Amidst the silence of the night and the soft breathing of all the sleeping beings in the area, sounds of movements could be heard. The ghouls that were awake to stay on guard against sneak attacks stood by Vanora's side. They looked at Vanora's sleeping profile with a glazed over look in their eyes then got to work. 

Their minds were only filled with fulfilling the request of their love to remove Vanora from Vlad and to place her in someone else's arms, so much so that they did not notice Vlad's firm grip onto her shirt, so much so that they failed to wonder about why it felt as if Vanora was rooted to the ground. They mindlessly pulled as hard as they could and the black mark of a rose on Vlad's hand appeared like it did the first time Vanora did it to him.

Vlad's eyes flew open to see ghouls pulling onto Vanora. Rage consumed him and he let out a burst of power that decayed everything around him to dust, only Vanora whom he was now hugging closely and protectively remained unharmed with him in the center of it all. Any innocent hell beings that were sleeping close to him got killed in their sleep.

The sudden surge of power and intimidating aura woke all the hell beings up in time to see Vlad slowly restraining his powers back into himself. He was now standing while carrying a still sleeping Vanora in his arms, princess-style. Nobody dared to move or breathe. Rosa stood frozen in fear in her hiding spot, she was afraid that she was found out. 

When he finally looked up from Vanora, they saw that the whites of his eyes has become pitch black too. They have never witnessed their demon lord so angry before, this further solidified their belief that Vanora was their Lady no matter if they liked it or not.

"All you useless beings can die here for all I care." His voice that sounded as grave as death resounded out clearly in the silence of the night.

The black mark of a rose expanded from where he stood to cover any ground that has someone on it. The ground began shaking then lifted everyone high up into the sky, trapping them in a bowl-like formation. It was eye-catching even from far away and made them easy pickings for the angel. 

Vlad had elevated himself up together with the ground, so he was not stuck in the deep bowl made out of earth with everyone else. "Good for you if you manage to survive." He left them with that sentence and teleported back to his castle. 

The next morning, Vanora woke up with Vlad's unhappy face filling her vision. Her eyes grew wide as she laid there in shock. After staring for awhile, he humphed, leaned back, then grumpily spoke, "You still don't want to spill the beans about what's been bothering you?"

Receiving no reply from her, he continued with a disapproving frown, "You were knocked out cold from fatigue last night, for god's sake. If something happened to you, you wouldn't even notice. Not that I mind protecting you since that's what I've always wanted to do, but was this what you wanted?"

"Did something happen?" Vanora asked as she slowly got up from the bed. Vlad continued sitting on the floor as he looked up at her. 

"No. Raven came back so I left. But you wouldn't wake up no matter how roughly I tried to wake you up." He said flatly. Not wanting to hurt her pride, he hid the truth from her. "Still not going to fess up?"

Vanora knew that was no good, that was precisely why she tried not to fall asleep. However, she knew that confiding in him would be of no use. She could not explain BaoBao's existence to him and she could not bring herself to rely on someone else. Then again, haven't I unconsciously relied on BaoBao's powers? She mocked herself.

Seeing that she still stayed silent, Vlad sighed while he stood up. He could not help but feel a little disappointed. No matter what the reason was, was it really worth it at this point to be so adamantly self-reliant despite it putting her at risk? He walked off with the intention to complete what work he could while she washed up. 

He stopped just before the curtain to say softly without turning back, "Vanora. I don't know what you're thinking. I don't understand why you're being like that. But I just want to remind you that even the strongest can need help from time to time and there's nothing wrong with that. You know where to find me if you need me."

What Vlad said jolted her memory of her time in the second world when Stephan warned her that even three abilities users would need help surviving. Remind me? Aren't I already relying on him plenty? Why would I need a reminder? I just don't get it.

She was met with silence. This was one of the times when she became painfully aware that she was still alone in this world. Suddenly, Vlad's voice echoed in her mind. I'm here.

It pulled her out of her downward spiraling thoughts and back to reality. She clenched her fist and gingerly made her way to the curtain, lifting it up, then standing there hesitantly after taking a step out. 

Vlad looked up from his paperwork when he noticed that she was simply standing there. He put down the paper and quill in his hands then walked to her with an apologetic smile. "Is something wrong?"

She bit her lips then peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. She felt like she understood what he meant already. Can I tell him how I feel? Can he really share my burden? 

Vlad took in the sight of how adorable she looked at the moment and his heart went soft for her again. "You don't have to push yourself. Take things at your pace. I'll always be here to back you up like I promised." He ruffled her hair. 

"I... I feel..." Vanora whispered while avoiding eye contact. She never knew that it was this tough to be frank with how she felt. She had never even been this frank with her family before because she never wanted to burden them further with her inferior feelings. 

"I- I- I'm really..." She wrung her fingers as she tried to find the words to express how she felt.

Vlad patiently waited in front of her with a gentle smile on his face.

She ended up shutting her eyes tight and letting her mouth run off. "I can't trust Rosa! She's fishy!" In the end, what slipped out of her mouth was not her feelings but only what she thought at the moment. Her face blushed bright red and her face winced in embarrassment. 

Vlad sighed inwardly and smiled helplessly. I guess that's not what she truly wanted to say. 

He ruffled her hair once more while replying, "Easy, then we won't be with her anymore."

Her eyes opened wide in surprise. If I disappear somewhere Rosa and Angela can't find me, wouldn't all my issues be solved? I'm pretty sure Vlad should have a place like that where I can hide from everyone. 

Hope began to fill her eyes as she looked at him. Has it always been this easy? No wonder BaoBao made such a huge deal about relying on the second male lead.

Suddenly reality caught up to her and she began wondering about the impact of her disappearance on the story. Relying on him still leaves a bad taste in my mouth though. I should only use where he recommended then live on my own from then on. Would this be considered deviating from the plot? It should be fine as long as the general events still proceed as it should. 

She peeked at Vlad at the corner of her eyes then sighed audibly. He probably won't let me live alone so he'd disappear along with me like what happened in the first 2 months. What should I do now? Is the second male lead disappearing a really bad thing? Can someone else die in his stead and make Angela promote to become an angel in the high heavens? Ugh... If only BaoBao was here to provide the answers...

Everything was reflected on Vanora's face so Vlad was increasingly confused. One moment she looked at him like he was her saviour, then she looked as if she encountered another difficulty, and now she was down in the dumps again.

"Forget it. Just proceed on as we usually do..." Vanora said without spirit. She decided to play it safe.

"...I'll gather up another army in no time. I'm tired of the current one anyway." Vlad did not know what changed her mind but he was not going to forget about what she truly thought after she let it known with so much difficulty. He summoned a crow that was the size of Vanora's torso and has glowing red eyes to deliver a letter to Raven to inform her of what happened and his decision to create a new army.

True to his word, he put together a completely new army in just a few days. It was as if things were back to square one for these few days where he would pick up and gather the stragglers, except that this time he also recruited some stronger ones who were still staying in hell. Those hell beings wanted no part in the war for different no good reasons. Although his current army was a little smaller, its power was no less than the previous one and may even be a little better.

On the night of their first war as a complete group, some female hell beings approached Vanora. They tried to chat her up but eventually got straight to their main point when they realised that Vanora was not reciprocating at all, much less warming up to them. They wanted Vanora to ask Vlad to let them chill at a pub or bar for a night.

They discussed with Vanora in whispers.

"You know how Raven's like. It's impossible to approach her."

"I don't think we even need to try. It's a definite no from her."

"But it's different with you, my Lady. We've seen how Lord Vlad caters to your every need. All you need to do is to put in a word for us. When he agrees to it, that cold bitch won't be able to disagree."

"Tch. How can you make our Lady do something for us like that? My Lady, forget what she said, please come with us and enjoy too."

"Ah yeah, my bad. Come with us and pamper yourself!"

They all looked at her with hopeful eyes. Just as Vanora wanted to decline the invitation and the status that they've somehow assigned her with, Vlad came over to see what they were holding Vanora back for. Not caring for privacy, he eavesdropped on their conversation and let them know that without shame.

"You don't want to go, do you?" After months with her, he knew that she never socialises meaninglessly, but he agreed that she should be pampered a little more, especially with what she has been putting herself through since the day he found her scared stiff on the floor. 

Vanora shook her head to indicate her lack of interest. "Also, I'm not your l-"

"The rest of you go. Just be back by dawn." Vlad interrupted Vanora. He especially liked it that they took her as his woman. Why would he give her a chance to clarify it and deny her relationship with him? "As for you, what do you think of visiting the hot spring again? It's been some time, hasn't it?"

Vanora got successfully derailed off topic and felt that the idea did sound inviting. Her body felt tense and sore since she could not bring herself to relax from the day BaoBao went missing. Her expression and tone was soft while she nodded. "Mm."

After the bath, Vanora was noticeably more refreshed and relaxed. Thinking that this was good for her body and mind since she has the habit of pushing herself to the extreme, Vlad decided to have an artificial hot spring constructed in his castle as well. In the meantime, he had to find a way to bring her to the inn every now and then. 

At the sudden realisation of the extent he was going for Vanora, he silently laughed at himself. The Lord Vlad is actually behaving so careful around a woman instead of doing whatever I want with her... I wonder how people would react to this as compared to my real personality.