Ch.114A Brief Vacation (Interlude)

“Huh…?”

Irina’s eyes widened at my words.

She seemed greatly surprised by this completely unexpected revelation.

But I was being sincere.

“You’re… Count Vladimir…?”

“Yes. I am Count Vladimir. All that talk about being his successor was a lie. From the beginning…”

How could I possibly have had a successor?

During my busy days as part of the Hero’s party, I never had time to date women, and even if I had, that short elf kid who was suspiciously interested in my love life would have interfered at every turn, making relationships with women impossible.

In other words, I could be considered a very pure vampire.

‘Well… I did drink blood frequently…’

Back then, I couldn’t strengthen my powers or even survive without drinking blood, so it was an unavoidable sacrifice.

Of course, I never killed anyone by drinking their blood, and I mostly carried blood packs.

Occasionally, Seria would make a big fuss and let me drink from her as a special treat, but honestly, Seria’s blood was…

‘It was peculiar…’

It tasted good, but how should I put it…

Like eating high-class vegetarian food…

Being an elf, it was natural, but… nevertheless, Seria’s blood was worthy of being called a delicacy.

Of course it was—it was the blood of someone with the qualities of a great mage, and who was active as a great mage, so considering the high concentration of magical power it contained, it would have been stranger if it didn’t taste good.

Anyway…

“I am indeed Count Vladimir. How else could I have told you such detailed stories about what happened with Seria?”

“That’s…”

Irina fell into deep thought at my words.

Yes.

If you think about it, isn’t it strange?

No matter how much I claimed to be his disciple and successor, knowing all those minute details was odd.

“B-but I still can’t believe it! That my most beloved and respected sister was actually Count Vladimir!”

“After getting along so well all this time, you say that…”

“B-but Count Vladimir was said to be alive… Sister… But if you’re Count Vladimir… um… Count Vladimir was supposed to be a man… uh… but Sister, you’re a woman… so…”

Oh dear.

She’s malfunctioning.

Seeing her look like smoke might start coming out of her head, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well… if it’s hard to believe right now, you don’t have to. I wasn’t asking you to believe me immediately.”

“S-so were you originally a man…?”

“Is that what’s most important…?”

I didn’t expect her to suddenly ask such a question.

Of course, Irina’s question was reasonable enough.

If you believed someone was a woman all this time, only to discover they were originally a man—and not just any man, but someone you admired—anyone would react like Irina.

I would have been surprised too.

However…

“I’m sorry, but I’d prefer if you didn’t worry about that part… It’s something of an Achilles’ heel for me.”

It’s not impossible for me to transform into a male form, but it’s troublesome, and since I’m currently active in this body, it would be awkward to change.

Above all, I don’t even remember exactly what I looked like, so recreating that appearance would be difficult.

“That would be hard…”

“Didn’t you say you would listen to everything I say?”

“B-but Count Vladimir was supposed to be a handsome gentleman, and you’re a cute girl!”

From the perspective that we’re similar in height, I suppose I am a small, cute girl.

Well…

But…

“…Despite how I look, I am still your master.”

With an angry smile, I grabbed Irina’s lips and wiggled them around.

What kind of mouth calls their master a cute girl?

This mouth, perhaps?

“Uwaaaa…”

As I grabbed her lips and wiggled them, Irina made cute sounds while shaking her head with a pained expression.

Seeing that immediately dissolved my anger, which probably means I’m quite ill.

Anyway…

“I’m sorry for shattering your fantasy, but I didn’t choose to become like this. I slept for a thousand years and woke up this way.”

Who could have known I’d become a Transcendent and my body would change during that time?

Even if I had known, there was nothing I could have done about it.

I looked around briefly.

“Well, if it’s really hard to believe, I could show you Count Vladimir’s appearance for a moment.”

“R-really?!”

“Of course, it won’t be exactly the same as back then, but would this be enough for you to believe me?”

“…Yeah.”

Irina looked at me with a complex expression, seeming to think this wasn’t right but still full of anticipation.

I don’t know what Irina is thinking.

Perhaps she’s happy that Count Vladimir, whom she had admired and liked all this time, is actually alive and she’s meeting him like this, but more than that, the fact that Midir Tepes, whom she respected even more, was actually Count Vladimir…

It’s like finding out that two precious people were actually just one.

I seem to have done something terrible to Irina.

But…

‘To show my sincerity, this is necessary. Besides, it’s awkward to keep hiding something so important…’

In fact, I haven’t just hidden it from Irina.

The fact that I am Count Vladimir is unknown to anyone except Eterna.

Even in Eterna’s case, I didn’t tell her—she figured it out on her own, so strictly speaking, I didn’t reveal it.

When she had already guessed and was acting with certainty that she was right, how could I intervene…

My deliberation about whether to show Count Vladimir’s appearance didn’t last long.

The answer was already decided.

“Wait a moment.”

I said this as I pushed Irina away slightly.

After confirming that she nodded and stepped back, I concentrated.

It doesn’t take long.

Changing into a suitable appearance is as easy as eating cold porridge.

It’s just that I don’t remember Count Vladimir’s face well since it was my own face, and it’s not easy to transform into it exactly…

“Hmm…”

I just changed my outward appearance for now.

I took something out from my chest.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the final touch for the disguise.”

I said this as I attached the ornament to my head.

I don’t know why they gave me this of all things.

Even with long hair, there are people it suits better.

After attaching it somewhat randomly, I made a subtle expression.

“Did I wear this like this…?”

“It’s a bit different from the portrait?”

“Huh? Different how?”

“You didn’t have that on your head in the portrait! And the hairstyle is different too!”

She even remembers all that…

“Ah, well… this is the last appearance I remember…”

This was given to me by that child.

When we parted for the last time… she gave it to me as a gift, saying I would come back someday.

The portrait would have been painted before I vanquished the Demon King, so it’s not strange that they’re different.

I chose the appearance that I remembered best…

Is this not right?

As I was thinking this and about to remove the ornament—

Thud!

The sound of something falling came from far away.

I thought there was no one else here until just now…?

Of course, I hadn’t properly checked and had only looked around briefly, so I couldn’t be certain, but still, not noticing at all was quite disconcerting.

It essentially meant someone had concealed themselves with magic.

This wasn’t just any revelation—the fact that I am Count Vladimir is quite a serious matter to be overheard.

If someone were to use this as blackmail, I’d have to silence them permanently.

With all sorts of thoughts racing through my mind in great panic, I turned my head toward the source of the sound.

“Ah…”

When I saw who had entered my field of vision, I froze in place.

‘Why is she here…?’

It was because someone who shouldn’t be here was present.

No, she could be here.

If she had followed by chance, it wouldn’t be impossible.

The problem was that she shouldn’t be here while I was revealing to Irina that I was actually Count Vladimir.

I had no idea how much she had heard, having concealed herself with magic.

“Um…”

A person who knows Count Vladimir very well.

Someone who always longed for me, who still remembered me even after a thousand years had passed.

Someone who had confessed her love to me…

The most awkward person for me to meet as Count Vladimir.

“Seria…”

“Vladi…”

Seria.

She was standing before me, having dropped something, staring at me.

As Count Vladimir… in the appearance she had last seen me in.