3:28 AM. Kanata unlocked the door to her low-rent apartment on the city’s outskirts. She had just finished serving Sovereign Alessia with blood. After the woman fell asleep, Kanata slipped out quietly, took the intercity train, and after a long, exhausting journey, finally made it home.
Tomorrow was her day off. At last, she could catch a tiny breath and spend the whole day with Nozomi.
The apartment lights were still on tonight—odd.
“Nozomi must’ve fallen asleep with the lights on again…”
A bit wasteful, but understandable. Living alone, her little sister had always been delicate and afraid of the dark. Without the lights, she felt no safety.
All Kanata needed to do was slip quietly into the room and sleep beside her.
But…
“If you don’t shower, I won’t let you get into bed.”
Nozomi was still awake, holding a book borrowed from the Imperial Guard library—advanced material on weapons against infected entities, the kind only Imperial Guard engineers or mechanical engineering students would study.
Her sister was gifted, deeply curious. When bored at home, she’d tinker with mechanical parts at her workbench.
Heaven had taken her health, even her ability to walk—but granted other gifts in return.
“I’m sorry… I’m just too tired. I just want to sleep. Shower… later.”
Kanata didn’t want Nozomi to see the marks on her body. Especially her neck—covered in bite marks and kiss marks left by Sovereign Alessia.
The collar of her Imperial Guard uniform shirt was tight; buttoning the last button always choked her. But to hide those shameful traces, she endured it.
Guiltily, she changed into a high-collared nightgown and tossed the clothes stained with *that woman’s* scent into the old washing machine in frustration.
Yet Alessia’s scent clung stubbornly. A sharp wave of humiliation kept twisting her heart.
“Guess I really do need to shower after all.”
She’d surrendered—not to her sister’s “persuasion,” but to this absurd excuse. *Reality toys with me*, she thought bitterly. *Mercilessly.*
Hot water poured over her head. Only then did her stiff, weary body slowly relax under the warmth.
Events from two hours ago flashed through her mind like a slideshow.
That fiery kiss, laced with wine—refusing to fade.
…
Kanata had thought: once Alessia drank her blood and suppressed the withdrawal, she’d be sent home. All she wanted was rest, to face tomorrow’s duties with strength.
But she was paid by the Sovereign—and that money never came easy.
“Wait. I didn’t say you could leave. You’re not going anywhere.”
Alessia wiped a trace of blood from her lips, satisfied. Her fangs had retracted; her bloodshot eyes calmed.
Yet she still seemed unsatisfied.
The kiss struck without warning. Kanata tasted blood—*her* blood. Not the sweet nectar the Sovereign described, but sharp iron, faintly tinged with red wine.
“Mmph…”
Breath stolen. Seized wildly.
*Damn it. I wasn’t ready… and this was my first kiss.*
Her mind buzzed. Vision blurred. Thoughts dissolved into white noise. Only heat surged through her, threatening to melt her bones.
Lips met—soft, dizzying. Reason floated away.
Her legs gave out. She collapsed into Alessia’s arms, utterly dependent.
Scorching breath. Burning skin. Kanata felt like an overworked motor, seconds from exploding.
Only when nearly breathless was she released—collapsing onto the plush carpet with a soft *thud*.
As their lips parted, a silvery thread of saliva snapped silently.
“Hah… hah…”
Her hands gripped the carpet. Chest heaving. Cheeks flushed crimson, ears burning.
Alessia stood above her—haughty, condescending.
“Today, at the corner… I saw you with Gen. So *that* flirtatious woman is your type?”
The Sovereign brushed Kanata’s deep violet hair aside. Her words dripped with jealousy, thick with disdain for Gen.
Or not jealousy—just raw, suffocating possessiveness.
Kanata’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.
“So… Your Excellency *saw* them harassing me… and just watched. Truly, a ‘just and strict’ Sovereign.”
*Of course*, she mused. *This woman’s selfishness is monstrous. What am I to her? That she didn’t humiliate me further was already… “leniency.”*
A bitterly sarcastic kindness.
“Beyond the fact that you are my Bloodbond Thrall, nothing else concerns you.”
Alessia leaned in, seized Kanata’s wrist, and pulled her down.
Scorching breath grazed her ear, teasing her nerves.
“Your sister’s surgery is in a few days, isn’t it? Disobey me… and she dies.”
Again—the ever-reliable threat.
“You stay tonight. Leave only after I sleep. I’ll have someone inform Nozomi.”
“…”
Not a request. An order.
“Everything… is as you command.”
Kanata closed her eyes.
Waiting.
And once more, that unreasonable woman stole her breath away.
