Bathory Hosa (4)
If she thinks I'm Autumn, then I can get out of this situation.
“Bathory? Are you Bathory?”
“No way. Autumn? Is it really you?”
Okay. Looks like my guess was right.
Good.
It starts now.
I have to answer carefully.
This is the most dangerous tightrope walk in the world. The pink-haired woman in front of me is the second-in-command of the vampire world and the immortal ‘Pink Devil’ who’s stronger than any monster. If she finds out I’m not the real Autumn, I can’t even imagine what kind of horrible thing she’ll do to me. Ugh. Hoo, steel yourself. I am Autumn. I am Autumn.
“It really is you, Bathory!”
“How… Autumn! I missed you so much!”
Bathory ran to me and threw her arms around me.
Squeeze.
Huh? Isn’t she hugging way too tight? Hey. Stop, my body isn’t a vampire’s body. Ugh. I’m going to die.
“Ah, ah… it hurts, Bathory. I’m not a vampire anymore……”
“Hic, I’m sorry, Autumn. You’ve become a fragile human?”
Ugh. I almost died. How did I part ways with Bathory at the end in my delusion again?
If I hesitate here and she realizes I’m not the real Autumn, I’m screwed. I have to remember!
Oh. That’s right.
“Bathory. You really came looking for me?”
“Yes. Autumn. I promised, didn’t I?”
Still holding me tightly in her arms, Bathory gave me a faint smile.
“It’s been over a thousand years since I died, right? Have you been well all this time?”
“Yes…… No. Actually, no. A world without you has no meaning to me at all.”
Big fat tears began to spill from Bathory’s beautiful eyes.
The immortal ‘Pink Devil’ is actually crying? Wow. In my delusion, Bathory had never once shown emotion on her face. Anyone who knows her would be utterly shocked.
“I’m truly sorry, Autumn. Because of me. Because of me, you—who had done nothing wrong—ended up dying.”
Ah. That was just a dramatic setting I threw in while I was delusioning. I can’t exactly tell her the truth.
“I worked for the Grace family for a thousand years. While thinking of you, I never once let another man get close to me. I decided to live only for you. Because I promised I would find you.”
Wow…… The more I hear, the more sorry I feel. Did my thoughtless delusion really make her suffer in regret her entire life? If she finds out, I definitely won’t die a peaceful death.
“You could have just forgotten me and met another man. Thank you, Bathory.”
I gave her my coolest smile here. I have to make Bathory fall for me so she’ll listen to whatever I say.
Blush.
Bathory’s face turned bright red. Oh? Is it working? Me, a guy who has never flirted with a woman once in twenty-three years, actually made a beauty like this fall for me? Or not?
“No, what are you saying! There’s no way I would meet another man while I have you. ……I am your exclusive guardian knight, after all.”
“Thank you. Bathory. For not forgetting me.”
My exclusive guardian knight? That’s way too romantic. I’m the one who’s supposed to be seducing her, but I feel like I’m the one falling instead.
“I searched for you for a thousand years. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find you, so I worried that you had turned me into an immortal and then vanished yourself. I’m so glad we can meet again like this.”
I’m sorry. The real Autumn Grace has completely disappeared. But since Autumn is just me from my delusion, I guess that makes me Autumn.
“Anyway, who’s that blonde girl sprawled over there?”
“Hm? Ah! She’s the daughter of the current Lord.”
“The Lord’s daughter? Then she’s my sister’s descendant? Why is a girl like that here? And you too?”
“That’s… it’s actually really complicated to explain. Um…… I haven’t fully grasped the current situation myself either……”
In truth, I already knew. To be precise, the moment I saw Bathory earlier, I realized my delusion had become reality and figured out the whole situation. If this really is my delusion made real, then that girl is also a character I created in one of my delusions.
She is currently the Vampire Lord’s one and only daughter, Monica Grace. In the ‘Vampire vs Lycan’ world I had delusioned, she plays the role of escalating the conflict between the two factions. She’s a True Ancestor vampire, but she caused so many accidents that her furious family head confined her in a shopping mall for reflection. That’s when she clashed with Cassandra, the heir of Khan who had infiltrated Korea……
Earlier, when she tried to do something to me, her eyes seemed to sparkle. So she was trying to use the unique hypnotic ability of a True Ancestor on me? Why hypnotize me? No matter how handsome I am, am I really charming enough to entrance Monica in one go? Did she fall for me because I smiled at her a little in the clothing store earlier?
Ah.
Now that I think about it, there was one extra setting I added when I was organizing Monica’s character in my head.
Originally, Monica’s setting was like this:
-Extremely beautiful.
-Blonde.
-Normally has black eyes, but they turn red when using her powers.
-Possesses the greatest talent among all True Ancestors in history.
-Masochist.
That was the original setup, but later I added some personal desire and changed the last item.
-A virgin who has no interest in any man except Kim Ga-eul.
If that setting was reflected, then her trying to hypnotize me makes sense. Vampires originally have powerful bodies but also overwhelmingly strong sexual desires. That’s why most vampires enjoy promiscuous sex lives, but I wanted Monica to be a virgin. She’s basically the protagonist-level character of this world; it would feel wrong if she slept around with random guys. So I added the setting that she has no interest in any man except me. It seems the sexual desire she had been holding back all this time exploded the moment she met the only man she could fall for. That’s why she tried to hypnotize me and kidnap me. To think my own selfish desire would lead to this……
“Um. I’m happy you two are having this touching reunion, but could you let me go? I’m Autumn too, you know.”
Ah. I had completely forgotten about the other ‘me.’
“Who are you? You don’t look like an ordinary human.”
This is bad. If Bathory starts treating the other ‘me’ as a hostile, things will get complicated. Is it okay to say this? What if saying this exposes my identity and I get killed? No, no. It’s true that I’m Autumn, so there’s no need to get nervous. Right. Let’s just say it. I’ll only tell her that this person is another ‘me.’
“Bathory, so… this person is, how should I put it, another ‘me.’”
“Huh? What?”
“It’s like this……”
With Bathory’s power, we removed Monica’s handcuffs and the three of us sat down together to talk.
“Is that even possible? This woman is Autumn’s female version? From another world?”
“Yep~. I also promised to meet Bathory Hosa again in my previous life, you know? That Bathory was a man, though.”
“Right. We already met like this when I reincarnated, so nothing’s impossible. Plus, she knows everything I know and thinks exactly like me.”
Since she’s another ‘me,’ she must have also delusioned the story between Bathory and Autumn. So she should be able to understand the situation…… Ah. Since this is the gender-reversed version, would Bathory be a man to her? Still, she’ll probably figure it out on her own.
“Mmm. Autumn. I love you. From now on, I will live devoting everything I have to you.”
“Yeah. Thank you, Bathory.”
“Still, I’m not sure about the female you. The Autumn I knew was a man, so I can’t quite accept it yet.”
“It’s okay, Bathory. We have plenty of time now.”
“For now, Autumn, let’s return to the Grace family. Since you’re a Grace too, they’ll definitely accept you. I’ll make sure of it.”
Uh…… She wants me to walk into that den of monsters? If I go, I feel like I’ll get caught for being human, have my blood sucked, get raped, and then killed. And if I live there, they might find out I’m not the real Autumn.
“Bathory. I’m a human now. Humans should live among humans. Even if I used to be a Grace, I have a human body now. Even if they accept me, I won’t be able to live properly.”
“But. But we promised to get married and return to the family to live together. We promised to have cute children and live happily ever after.”
Did we? Because it was all delusion, I can’t remember the detailed parts. If I mess this up, she’s definitely going to realize I’m not Autumn.
“I’m sorry, Bathory. The truth is, I don’t have all of Autumn’s memories.”
!!
“What?”
“Until recently I was living as an ordinary human, but suddenly pieces of my memories as Autumn started coming back.”
“Ah, no. Autumn, then do you not remember me well either? Really?”
Ugh. She looks completely devastated. What do I do?
“Our first meeting, our adventures, and our wedding all come back to me in fragments. But they’re still not perfect. I don’t want to hurt you with these vague memories. So once I recall all my memories and become the real Autumn Grace again, I’ll come find you then.”
Whew. This should be enough to get me out of this, right? Even I think this was pretty ingenious.
“It’s okay. Any time not spent with you is more painful than anything. We’ve been apart for a thousand years. I can’t endure any more. And right now, with such a fragile body, where do you think you’re going? I will protect you.”
This isn’t working. What now?
“She’s currently living as the human Kim Ga-eul, so she’s confused too. Just wait a little longer. It’s not like you’re going to live with our family anyway. Once she gets her mind straight later, she’ll come find you.”
“Female Autumn. Hmm…… Then are you living with Autumn? Even though you’re a woman, with my husband?”
Aaaaaaaaah. Bathory, her eyes went dead! She’s jealous of the female ‘me’!
“No, even if she’s a woman, she’s still ‘me.’ She’s also Autumn Grace. She just came from another world. There’s no way anything would happen between her and me. So can you wait just a little longer? Please? Bathory~ I’ll definitely come find you~.”
I linked arms with Bathory and acted cute, trying desperately to persuade her. Ugh. Even I think this is too much. My instincts as a manly man are screaming…… Hoo, but I have to convince her.
Bathory, who usually looks so sharp, is actually really cute when she blushes. If I were the real Autumn, I’d just… wow.
“Ugh. I understand, Autumn. I’ve already waited a thousand years. Waiting a little longer is nothing. Autumn, I will always be waiting for you.”
Whew, somehow it worked. I feel so bad for Bathory. She must have suffered so much in her heart for a thousand years. There’s nothing I can do about it. Anyway, can I go home now?
At that moment, my eyes landed on the brown-haired woman collapsed and bleeding on the ground.
Huh? Then the brown-haired sister who got stabbed by Bathory’s sword—is she Cassandra, the daughter of Khan, the leader of the Lycans, and his heir? Holy crap. If Cassandra dies, Khan will go into a total rage! That would mean an all-out war between vampires and werewolves. Damn it, why did I have to delusion something like this? If this sister dies, a war might break out and Korea could be destroyed! I’m screwed. What do I do?
Wait a second.
No, if it’s Cassandra, then she has Khan’s blood. So maybe this woman isn’t dead yet.
