Velra’s smile lingered for only a heartbeat.
A fragile, trembling thing.
She knew—deep down—that she was lying to herself.
Time was not plentiful.
Not now.
Not with her strength leaking out of her like water through cracked glass.
Not with her mana nearly burned dry from the offspring contract.
And certainly not with—
Footsteps.
Voices.
Human voices.
Closing in fast.
Velra’s breath hitched.
She forced herself upright, but her legs wobbled beneath her.
"Alice! Hurry, this way!"
That familiar voice—sharp, commanding—echoed across the shattered snowfield.
Amelia.
Velra’s stomach twisted.
And right behind her—
"Where is it? Where is that vampire demon who ran away?"
Velra’s throat tightened.
Alice Draken.
The one who had nearly cut her down.
The one she dismissed—foolishly—thinking she was nothing compared to a noble vampire.
But Velra was wrong.
She realized that now with a bitter stab of regret.
The girl was no mere human.
She carried the bloodline, the will, and the instincts of that legendary warrior—the one Velra’s ancestors feared even in stories.
And soon enough—
They found her.
Velra felt their presence close in, three different pulses of mana, three distinct scents, all surrounding her like wolves closing in on a cornered fox.
Snow shifted.
Boots stopped inches away.
"Huh."
Alice stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"I wondered where you had slithered off to."
Her tone carried none of her earlier confusion or fear.
Only fury.
Cold. Controlled. Focused.
The descendant of the warrior stared down at her with calm, lethal certainty.
Shrring.
Alice drew her blade.
It gleamed under the pale sky, sharp enough to split a breath in half.
The tip hovered directly at Velra’s throat.
Velra didn’t even flinch.
She didn’t have the strength to.
Alice’s voice hardened.
"The capture order is canceled."
Her expression darkened, shadows pooling beneath her lashes.
"For someone who dared to threaten Julies’s life..."
Her grip tightened on the sword hilt.
"It’s an execution."
Velra exhaled softly.
She didn’t look at the blade.
She didn’t look at Alice.
Her gaze drifted instead to the unconscious man lying behind her, his breathing quiet and steady thanks to her sacrifice.
"...So be it," Velra whispered—quiet, steady, resigned.
The words had barely left her lips before her body moved on its own.
-Thud.
Her knees sank into the deep snow, the cold biting through her skin as if punishing her for daring to kneel.
The icy sting traveled up her legs, coiling around her spine, but she did not flinch.
A vampire noble—one of ancient lineage—kneeling before humans.
A humiliation she had never shown even to the greatest warriors of bygone eras.
A posture she had once believed impossible for her to assume.
Yet here she was.
"Please... spare my life."
The admission tasted like iron on her tongue.
Even as she knelt, her mind recoiled.
Even now—even now—her pride snarled, refusing to submit.
She could annihilate them if she wished. Escape with ease.
The magic burning within her veins was enough to tear the field apart.
But—
’Faceless Imposter’s life hangs by a thread. And now... so does mine.’
Her fingers curled slightly in the snow.
The offspring contract had bound their lives tightly.
If she died, Julies would follow her into death without ever waking.
And besides...
’He’s still unstable... confused... lost after everything. Even if he escaped this place, would that truly be what he wants?’
The answer was obvious.
Velra’s gaze lowered, her lashes trembling with barely checked emotion.
Cold wind whipped her hair, scattering crimson strands across her shoulders.
A vampire noble’s pride?
She had lived centuries by it.
But Julies—Faceless Imposter—had thrown aside a king’s pride without hesitation.
He had risked everything—his life, his blood, his very identity—to save her.
’For kin... for my kin... I can cast aside far more.’
But she could not say it aloud.
She could not dare tarnish his sacrifice by framing him as her savior.
That would only diminish the weight of his choices.
A tense silence blanketed the snowy field.
Alice held her sword ready, expression unreadable.
The soldiers behind her watched with bated breath.
Velra inhaled softly.
"This man... is he not someone you value?" she asked calmly.
Alice’s eyes narrowed. "What does that matter?"
Velra raised her head slightly—enough for her crimson eyes to meet Alice’s.
"It matters," she said, her voice quiet but unwavering.
"Because I have invoked a special magic. My life is now entwined with Julies’."
A hush fell.
"If I die," Velra continued, "he dies as well. Instantly. Without exception."
The snowstorm seemed to still for a heartbeat.
Velra bowed her head again, the image of defiance bleeding into vulnerability.
"So if you intend to take my life..."
Her voice softened into something almost fragile.
"...know that you will be taking his too."
She closed her eyes.
"And I will not resist."
Alice did not move.
Not a twitch.
Not a blink.
Her blade stayed fixed at Velra’s throat—unshaken, steady as a drawn line of moonlight.
But her aura...
it cracked.
Just a hairline fracture.
So small no one else would have noticed—
but Velra did.
She could feel it in the way the girl’s mana rippled, in the way her breath caught in her chest for a heartbeat too long.
A hesitation.
A single, fragile moment of doubt.
"...What did you say?" Alice asked, her voice quiet—far quieter than before.
Velra didn’t lift her head.
"My life and his are bound. By the highest vampire pact.
If I die, he dies."
Lies were useless here.
The contract’s lingering aura still clung to her like a second skin—any sensitive mage could feel it.
Alice felt it instantly.
Her eyes widened for the smallest fraction before her expression hardened again.
Behind her—
"C-Commander..."
"That magic... it’s real. I can sense it."
"Is he... truly linked to that vampire...?"
The soldiers whispered among themselves, the tension thickening like smoke.
Alice didn’t answer them.
Her voice stayed focused on Velra, sharp as frost.
"Why would Julies—of all people—accept a pact like that? Why would he tie himself to you?"
Velra almost laughed.
Almost.
"He didn’t," she said softly.
"I forced it. To save him."
Alice’s hand tightened so hard around her sword hilt that her knuckles turned white.
"You expect me," she hissed, "to believe that?"
Velra raised her eyes—slowly—until crimson met steel-gray.
"I expect you to check his pulse."
Alice inhaled sharply.
"...What?"
"Feel his heartbeat. You’ll understand."
Her voice was calm, steady—unbelievably so for someone kneeling at the mercy of a blade.
Alice hesitated.
Her jaw clenched.
Her shoulders stiffened.
But—step by step—she moved past Velra, toward Julies’ unconscious form.
Velra watched in silence, her throat tightening as Alice knelt beside him.
The girl’s hand hovered above Julies’ chest, trembling slightly.
"...Julies..." she whispered, and Velra could hear the emotion she fought to suppress.
Alice pressed two fingers to his neck.
She froze.
Her eyes widened, breath catching.
"...It’s faint," she whispered. "Too faint."
Velra closed her eyes.
"That is because his life depends on mine now."
Alice’s head whipped around, fury and fear tangled together in her expression.
"Why?" she demanded, voice cracking. "Why would you—why would anyone—bind themselves to him like that?!"
Velra didn’t answer at first.
...But she can’t tell truth either.
If The human before her come to know that her servent is demon, she will definitely kill him...As well herself too.
"... Because that is the only way I could live."
So, she choose to reveal half-truth.