I was sold to a dangerous place in order to repay my parents’ debt, and I ended up being bought by a vampire young lady. I became the feed for the beautiful maid.

Lilith’s tears

An hour had passed since I laid her on the infirmary bed.

“Hmm… Where am I?”

“Lilith, you’re awake. That’s a relief.”

I looked at Lilith, who had safely regained consciousness, and let out a sigh of relief. 

She tried to sit up, but I gently pushed her shoulder.

“You should rest a bit longer.”

“Yeah… Hey, Ikkun, did I collapse?”

“Yeah. It happened all of a sudden, like a snapped thread.”

“I see… What about the sports festival?”

“We’ve finished up to the sixth event, and now it’s lunch break. Sakura and I took turns keeping an eye on you.”

“I see. Sorry for causing you all this worry.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a good thing you collapsed while we were nearby.”

“Yeah…”

Upon realizing what had happened to herself again, Lilith wore a troubled expression and a hint of guilt. She must be feeling like she inconvenienced her classmates by collapsing.

And… she had a clue about the cause of her collapse.

“According to the teacher, it’s due to sleep deprivation and malnutrition. Was it because of the essence drain? You were probably lacking it, right?”

“You figured it out, huh?”

“I have been drained dozens of times, and I could sense it was lessening. And about the sleep deprivation, is it related to what you’ve been worrying about recently?”

“Ah~, well… It’s all so obvious, huh~?”

Her tone was light, but there was a wry smile on Lilith’s face.

Watching that smile, I couldn’t help but feel angry.

I realized she was troubled, yet I couldn’t sense the seriousness of it until she collapsed. Sakura also regretted not pushing harder to find out.

So… I can’t avoid it any longer.

“Lilith, can you tell me what’s been bothering you? Ignoring it isn’t an option now. Talking about it might lighten the burden a bit.”

“Ikkun…”

Lilith stared at me wide-eyed as I asked her directly. 

Even if it was an unfounded assumption, I’d rather not pretend I didn’t know and let her carry that burden.

We were classmates, colleagues at work, and friends. If she was going through something, I wanted to share the load.

I don’t know if that feeling got through to her, but Lilith slowly turned her face towards the window.

“Maybe… I thought that the reason Hero-kun turned out like that might be Lilith’s fault.”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at her confession. Why was she suddenly talking about Yuto?

Before I could find an unexpected answer to my question, Lilith continued speaking.

“Lilith learned how to use succubus powers from my mom after I started working for the Duke’s family.”

“…And how does this relate to Yuto’s ‘hero syndrome’?”

“It’s just that Lilith might have charmed the hero she met when I was a child with magic, but I don’t remember it.”

With these self-deprecating words of doubt, I finally understood what she was getting at.

Succubi need male essence to survive. They can obtain it through various methods, including using magic to induce desire or infiltrating dreams. One of these methods involves charming the target with magic.

These magics are unique abilities that only succubi possess. Lilith, who was born on Earth, also had the same power. However, as long as she stayed on Earth, she should have been wearing a magical sealing bracelet, preventing her from using her powers.

The reason she suspects she might have used charm magic is related to when Lilith learned to use her powers.

“I met Yuto when I was five years old. I didn’t have the bracelet back then.”

“That’s right. It’s because it’s considered harmful to wear a sealing bracelet on a still-developing child’s body.”

Putting a sealing bracelet on a child with an undeveloped body could disrupt the circulation of magical energy in their bloodstream, or so the reasoning went.

In other words, there was a possibility that young Lilith unconsciously used charm magic on Yuto.

…Yuto Braveheart’s “hero syndrome” might have been caused by her own magic.

She had no memories to refute this possibility. And it had indeed resulted in considerable trouble for the Duke and us.

That’s why she had been so troubled.

“So… it’s Lilith’s fault.”

As if releasing the pent-up sorrow, Lilith’s eyes welled up with tears, and she started to sob.

“Because I’m a succubus, I ruined Hero-kun’s life! I worried Ikkun and many other people! I couldn’t sleep because I thought about how I inconvenienced everyone! If this is how it’s going to be, I wish I were just a human girl, not a succubus!”

She wiped away her tears multiple times as she continued to express self-punishing thoughts.

She was always cheerful and cute, able to get along with anyone due to her sociable personality. Her looks, combined with her personality, had earned her the nickname of one of the two great beauties.

Despite her carefree demeanor, she had a sadistic side and was clumsy at times with her attempts at comfort. She had no aversion to sexual matters like a typical succubus, but she held non-succubus-like views on romance.

The troubles she carried were profound, stemming from her very birth.

It was a different kind of conflict compared to Sakura, the half-blood vampire who continued to face persecution for causing harm as a minion of the Demon Lord. 

In Sakura’s case, she had a strong sense of rebellion, even regarding something as simple as dyeing her hair as a defeat, and she had accepted becoming a half-blood vampire.

But Lilith was different.

She had a body different from humans since birth, and to survive, she needed essence from the opposite sex.

She had been tormented by the unfounded fear that she might have unconsciously used charm magic before learning to control her innate abilities.

That’s why her essence consumption might have been low.

She might appear thick-skinned, but she had a heart more delicate than anyone else.

As I watched her cry, an indescribable anger welled up within me.

Things that I, as a human, could never fully grasp.

The frustration of letting it build up to this point and causing her to cry.

And the person who might be the cause of the worries that made her cry.

Oh, it really makes my blood boil.

But right now, there’s something I have to do before getting angry.

I gently place my hand on Lilith’s tear-stained cheek.

Her purple eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected touch.

“Ikkun…?”

“It’s not your fault, Lilith.”

“Huh, but…”

She must have wanted to respond with disbelief to my denial. But I interrupted her and continued.

“I may not know much about it, but isn’t enchantment magic just about making someone like you more? It’s not about controlling them or making them do things, right?”

“W-Well, yeah, but…”

“In that case, Yuto’s hero syndrome is probably just him being a fool. There’s no way it’s because of you, Lilith.”

“….”

Silenced by my gently comforting words, Lilith was left speechless.

In the first place, Yuto said that he was playing with her, but it’s possible that he just saw her from a distance and romanticized the fact that he fell in love with her at first sight.

Of course, her suspicions couldn’t be entirely dismissed. But at least I couldn’t believe that Lilith was the cause.

Because…

“Even though you’re one of the ‘Two Great Beauties’ and could have your pick, you never needlessly seduce people, Lilith. Just because you’re a succubus doesn’t mean you should dislike yourself. It’s all part of who you are, including being Sakiba Lilith, a regular girl.”

“Ah…”

Lilith is just an ordinary girl who happens to be born as a succubus, dreaming of love.

It’s precisely because of that, I believe, that we’ve become friends.

Maybe my feelings got through to her, because Lilith’s tears suddenly stopped.

Relieved, I stood up and headed towards the entrance of the infirmary.

“It’s almost time for lunch break to end, and then we have the duel game.”

“Uh, yeah, good luck!”

“When you’ve recovered a bit more, come watch if you can. Well, I can’t guarantee I’ll make it to the finals, though.”

“Okay… Thanks, Ik-kun.”

“Sure thing.”

With a smile in response to her gratitude, I left the infirmary and made my way to the schoolyard.

Honestly, until a little while ago, I didn’t feel motivated at all about the duel game.

Even if it’s at the Lady’s behest, I still don’t like fighting people.

But now, I can’t afford to be wishy-washy.

Let’s wipe away the tears shed over something she didn’t have to worry about.

Just that. That’s all I need to focus on.

For the first time in a while, there’s a good enough reason to pick up a sword.

===

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