Freedom at Last

-----Yui's POV

The next morning came, and with it came a few unexpected things.

Natalie: "I told you swimming yesterday was a bad idea."

I woke up with a bit of a fever and have been resting and taking it easy for today while Natalie tends to me. But if that wasn't bad enough, while she out, she came back with news regarding Kaede and the others. Apparently the queen visited them directly earlier today. According to what Natalie said, apparently Mell had also become a vampire and has caused a disturbance among those masked people. I felt like the worst would happen, until Natalie continued. Despite the warning from her masked soldiers, the queen consented to the idea of Mell becoming a vampire, and even going as far as letting her, along with Fleur and Faye to be free from their collars. This of course meant the supervision had come to an end, but that responsibility would fall completely under Kaede now.

It made me happy that the queen trusted Kaede like this, but I do think it could cause quite a burden now having to deal with raising 3 vampires. As for Neri, they chose to stay in mom's city. The queen knew that mom was short on hands so sent someone to help mom with those matters. But with all of this happening, I feel a bit upset at missing out on all this new development.

-----Kaede's POV

Neri: "Then I'll be off. Be sure to keep everyone in check, got it?"

Kaede: "Mhmm! I've got this."

Iris: "Thank you again for your assistance."

Yui's mom came to pick Neri up from the house. I was stressing out when the queen herself suddenly showed up along with a bunch of those masked soldiers, but to think the supervision job would fall onto me now... I didn't even think I had a good relationship with the queen, but I guess I'm mistaken... No. Actually it's probably due to mom.

Lilith: "Hehe, and because the supervision has been lifted, I can now be sent over here!"

Speaking of which, this is a rare occurrence where mom and I can finally meet up. The queen left mom here for her sake as we've been waiting for quite some time now to have a proper catch up. However she will need to return at some point, but at least she now has more freedom to come and visit.

Mell: "So, Lilith would be my grandmother?"

Kaede: "Mhmm."

What was also surprising was that Mell herself showed a lot of restraint when it came to humans and demi-humans. But I guess I haven't fed her yet so that can all change.

Iris: "Take care, Kaede."

Kaede: "Thanks. You too."

And with that, Neri is out of our hands as both Iris and Neri ride off in a carriage, marking a new beginning for this household of monsters. Although mom is still with us for the time being, but I trust nothing bad will happen.

Lilith: "It kind of feels weird, being in a house like this."

Kaede: "Don't worry. I'm now the queen of the house, so nothing bad will happen."

It does help that Fleur and Faye have had a lot of experience dealing with the smells by now. So with them only needing to deal with mom right now, both of them look fairly comfortable with mom. But suddenly, Mai appeared out of nowhere, starling all of us in the process. I still have past trauma of her just appearing butt naked, but thankfully she's still wearing clothes.

Mai: "Finally!~ That whole supervision is over."

Kaede: "You do remember that Neri accepted you being here.

Mai: "I know, but I still feel creeped out by them."

Understandable. It's definately a strange feeling having someone around you that you cannot sense, only relying on your sight to see them.

Lilith: "Mai! Have you figured out how to deal with the seal on my back?"

Mai: "Yes! This has actually been on my mind every since Kaede went ahead and turned all you guys into vampires."

We all looked at Mai in confusion. I don't see how being a vampire has anything to do with getting rid of a mana-sealing crest. I mean sure, I nearly broke a shackle that I had on, but that mithril collar didn't budge at all.

Lilith: "What do you mean?"

Mai: "It was hard to spot with you two, but when it came to Mell, I noticed that her mana output increased significantly."

True. Even I witnessed it first hand when Mell easily was able manipulate a bit of light magic, something that was impossible for her before.

Mai: "And knowing what I know of the crest, if Lilith were to have enough mana, she could possibly destroy the mana sealing crest herself. Or at the very least make it safer since right now, if we follow with the mage's plans in the kingdom, she'll likely die."

Kaede: "So you're saying you know how to remove it?"

Mai: "Yes, but it's dangerous. It'll be similar to how you nearly broke that shackle back in Inasdale."

So in other words, mom will explode? Yeah, I don't want to think of that.

Lilith: "So... What you're saying is if I become a vampire, my body will be safer when it comes to the crest's removal?"

Mai: "Correct."

Wait, are we really going down this route again? I know I've turned Fleur, Faye and Mell into vampires, but I felt like they all had a good reason, besides Fleur since that was all just an accident, which I'm still sorry for. If I didn't do that, then Faye wouldn't feel obligated to turn as well, and Mell wouldn't of seen how the three of us interacted as vampires, leading her to also question us being a mother and daughter. And now this with mom? It's like a never ending chain reaction leading to me turning more and more people into vampires. And that thought alone scares me...

Kaede: "No."

Lilith: "Selene?"

Kaede: "I won't do it."

It's not even about the fact of me turning into mom into a vampire is the problem, but actually the process of actually doing it. In Faye's and Mell's case, both of them were healthy and had plenty of mana. But in mom's case, I can barely sense any mana inside of her at all. It's almost as if she's on some kind of life support, barely getting enough mana to survive. Just makes me wonder if she's even strong enough to handle it. But I guess in Fleur's case, she was dead when it happened, so maybe it doesn't matter? But still...

Lilith: "It's okay. I wasn't going to ask for such a thing from you."

I can't help but smile at mom as she gently pats me on the head. Funny, I'm usually the one doing this to Mell, so it feels nice to be given one.

Mai: "This would be our best bet at removing the crest though."

Lilith: "Well, we can always look for another way. I'm not forcing Selene to do anything."

Having mom continue to pat me as she stands up for me feels so calming. It honestly brings me back to when I was little, back before all of this happened to us, back when we were just living normally. I let out a sigh of relief, closing my eyes with a big smile on my face. I wonder if mom can stay the night with us? Just tonight would be enough.

Mai: "I'll try."

Mell: "Hehe, you look very happy, mom."

Kaede: "Mmm~"

Yeah... I don't want this feeling to end. It feels like we've finally reached the end of a long journey, so I don't want to stress over anything right now. I end up pulling Mell into a hug while mom continues to help me relax.

Faye: "Hey! Now that we're all free, sis, did you want to see if you can fly again?"

Fleur: "Huh? But I don't think-"

Faye: "It's like what Mai just said. We're more stronger now, so don't you think you're strong enough to fly?"

Fleur: "It's been so long though. I'm not even sure what it feels like, or if I even know how to do it."

Faye: "Well I'm in the same boat as you, so let's re-learn together."

Sicily: "Wish I could fly..."

Kaede: "Hey, I can still turn you into a vampire if you like?"

Sicily: "Pfft, not a chance."

Lillian: "How bad can it be? Maybe being a vampire isn't too bad."

Sicily: "Sis?!"

Lillian: "Fufu."

And so, we enjoy each other's company, spending our first day together as one big, weird, unique family.

-----Fabian's POV

Ilfa: "Hahh~ Hah~ You survived again, hehe."

Fabian: "Hah- Yeah."

We were both out of breath from doing it for so long. I actually have no idea how long we were going for, but just by looking out the window, it was clearly in the middle of the day. I guess we ended up doing it throughout the entire night... Wow. Just like before, I was dipping in and out of consciousness, not knowing if I could survive or not, but I let it happen, thinking that she wouldn't actually kill me.

Our bodies were drenched in sweat as we were still trying to catch our breath, but seeing Ilfa pant like this makes me just want to continue. But I guess we're pretty exhausted from doing it for so long, so instead, I wrap my arounds around her as she turns over to her side facing me. Her hair sticks to her face from all the sweat as I gently brush her hair to the side, revealing her beautiful face to me.

Ilfa: "Thank you. I think with this I'll be full for quite a while. I can use all my energy for the upcoming fight."

I guess to her, this is just an act of feeding, but I cannot relate to such a thing. I did this for an entirely different reason. It sort of stings for our feelings not to match up, which makes me stop from what I was about to say. Especially when she seems to be in high spirits like this.