Still, Hild couldn’t help feeling sorry for old Pericles. Aspasia hadn’t actually been unfaithful. The truth was, Hild’s body was Athena’s body. Athena had given her divine body to Hild, then reincarnated in Aspasia’s womb and been born from it. She wasn’t Pericles’ child, nor was she Aspasia’s. To be precise, she had nothing to do with either of them.

Hild herself didn’t know why the goddess Athena had taken a liking to her.

She’d died and met Athena. The goddess told her, “You’re the only hope of saving Olympus,” and asked Hild to take something with her. But Hild hadn’t even heard what it was before she crossed over into this mess of a body. All she could remember was Athena’s appearance: a beautiful girl with silver hair and violet eyes. Since she’d ended up looking the same, she figured she must have inherited Athena’s body.

What was this supposed to be?

Some kind of Nezha reincarnation?

Hild certainly hadn’t wanted this. For the past decade or so, she’d been living under what amounted to house arrest.

Byzantium was a little far away, sure, but at least once she was there, she’d be free of Pericles and those Athenian lunatics keeping an eye on her. A whole new world would open up, and Hild could do whatever she wanted without worrying about how any of them felt. The thought made Hild burst out laughing as soon as she returned to her room.

“Miss, are you all right?”

Sophia stared at Hild in alarm.

“You’ve been exiled!”

“And! Your! Point!”

Hild suddenly raised her voice.

She turned around, her striking violet eyes suddenly meeting Sophia’s.

The stars in her eyes began to whirl at dizzying speed, and a crimson glow filled her pupils.

“Miss, I…”

A surge of magic shot through Sophia, from her brain to the soles of her feet, like lightning. It was as if every blood vessel in her body had been tightly bound in chains. The red rune on her hand grew more active, throbbing like a heart that wouldn’t stop beating. Sophia’s face suddenly flushed red, and her body went limp. She sank to her knees on the floor. Hild took hold of her chin and gazed into her eyes, now crimson, as she said:

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Miss… P-please, go ahead…”

“I’ve been exiled, but I told Father I’m taking you with me. Still, I should’ve asked you first, and I don’t know how you feel about it. You know Byzantium is a long way away. If you go there, you might never come back for the rest of your life. So I want you to think carefully: do you want to come with me or not?”

Sophia looked at Hild in surprise.

She couldn’t even understand why Hild was saying this.

“Miss, I…”

“If you want to come with me, we’ll leave tomorrow, and you’ll never have anything to do with Pericles again. If you don’t, that’s fine too. I’ll help you break the contract and return to normal. You won’t have to give me your blood anymore, and you won’t have to beg for my affection. From then on, you’ll be free. So, it’s your choice. Come with me and be my slave for the rest of your life, or stay here and gain your freedom.”

Sophia looked into Hild’s eyes.

They seemed capable of swallowing the entire galaxy.

If almost no one could get close to Hild, everyone would probably have their souls drawn into those eyes. And the word “freedom” echoed in Sophia’s mind. Was she really normal now? Clearly not. The moment the rune was carved into her hand, Sophia had become Hild’s servant—a servant in the truest sense of the word. She wasn’t even really a person anymore. Could someone who’d made a contract with a demon still be called human?

But even if she wasn’t human, even if she could regain her freedom…

Neither mattered as much as the pain of being separated from Hild.

The thought of leaving Hild’s side filled Sophia with a terror that felt capable of destroying everything.

“No… I don’t want to…”

“What is it you don’t want?” Hild asked with a smile.

“I don’t want to leave you! Miss… No, Master! Please don’t abandon me! I’ll stay by your side. Wherever you go, I’ll follow. I’ll never leave you!” Sophia frantically pulled open her collar, revealing her long, slender, pale neck. “I mean it. I’ll never leave you. I’ll be your most loyal slave for the rest of my life, your most loyal food. Master, please feed on me…”

“What a good girl.”

Everything was going exactly as Hild had planned.

She reached out and gently stroked Sophia’s wine-red hair. Then she bent down and lightly licked her neck.

“Master…”

Sophia hugged Hild tightly and gently closed her eyes.

“Master, please be gentle…”

“Time to eat.”

After those quiet words, Hild’s fangs pierced Sophia’s neck.

Five minutes later.

Sophia lay limp on Hild’s bed, her cheeks flushed as she slept. Her chest rose and fell evenly as she sank into a deep sleep. Hild sat at her desk, lost in thought. Her eyes had returned to their purplish red, and the crimson glow from before had vanished. She was once again the beautiful human girl, Hild.

Even now, Hild was still puzzled. She was supposedly Athena reincarnated, yet somehow, as a goddess, she had to survive by drinking other people’s blood. So she kept that part of herself hidden. The only one who knew was her personal maid—and delicious little snack—Sophia.

Hild also had a special ability.

She could place a curse-contract on anyone she fed on.

Anyone she bit would become her servant. They couldn’t attack her or go against her wishes. But they didn’t become her puppets, either. When she wasn’t around, they were still free to do as they pleased. Hild had also discovered that drinking blood made her stronger, and the stronger the person she fed on, the faster her own power grew. Those were all things she’d figured out by secretly biting people over the years.

Honestly, how could a perfectly good goddess…

…end up as a bloodsucking demon?