Daisy's Unexpected Plea
I woke up in a daze this morning, my mind foggy like I'd been hit by a truck. My eyes felt too heavy to even open properly, so I just lay there for a moment, then slowly pushed myself up from the bed. I did what I'd always done—unfastened the top of my shirt.
Tuk. The fabric slipped away. I reached out automatically toward the ghoul maid who was always waiting right there, just like every single day.
Malang.
Malang?
Soft. So soft.
What the hell?
“Hic.”
Hic?
Only then did I finally open my sleepy eyes and look up. Instead of the usual ghoul maid, a maid with a bright red face was standing there, trembling all over. My hand… oh. I hadn't meant to do that. At least not yet, D…
This isn't right. Maybe I still wasn't fully awake.
Why the hell was there something I absolutely shouldn't be touching right here?
Her face was flushed, her human eyes wide and sparkling with shame, a single teardrop rolling down her cheek. No matter how I looked at it, she was clearly human. But her uniform was exactly the same as the ghoul maid's.
At that point, the obvious conclusion hit me.
A human maid had been hired into our house.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the trembling maid opened her mouth.
“Y-yes… did I sleep well… Master…?”
Her voice was still watery and shaky, like she might start crying any second, yet somehow her professional demeanor stayed rock-solid. Even though she was letting me touch her chest right now.
Oh. Now I remembered—I had been the one touching her chest.
I calmly pulled my hand away. Only then did a tiny bit of relief wash over the maid's face.
“I kind of guessed what was going on, but I don't know what you've been told. You were called by my sister, right?”
“Y-yes.”
The current head of the Tepes family, Leticia, was the one handling the proxy. Since I wasn't in the right state to actually take the title, “Head” was missing from my status anyway. And hiring an employee didn't require my approval. The fact that my sister had actually hired a real human maid… that was kind of sweet, considering how much she remembered my old words.
But hadn't we been in a full-on romantic haze when I suggested it?
How did I remember that?
Who knew.
I scanned the maid up and down right in front of me. I looked her over properly, with my own eyes. It was obvious. My eyes lingered a little too long on her chest. Yet she stood there perfectly straight, a little embarrassed but otherwise composed.
First off, she looked pretty healthy. I had no idea where she'd come from, but she had managed hair and skin that didn't scream “normal commoner.” She had to be either the daughter of a merchant family with some money or maybe a third daughter of some noble house. Rough guess at best.
She wasn't a lady-in-waiting, and her position didn't scream “perfect maid material.” Something must have happened.
Anyway.
She was tall, and the maid uniform stopped at her ankles, so her legs were hidden, but the sliver of skin showing just below the hem was enough to stir my imagination.
More than once, a hidden purity beneath the fabric could feel even more erotic than bare skin.
Plus, that tightly tied waist accentuated her chest and waistline in ways that were downright tempting.
Looking purely at her looks, the only thing missing was a bit more color compared to the usual ghoul maids, but this one was clearly bringing the life and energy I was missing.
This was it. This was the real maid.
Satisfied, I nodded.
“What's your name?”
“D-Daisy…”
She was so nervous she almost bit her tongue when she answered. It was kind of cute, the way she kept glancing aside like she was embarrassed. But I couldn't keep a human, or rather Daisy, standing here forever, so I grabbed her and headed to the dining hall with her in tow.
Daisy followed behind me, clinging carefully to the space just behind my shoulder. She kept a perfect distance—neither too far nor too close—and I could feel the hidden elegance in her every step. We walked into the dining hall.
My sister, who had been waiting for me, spotted Daisy attached to my back and smirked.
“How was it? Exactly what you wanted—a human maid. Does it feel good?”
“It does.”
I had plenty of questions I wanted to ask, but asking them in front of her felt weird, so I just sat down and started eating instead.
Daisy must have been assigned exclusively to me. Even while the other ghoul maids were busy, she stood right beside me, silent and attentive. The usual maid who handled errands when needed had been replaced by her, apparently.
Breakfast passed quickly. I didn't need to stuff myself because the food was basically junk. Instead, I sipped wine while sipping the blood Daisy offered me. It felt like the vitality I hadn't felt while cutting steak came roaring back the moment I drank the blood.
“When you need it, you can take her blood anytime.”
Halfway through sipping the blood, my sister suddenly said that out of the blue. I turned to Daisy. She had her eyes closed and wasn't saying a word.
Only then could I piece it together.
“She’s a child of a family that serves Tepes. They’ve served us for generations and received our protection in return. The proof is her pink hair.”
A high-ranking vampire binding a non-vampire race to serve as subordinates without turning them into ghouls.
To create lower vampires or ghouls, the high vampire had to drink their blood and inject his own. Among those created, only a tiny percentage ever rose in rank. The rest either lost their minds or became monsters tormented by unending thirst for blood.
Instead, they made the Blood Contract.
Under the contract, the servant never changed species, so they never went mad. As long as they voluntarily offered their blood, the deal was easy to make.
Daisy had been the daughter of a human family that had been serving Tepes for hundreds of years and offering her blood.
“…Everything about me is ready to be offered to Master.”
She looked like she wasn't entirely fearless, but her expression was far more resolute than fear. It was intense loyalty directed straight at me, Scarlet Tepes.
Without my memories, who knew what that meant. Had we crossed paths in the past? Even if we had, from my past self's perspective it probably wouldn't have mattered much. Daisy didn't seem sad that I hadn't recognized her. Or maybe my sister had told her I had lost my memories.
Anyway, who cared? She was resolute, she wasn't a criminal, and she was beautiful. There was zero reason to let her go just because I felt guilty.
If I did let her go, wouldn't she just go back home and get scolded? Something like “I didn't even properly serve Tepes!”
I nodded like I understood.
“Got it. I get it.”
“Good. Take care of her. She's a cute girl.”
“Don't worry. When are you coming to my room today?”
It was a completely natural conversation. Nothing weird about it. Yet a long silence hung in the air. The quiet stretched on. Something felt off. I glanced at my sister and saw a strangely elegant expression—like she'd just been slapped on the back.
“T-that… you made a personal maid, huh… could I go visit?”
You really say the cutest things.
“Is there any reason I shouldn't? I like spending time with you every day. Don't you like that?”
“It's not that! …Anyway, fine. I'll go visit.”
As soon as she answered, she stood up. The way she was quietly grumbling to herself bothered me. The maid, now blushing again, muttering something like “Master and young lady in the room…?” while following behind me also bothered me. So I just gave up worrying about either of them.
*
When I got back to the room, I sat on the bed and called Daisy closer.
She approached with quick steps and sat right beside me. Her ears turned bright red from embarrassment—it was actually pretty cute.
“Hic. Master…”
I had no idea what she was thinking. Her whole body trembled as she timidly said “It's not allowed…” It was amusing. Up close, she wasn't as composed as my sister, but she was doing the opposite of what I wanted.
Earlier in the dining hall, when she had declared she was ready to offer everything, she had seemed more composed. Why was she acting so differently now?
Well, it was fun. Let's keep teasing her.
Tap. Tap. I poked her cheek. Her lips started trembling. She made a “Heu…” sound, then suddenly snapped out of it and her eyes widened. When I gently touched her ear, she “Hic!”ed in surprise.
“Mas-Master…”
Daisy kept desperately calling for me, but I didn't answer. So, as someone who had become her master, I refused to speak first. I stubbornly shut my mouth and waited a few minutes, then she called out desperately again.
My fingers brushed her cheek. The fair skin had turned pink, and every time my finger moved, she trembled. I stroked her ear, then moved down to her neck, tickling it until she was practically writhing under my touch.
Why was this effect so strong… I thought. Even though she wasn't a vampire, a passive seduction was steadily taking hold of this human maid.
I didn't know how to handle that. But because I had dialed the level all the way down, she didn't seem serious at all. She was just flushed like she'd been drinking too much. At this level, if I pulled away and left her alone, she'd probably calm down. Probably.
I decided I shouldn't push it any further and stopped teasing. Daisy quickly grabbed my wrist with her soft hand.
Her eyes were full of desperation.
She had just been acting like a maid who couldn't speak without the master's permission…
“Master… I'm sorry… just a little… more…”
I felt awkward. I definitely hadn't been indifferent; I'd been teasing her because I wanted to, but I had only touched her cheeks and earlobes so far. If I went further, I could have touched her lips or collarbone.
To be honest, I wanted to devour her right there, but right now I needed to focus on conquering my sister. I had managed to raise her favorability after it had dropped, but something crucial was still missing, so she was still stuck at a plateau.
Maybe she had started seeing me as an ally lately. But seeing her hire another woman as a maid made me wonder. Either way, there were too many things to worry about.
If I just ate her once, it would be over. But I wasn't the kind of crazy bastard who would devour the beautiful maid who had come here to serve me for her whole life.
Maybe there was some connection to my past self. This was such a delicious heroine—how could I not eat her? It would make me a bad guy, so I had always wanted to.
Timing was the only issue.
Still, since she was asking so nicely, I couldn't just stop.
Just a little. Just an extremely little.
As long as my sister didn't find out.
*
That was when it hit me.
Daisy's family, the Blackwoods, had been border barons who protected the empire's borders for generations. Only now, after the empire had conquered the continent and the Blackwoods' territory had expanded all the way to the sea, were they finally relieved of that duty. But they had never forgotten the Tepes who had once shown them endless kindness when their borders were still a mess.
What they served wasn't the imperial eagle; it was Tepes' crows and bats. From the empire's perspective it might have been sacrilege, but to the Blackwoods, the Tepes who had helped their terrible border situation were an unforgettable blessing.
Eventually, as representatives of Tepes and humans intermarried, and after Tepes officially became a duke of the empire, the Blackwoods became fervent supporters of Tepes. Their support as a baron with strong power had preserved Tepes' position, so the two families grew even closer.
Everything in the Blackwoods belonged to Tepes. That was what their lord always said in front of family and retainers. Even after generations, no lord had ever forgotten their loyalty to Tepes.
That's why.
Every generation, the Blackwoods sent one daughter.
To Leticia, it was just “something I had to accept.”
But when she realized it was an evil move that brought a new woman into the house, too much time had already passed to do anything about it.
The woman who had entered the house was the little girl who had been rescued by her little brother in the past.
Leticia was in agony…
With her shoulders slumped and her strength gone, she walked down the corridor, an uneasy feeling creeping over her.
Was her precious little brother going to be taken away? She couldn't stop worrying.
Her little brother had recovered his body, but because of his lost memories, he still looked pretty… flirtatiously cute? Sweet? Whatever you wanted to call it, he still had that aura.
And that—impossibly thick—scent.
Recently, it had been because her little brother had accidentally overdone his seduction control, and the scent had exploded outward like it wanted to devour everything.
Honestly, she had been half-mad and wasn't just adjusting the scent—she had deliberately used the seduction.
Still, he hadn't been overwhelmed by it.
Even so, if a mere human like Daisy had been exposed to that scent, who knew what would happen. She would definitely try to seduce my brother. Leticia thought that.
This was for my brother's sake. She wasn't spying.
She wasn't even sure it was time to meet her brother yet, but she rationalized it and quietly headed toward his room.
Standing in front of the door, she slowly leaned in to listen…
“Hic! Ee, Hwaaa…! I-I can't… I-I can't… I-I… oh…!”
──Thud.
A sound like something had broken.
Leticia thought.