Chapter 50

There had been a brief commotion(?) inside the Student Council Room, but soon enough, Lisa and I stepped outside.

And until the moment we came out, Lisa didn’t say a single word.

“……”

“……”

As we walked down the hallway after leaving the Disciplinary Committee Room, an awkward silence hung between us.

Unable to bear the tension, I spoke up first.

“Lady Lisa, are you all right?”

“…I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Are you really?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For some reason, it feels like you’re lying to me right now.”

I quietly gazed at Lisa.

Her pupils trembled slightly, and the awkward look on her face—anyone could tell she was lying.

“It’s my first time seeing you lie, Lady Lisa. You’re clearly not used to it.”

“…I was thinking that I wanted to drink more of your blood.”

Lisa shook her head as if in distress and continued speaking.

“The single drop I took from your finger earlier wasn’t enough… I kept thinking that I wanted more.”

“Then, shall I give you some more?”

“Stop tempting me like that.”

Lisa lowered her head, avoiding my eyes.

“I don’t want to get in the way of your path, but if you keep acting like this… it’ll make things difficult for me.”

“Lady Lisa, as I’ve said before, I truly don’t mind.”

“No, you don’t know that. If you really get tied to me… I might end up giving you unnecessary trials.”

“Then we simply won’t be tied.”

I offered the simple answer as if it were no big deal.

“As I mentioned before, I’ll just supply you with my blood, and then go on my own way…”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying won’t work!”

Lisa suddenly raised her voice, startling me.

It was surprising because she was usually calm and expressionless.

“I’m only worried about you, but you keep…”

Lisa’s voice grew louder, then abruptly stopped.

It seemed she was startled by her own unfamiliar outburst.

“…Sorry for yelling. My condition… isn’t good right now.”

“It’s fine. If anything, I feel like I haven’t been considerate enough toward you, Lady Lisa.”

“No, Gideon, it’s not your fault.”

Lisa still avoided my gaze, muttering faintly.

“The one with the problem right now… is me.”

It was a stark contrast to her usual confident demeanor.

“This is driving me crazy… Gideon, I’m sorry, but I think I need to rest today. Could you handle the work alone for now?”

“Yes, of course. There wasn’t much to do today anyway.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Is there anything I can do to help, perhaps…?”

“I appreciate the thought, but it’s fine. I just… need some time alone.”

With those words, Lisa left first.

I watched her walk away before finally moving myself.

Then I went straight to the underground Disciplinary Committee Room and slumped down on the sofa.

“…Something’s going wrong.”

It seemed that my initial assumption had been wrong.

I had thought that being bitten by Lisa would only cause minor trouble with the other nobles—but that much I could handle.

After all, since I was already close with Layla, other nobles bothering me was a given.

But I hadn’t expected Lisa to react like that.

‘Let’s rethink the Balmuth Family.’

A family descended from vampires.

Though many centuries had passed and most vampiric traits had faded, they still drew power through blood.

In particular, members of the Balmuth Family placed great importance on the first human blood they drank.

Because they could never forget that first taste—and tended to obsess over the owner of that blood.

‘But that obsession doesn’t necessarily mean romantic feelings.’

Of course, in most cases, it did develop into love.

But there were also quite a few exceptions.

If they had no affection for the person whose blood they drank, or if they firmly resolved not to love them, then…

‘Could it be that Lisa really likes me?’

I hadn’t played the routes related to the Balmuth Family often.

But if my memory served right, Lisa could choose to only receive blood from me without developing deeper feelings.

Yet, she wasn’t doing that—instead, she was showing these kinds of reactions…

“Am I being delusional?”

I shook my head and sank deeper into thought.

Although I hadn’t focused on Lisa’s route when playing the game, I had heard plenty about it.

The essential traits needed to win Lisa’s favor—

‘Diligence, sincerity toward the students—no, toward the people of the Empire—always ready to rush over when called…’

…The more I thought about it, the more I realized I fit every one of those conditions.

Which meant that, without realizing it, I had been raising Lisa’s affection level all along.

“That’s troublesome.”

If I had just provided Lisa with my blood without increasing her affection, it might’ve been fine.

But since I’d raised it and then let her drink my blood, her recent behavior suddenly made sense.

“…If I’d known this would happen, maybe I should’ve gone for Lisa before Sara.”

Still, my experience with the game meant it wasn’t hopeless.

If Lisa truly liked me, then several choices were available.

All I needed to do was think ahead about which one to pick.

But the real problem was…

‘How do I feel about Lisa?’

When pursuing female characters in the game, it was easy.

Back then, it was just a game—just data on a screen.

But now, this wasn’t a game. She was a living, breathing person standing before me.

I couldn’t treat her emotions lightly.

‘Hmm… I’ll think about it after seeing how Lisa acts. Her feelings might change again anyway.’

Besides, for the time being, neither Lisa nor I would have much time to dwell on such things.

The entire Academy would soon be leaving on a school trip, and preparing for it would keep everyone busy.

* * *

“…What should I do?”

Lisa lay alone on her dormitory bed, blankly staring at the ceiling.

She was confused.

“Is there really no other way?”

Lisa tried to calmly gather her thoughts.

She didn’t want Gideon to be bound by her family.

She wanted him to fully bloom with his talent and become a great swordsman.

“If Gideon were to marry me… he might never be able to live up to his potential.”

Lisa recalled, one by one, those who had married into the Balmuth Family.

They all lived bound by the family.

Of course, it was a voluntary bond, but from Lisa’s perspective, Gideon could very well end up the same.

‘Gideon is a good person. A good person… someone I think fondly of, someone I like.’

In truth, Lisa had only a faint affection toward Gideon at first.

Through their activities together in the Disciplinary Committee, she had come to like him and simply wanted to get closer—that was all.

But after drinking Gideon’s blood, those feelings had changed.

To be precise, that affection had deepened.

“This isn’t good…”

Lisa wanted to bite Gideon’s neck.

She wanted to drink his blood, to hold his hand while doing so, and even… to embrace him tightly afterward.

“…Ah.”

Lisa suddenly sat up from her bed.

Just thinking of Gideon’s face brought on an overwhelming thirst.

She hurriedly opened her desk drawer and pulled out one of the glass bottles stored inside.

“Haaah…”

As she drank the blood, her expression relaxed a little.

But even so, the thirst didn’t fully fade.

‘It’s not enough. Something’s missing.’

Lisa unconsciously recalled the taste of Gideon’s blood she had had earlier in the Student Council Room.

It had been just a single drop, yet the sweetness of that taste still lingered on her tongue.

‘If I hadn’t had any feelings for Gideon, this wouldn’t be happening…’

She remembered what her grandparents had once told her.

That if one had absolutely no affection for their partner, it was possible not to feel love for the first person whose blood they drank.

There might still be some obsession, of course.

In fact, among her ancestors, there had been cases where they didn’t love the person at all and maintained a purely contractual blood-supply relationship.

If Lisa had truly felt nothing for Gideon, that would have been possible. But…

“…I suppose I have to admit it.”

Lisa had no choice but to acknowledge her feelings for Gideon.

Yet, the moment she accepted them, her heart only grew more tangled.

‘What if Gideon doesn’t feel anything for me? How do I calm this heart of mine?’

Whenever problems arose, Lisa had always found a calm, rational solution.

But this situation was a first for her.

She had no idea what she should do—or even if a solution existed.

As she sat in her dormitory room, lost in thought—

“…What’s this?”

The crystal sphere on her desk began to glow.

When she got up to check, she saw that it was a message from her mother, Kafka Balmuth.

Lisa hesitated for a moment before finally accepting the call.

“What is it, Mother?”

– Why do you sound like that? It’s not strange for a mother to contact her daughter, is it?

“…That’s true, but usually when you call, you have a reason.”

– Don’t be so cold. You’ll make your mother sad.

“Anyway, what’s the matter?”

Lisa’s mind was still a mess, and part of her found Kafka’s call bothersome.

But regardless, Kafka’s smiling face filled the crystal sphere.

– I just figured you might be worrying about how to treat Gideon from now on, so I called.

“…How did you know?”

– Everyone worries about it around this point. I did too.

Kafka smiled knowingly as she looked at her expressionless daughter.

– So, you’ve been thinking about Gideon, haven’t you?

“…Yes.”

– Then you’ve probably already admitted that you like him, haven’t you?

“…I suppose so, but I still…”

– That’s enough, Lisa. Don’t overthink it.

Kafka had gone through something similar herself.

So she knew exactly what kind of advice her daughter needed now.

– Just keep it simple. If you like him, then tell Gideon honestly, in your own way. Don’t worry about anything else.

“But Mother, as I said before, I don’t want to stand in Gideon’s way…”

Kafka cut her off, speaking lightly.

– Oh, that again! I’m telling you, our family doesn’t care what Gideon does. Sure, nine out of ten who marry into our family end up holed up at home, but that’s because they wanted that life and chose it themselves. If Gideon wants to show his talent to the world, our family will respect that. No—more than respect, we might even help him if he wants it.

“…Really?”

Lisa tilted her head slightly.

Kafka sighed as if frustrated.

– Really! Of course, if he does want to stay at home forever like the others, we’ll let him—but the boy you like doesn’t seem like that type, does he? I mean, if he’s someone you like, he’s got to be pretty diligent.

“Y-Yes. Gideon does have a strong desire to succeed.”

Lisa looked slightly dazed at her mother’s words.

As if she were realizing something obvious for the first time.

“But Mother, even if that’s true, what if Gideon doesn’t feel the same way about me…”

– That’s for you to handle, you silly girl. Go seduce the man you like yourself!

Kafka chuckled softly and added,

– You’re beautiful, just like me, so if you just honestly tell Gideon how you feel, won’t he fall for you right away?

“Gideon isn’t that easily swayed…”

– Just try being honest first. My daughter’s good at being honest, isn’t she?

“Being honest… about my feelings to Gideon?”

Just as Kafka said, Lisa was the type to express her feelings and thoughts honestly.

But imagining herself confessing her feelings to Gideon…

“…Ah.”

She could feel her face growing hot.

Lisa’s cheeks flushed in an instant, and Kafka couldn’t help but burst out laughing at her daughter’s reaction.

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