came in, blocking Hancock’s mouth.

She struggled.

 

 

Aran understood her mentally, but he couldn’t let her say such things.

 

“How rude! Saying I’m noisy!”

“If you keep doing that, I’ll harass you a lot at night.”

“Hic… I, I understand.”

 

Moe, who was somehow weak to Aran, became quiet.

Around that time, I released Hancock’s mouth.

 

 

 

 

No one came out to see them off until they left the palace.

Just a few hours ago, I had spent a hot night with the Emperor, so I was secretly expecting it, but she didn’t even show her face.

 

 

‘Even if it’s not because of me, shouldn’t Princess Moe come to see me…?’

 

I won’t be able to see her for a long time if I leave now….

 

 

“By the way, where is Katarina?”

“She’ll be at a nearby inn, right?”

 

 

Katarina was wanted as a pirate, so she couldn’t enter the imperial palace.

Therefore, she changed her face with Lamias’ magic and stayed at an inn, and had been separated from the group for several days.

 

 

“But do you really have to take that woman with you?”

 

Hancock made a dissatisfied expression.

 

 

She said she wasn’t jealous earlier, but she seems to be jealous after all.

 

 

“Yes. But to be precise, I’m not taking her with me right now.”

“Huh? Then….”

“I’m going to entrust her with the pirate archipelago. This time, not as a pirate, but as a general under my command.”

 

 

Aran drew a pretty big picture.

 

 

If I’m going to build a great kingdom, I’ll build a big and strong country.

The first button was naval power.