Here~ Don't worry! His powers can't affect me since I'm only bounded to you and not a part of you! Vlad's power technically sucked a part of your life force away, but it won't affect you since it wasn't exactly yours at the same time!

She sighed in relief inwardly. BaoBao had just returned. She did not know what she would do or how she would feel if she lost BaoBao in such a careless way.

"Vanora? You okay?" Vlad noticed how weary she looked. 

"Mm." She nodded. "Thanks for helping me. Again." 

There she goes again... "There's no need for thanks, the demon lord Vlad is at your service. You really should make use of me more. You really don't know how much power is at your hands, do you?" He grinned cheekily. 

She looked at him incredulously then shook her head and sighed helplessly. He was truly an overbearing demon. Each time she remembered what was still going on back at the street of his old favourite inn, she could not help but thank her lucky stars that she did not have to go up against him in this world. At least the angels had certain things they would not do and a line they would not cross.

 

Some time after the incident with Rosa, Vanora finally calmed down enough to stop ruminating and berating herself for her poor performance. However, she then began feeling a little guilty for Rosa's plight. She did come out unscathed after all. Falling into Rosa's scheme could only blamed on herself for not being strong enough. Was Rosa's and the men's eternal punishment really justified? 

She could always impassively watch on as things unfold because that was just the way things went. People did bad things to each other for selfish purposes. The more powerful ones will always win in the end. When she was humiliated on stage back on her original world. When she was bullied in the second world. When villagers ganged up on weak newborns in the third world. Vlad and Angela throwing their weight around in this world. Humans or not, characters or not, nothing was different no matter where she went. 

However, she did notice signs that things were changing since the previous world and she attributed it to being involved with the second male lead. Despite how powerless she was, she had managed to achieve her revenge for her brother in the previous world. She was only unaffected that lives were ended at her hands because it was part of the mission and their schemes had been successfully carried out. The case with Rosa in this world felt completely different. There was no mission regarding this and Vanora did not feel hostile towards Rosa. There was completely no purpose behind Rosa's suffering.

Feeling responsible, Vanora had tried to hint the idea of letting them off to Vlad. Vlad was not stupid. He understood her implied meaning, so each time she did, his expression would cloud over. 

Eventually, he told her with a guilty and angry expression that he was doing this for himself. "Every time I think about what could have happened to you, I'm beside myself with rage. So much so that I don't know what would happen if I don't vent it somehow." 

Suddenly he smiled very sweetly as he continued to talk. "So don't feel responsible for those cretins. I want this for them." 

When Vlad put it that way, Vanora could no longer find it within herself to talk about it anymore. 

 

"I don't think you'll be demon lord for much longer though. I believe the best plan now is to pretend that we died at Angela's hands."

Vlad's grin froze on his face then it slowly turned to a sulk. He disliked the thought of losing to anyone, especially not to an angel like that. "Must we?"

"I don't think we can survive another attack. Let's say you do, I know for sure that I can't. If you want to continue being a demon lord and maintain your reputation, this is where we'll part ways then."

Vlad now looked alarmed and immediately gave in to her idea. The thought of losing Vanora was, without a doubt, worse than losing to someone in a fight. 

"Is this castle exclusive for demon lords? It would be ideal but it's unlikely we can use this castle as our hideout, right?"

Vlad nodded. "To make my death seem convincing, I have to deactivate all my curses ever placed on anyone and anywhere."

"To fool the enemies, fool your friends first, huh." 

"Once news travel, hell beings will try to expand their territory and come here. With my curses around here deactivated, this place is easy picking."

"The dimension that you teleported us to twice before seems private. Wouldn't that make a good hideout?"

"It is private in the sense that only I can teleport in and out of that dimension, besides the grim reapers that is. There is nothing for us demons to eat there and it will be reckless to teleport in and out of that dimension." 

Vlad did not need to explain for Vanora to understand. She immediately recalled how the people surrounding them vanished when they teleported into that dimension with Raven. If Vlad had returned back to the living dimension, they would have randomly appeared among the crowd just like Raven probably experienced. 

"We'll be like fugitives on the run then." 

"It'll better to be back on the surface then. In hell, once you leave one's territory, you'll always only end up stepping into another's territory." Vlad wanted to minimise any chances of fighting to prevent revealing their true identities. This meant living among the humans like a human was the best choice. No humans would be a match against his raw strength.

Vanora nodded to show her understanding. 

Vlad teleported them out of the castle without taking anything along. Just like that, the huge castle with its recently completed hot springs is now a cold abandoned place.

 

Vanora looked wordlessly around her. It seemed familiar and unfamiliar to her at the same time. While she was trying to figure out the reason for it, BaoBao and Vlad spoke at the same time. 

You ran past this area in your frenzy from two years ago, after you first converted into a demon. 

"Sorry, you probably have bad blood with this village but that is the best place to be at, at least for now." Vlad would have wanted to choose a village far away from where he had met her for the first time, but this place had the lowest chances of encountering a passing battle between an angel and a demon because the war had moved on from this area very early on.

Vanora shook her head. "It's fine. I've already burned down the village that I have bad blood with. This village is innocent. I just happened to meet my demise here. My fate seems weirdly entwined with her it seems. I wonder if this is really the end of it."

"Her?"

"Remember the female angel that almost killed me earlier? She was the one who fought with the demon that converted me. She was also the one that killed my parents in a separate village just because they weren't worshipers. Everyone thought that they were influenced by the devil. No one helped us. In return, I kindly helped them meet their maker that they worshiped so much before leaving for this village."

Vlad instantly took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "It must have been very tough on you."

Vanora's eyes widened as inexplicable emotion filled her. She had thought that Vlad would do something along the lines of rejoicing at her cruel actions. Instead, his current actions could only be understood as caring more about her well being. 

She softened up upon that realisation and revealed the feelings of the original soul in a whisper, which she could greatly empathise with. "I would have joined them in death if not for their wish for me to live on. After all, I was so useless. I could do nothing but helplessly watch them die in front of me." The feeling of uselessness... The desire to fulfill my parents' wish... They're the same. We're the same person. Could I possibly accomplish something in this world that I failed to do so back when I was alive?

"You did well living till now." He assured her. "I'm so glad you chose to live on. It gave me the chance to meet you. Thank you, my love." Vlad professed his feelings for her again. He has been doing so every now and then, not minding how one sided it may remain. Vanora had already made it clear to him overtime that it was unlikely she would ever feel ready to enter a relationship. 

The last thing she wanted was to get into an intimate relationship just to let her unresolved issues and feelings within herself affect the development of her relationship. She could not bring herself to completely trust another. She could not stop the nagging thought that he may lapse back into his original character anytime, that people would turn their back on the useless her, that she may be abandoned... All her insecurities about herself and others would only be a burden to others just like it had been on her family. The only way she could think of to show her affection and gratitude was to precisely not let anyone get that deeply involved with her.

Though Vanora did not explain much beyond the fact that she would never be interested in a relationship, Vlad was glad that she did not push him away and did not force him to repress his feelings. That would have been a tall order. He did not care if it was one sided as long as he got to be with her.

Noticing that Vanora was still quiet, he continued to hug her in silence. There was no one around them for at least 6km so it would be fine to stay like that for a while. 

In actual fact, Vanora was conversing with BaoBao in her head. He had spoken at almost the same time Vlad did.

Actually... It's possible to fulfill your parents' wish in your original world...

It is?

All it takes to fulfill your parents' wish is to be alive and well with your family, right? Remember how I asked you if you wanted to return to your original life? I wouldn't ask you something that could never happen.

So I can really go back?

Yes, but we have to work hard. You have to strengthen your soul and spirit so that it can overwrite the death fate you have. As for me, I'll just have to keep advancing and- I'll tell you the details next time. In short, the better we pass our missions, the better your chances of revival is. 

Vanora thought deeply about what BaoBao said. She was not confident about her chances of returning to her world. No, more importantly, I don't think I should go back... I cannot go back even if it's possible.

Why? BaoBao sounded a little exasperated now. He still could not figure Vanora out whenever it came to this. The only conclusion he was able to arrive at after processing all the old and new information with his upgraded system was that Vanora had times when she seemed irrational too. The old version of him had been unable to break the assumption that Vanora was always right and did know that it was possible to still trust in Vanora despite her moments of irrationality. 

I already did all I could to survive there. My existence was a disappointment. I don't deserve to stand with them. I broke their hearts once with my death. Are you expecting me to go back there only to continue making them disappointed? Only to die again in the end and break their hearts yet again? 

Aren't you being a little too pessimistic? After the first impossible is made possible, you can continue to make more miracles. BaoBao insisted while sulking a little. He was beginning to form his own judgement and thoughts independent of Vanora's. 

That's easy for you to say. It's you who's being too optimistic about someone like me.

BaoBao did not know how to argue with Vanora any longer. He felt as if he could understand what her sister said to her in the past. He now had the same wish that one day Vanora could see herself the way she truly looked to others. 

Vanora stepped away from Vlad. "Let's go."

Along the way they discussed and settled on a cover story to tell the villagers. 

Upon reaching the village, they began behaving like a couple who had lost their home due to the war so were now finding a new home in a new village. 

The only suspicious thing that stood out were how well-groomed they looked as compared to the other villagers. Vanora now has two long twin tails that Vlad always had his fun tying for her and was wearing a similar black long sleeveless top and tights she has always worn. Vlad only ditched the silver accessories, he looked the same as usual otherwise. They ended up attributing it to being well off in their previous village.

Afterwards, they put up the act of asking about the situation of the village and how things were run in the village. 

Everyone believed their story easily as Vlad was charming and likable and no one felt the need to raise their guard against Vanora. The pair ended up warmly welcomed to be a part of the village and people helped them build a new house near the outskirts of the village where it was quieter. They even generously gave them some land to grow crops or rear animals. Vanora wondered if Vlad was secretly using his powers on the humans or if it was due to his identity of being the second male lead that things seemed to be going so well. 

Just like that, they started to live as humans.