Yurika was testing her ability to wear a pair of heels on the garden paths. Perhaps not one of the best ways to prepare for the upcoming experience ahead of her, but it was fun enough.

Certainly not for her poor feet, but what could she do about it if she loved hurting herself?

She couldn't spend the whole day exercising or reading, she had to have other hobbies.

One of them was trying on shoes, but it wasn't her fault that Ferid gave her too many cues.

Practicing the piano would be much more cultural. A familiar voice whispered in her head.

The girl huffed, "I can't even spend my days playing the piano, you have to vary. Maybe I'll walk around here and see some animals."

Isn't Ferid enough of a strange creature?

"What a load."

Crowley had decided not to linger and headed for the wolf's den.

Who knows if with his sudden visit he would succeed in the feat of surprising the inflexible vampire. He doubted it, but never say never.

As he approached the villa, he realised that this was undoubtedly his lucky day.

He could make out the girl in the distance as she walked through the garden and, as far as he could see, Ferid didn't seem to be around.

That would make things easier for him.

Unless the girl started yelling at him. He laughed. Could he really be worse than that sadist?

Yurika was watching the flight of some butterflies, trying to get closer to them, when she saw a figure approaching in the distance.

She shuddered as her mind offered the worst possible scenarios. The mere thought that it could be Krul once again terrified her more than anything, preventing her from making any movement.

Her heart began to calm as the figure came into focus with her gaze. She sighed in relief. It definitely couldn't be Krul, that vampire was too big to look like her.

She recognized him as the vampire who had been with Ferid during the kidnapping. He had passed through there once before, but this time he didn't seem to have the two vampires in tow.

She stood still, uncertain what to do. What should she do? Run? Go and warn Ferid? Take him in?

As she tried to decide which was the best choice Crowley had now caught up with her.

He immediately noticed the girl's agitation. He smiled at her. Come on, I can't be worse than him.

"Good morning." He said cordially. "Good morning." Yurika replied shyly. "Should I call Ferid?"

Crowley laughed. "He'll probably come and check on himself soon, our senses are much more developed than yours after all."

"R-right." She replied confused. She hadn't understood. He didn't need the vampire then?

"Can I talk to you for a moment before he gets here?"

Yurika's eyes widened at that request. What could a vampire like that possibly want from her?

"First, let me introduce myself properly. I am Crowley Eusford."

"Yurika Hiiragi."

"Humans use to exchange a handshake at this point, don't they?" And he extended his hand towards her.

Yurika gave him an unconvinced look. What was going on? Where was Ferid? Could it be that he hadn't heard anything yet? Should she seriously consider screaming?

Once again the vampire noticed her nervousness. He had better get a move on.

"I'm sorry, Yurika."

The girl looked at him with more confusion. "For what?"

"Ferid wrote to me and said you were coming to the war too. I'm so sorry, I guess it's one of his crazy requests."

"He thought it was for the best."

"As if what he forced you to do wasn't enough for him."

The girl instinctively brought a hand to her neck to hide the bite marks. The vampire thought she was one of the many prey.

"It's my fault too, I helped him kidnap you, though..."

"I bet Ferid is very convincing." She concluded.

"Does he make it to you often?"

The girl blushed. Did she have to talk to the vampire who was a stranger to her about how much she actually cherished those moments?

"It doesn't hurt that much to take a bite now and then." She whispered evasively.

"That's not what I was referring to."

It took Yurika's brain a second too long to realize what he was talking about.

"Ah." She simply said. She gathered her courage. "He doesn't..."

"Don't worry, I know perfectly well what that sadist does. I thought he was content with that and instead, now even..."

"We've never done anything like that." The sentence came out of her in one breath.

Crowley tried to figure out if she was lying, but she sounded sincere. He pondered. No, that was definitely impossible. It had been too long since he had been with Ferid, it was practically impossible that he had never forced her to do anything.

While he was deep in thought Ferid finally arrived too.

"Don't you think it's uncool to call me a sadist in front of her?"

He carefully observed the way he approached the girl. He did so naturally, then wrapped his arm around her slender waist and pulled her close to him.

The girl did not seem to flinch. He sensed a considerable relaxation in her heartbeat.

Having this monster near her seemed to calm her down.

"Was he bothering you, my dear? Did you even bother to come to me Crowley?"

"Your message was... peculiar. Don't you think?"

"And coming to bother a young creature instead?"

"Why did you only come now? I bet you heard me arriving."

"I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to let you get acquainted. I couldn't imagine that you would go and touch on certain matters and question my conduct."

"Your conduct is always questionable, Ferid."

"How about we move to my study?"

The vampire didn't wait for an answer and walked off, leading the girl with him.

Crowley sighed and followed them.

What was he playing at?

Upon reaching the vampire's study the situation became almost embarrassing for Crowley. Ferid had insisted that Yurika stayed with them.

As he had done the first time he had come with Chess and Belle, he had noticed how the girl sought out the vampire's closeness. Again he had observed that strange phenomenon, but something was different.

The two of them were no longer in the same relationship as before, something had changed. The girl seemed much more at ease.

Thanks to Ferid's intervention and his speaking skills Yurika soon managed to be much more relaxed with him as well.

But Crowley kept observing every single gesture, every single expression and, after a long analysis, what the girl had said before seemed to be true.

He saw her several times looking at Ferid with an incredible gleam in her eyes. Although he had stopped caring too much about what went on in the minds of humans centuries ago, it was easy to recognise the nature of that feeling.

He couldn't understand how this could be possible, and yet this girl seemed to be truly in love with Ferid, but the thing that astounded him most of all was that the same could be said for the vampire.

Ferid seemed to really have feelings for her.

True, he would never claim to know him fully, but his behaviour towards her was quite clear. He could tell that he cared for the girl.

Having seen that, he wondered why he wanted to take her with him. The math didn't add up.

"Yurika, would you like to leave us alone? I'll join you later when we're done."

"Of course. No problem."

Crowley could follow Ferid's ruby eyes as he watched the girl walk away from the room. He had never looked at anyone like that.

"So, you still think she was lying to you? Do you still think I'm forcing her to do something against her will?"

"She would definitely be safer if you left her at home. If you take her with you she'll only distract you from all the fun."

The albino laughed. "The real fun is yet to come."

He looked at the landscape outside for a long moment.

"During the last mission Krul came here to her. If I repeated the same mistake maybe she wouldn't be so lenient towards her anymore. At least this way I can check that no one is harming her."

"Is this some sort of warning for me as well?" Crowley asked suspiciously.

"My dear Crowley, I think you know for yourself which of the two is stronger."

"I could wish for death."

Ferid didn't even bother to look him in the eye. "I'd chop off your head before you could touch her, guaranteed."

Crowley sighed. "Your only purpose was to make sure I didn't get any strange ideas? I should remind you that it's also because of me that Yurika is here."

"I could have managed without your help, my dear. At least I offered you some free entertainment, weren't you happy?"

"Had you anticipated this development?"

Ferid sighed. "No I hadn't considered it. I thought it would be like the other times. And instead..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but it was easy for the other to guess what he meant.

"The thing that surprises me most is seeing how she reciprocates. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it, never."

The other laughed. "I almost didn't either."

"What about Krul? How did it happen that she found this out?" He knew the queen didn't have any particular sympathy for the vampire, so to think she was aiming for Yurika didn't surprise him too much, the only thing he didn't understand was how she had come to know that secret.

"She had once come here while I was with her." He suppressed the words for a moment. "When she came, Yurika and I weren't like that yet, but I already had feelings for her. I still tried not to let anything show, but evidently something went wrong. When I came back from the mission and smelled her scent on Krul I lost my temper."

Crowley guessed the other would add nothing more. "I hope for your sake you don't run into any further complications." His tone was neutral enough, that's because a part of him knew perfectly well that the girl's death would be a fair price to pay for all the wickedness he had committed.

But a part of him wished it wouldn't happen. Maybe he was too soft after all.

"One never knows what to expect from you." He added.

"Then I'll see you in battle."

Ferid stayed in the study for a long time before joining Yurika. For once, he wasn't entirely certain of the choice he had made, but, surely, Crowley fit into his plans as well. He was also convinced that he was less strong than he was, a factor that would surely keep him from trying to do strange things.

Crowley kept thinking back to the singular morning that had passed. To him, who thought Ferid was playing his usual game, the whole thing had been almost shocking.

He didn't think it was possible that a vampire could be so touched by long-lost feelings. And Ferid had been a vampire for much longer than him. Yet the miracle had happened.

The miracle of love.

If he had to be honest maybe part of him envied what was happening to the vampire. In his past life as a soldier devoted to God, he had never really had the chance to hold a woman close. Romantic relationships were certainly not what he had sought. Nor did he seek them now, and yet...

Yes, he envied him.

He too had turned Chess and Belle probably hoping that there might be some interesting developments, but that hadn't been the case.

Not for him at least. He had always been rather indifferent to the femininity of the two.

Maybe in Ferid's case things worked because Yurika was human? Maybe being with a human had a completely different effect.

But no, it couldn't be that either. Not necessarily. Ferid had had several experiences with humans, this was certainly not the first time for him.

The circumstances had been favourable in this case. It seemed the vampire had wanted a different thrill by kidnapping someone who was part of the demonic Moon Company. He had been pleased in a way that even he would not have dreamed of.

Would he ever have such luck himself?

He laughed in amusement at such thoughts.

Unlike Ferid, he didn't go around kidnapping young women to exploit. The only relationships he had were with his guests.

So no, definitely not. He wouldn't have had the same luck as Ferid.

09/09/2021