Vampire's Slice Of Life

Outside a classic aristocratic mansion, a girl in a lab coat wearing thin framed round glasses stood still.

Her hands inside the lab coat's pockets were trembling and her breathing was erratic.

A lingering fear loomed in her heart as she looked at the mansion.

–If you live long enough, you'll find us one day.

Words her mother had said the day before she left returned to her. Those words still hurt her, but they also gave her hope. Hope that one day she could return to them and have a normal life.

If she couldn't get that, she hoped to at least find an answer to why her parents abandoned her at such a young age.

The young Lizbeth walked towards the mansion's gates amidst the chattering noises of the people around.

As she reached it, she found herself surrounded by multiple gazes. She tried her best to ignore those and pushed the gate open, shocking the spectators.

"To think someone would barge in like that…"

"Are there no guards? To let such a thing happen, are they perhaps sleeping?"

The young Lizbeth could barge in because from her memories, she knew there weren't any guards in this big mansion. There were only a handful of servants and that was about it.

Lizbeth could remember those events because those were the only times she had somewhat of a peaceful life and did not need to struggle to have the basic necessities like food or clean water and toilets.

They were also the most traumatic ones ever as it was too taxing on the mind of a toddler. It was too heavy of a burden.

The current Lizbeth watched her past self walk into the mansion. A few servants spotted her but none stopped her.

Lizbeth found her way to her parents' study. That was the place she usually stayed at for most parts.

Standing in front of a wooden door, she took a deep breath and pushed it open.

A man and a woman could be seen sitting on a sofa in the luxurious study, reading books.

"So you have come, *****." The lady said.

The two people's faces were still hidden. The only thing different this time was their clothes. They weren't similar to aristocrats anymore and were instead those that mages wore.

Another thing was that Lizbeth's name was censored, which really ticked her off.

The young Lizbeth had an expressionless face, vastly different from the one she had when she was alone or when her caretaker was around her.

She stared at the two people and mustering up all the courage she had within her, she asked, "Why?"

The woman crossed her legs and asked back, "Why what?"

"Why did you… abandon me?" Lizbeth asked while feeling a lump in her throat. Her heart was racing wildly from the anxiety creeping up within her.

"Because I wanted you to feel the struggle we went through," said the lady. "We were broke when we were young and built up to this position through hard work. We did not want you to become a second generation spoiled brat and hence, left you on your own to survive."

"..."

The current Lizbeth frowned. She had no recollection of this whatsoever and was the first time she heard it.

The young Lizbeth, with her trembling hands, nudged her glasses up.

"I see. So you abandoned a child…"

Lizbeth's lips quivered and her voice was shaky. Still, she tried to keep herself composed and continued,

"...because you thought the child may turn out spoiled in future."

"Yes," said the man beside the lady. "We did not want you to turn into that."

"And what was the reason for saying live and that I could see you again?"

"It is exactly what it means," the lady answered. "With how naive and gullible you were as a child, we did not have hopes in you surviving. We planned to have another child in case you died, but it's good that you didn't."

The man beside her then added, "We had to spend money and hire a spy that kept a watch on you. His only job was to report if you had died or not. Since it's been a hundred years and you lived, we decided it should be enough time for you to have turned into a proper young lady."

The lady nodded. "You are the ripe age to get married now. Your looks aren't that good and you look like a cheap beggar, but with some investment in your looks, you should be good enough to be married off to a high ranking official's son."

"Your marriage will strengthen our power further in this kingdom. Now be a good girl and go get dressed. You should remember where your room is. In case you've forgotten, ask a servant. You'll go on dates from next week onwards."

The current Lizbeth and the young Lizbeth, both were going through a similar turmoil. There was so much rage in their hearts, so much grief, so much hatred… emotions which they had never felt before even during their most desperate and despairing times had started surfacing.

The young Lizbeth, after a century's worth of experience in this cruel world, was smart enough to assess the situation and deal with it.

No matter how angry she was, she kept herself calm and did not explode.

Her racing heart had slowed down once she learned her parents did not really abandon her because they were forced to or because their circumstances were dire.

Somewhere in her heart, she had thought that perhaps, perhaps her parents had abandoned her because there was no other choice. With how this world was, perhaps their lives were at risk and they abandoned her so that their enemies did not go after her.

It was a plausible explanation and had kept her going, giving her a lot of hope throughout the years. But now? Her parents had spectacularly shattered every little hope she held onto and made it completely clear on what their views were.

Right now, the young Lizbeth felt she had become a person who had lost everything. It couldn't get any lower than this.

This. This was the peak of despair.

All the raging emotions of hers had vanished because there was no point feeling any of them.

The young Lizbeth nudged her glasses again. This time, her hands weren't trembling.

"I see…"

She turned her head up and locked her gaze with the two people in front.

"…if that's the case, I'd like to leave. I don't want to get married, I've got things to do."

The lady tilted her head and propped her head on her fist. "What makes you think you've got an option?"

"Hm?" Lizbeth raised her eyebrow.

The man leaned forwards, his aura turning fierce and putting pressure on Lizbeth. "We raised you, and it's about time you become useful to us."

"I see." The young Lizbeth was still calm. "So I don't have a say in this either. Back then, I was abandoned against my wish and now, I am still being forced against my wish."

Lizbeth nudged her glasses and looked up. She could only see the roof of the ceiling, but her gaze was focusing on something beyond that.

"Is this how it is? Is this how my end is going to be?"

Lizbeth's parents were confused and wondered whom she was talking to.

"*****, go back to your room. You seem unwell."

"She said there's someone, somewhere, who is always watching. Everything will turn out good since they're watching and one shouldn't lose hope. But why is it that… things are so bad? Why is my bad end so… shitty?"

The woman couldn't bear to watch it anymore. She got up and said, "What vulgar words! What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Something triggered the current Lizbeth's mind as she watched the scene. Soon, as she blinked, everything in front of was frozen.

As she blinked again, it was back to normal.

With another blink, things were frozen.

The repeated actions made the memory in front appear like someone had made a video out of pictures taken one second apart.

Some murmurs happened in front of the current Lizbeth, although she could not hear it, there were voices in her head that made her aware of what the people in front were saying.

"Go… to… your… room… now!"

This was what the lady was yelling. She was charging towards the young Lizbeth while the latter was murmuring something which the current Lizbeth could hear bits and pieces of.

Blink. With one blink, the whole scene shattered like broken glass.

This time as Lizbeth opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a field of medicinal plants under the warm sun.

In front of her was a tall silver-haired man, staring at her with his purple eyes.

Warm tears were running down her eyes while she felt a stinging sensation coming from her right cheek.

Clarity returned to her and her green eyes focused on Lith's purple ones.

"…somewhere… someone… is watching. They are watching over you and would not let you fall… as long as you don't give up…"

Lizbeth murmured and repeated the lines her caretaker had said as she saw Lith again.

Lith, watching Lizbeth be back to her senses in a few seconds, placed his hand on her shoulders and bent down to see her eye to eye.

"Lizbeth… you call me God… so why are you lying to your God and making false statements?"

"Huh?" Lizbeth titled her head and asked in confusion.

To her, quite some time had passed as she was reliving her memory, but to Lith, only a few seconds had passed by.

Lizbeth had forgotten what was happening.

Lith stared at her, wondering why she was confused.

Bringing his face closer to hers with only a few inches of gap between them, Lith asked again, "Why did you lie about your purity being taken? Why did you say you weren't a pure virgin?"

"Huh?" Lizbeth was even more confused. "When did I lie?"

Her mood had flipped because of the memories she had seen. There was nothing worse than that day's interaction with her parents. Her God slapping her and asking her humanity was not as big of a matter.

Looking at her expression, Lith could tell she wasn't pretending or feigning ignorance.

He pulled himself back and stared at her.

Lizbeth could not see him again as everything turned blurry. When she had lost her vision, she could only see things a hand's distance away. Now, it was just ten centimeters.

Lizbeth squinted her eyes and walked forwards, then raised herself on her toes and brought her face close to Lith's, staring at him and having a proper look.

"Yeah, you're still the same God and not someone else."

She went back on her feet and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Okay, since it's you, you can take my humanity now."

Lith's eyes twitched. It went unnoticed by Lizbeth.

He turned his head to find her glasses and saw them to be intact and a few meters away, lying on the ground.

Using the Wind element, he pulled it in his hand and then put it on Lizbeth's eyes, making her vision return.

Lizbeth blinked and finally got to see properly again.

Lith placed his hand on her shoulders and asked, "Now, let's keep the humanity talk aside. First tell me what is it that's making you think you aren't a virgin."

"What?"

Lith sighed and continued, "Liz, do you think me, a royal vampire, can mistake a human's, as puny as you's, virginity? Are you aware of how sensitive vampires are to pure blooded humans? Do you think I'd buy your useless lie of you saying you aren't pure?"

"Huh?" Lizbeth knitted her brows. "When did I lie about this? I really am not pure. When I was a child, I was defiled by a group of men in my house. How can someone like me be pure?"

"Huh?" It was Lith's time to be confused. "What are you blabbering about? If such a thing had happened, you would smell foul. Currently you smell like fresh herbs that I would want on my pasta. I can literally use you as garnishing and have a good meal. Do you understand how pure you are?"

"…."

Lizbeth was speechless.

"…"

Lith was speechless too.

Did he just say what he just said?

'What the fuck…'