29. The invitation
Huuu…. So thirsty….
Julia slowly opened her easy eyelids. A panging headache assaulted her, as well as an extreme lust for blood in the form of intense hunger.
Julia licked her lips as a sweet, delicious smell entered her nostrils. And to her delight, it was coming right from in front of her. Her fangs ache, giving her an ever-increasing urge to bite into something.
Julia lifted her head from the soft pillow and slowly moved her head towards the source of the smell; a silhouette of a wolf-eared girl, lying right next to Julia. Having a perfect meal right in front of her made Julia lick her lips again, as she got ready to sink her fangs into the girl’s neck.
"hmm…. master…"
Julia stopped herself, as she heard a familiar voice, Lily’s voice.
No no no no, how could I even think like that? Julia shocked her head as she hurriedly moved her head from Lily’s neck. She felt disgusted at herself for even briefly considering Lily as a meal.
Julia sat up, there was no way she could just lie down next to Lily without risking hurting her. Still, there was that annoying feeling of hunger that she could only satisfy with blood. Why do I have to be a vampire?
Julia sighed, thinking of what to do. Maybe she could just get out of bed and go to the kitchen to get some blood? As she thought about it, there was no reason to not go, unless she wanted to taste Lily’s blood.
Deciding to go get some blood in the kitchen, Julia started to slowly get off the bed. However, a hand wrapped around Julia stopped her. Julia reached under the blanket to remove what she thought was Lily’s hand. The hand, however, wasn’t attached to Lily. In fact, Lily was using her hands as a pillow.
The hand obscuring Julia’s movement belonged to someone behind Julia. Of course, it’s you. Julia wasn’t surprised to see Loriam laying there. At this point, she was barely annoyed by it. Now she had to figure out how to get off the bed without waking her up.
When Julia tried to remove Loriam’s hand from her body, Loriam let out a dissatisfied grumble and tightened her hold. Great, now what. Julia felt like her hunger was slowly killing her. But even then, she would rather not bite Lily, though that masochist would most likely not mind.
Forgetting that there was no reason for her to not just wake Loriam up, Julia considered her alternatives. Huh? Isn’t that…
Julia spotted a bottle alongside a goblet, both of which were placed on a nightstand next to Loriam. Not seeing a better option, Julia glanced at Loriam’s sleeping face and after confirming she was still asleep. Julia carefully leaned over Loriam’s sleeping form and reached for the bottle and goblet. As she expected, once she opened the bottle, the sweet fragrance of blood entered her nostrils, causing her mouth to water.
After carefully pouring blood into the goblet, Julia equally carefully placed the bottle back in its place. Julia sat into a more comfortable posture, brought the goblet towards her cherry lips, and took a small sip, thoughtfully savoring every second of it.
Her brain was overtaken by joy as the sweet crimson liquid entered her mouth. This immense joy she felt urged her to keep drinking more of the blood. As she swallowed the last drop from the goblet, Julia licked any remaining blood from her lips, a feeling of deep calmness and fulness overtaking her.
Feeling refreshed, Julia put the goblet aside and examined her current situation. The room she was in definitely wasn’t her own. The decorations, furniture, and even the very size of the room were different. To Julia, this was to be expected. If she remembered correctly before she lost consciousness, her room was on fire.
Unsurprisingly, this is most likely Loriam’s room. Julia’s thoughts were confirmed by a framed picture on the nightstand. The picture showed Loriam holding little Julia in her arms. There was simply no way for this picture to be in any other room than Loriam’s, though she had to admit it looked adorable. Julia sighed to herself and laid back down.
She looks so cute and calm... not like in that strange dream. Julia thought as she brushed Lily’s hair off her face. A light blush appeared on Julia’s face when she thought of the dream she had about Lily.
A dream, yes, a dream, that is what it had to be. There is no way this adorable, gentle creature that was sleeping in front of Julia could do something like that. A dream that the devil uses to test me... that has to be it. Julia reassured herself that she is completely loyal to Olia and closed her eyes after lightly head-patting Lily.
Initially, she had her doubts. Sleeping sandwiched between Lily and Loriam didn’t sound appealing to her. The longer she lay between them, trying to fall asleep. The more at ease she became.
Despite being a wolf, Lily’s soft breathing sounded more like the purring of a kitten, smoothening her soul. The sweet smell that was previously making Julia crazy, was now helping her calm down. Or was it just Lily’s sleeping face that was calming her? She didn’t really care either way.
Even Loriam’s tight hug, which would normally make Julia angry. was now strangely soothing. With a light smile, Julia snuggled against Loriam. Maybe this isn’t too bad, this life. Julia slowly began falling asleep, savoring Loriam’s gentle warm embrace. Loriam too, maybe out of some sort of maternal instinct, caressed Julia’s back as she embraced her more tightly. Both were soon asleep in each other’s arms, with blissful expressions on their faces.
…
Why is one of those bloodsuckers here!? The elven Princess Olia wondered as she entered the throne room of her mother’s palace. Her mother was seated on her throne, and in front of her stood a vampiric messenger. who didn’t bother to kneel in front of the elven queen.
The queen furrowed her brows at the letter in her hand, not noticing her daughter entering the room. Whatever the content of the letter was, it didn’t seem to be good.
"Tell your queen that we have nothing to do with this and that I accept her invitation."
What invitation? Olia wondered from her spot near the door. The messenger nodded and turned on his heels, without uttering a single word, and started to leave. Olia could see his slight hateful glare aimed at her.
"Also…"
The messenger stopped and turned his head towards the elven queen.
"I pray for a quick recovery of your princess."
"…her majesty will be delighted to hear that."
The messenger said without any particular change in his expression and left the throne room. not even bothering to look at Olia as he passed by her.
"Sigh"
The elven queen sighed as she collapsed on her throne, once again looking at the letter. At that moment, Olia decided to leave her spot and approach her mother.
"Did you do anything?"
The queen glanced at her daughter while rubbing her temples. Olia was confused. Was there anything she was supposed to do? The Queen sighed again and looked at her daughter.
"A vampire princess was attacked... by elves."
"The vampire princess?"
Olia tilted her head slightly. Since when did Loriam have a daughter? Olia tried to remember if she ever heard anything about her, but no matter what, she could not remember anything.
"So, you didn’t know about her either."
The queen looked like she had gotten a little bit calmer. But she still looked like she had a headache as she showed Olia the letter.
"Apparently, Loriam’s daughter was attacked by elven assassins. She at least doesn’t seem to think it was us. And also, she mentioned the letter from the last time… something about you not trusting it?"
Olia shuddered as she heard her mother’s words. Could she be talking about the letter I burned? Olia took the letter from her mother and read it. And then again, and again.
"What!? Julian is alive!?"
The queen nodded as her daughter read the letter, with a shock clearly written on her face.
"But how? I saw her kill him."
"That I don’t know. Wasn’t it in that letter?"
"I…. kinda burned it… without reading it."
Olia turned her head to the side, avoiding her mother’s gaze. Her mother groaned and facepalmed herself. She looked like she was suppressing a major headache.
"In that case, ask her herself."
The queen said in an exhausted voice. Olia seemed more confused by it. The queen, after glancing at her daughter’s hands, seemed to realize something. Handed her an envelope. Olia took it and, after opening it, scanned the content with her eyes.
"A birthday invitation?"
Olia didn’t understand why she would be invited to a birthday celebration of a vampire princess. So, her name is Julia… tsk, does she have to have the same birth date as him? Olia clicked her tongue in annoyance as she examined the invitation.
"It will be a good opportunity to improve relationships with the vampires. as well as for you to get answers from her. And besides, I already accepted. "
Misinterpreting Olia’s expression, the queen of elves gave a short explanation to her daughter. Olia didn’t say anything.
"You know how important it is to get a stable supply of anarite, right?"
Olia nodded. How could she not know? Anarite was the most important mineral used in spell casting by the elves. However, the biggest supplier of it, the Akuzami empire, lay in the far east, just behind the Blood realm.
The shortest and safest possible route went through vampire territory. Securing the re-establishment of trade with the vampires was of high importance to the elves.
Alternatively, they were forced to ship them by boat through the northern sea and through the land of succubae and dwarves, which took much longer and was far more expensive. Sure, Akazami wasn’t the only producer, but the quality was unmatched.
"Yes, mother... I will do my best."
The queen nodded in approval, and soon they began discussing the details of the first diplomatic contact between elves and vampires on the higher level in decades.