The Vampire Empress.

Chapter 26. Prelude of Chaos (Iona’s Perspective).

 

A few days had passed since my lady had woken up, to be honest, all of us were very worried that she would suddenly faint again and so we took over almost every job we could think of, hiding the fact that work had piled up for her.

 

My lady was a beautiful and amazing person, she wasn’t as evil as I initially imagined her to be. Unlike most people I had been assigned to in the past, she was the kindest to me but that didn’t mean my lady didn’t have a dark side… she hardly tolerates any evil deeds that are committed within her sight, for example, she would execute people mercilessly without even flinching a single bit.

 

But then again, that was what made my lady unique to me compared to all the people I have been assigned to, she didn’t fear blood, nor did she flinch before the death of people. She was kind to the people she likes and cares for and not a single bit haughty, even if she looks arrogant, her actions are completely leaning towards assisting the people as much as possible.

 

Amidst my scribbling on the document, the little lady of the house… or so what we call her at this point, Ayaka walked up to her dear mother… or so what we see at this point while looking at her mother with her usual puppy eyes which indicated she wanted to do something.

 

“Mama!” she called to my lady in an adorable voice.

 

Felice could be seen looking at the two with a warm gaze, it was understandable though as their interactions with one another were what warmed the entire room almost every single day. My lady, after noticing the little lady, looked down at her with a beautiful smile that made the entire world slow down as if by magic.

 

“What’s wrong, Ayaka?” my lady asked while picking the adorable little lady and sitting her on her lap.

 

“Mama, I want to go play outside!” the little lady requested with her puppy eyes.

 

All of us were a bit surprised, the little lady didn’t speak much and wouldn’t always request something from my lady… rather, the times that she requested something from my lady could even be counted in a single hand. She was usually silent and obedient to my lady, what could have happened for her to suddenly request something?!

 

My lady looked at the little lady confused for a second before nodding to herself as she looked at me which I immediately understood, “It makes sense that a little girl like you would like to play, but I won’t let you play alone. If you can ask at least two people here to accompany you, I will allow you to go play around.”

 

It seemed like my lady was already signaling to us to make a wise decision, in this case, that would purely depend on who she chooses. If the little lady chooses to bring Leo and Felice then that would be completely fine as the two makes for a good pair in escorting…

 

The little lady understanding her words quickly nodded before scanning the room with her sparkling golden eyes before hopping off from my lady’s lap as she ran towards Felice and pulled onto her dress while utilizing her puppy eyes to the full extent.

 

Felice, having a soft spot for children, immediately stood up and saluted: “As you wish, my lady!” with a little drool on the side of her mouth that really showed her weird fetish for taking care of children.

 

After seeing that Felice accepted her request, the little lady soon scanned the room once again before stopping on the Her Majesty of the Demon Kingdom who was sitting on the sofa, staring at my lady like some kind of altar. She looked at her for a second before shaking her head as if the little lady already knew she was a bad choice.

 

She then took another wide scan of the room which made both Leo and I freeze in anticipation before she suddenly started running in our direction. My heart rumbled as her footsteps closed in before she suddenly stopped before me and pulled onto my skirt.

 

“Auntie Iona… can?” she asked.

 

“Eeeeh?!” I was surprised, “Why did you choose me, young lady?”

 

“Can’t?” she looked down with tears.

 

“Eeee… I mean, you could pick Leo who is much stronger than me and should be able to take care of you better…?” I tried to refute in fear that having me escort her would only lead to disaster. I wasn’t as strong as Leo and Felice combined even though my skills in magical swordsmanship are high…

 

“Uncle Leo looks busy though,” she responded while looking at Leo who was just standing still with a nervous look. You call that busy huh… well, Leo does little to nothing these days after his work of managing the guards of the town was finished. The town’s security was a thousand times better than when we first arrived here and is functioning normally now which means he has little job to do.

 

I guess since my lady would usually comply with the little lady even though she is working on paperwork, the little lady would more likely think that standing still like Leo would count as being busy huh… that would make more sense then.

 

Heaving a sigh, my hand unconsciously sat down on the little lady’s head, patting her before a smile warmed up on my face, “I will accompany you then, please take care of me, young lady.”

 

Receiving my compliance, she immediately started hopping around like the little girl she was before turning towards my lady who heaved a wry sigh, “You can play then, but be sure to come home before the sun dawns and make sure not to leave the vicinity of the town. Iona and Felice, I will leave her to the two of you, make sure nothing happens to her, okay?”

 

Her last sentence made both Felice and I feel a chill on our spine which was completely understandable as to my lady, the little lady was more than simply a child. It was like the little lady was her life source from what we can see.

 

“As you wish, my lady!” both Felice and I stood up and saluted before looking at the little lady as she held my hand adorably, “Let’s go now, shall we?”

 

The little lady nodded before the three of us soon left the town hall and started our little adventure outside the town hall. We went through the market, some food stalls where the little lady’s curiosity got to her, and started testing out many kinds of food. Looking at the little lady now, compared to her first state when we first met her, it was like she was grown as a noble lady.

 

She was starting to talk more, interact more and do more compared to the first time we met. It’s like she is opening herself to all of us slowly but surely… but that was until… suddenly, amidst our little adventure around the town.

 

Ten dark hooded figures surrounded us all of a sudden, the hooded figures had an ominous feeling to them which made all of us surprised.

 

“Hand over the child you are escorting, or else, we will use force…” one of the figures spoke in an extremely deep voice. The figures looked very strong, possibly at the same or even higher levels than most of the knights on our brigade, and to make it worse, there are ten of them… It was a tough situation, but Felice and I didn’t hesitate a single bit and unsheathed our swords almost immediately and swung them without hesitation.

 

My body’s muscle memory understood my action and embedded magic spells onto my swing, my sword was burning in blue flames as I swung down onto several of the dark-hooded figures, casting a large dust cloud around the area.

“IONA, TRIGGER THE SIGNAL!” Felice screamed.

 

I froze a bit before remembering about the signal, imbuing as much mana as I could onto my sword before thrusting it vertically as a red fireball exploded above the skies. The dust cloud soon vanished to the sight of the ten hooded figures all gone.

 

“What happened?!” I looked around before Felice’s face paled.

 

“The young lady was kidnapped!” she looked at where the young lady was standing with a pale look on her face. The sound of many heavy armored knights rushing to our location entered our ears as my hand released the sword on my hand as fear rose up into me.