“Blood… essence?” Charlotte tilted her head. Confused, yet with her heart snared by the glow like a moth to a lamp, her gaze couldn’t leave Fulin’s palm.

Cradling the radiance, Fulin said, “My clan is the Chaos Vampire. Chaos is the first dawn of all things. The essence we command is the spring that feeds all life. The blood your Dark Blood Clan drinks is to harvest that essence.”

Of course, that was Fulin’s stitched story from Chaos Vampire lore. Truth? She had no idea.

Charlotte listened, eyes starry, fixed on the glow. “Amazing! The Chaos Vampire is so strong, to wield such life-force. I’ve never heard of such a blood clan!”

“Is that so?” Fulin pocketed the essence, her gaze turning to the window, voice dropping. “It was a very long time ago.”

With the glow gone, Charlotte’s high spirits dulled like a lantern snuffed.

“How long?”

“How long…” Her tone was like a sigh, eyes on the slow river of scenery outside. “Back then, boats still stayed in the water; none flew in the sky, and the wild had no magical beasts.”

“Eh? No magical beasts? No way—!”

“It’s fact. I can’t prove it to you. I’m from that era, that’s all.”

“So awesome! Like the old world from epic songs!”

“Is it…” Fulin lowered her head.

“It is—!” Charlotte’s eyes sparkled.

Fulin turned back from the window and met Charlotte’s shining gaze. “Anyway, you believe me now, right?”

She pressed a hand to her chest. “I’m not Shelika’s daughter. My name is Fulin Belit, a Chaos Vampire.”

Charlotte nodded, delighted. “Mm-hmm— I got it. Fulin, right—!”

Watching her grow cheerful again, Fulin’s feelings knotted by a string of lies, she asked, “Charlotte, you don’t hate me?”

Charlotte tilted her head, twin tails flicking like willow leaves. “Hate you? You’re this cute. Why would Charlotte hate you?”

“Do you take me for a doll?!”

“No, no—”

Anger wouldn’t help with that whimsical mind, so Fulin steadied herself. “I mean I deceived you with Shelika’s face.”

“Deceived?”

Fulin lowered her eyes, voice soft. “Yeah… Isn’t she your favorite elder sister? I used her look to get close. Don’t you hate me? Aren’t you angry?”

“Put that way, I do feel a little mad…”

“Sorry,” Fulin whispered.

Before she could finish, Charlotte’s tone turned on a dime. “But— these past two weeks—”

“The one who keeps forgiving my blunders is you. The one who helped the city warmly is you. The one who spared the young magical beasts is you. The one who stood against the beast horde to shield the city is you—”

“Think about it— you’ve done many things the real elder sister wouldn’t.”

“Things Shelika wouldn’t?” Fulin frowned, honestly baffled; as a Dark Spirit, she felt none of it was wrong.

Charlotte smiled, regret rippling like a pale moon on water. “Our Dark Blood Clan cares deeply about bloodline and rank. It’s strict, like iron chains.”

“Someone like elder sister, with noble blood— speaking to her is near impossible. You’re the one who granted that wish. And also—”

“The Dark Blood Clan can be selfish. We rarely help others, and often act proud. You set a different example— you stood up for the city. You showed me, by doing, what I should do.”

Charlotte smiled. “The elder sister you played was like a true knight— worthy of worship, and envy.”

“Is that so…” Fulin had no words.

Not wanting her to see whatever might cross her face, Fulin turned her back. “However you think of me, what I’m doing next isn’t play. You have to choose.”

“Choose?” Charlotte tilted her head at that cute, lonely little back.

“Yeah. I haven’t told you my aim. So listen. First choice—”

Her silhouette was sweet; her words were a blade. “If you wish to keep traveling with me, abandon your Dark Blood Clan identity and status. Renounce your faith in the Earth Mother. Swear loyalty to me.”

“Eh— eh— eh—?!” The shock hit like cold water.

Fulin offered a retreat: “If you want your quiet daily life back, I’ll seal your memories. Everything between us these past two weeks will pass like a breeze. You’ll forget me forever.”

Time ticked in the carriage, and the window carried a slow river of scenes. Staring at that cute back, made lonelier by youth without company, Charlotte’s shock settled.

She didn’t answer at once. She asked, puzzled, “Fulin, why do I have to choose all that?”

“Because I’m a Chaos Vampire.”

“Just because of that?” Charlotte blinked, not getting it.

“Yes. Just because of that.” Fulin’s voice was a sigh.

“Charlotte, you know it too.” Fulin’s words moved like a low wind. “On this Nordland Continent, Celestial Spirit and Dark Spirit have waged war for a long time. Imagine the world learning a blood clan like me exists— strong and strange. What would they do?”

Charlotte lowered her head and held her tongue.

The outside slid by gently, and Fulin kept on: “First, it depends on me. If I bow and let the world use me, they’ll fight over me harder, and chaos spreads.”

“Second, if I refuse and resist, Celestial Spirit and Dark Spirit might join hands against me. Then the living would drown in suffering, and peace would shatter.”

“So I have to be careful, twice over. I can’t let the world know I exist. Do you understand?”

She let those harsh truths sit, heavy for one girl to carry. Charlotte thought a moment, pure-hearted, then lifted her head softly. “Fulin, you…”

She moved behind her, half-kneeling, her growing body leaning to Fulin’s back like a small, warm quilt. From behind, she held Fulin in a gentle embrace. “You’ve been alone. It must be so hard.”