Held in that warm embrace, with his whisper brushing against her ear, Evileye lowered her head and said nothing.
Her expression could not be seen. Only her body trembled slightly a few times.
It was as if she instinctively wanted to pull away, but after trying several times and realizing she could not break free, she finally forced herself to calm down.
The atmosphere turned awkward.
People were coming and going throughout the hall, yet no one disturbed the scene.
At some point, the space around them had quietly begun to warp.
It had already become a separate dimension, isolated from reality.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Naohara was the first to break the silence.
He turned Evileye around in his arms, gently lifted her chin, and made her face him directly.
Dark golden eyes met crimson ones.
Naohara truly cared about this little vampire.
If back when they parted in the Kingdom he had only felt that he cared about her a little, then after his journey through the Empire, after realizing he had no interest at all in the dancing girl and finding Evileye's face surfacing in his mind instead, he finally understood his own heart.
He was a lolicon.
And the one he happened to be into was Evileye, this little vampire who was already several hundred years old and, by any reasonable measure, a perfectly legal loli.
"...So this is what you really look like?"
Evileye slowly let out a breath, trying to suppress the emotion rising inside her.
But every time she felt like she was about to succeed, the smiling eyes in front of her would keep her from calming down.
Meeting someone's gaze was a kind of spiritual kiss without affection.
Evileye had long forgotten where she had heard that phrase.
But only now did she truly understand what it meant.
"So? Am I even more handsome than you imagined?"
Naohara pointed at the scales on his body and the dragon horns on his head as he joked.
(PS: Evileye knows the protagonist is connected to dragons. See Chapter 152 for details.)
Although nothing in Evileye's tone revealed joy or anger, Naohara could tell from her clenched fists that a complicated storm of emotions was building inside her.
"I used to think it was just my own wishful thinking... but I still couldn't stop myself from imagining things..."
"But as time passed... even I started to waver..."
"You're just like my former captain... always looking straight ahead... never caring about the scenery along the way."
No, what am I even saying?
"So... why... why are you showing up now... and why are you making that face..."
That's not it. That's not what I wanted to say at all...
Evileye bit down on her lip.
Even though her heart was screaming, the words that came out were still broken and halting.
The moment she confirmed it really was Naohara, the joy that welled up from deep inside her had brought her a long-forgotten sense of relief.
But at the same time, it also gave rise to a strange emotion.
And that feeling only kept growing stronger inside her.
On top of everything she had gone through recently, all of it mixed together until Evileye found herself unable to put the feeling into words.
A kind of bitterness and grievance she had never felt before took root in her heart.
Even though she knew she was being unreasonable, it still would not go away.
On the other side, Naohara fell silent for a moment.
Evileye's words left him somewhat confused.
But judging by the mood, he thought he more or less understood how she felt.
Wasn't this basically just sulking?
Like feeling wronged and complaining to her boyfriend about it.
That left Naohara in a difficult spot.
On one hand, he felt a little happy.
At the very least, Evileye clearly cared about him very much. Otherwise, she would not be acting like this.
On the other hand, he also had a headache.
He had no idea how to deal with the situation in front of him.
After thinking it over, Naohara finally decided to strip things down to the basics and throw a direct fastball.
"Why… didn't I already give you the answer to that?"
"Because I like you. I like you so much I can't control it."
The words were the same as before, but the meaning behind them was completely different now.
Naohara gently patted Evileye on the head and replied with a light laugh.
Yeah, this feeling was still the same as before.
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since he last patted someone's head.
(PS: See Chapter 136 for details.)
The moment Evileye heard the answer, she froze.
All the strange emotions she had been feeling vanished instantly.
Her heart felt as if it had been struck by an arrow.
In their place came another strange, fluttering sensation.
"You… you… you head-patting maniac!"
Naohara's answer made Evileye's voice crack.
She hurriedly slapped away the hand messing with her hair, a faint blush appearing on her face.
She once believed that after fully awakening her vampire instincts, her heart had already died.
But now it seemed that was not true.
Her true self had never changed.
What she had been missing all along was simply the person who could make her heart move.
"Alright, alright, don't be angry."
"Look, I even brought you a gift."
Naohara let Evileye hit him.
Her small fists landed against his body, colliding with dragon scales and producing a crisp sound.
Because of their height difference, the scene looked more like a couple playfully bickering.
As he spoke, Naohara rummaged through his backpack.
Then he took out three items.
Two of them were class change items for True Vampire and Vampire Ancestor.
The final item, however, was one of Nazarick's treasured possessions.
Class change item: [The Soul of Cainabel's Blood]
It came from the boss [First of the Blood Divine Ancestor: Cainabel].
In the game's setting, this boss was one of the gods and the original vampire.
According to the lore, if a vampire of the [Ancestor] race participated in defeating it, they could obtain the class change item [The Soul of Cainabel's Blood], which allowed them to advance into the higher race known as [Vampire Divine Ancestor - That One].
Vampire Divine Ancestor or "That One"
It was a rather special race and came with very cool visual effects.
Considering Evileye's identity as a vampire, Naohara had chosen this item for her.
Originally, this item should have gone to Shalltear.
However, due to some personal grudges, when Peroroncino designed Shalltear he focused more on her class build rather than her racial levels.
As a result, Shalltear's racial levels were actually not very high. She had not even reached the level of [Ancestor] and was only a [True Vampire].
(PS: To become a Divine Ancestor, one must first become an Ancestor.)
"N… no… I…"
Looking at the three items in her hands and feeling the craving stirring in her vampire bloodline, Evileye began to stammer.
It was obvious she wanted to refuse.
But her body was far more honest.
"Just take them."
Naohara patted Evileye's head again.
This time she did not resist. She simply nodded slightly.
"Evileye…"
Naohara was about to continue speaking.
"Keno Fasris Invern."
"That's my real name. Evileye is just the name I use as an adventurer."
"You can call me Keno from now on."
Evileye interrupted him.
Then she shook her head and spoke with a serious expression.
"I see. Got it."
"Then Keno, can you tell me about your past?"
Naohara paused briefly before continuing.
If he remembered correctly, Evileye… no, Keno… had once been a princess of a certain kingdom, and she also had some connection to a True Dragon Lord.