Lapping with a Tiny Tongue
“How long do you plan on running away? You clearly agreed to it, so just how long do you intend to keep fleeing from me?”
“……”
Oh, seriously…
Why on earth did I ever agree to something so absurd…?
Cecilia had been harping on this bizarre demand for days now.
All because I had shown a slightly too friendly demeanor toward Jessica. As punishment for that display, Cecilia had abruptly pulled me into her arms. Flustered and utterly scrambled by her sudden embrace, I had blindly agreed to her ridiculous proposition.
In that dizzying moment, my brain had short-circuited so thoroughly that I hadn't properly processed a single word she said—which meant I had no idea what kind of promise I was sealing.
Only when I stood there like an idiot and watched her pull down the collar of her shirt to demand I bite her neck did my memory belatedly spark to life.
To escape her torment—cleverly disguised under the name of “forgiveness”—I had promised to drink Cecilia's blood.
“What kind of maid breaks a promise made to her master? Isn't this outright insubordination?”
“B-Because I didn't think Your Highness was actually going to make me do it!”
“So you're admitting you weren't listening to me?”
“N-No, that's not it, but… it's still unfair! Your Highness forced my hand, didn't you…? That was the only way I could get out of your grip…!”
“Tsk. And here I was, showing mercy and forgiving you, only for you to betray me once again.”
“N-No, wait…”
…In truth, the blame lay entirely on me.
A whole week had already passed since I barely wriggled free of her suffocating embrace. For seven straight days, whenever the two of us were alone, Cecilia would bare her neck and dare me to follow through, while I did everything in my power to dodge her.
Quite literally, I had been running and dodging for an entire week.
Even from my perspective, Cecilia had shown extraordinary patience. Setting aside how underhanded her methods had been, the fact remained that I had accepted her deal, and she had genuinely let me go afterward. The fact that she hadn't pressed the issue outside of our private moments was something I ought to be grateful for.
“What is the big issue, anyway? If you bite someone, do I turn into a Half-Vampire or something?”
“I don't think that's how it works…”
“Then what's the problem? Does it hurt like crazy or something? Your fangs don't even look that sharp.”
“…Still, it's Your Highness's body. Harm would come to your noble flesh, wouldn't it? As cheeky as I might act sometimes, biting your body, drawing blood, and drinking it… that's just crossing a line…”
Truth be told, my biggest obstacle wasn't imperial etiquette—it was sheer embarrassment.
She was a woman, after all.
Even though I had turned into a girl myself, sinking my teeth into a woman's slender neck and drinking fresh blood straight from the vein was on a completely different dimension from sipping on a blood pack.
Sure, the blood packs were surprisingly delicious, and I had occasionally wondered what fresh blood might taste like…! But this was simply too much.
Worrying about her imperial status was one thing, but biting a girl's neck felt far too intimate—like intense skinship—and the sheer humiliation made my cheeks burn.
So I kept gritting my teeth, desperately doing my best to shrug off Cecilia's goading.
“You really think just like you look, don't you?”
“…Pardon?”
Cecilia, who was lounging leisurely across the sofa rather than sitting upright, remarked casually. I snapped my head around to stare at her.
“You have the adorable face of a porcelain doll, and your brain seems to match it perfectly. Aren't those the kind of timid worries a seven- or eight-year-old girl would have? Ah, wait, isn't your height about the same as one, too?”
“What is that supposed to—”
“It's just like how you could never bring yourself to wash my chest or lower body during my baths because you were too flustered. Are you sure you're actually an adult? We're the exact same age, both grown adults, so I can't fathom why you're so perpetually bashful.”
“……”
“Well? Did I say anything that wasn't true?”
Cecilia watched me with an amused, mocking glint in her eyes.
She continued to tease me, relentlessly comparing my child-sized stature to my childish mindset.
I knew full well this was cheap provocation. I was painfully aware of it, yet every jab scratched right at my pride, kindling an irrational spark of irritation inside me.
…And so, my feet began to move.
…Even knowing full well that I shouldn't.
“All I have to do is drink your blood, right?”
“Yes, go right ahead. Though you'll probably freeze up and back down at the last second anyway, won't you?”
Cecilia gave an amused smirk as I closed the distance. But this time, I had zero intention of backing out. I stepped firmly toward the bed where she lay.
She had already shed her Academy uniform for her favorite signature dress.
Without asking, I gripped the neckline of her dress and pulled it aside to bare her collar.
The pale nape of Cecilia's neck—every bit as porcelain white as my own—looked breathtakingly lovely.
I saw her bare neck all the time when attending her baths or dressing her, so why did it look so intoxicatingly sensual right now? It had to be a trick of my imagination.
Who cared. Now wasn't the time to overthink it.
“Mm…?”
Brushing aside every hesitation, I bared my dainty yet undeniably razor-sharp fangs toward the exposed curve of her neck.
And then—
“Haa-mnh.”
“Nngh…”
A stifled whimper slipped from Cecilia's lips as my fangs pierced her flesh.
The moment my teeth broke the skin, brilliant crimson blood welled forth.
Instinct instantly took the reins. Pressing my lips flush against the wound, I began to drink.
Fearful of tearing her delicate skin, I deliberately refrained from sucking too hard, taking it in with utmost gentleness.
“Chuu… slurp… mmph… mnh…”
I drank.
It was sweet—unbelievably, intoxicatingly luscious. Before I even realized what I was doing, simple drinking turned into licking and nuzzling the curve of her neck, almost as if I were passionately kissing her.
I never imagined blood could possess such profound, complex flavor.
Nothing I had ever tasted in my entire life could begin to compare.
As the essence of another living being flowed down my throat, my mind gradually melted into pure, blank euphoria. My little tongue moved on its own, eagerly lapping at the punctures where the fresh blood trickled out.
“Haah-mnh… slurp… lick… haah, haa…”
An intensity that made the cold blood packs seem like brackish water.
A taste so sublime I feared I could never return to manufactured pouches again.
Drinking Cecilia's blood was sheer ecstasy.
Did blood taste sweeter depending on a person's beauty? Or did Cecilia's blood simply cater to my exact biological preferences? Why on earth was it this intoxicating?
I had no answers.
All I knew was that my face remained buried in the crook of her neck, my arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders—or her upper body, I honestly couldn't tell.
Clinging to her soft frame, I drank and drank and drank…
“…Pfft.”
“N-Ngh… j-just a little… C-Ceci… haah…”
“Is there really that big of a difference between a blood pack and drinking straight from the source? I had no idea you'd turn into such a drooling fool.”
“Ah, ah… n-no, just a little more, please…”
As I continued to lap and suckle feverishly at her neck, a hand gripped the scruff of my maid dress, hauling me backward by force.
The moment my tongue and lips were torn from her skin, the crimson flow ceased.
Just a little more. If I could just have a tiny drop more, it would be sheer paradise. It was so impossibly good that putting it in the same sentence as a blood pack felt like a crime.
“J-Just one more time…”
“…You usually act foolish, but today you've turned into an absolute idiot.”
“Ah, aah… ngh… hnnngh…”
“Do you want to drink more?”
“Yes, yes, just one sip, just a little… just once… please, please…”
“…Your face is completely flushed, your eyes are glazed over, and your speech is slurring. You look drunk. Is it because the blood is fresh and untainted…? How fascinating.”
“Haa-aah…”
“On the other hand, it looks rather erotic. Those nobles with dangerous tastes would certainly… No, with a face like yours… Hmph.”
Cecilia kept a firm hold on the collar of my maid uniform, keeping me suspended at a distance so I couldn't reach her neck again.
Just like an owner strictly rationing a pet's food.
She kept holding me back, firmly asserting that I wasn't allowed another bite.
Five minutes? Ten minutes? I lost track of time.
Only after a good while did the fog finally begin to clear…
“…Ah.”
“Have you come to your senses now?”
“Ah.”
Ah.
I'm screwed.
“Was drinking an Imperial Princess's blood truly that enjoyable?”
“P-Please spare my life…”
“Pfft, haha…”
Her sapphire eyes gazed into mine while she maintained her grip on the back of my collar.
The sheer chill radiating from that stare was definitely not my imagination.
The corners of her lips were curved up much higher than usual, and the amused sparkle in her eyes held a distinctly chilling, predatory edge.
I was dead. Truly, utterly finished.
I had lost my mind for a few minutes and licked, suckled, and made a complete, drooling fool of myself over an Imperial Princess's body.
Whatever petty insolence I normally got away with couldn't hold a candle to the sheer lunacy I had just committed.
“How entertaining.”
We were only locking eyes.
That was all.
Yet a violent shiver racked through my petite frame from pure terror.