Chapter 43

The reason I had deliberately cut the area near my collarbone earlier was because I didn’t want Lisa to bite me.

I had hoped she would just drink the blood flowing from that wound and stop there—but that wish was meaningless.

Regardless of whether there was a wound or not, Lisa simply bit into my neck.

I felt her fangs sink into my flesh.

“Ugh.”

It hurt—but not as much as I expected.

Just a slight sting.

‘Now that I think about it, vampire saliva was supposed to have a mild anesthetic effect… But if that’s true, doesn’t that make them just fancy mosquitoes?’

A useless thought briefly crossed my mind, but I quickly focused on Lisa, who was straddling me.

She was drinking the blood flowing from my neck without spilling even a single drop.

Like someone who hadn’t had water in days.

“Lady Lisa? Are you feeling any better?”

“Ugh, mmm… haa, haa…”

I asked carefully, but Lisa didn’t respond—she only focused on drinking my blood.

Even so, I could roughly gauge her condition.

‘The red aura is gradually fading. Her eyes are also starting to return to their original color.’

At least, it didn’t look like Lisa was going to go berserk anymore.

If she drank just a little more of my blood, this entire incident would end without a single casualty.

‘The real problem is… what happens between me and Lisa after this.’

Vampires in this world had some unique characteristics.

They could drink the blood of any creature, but the first human blood they ever tasted was said to be special to them.

No matter how much blood they drank from others afterward, they would never forget the taste of the first person’s blood… that was the setting.

And Lisa’s first taste of human blood was probably mine.

‘That’s why I hesitated.’

If my blood truly was the first human blood Lisa ever tasted, then whether I liked it or not, I would end up being tied to her—no, to the House Balmuth.

It wasn’t for no reason that Lisa had said she might stand in my way.

In the worst-case scenario, I might end up living—no, being kept—by the Balmuth Family for the rest of my life.

‘The better scenario would be that I live freely while occasionally supplying Lisa with my blood, or maybe…’

I looked again at Lisa, who was still frantically drinking my blood.

The sight of her biting my neck while on top of me was—honestly—stunningly beautiful.

‘…or I actually become Lisa’s partner.’

Among the Balmuth Family’s lore I’d read before, there was this particular detail:

The person whose blood a member of the Balmuth Family first drank—

That person would become that member’s partner.

It didn’t always happen, but nine times out of ten, it did.

‘I really don’t know how things will turn out from here.’

I’d played countless routes in this game and knew most of them inside and out.

But I had never once played a route that led to being with a member of the Balmuth Family.

‘…Wait, no. There was a route like that. But the route where I become Lisa’s partner…’

I wasn’t even sure if that route existed.

After years of playing, I had never found a single path that led to becoming Lisa’s partner.

Which meant, right now, I had no idea what kind of outcome my choice—letting Lisa drink my blood—would bring.

‘She’s not suddenly going to start treating me as her partner—or lover—right?’

I looked at Lisa.

Like I’d said before—she was truly beautiful.

Becoming lovers with a woman like this wouldn’t be bad for me at all.

But there was a major problem.

‘I’m not originally from this world. And my goal is to return to the world I came from.’

I didn’t want to get emotionally attached to people here.

If I did—and the time came for me to leave—my heart might waver too much.

And to be honest, it was already dangerous enough as it was.

It had only been a month since I arrived in this world, but in that short time, I had gone through a lot with Lisa.

If I had to part with her later and only see her again in the game…

‘That’d feel… really strange.’

No, more than strange—I might feel something deeper.

Whatever the case, I had given Lisa my blood to prevent the worst outcome.

The consequences of that choice were mine to bear.

But more importantly…

‘When’s she going to stop drinking?’

I’d lost enough blood that my head was starting to spin.

By now, Lisa should be regaining her senses—

“Hm?”

“……”

I accidentally met eyes with her—her blue eyes staring straight into mine.

An awkward silence hung between us before she quickly lowered her head and started drinking again.

I could only let out a hollow laugh.

“Lady Lisa, are you feeling better now?”

“……”

“If you’re pretending not to hear me because you’re embarrassed—”

“…Don’t talk.”

Lisa lifted her mouth from my neck and spoke quietly.

“I’m ashamed to have shown you such an ugly sight. So please, don’t say anything right now.”

“I don’t think it was ugly at a—”

“Thank you for helping me. But please… forget what just happened. I beg you.”

With those words, Lisa stood up.

The red aura around her had completely vanished, her fangs had retracted—at least outwardly, she looked completely back to normal.

But for some reason, her face was bright red.

And instead of her usual calm expression, she looked flustered and unsure of what to do.

“S-sorry. I’ll go first.”

Lisa quickly backed away from me and hurried off toward the dormitory as if fleeing.

I tried to call out to her, but the moment I stood up—

“Ah.”

A wave of dizziness hit me, and I fell backward.

“…Guess I should just go to the infirmary.”

I had lost too much blood, and the injuries I’d sustained earlier hadn’t fully healed yet.

There was no way I could chase after Lisa like this—and even if I tried, I’d probably collapse halfway there.

‘I still need to pick up the stuff I left with the Disciplinary Committee. And earlier, in the classroom… ah, right. I was supposed to feed Siri. But going back to the dorm right now… ugh… forget it. I’ll just give her something tasty tomorrow.’

My body was in no condition to move, so I decided to head straight for treatment.

And as Luke said, it seemed right to just take a break from school tomorrow.

Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder why Lisa had reacted that way, and how my relationship with her would turn out from here.

But right now, if I didn’t get proper treatment soon, I had a feeling I was going to be completely screwed.

“Ugh, ah…”

Using Mistcatcher as a makeshift cane, I slowly walked toward the academy building.

When I finally reached the infirmary, the nurse took one look at me and gasped before hurrying me onto a bed.

After being admitted to the infirmary last night,

I slept soundly until late the next morning.

It was practically the first time I’d ever overslept since arriving in this world.

“You’ve recovered quite a bit.”

The nurse said as she began unwrapping the bandages around my body.

“If you take your medicine at lunch and get some rest, you should be able to return to the dormitory by evening.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you for recovering so well. But that aside, about the wound on your neck…”

The nurse tilted her head slightly while changing the bandage around my neck.

“You said you don’t remember what kind of monster bit you, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“No matter how much potion I use, the recovery speed won’t increase. It’s healing, but very slowly.”

“It’s not a serious problem though, right?”

“Right. It’ll heal eventually, just slowly.”

The nurse rewrapped the bandage around my neck.

After that, I lay on the infirmary bed, doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.

‘It’s been a while since I rested. Not bad.’

I stared blankly at the infirmary ceiling.

It was boring, but having this kind of peace for once wasn’t so bad.

‘The Academy Monster Escape Incident is finally wrapped up somehow.’

But this was only the beginning.

There were still plenty of episodes to come.

And the next main episode that would occur was definitely…

‘Midterm exams. And then the school trip.’

Thankfully, those two episodes were considerably easier compared to the Monster Escape one.

At least, based on what I knew, nothing life-threatening should happen.

‘The real variable here… is my relationship with Lisa going forward.’

Since I had chosen the Disciplinary Committee route, earning Lisa’s favor was crucial.

But after what happened last night, I wasn’t sure how things would turn out between us.

‘If it really goes south, I might have to switch to another route. There are other ways even without sticking to the Disciplinary Committee route.’

That’s what I told myself, but honestly, I knew I’d regret it if I did.

After all, joining the Disciplinary Committee was the fastest and easiest way to become a knight.

‘If only Lisa hadn’t suddenly gone all-out yesterday. I know she did it because I got hurt, but still…’

I spent the rest of the time lost in thought.

Eventually, lunchtime came before I knew it.

I figured I’d just eat whatever food the nurse brought me and quietly pass the time, but…

“Gideon, you have visitors.”

“Visitors?”

I tilted my head, spoon halfway to my mouth as I quietly ate my porridge.

Before I could even ask who it was, familiar faces appeared inside the infirmary.

“Gideon, we came to see you.”

“Jason?”

“I came too! I came too!”

“Ah, Lady Layla?”

“Yeah, it’s me. More importantly, how are you feeling? I heard you were seriously hurt. The rumors said your whole body was shattered!”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

I replied with a wry smile and glanced behind Layla and Jason.

Behind them stood Sara, quietly.

I gave her a small nod in greeting, but Sara turned her head away, ignoring me.

She clearly looked like she didn’t want to be here visiting me.

‘She probably just followed Layla here.’

Well, I didn’t really care about Sara’s attitude.

Because the one who truly caught my attention was someone else.

“Lady Lisa.”

A red-haired girl standing behind Sara.

Lisa’s face was expressionless as usual—but her eyes told a different story.

She avoided my gaze, looking noticeably uneasy.

“Did you make it back safely yesterday?”

“…Yes, thanks to you.”

Her reply was brief, polite, and terribly awkward.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel like there were rough days ahead.

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