"Sigh, okay, you won."

Loriam, on the other hand, appeared to be at a loss for what to do now that her 'secret weapon' had failed. She sighed and started to pack all of the snacks back into the backpack. As she picked up a package of gummy bears, Julia noticed a black rectangle-shaped object that was hidden beneath them, Loriam noticed Julia’s gaze being fixed on the item and, with a smile, picked it up.

"Umm? What is this thing? Ah, now I remember. You had this on you when I brought you here. Do you want it, perhaps?"

Julia was attempting to look composed but was failing miserably. The item in Loriam’s hand was a phone that belonged to Julia when she was human. No matter what, she had to get it back.

"Could you give it back please?"

In an attempt to get the phone back from the overaged loli in front of her, she chose to use a diplomatic approach, no reason to be hostile from the get go, after all.

"Hmm〜 What should I do I wonder? Would you go with me to the party if I gave this thing to you?"

Loriam tilted her head slightly as she taped her cheek with her finger as if she was thinking hard. Though it was clear she wasn’t thinking about it at all, she was just sneakily glancing at Julia’s face.

"There is no way I would go anywhere with you."

"Is that so? Then I suppose I can dispose of this strange human thing."

"No! Please don’t!"

"Oh? Will you go then?"

Loriam smiled triumphantly as Julia panicked. Julia was cornered, even if there was a chance that Loriam was merely bluffing. She couldn’t risk her phone’s destruction; it was too precious for her and therefore a great way for Loriam to force Julia into obedience.

"Fine, I will go with you to the party, but give me that phone back."

Julia gritted her teeth as she agreed to go. Loriam smiled and handed the phone to Julia, who took it and began to inspect it for damage. She then let out a sigh of relief as there wasn’t a single scratch on its surface.

"That thing... phone, was it? Seems to be rather important to you, why?"

Loriam looked at the phone in Julia’s hands with curiosity. She did know that humans have some interesting and strange devices in their possession, but this was the first time she got to see one so close.

"…My sister gave it to me before I left."

As Julia talked, her face was filled with sadness. Her hand gripped the phone tightly as she remembered her sister's face. Julia silently pressed the button and the screen lit up. Fortunately, the vampires didn’t seem to break it in any way, and the battery was still full.

"Your sister gave it to you? I didn’t know that Ediel… Count Beleng had a child. How is he anyway?"

Loriam, unable to bear the sudden awkward silence that spread in the room, attempted to start a conversation. However, Julia ignored her and just stared at the phone in her hand.

"What is so interesting about this thing that you are ignoring me?"

Loriam murmured her complaint as she stepped closer to Julia and peeked at the phone’s screen. On it was a photo of a young man with black hair and a charming smile. He was dressed in a white robe with a red eagle on it. By his side stood a young woman with blonde hair and emerald green eyes. There was a pair of long pointy ears on the side of her head. She wore long green dresses with golden patterns in the shape of tree leaves, the traditional clothes of an elven princess.

On his other side stood another young woman, slightly taller than the elven one, with dark brown hair and a light purple eye. She wore a light red dress that enhanced her alluring figure. Her hand was placed on the shoulder of the young man next to her.

Loriam looked with interest at the screen. This rectangular thing doesn’t emit any magic power, yet is able to perform such deeds? And those figures it displays… That man looks like Julia did a few days ago, and that elf... is that little Olia? She has grown into a fine woman, it seems. So that other one is…

"Is that brown-haired woman the sister you spoke of?"

Julia ignored Loriam’s question and continued to stare at the phone. When Loriam wanted to shake Julia out of the trance, Julia started to tear up.

"Uwa- Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong? Please, talk to me!"

Loriam panicked slightly as tears ran down Julia’s cheeks. Loriam was racking her brain, replaying the last few minutes to figure out why Julia was crying. She wanted to make sure that it wasn’t her fault.

"What should I do? I've never...Julia... mom is here, okay? I am really sorry if I said something bad. So, cheer up, okay?"

After she was sure that she hadn’t said anything that would throw Julia in to tears, she worriedly started to calm Julia down, and the first thing that came to her mind was to hug Julia in a motherly embrace. Julia was, in the meantime, lost in her mind, thinking back one and a half years.

…

"I am proud of you, son, to return home with such a beautiful fiancé."

In the mansion of Count Beleng, a celebratory mood ruled on this day. After all, the count’s youngest child, his adoptive son Julian, returned from his journey to the elven lands in the west. Not only did he return home, he even brought his fiancé with him.

"Yea, it does feel like yesterday when you wanted to be my husband. And now you have found yourself a wife. Sigh, how time flies."

"…I was five, you know?"

Julian was visibly embarrassed by his sister’s words, while she just smiled in response. Their bickering was only interrupted by a cheery voice.

"How cute〜 Is this really a picture of Julian when he was little? He was so cute."

"I know, right? Though I was surprised when Ediel brought him here, poor little thing, to lose his parents at such a young age... By the way, your highness, if you want, I can bring you more of Julian’s childhood photos."

"Mom! Don’t show them to her!"

"Please, call me Olia. And yes, I would like to see them."

Julian protested his adoptive mother’s action. However, his protest fell on deaf ears as his mother and fiancé were enjoying their girl’s talk, all the while Julian wanted to disappear from embarrassment.

"Brother? I know it isn’t the best thing I could give you, but... Here is my present for you. Happy birthday, bro."

Julian looked at his older sister with surprise and then at the small package she was holding. When he opened it, inside was a phone.

"Huh? Thank you, sis, but... this looks like military grade. It had to be expensive. You didn’t had to…"

"Nonsense! Only the best for you... I say, are you two really going to fight in the war?"

 Julian lowered his head as his sister’s expression turned sour. He couldn’t bear to see her like this.

"Yea, the church nominated me as the ‘hero’. They said something about that Ittenian seal on my back would help or something. According to them, I am the only one who can save humanity. But don’t worry, the war will definitely end soon. I am sure of it. And once that happens, I will come home and you can organize my wedding as you always wished."

"... okay, it's promise then! What about a commemoration picture of your promise?"

Julian smiled as he nodded, while his sister called Olia over. All three of them huddled together as his mother took a picture of them with his phone.

…

Julia started to slowly calm down and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. I gave them that promise, didn’t I? There is no way that I could just stay here. But I can’t go back like this either…

As she returned to her senses, she found that something was tightly but gently holding her. Another thing she noticed was the strange singing that she could hear. The song was definitely being sung in human language, though it was with a heavy accent. The lyrics were like something that only vampires might write, yet the song sounded like a normal lullaby. It had a strange calming effect on Julia.

When Julia calmed completely, she noticed that the song did sound familiar, as did the singer. After a little while, she noticed that the thing that was holding her was in fact a pair of small pale hands. When Julia looked behind her, she saw a worried Loriam singing the strange but familiar lullaby, all the while embracing Julia tightly while sobbing lightly.

"What are you doing?"

Loriam stopped singing when she heard Julia’s voice and hurriedly looked at Julia. Loriam looked relieved when she saw Julia being calm again and gave her a questioning look.

"Thank goddess, I thought that I did something terrible unknowingly and you would never talk with me again."

Loriam wiped tears from the corner of her eye and hugged Julia even more tightly than before. Julia herself was confused by Loriam’s behavior. Just what is going on?

"What are you saying? What happened?"

Loriam looked at Julia. Her eyes were still teary.

"You were looking at that phone thing and started crying, and no matter what I did, you didn’t react at all. You were like that for a couple of minutes. I was so worried. What even happened to you?"

Julia was surprised by this. She was aware that she was basically crying after seeing pictures of both her sister and her fiancé again. But that she was unresponsive for several minutes was news to her.

"It was nothing. Just remembering my sister and fiancé’s faces that was all."

"Fiancé? You have a fiancé?"

"Yea, I was supposed to be married by this time…"

Julia had a slightly sad expression as she spoke, while Loriam showed her surprise on her face at Julia’s words. An unpleasant silence spread between them. Julia silently fiddled with her phone, and Loriam looked at her, occasionally trying to reach her hand toward Julia but retracing it almost immediately.

"…come to think of it, you didn’t leave this room for the entire week, so you didn’t take a bath yet, right? What about you go and take one now? It might help you relax a bit, then you could go have breakfast, ok?"

Loriam decided to change the topic to break this silence between them. It was like torture to her. Julia silently nodded her head and, with Loriam’s help, stood up.

"Take her to the bathroom and help her wash up. Make sure she can relax, even if just a little."

Loriam delivered her order to Mirei, who returned at some point to inform them that the tea was ready, only to remain standing in the hallway while watching her mistress cry in her mother’s arms. Did I miss something? That was what she thought as she stood there in silence.

"Yes, your majesty."

Regardless of her thoughts, she quickly switched gears and responded in affirmative to her queen’s order. As the queen was leaving, Mirei approached her own mistress and, with a polite bow, led her out of the room.