After closing the door, Bei Yaoyue returned to a world where she was all alone.

It was a world that belonged only to her. For three years, she hadn't let a single person set foot in it—not even her parents.

“What am I even doing...?”

She leaned against the door. Her sea-blue eyes were calm, yet a faint confusion flickered in them, and her thoughts were a tangled mess.

She wasn't someone who liked being around people. She was used to living alone, and even enjoyed it. In internet slang, she was probably a shut-in girl—or even a shut-in otaku, and that wouldn't be an exaggeration.

So aside from her relatives, she had pitifully few friends. She could almost count them on one hand.

When she found out Xi Feng was a vampire, she'd gone to confront her, but really, it was only because she was curious about vampires. She wanted to meet one of those fantastical creatures that existed only in legends and novels.

But when she saw that delicate, incredibly timid little white-haired girl, something soft inside her was struck hard.

That white figure was like a rainbow-colored glass jewel radiating a strange kind of magic. It stirred a peculiar desire deep within her.

What was it, exactly? A desire to protect her? To control her? Or... to destroy her?

She didn't know.

Then, somehow, she'd been bewitched into demanding that Xi Feng become her maid. No—perhaps it was more accurate to say she'd blackmailed Xi Feng into becoming her maid with the surveillance footage.

Was it because she wanted to control this little vampire, or because she wanted to get close to her?

She couldn't make sense of it either. She'd never felt so unfamiliar to herself, like a stranger she'd never met before.

She usually went out of her way to avoid everyone and never approached anyone first. Yet today, she'd done something so out of character that even she couldn't understand it. All she could feel was confusion.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

A tremendous pounding came from the door behind her, startling Bei Yaoyue out of her daze.

It was less like knocking and more like someone pounding the door down.

“Who is it?”

“It's me...”

The voice was soft and weak, like someone who hadn't eaten enough speaking from a state of extreme exhaustion. It was unmistakable. Who else could it be but that little vampire who looked like she could barely stay on her feet?

Her thoughts were still a mess, and for now, she didn't want to see Xi Feng. But then again, Xi Feng was going to be her maid. It wouldn't be right to leave her waiting like this.

“What is it?” Bei Yaoyue opened the door and looked at Xi Feng, who seemed anxious. “Have you finished packing? That was fast.”

It had only been a few minutes since Bei Yaoyue went back to her room. Wasn't that a little too fast?

“No... it's...” Xi Feng hesitated, struggling with herself for a moment. Then, her face flushed slightly, she said in a small voice, “There's something I wanted to ask you...”

“No.” Bei Yaoyue rejected her outright and started to close the door. “Since when does a maid ask her master to do things for her? That turns the whole master-servant relationship upside down. It's completely improper.”

“W-wait...!” Xi Feng braced the door with her thin arm and gave an awkward smile. “Master... please... It's really just a little thing. All you have to do is move your hand...”

The resistance against the door was so slight it was almost negligible. If Bei Yaoyue pushed, she could still close it easily. But when she saw that pleading look, she wavered.

A thin sheen of tears clouded those big, fluttering eyes. Her pure crimson irises shimmered with longing, as if she were a kitten that hadn't eaten in days, begging food from the cruel owner who'd left her hungry. Bei Yaoyue couldn't bring herself to refuse.

After a brief hesitation, Bei Yaoyue let out a quiet sigh and decided to give in a little. “Tell me.”

She'd never been a soft-hearted person. Today, she didn't feel like herself.

“It's just...” Xi Feng's face grew even redder. She lowered her head shyly, pressed her lips together, and stayed silent for a long while before finally speaking. “Could you... pat me on the head?”

As soon as she said it, the blush spread from her face to her neck, then across her whole body. The intense embarrassment made her feel almost dizzy.

If she'd checked her system, she would've seen that her embarrassment level had reached a whopping 87.8%.

At that moment, Xi Feng wanted to die of embarrassment. She'd thought having this training system would be a stroke of luck. Reality had shown her just how cruel things could be.

She actually had to figure out how to make Bei Yaoyue perform the actions required by the mission without letting Bei Yaoyue find out about it!

That was even worse than training herself. Whoever came up with something like this had to be a demon!

Who knew what kind of intense inner struggle she'd gone through before finally working up the nerve to shamelessly ask Bei Yaoyue to pat her on the head.

If that electric-shock punishment hadn't looked so terrifying, she never would've come here to humiliate herself.

A ten-second, 36-volt shock would've been no big deal for her before. It was only a safe voltage; it would hurt for a while, then pass.

But with her body now so sensitive to pain... If she got shocked... The thought alone made her tremble with fear.

“...?” Xi Feng's request left Bei Yaoyue completely stunned. She'd seen kittens seek affection from their owners, but who actually asked someone to pat them on the head? Was this one of those legendary cases of humans being completely baffling?

“Give me a reason.”

As she spoke, Bei Yaoyue began seriously wondering whether her little maid had watched too much anime and suffered some kind of anime-induced side effect.

“Because... because... I... like having my head patted...” Xi Feng fought the urge to turn and run, then raised her flushed face to look at Bei Yaoyue. Her voice grew even more pleading. “Please, Master...?”

After that cute, coaxing little plea, even a heart of stone would've started to melt. And even Bei Yaoyue, cold as she was, felt the fortress around her heart begin to crumble.

But she bit her lip and forced herself to suppress that wavering feeling.

She couldn't give in. If she did it once, there'd be a second time. If she gave in now, she couldn't be sure she wouldn't do it again. To preserve her absolute authority as the master, she couldn't let herself soften.

“That's not a good enough reason.” To avoid Xi Feng's pitiful gaze, Bei Yaoyue subtly looked away. “If you don't have an objective reason, I won't agree to your request.”

“Just once... Please, Master...” Xi Feng's voice had begun to break, and her overly active tear ducts betrayed her, quietly gathering a few sparkling drops at the corners of her eyes.

She really was about to cry. By the time she'd decided to come over, there'd been less than two minutes left on the mission timer. After all that talking, the deadline was probably here already.

Somebody save her! She didn't want to be punished with electric shocks!

“...” Bei Yaoyue fell silent, indecision flickering in her eyes.

A frail little white-haired girl stood before you, tear-streaked and pleading in a pitiful, wavering voice for you to pat her on the head. If you could still refuse that, you weren't just hard-hearted—you were completely cold-blooded.

Under the combined assault of cuteness, tears, and pleading, Bei Yaoyue was thoroughly defeated. She let out a sigh and was just about to agree when Xi Feng suddenly crouched down, clutching her shoulders.

Her small, frail body shook violently. Her skin, which had been tinged pink just moments ago, turned deathly pale, and a sheen of cold sweat gradually appeared. She looked as though she was enduring unbearable pain.

Bei Yaoyue stared at the sight, stunned and at a loss.

About ten seconds later, Xi Feng slowly lifted her head. Her already pale complexion seemed even whiter now. Cold sweat had soaked the bangs on her forehead, and her cherry-pink lips had almost completely lost their color. At the corner of her mouth, a split that looked like it had been bitten open was steadily spilling blood.

She used almost all her willpower to bite down hard on her lip, keeping every anguished cry trapped in her throat. The pain from the 36-volt shock had nearly made her pass out.

But to keep the system a secret, she could only suppress her reaction as much as possible. After all, if the system fell into Bei Yaoyue's hands, the consequences would be unthinkable.

“...What's wrong?”

Bei Yaoyue looked flustered and lost her composure. Did having your head patted mean something special to vampires? Would refusing to do it make them suffer terribly?

If that was the case, why hadn't this idiot just said so? Bei Yaoyue wasn't that unreasonable.

“It's nothing...” Xi Feng gave her groggy head a shake and managed a weak smile. She slowly got to her feet. “I'll go back and pack my things.”

With that, Xi Feng turned and left without another word, leaving Bei Yaoyue standing there, utterly confused.

“...Did I do something wrong?”