"... On a second thought, are you really Lord Vlad? What's with the way you're behaving? You're creeping me out." Raven said with a slightly disturbed look on her face.

He frowned and looked at her sharply. "Do you have a problem?"

Raven relaxed now that he was speaking in the familiar ice cold tone. "I wouldn't have if you gave me the title of a demon lord instead of only your duties."

"You can have it for all I care." He said dismissively then turned his attention to Vanora again.

"You'd have to die." She raised an eyebrow as she stated the obvious.

"Feel free to try." His arm reached up to curl around Vanora's shoulders. However, before he could do so, Vanora disappeared from her spot and his arm was left hanging in mid air. He looked back at Raven who was now a little distance away. His eyes turned black as anger bubbled up inside him. She dared to insult him by catching him off guard and stealing his girl right from under his nose. More importantly, her hands were all over Vanora and he really did not like it.

Raven was standing behind Vanora as if she was holding Vanora hostage. Her right hand framed Vanora's face and tilted her face towards hers while her left hand was circled around Vanora's waist. So this is the girl that's the reason behind Lord Vlad's recent behaviour.

She did not have long to study Vanora's face before she was commanded to let go of Vanora by a voice full of the threat of death. Her body involuntarily obliged and her eyes grew wide in surprise. This was the first time Vlad used this power on her, she never did anything that had warranted him to do so until now. A punch to her gut followed immediately after she let go of Vanora, then punch to her face that threw her to the ground. She coughed up blood, some teeth flew out, and her cheek swelled. She looked up at Vlad to see him hugging Vanora protectively. "I'm only sparing your life this time because we're long time acquaintances. Try this again and you'll lose your sorry life." 

Vlad and Vanora faded from sight while the colours and hell beings in her surroundings returned at the same time. The hell beings that were crowding around Raven were shocked to see her suddenly appear there and swerved clear of her, forming a clear circle around her. They gawked at the bloody state she was in. It was shocking to see the vampire whom they witnessed thrashing angels after angels just a moment earlier now so badly injured. Was it by one of their own or was it foe? However, no one dared to ask her. She had a reputation of being hostile and unfriendly.

Looks like I really overstepped my boundaries this time. Raven thought to herself. Just then, a succubus went up to her fearlessly.

"I heard someone mention Lord Vlad's name earlier. Is there any news of him?" She asked with big hopeful eyes.

Raven looked coldly at the succubus who she regarded as a fool. For as long as she could remember this succubus, she was always hanging around Vlad or staying in his vicinity. Her goal was clear for anyone to see. Even Vlad would have been able to tell if he actually paid her any attention. Her goal was only seen as wishful thinking in Raven's eyes. "... I don't know."

"You didn't ask them about Lord Vlad?" Disappointment was clear in her voice. 

"No." Raven was starting to get ticked off so she replied curtly while she got up from the ground, she wanted to end the conversation.

"It was them who made you like this, right? They must be really strong. They could be connected to Lord Vlad in some way, you know?" The succubus tried to push for Raven to investigate further. Her love and obsession with Vlad made her blind and reckless.

Raven shot her a warning glare. "Watch your mouth and know your place." She would have liked to do more than just sending a death glare her way. However, the sun was already up and it made her even more aware of the fatigue her body was suffering from. After walking into the shade provided by the trees, she disappeared into the shadows.

On the other hand, the succubus only sulked at losing her only lead to finding out where Vlad was. He was her ideal man. Her dream guy. Her Prince Charming. She sorely missed his presence. Whenever he was around, her eyes would only follow him. When he was absent, he seemed to take the colours of the world away with him. No amount of attention showered on her by some other guy, hell being or human, could give her the same feeling. No amount of being loved, affectionately or passionately, could stop her from fantasizing about being in Vlad's arms instead. She just had to have him. 

Vanora was back in the bathroom of the inn while Vlad was temporarily away from the establishment as usual. BaoBao had always updated her of Vlad's whereabouts so she knew that he had been sourcing her clothes and food from somewhere outside of the inn. However, that was all she knew even after 2 months. 

She randomly thought back to when she was taken by Raven. The way she was held made her hair stand on its ends. Vanora rubbed her arms to calm herself down. Who would have expected her to do that...

Vanora, I'm a little concerned about something... If I try to predict future events according to your assumption that events in the book will happen one way or another... With the way things are going now, instead of Raven and Rosa clashing with Angela, it may well be with you.

There's still a chance he's avoiding the area wherever Angela is fighting at. After all, we haven't met her, right?

Ah! That's true. So you're saying the plot will still progress as it is?

Mm.

Alright! BaoBao decided to trust in Vanora's judgement. However, he could not shake off the feeling that his predictions were giving him. His predictions have accounted for the deviations that already happened and it told him that there was a good chance that things will not go that smoothly. But please still be wary, okay?

Vanora smiled forlornly. The way BaoBao trusted her but still worried about her reminded him of her family. I will.

Vanora was dressed in her new clothes for the day and was now eating at the table. It had been agreed that they would simply start the day instead of sleeping for yet another day and night. Even though she was not looking at Vlad, he was in her field of vision so she could tell that he was still fidgeting a little every now and then as though he was uncomfortable. This has been going on from the moment they returned back to the inn. 

When she was almost done eating, he finally opened up his mouth to ask her sheepishly, "Are you not going to say anything about my identity being the Lord Vlad I told you about?"

"What's there to say?" She replied flatly.

"Isn't it lame and disappointing that someone like me turned out to be the mighty cold and menacing Lord Vlad?" He smiled wryly. 

"Yeah, you're lame alright. Disappointing too." 

His heart dropped. He had never been bothered by what others thought of him. It was simply easier for him to act according to their wishes and expectations than having everyone question if he was sound in his mind and all the other speculations they would have. It was also fun in way to be able to do whatever he wanted under a disguise. He never knew that he could feel as insecure as he does in this very moment. He did not even have the mind to reflect on why her opinion of him mattered so much to him. 

Vanora peeked up to look at his crestfallen expression. She grinned a little and let out a very short and soft laughter that made Vlad wonder if he had hallucinated it. She returned to her flat expression before proceeding on to elaborate, "It's lame of you to toot your own horn."

He recalled the times when he praised "Lord Vlad" to the high heavens and his face turned bright red.

"It's disappointing to know that I'm serving a highly irresponsible demon lord. I wonder if life will be chaotic in the future when the war is over." She pretended to sigh lightly.

He sat up straight as he declared his newfound diligence to Vanora. "Then I'll be as diligent as you are from now on! Don't you worry!"

"Oh? How do you intend to do so?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I'll obediently handle all the administration every morning and lead the army from noon on." He answered seriously.

"Which persona are you going to use to lead the hell beings? As 'Derek'?"

"No longer!" He frowned and pouted. "Enough with 'Derek'. I want to hear your sweet voice calling out my name instead."

PFFT. BaoBao almost could not hold back his laugh.

Vanora did not know what was laughable about what Vlad said. To her, his answer was a confirmation that the plot was reverting back to normal where he would lead the army as himself and not as Derek.

"So, Lord Vlad, now that I'm done, shall we get a move on?"

Vlad grinned with satisfaction. He really liked it that she was addressing him by his real name now. "Drop the Lord. Just call me Vlad. Also, since we're on the topic of recovering my identity..." His black hair started turning butter blonde and his red eyes became so black that it was difficult differentiate his pupils from his irises. "This is how I really look." 

"Okay." Vanora nodded.

Since we had to identify him based off the description of a book, I get it if you and I didn't recognise him when we first saw him. But why is it that the people who know him can't recognise him either? BaoBao asked as he felt that Vlad did not look that much different. It was only a change of colours after all.

Maybe others never really dared to look at him closely when he shows himself as the demon lord. Also, it may be the drastic difference in the way he behaves as 'Derek' that drives others to believe that he "can't be" their demon lord. 

Emotions clouded their perception and judgement?

You could say that.

Vlad smiled wryly. He should have known better than to expect some form of reaction, much less gushing, from Vanora. "I was thinking that I can start on my work immediately. Meanwhile, you can take a nap while waiting for me to be done with my work. Is that alright?"

She did not see anything wrong with the idea so agreed to it. However, if it was any other day she may have to think twice since it would mean wasting time doing nothing while waiting for him to be done with his work. 

He went over to Vanora then circled his arm around her waist as usual. It happened so many times that even BaoBao started overlooking it.