[Your relationship with Kitahara Toru is steadily deepening.]
[On the surface, you still maintain your proud persona, yet deep inside, after centuries of loneliness, you crave companionship.]
[The child you once picked up on a whim has, at some point, quietly moved into your heart.]
[Watching him grow day by day, growing into the kind of person you like… a sense of accomplishment wells up inside you.]
"Maybe this is the joy of raising someone."
But when she thought about how, decades later, they would most likely have to part ways, Kagarino Kirie felt a slight ache in her stomach.
It should be fine, right?
After all, vampires can turn others into their own kind.
Mm… probably.
[He keeps getting taller. He surpassed you as soon as he entered middle school. Now at fourteen, you already have to look up at him.]
[It is all because when you became a vampire, you were too young, and your body lost the room to grow.]
"I should still grow taller, right?"
Kirie suddenly stood up and lowered her head to look at her feet.
She was beautiful, that much was true, but there was one thing she felt insecure about.
That was how she could always see her toes whenever she looked down…
That meant a certain part of her was rather unremarkable.
Thankfully.
Her real self was not a vampire.
Once she got to college, her chest would definitely grow.
Otherwise, staying stuck in this loli body forever would be way too tragic.
After comforting herself inwardly, Kirie continued reading the simulation content.
[Kitahara Toru discusses with you that he wants to give up the path of acting. Life is short, and he does not want to waste the time he could spend by your side.]
[You reply——]
[1. "I do not need your company. I raised you back then just to pass the time. Do not flatter yourself."]
[2. "That sounds fine. Do as you like."]
[3. "Make your own decisions. Do not come asking me about everything."]
[4. Simulate personally.]
Three options, three different attitudes.
The first option was distant, fitting the persona of a vampire princess.
The second, though awkward in wording, indirectly expressed a desire for care and closeness.
The third…
The child has grown up and cannot rely too much on his mother anymore. Kagarino Kirie felt that sentiment.
She chose option 2.
Kirie wanted to experience a more fulfilling story.
If both sides could move toward each other, that would be the best outcome.
["That sounds fine. Do as you like." You sit in the study, flipping through a grimoire without looking up.]
[Standing at the entrance, Kitahara Toru hears the concern hidden in your words.]
["Onee-chan, do you want to go to school with me?"]
[Relying on his genius intellect, Kitahara Toru has already obtained a recommendation to an advanced high school. There are only a few months left until he graduates from middle school.]
[He hopes you can attend high school together with him.]
["No."]
[You have already experienced student life more than a dozen times.]
[Over the long years, in different countries, you have learned different cultures, experienced the many faces of the human world, and accumulated knowledge as vast as the ocean.]
[Going to school is merely a way to kill boredom, or rather, a waste of time.]
["Nee-chan stays at home every day. Do you not get bored?"]
["No."]
[After saying this, you stop paying attention to him.]
[Kitahara Toru loses interest and gives up on asking for your opinion.]
[The reason you refused him was simply that you did not want to interfere with his life…]
[Humans should be with other humans, not spending every day by your side, revolving around a dangerous vampire monster.]
[You hope he can understand your good intentions.]
[Winter passes, spring arrives.]
[Kitahara Toru enters high school. Because the school is nearby, he comes home as early as possible every day, chatting with you and helping you prepare dinner.]
[This kind of life continues for a month.]
[In the second month after the semester begins, you notice something unusual——]
[Kitahara Toru's daily return time changes. After some roundabout probing, you learn that he has made friends at school. One is a girl named Yamada Ryo. Besides her, there seems to be another girl, though you are not very sure.]
[Not being very straightforward, you do not dare to ask him directly and can only keep this matter buried in your heart.]
[——One day, Kitahara Toru will find a partner. In his heart, your position may slip from first place… down to second, third. In the future, once he has children, he may move out to live on his own… Every time you imagine such an ending, your mood grows irritable.]
[You have never been in love, so you do not know what these emotions mean.]
[You only know that every night at dinner, you swallow a few extra mouthfuls of his blood, leaving him with less energy so that he can come home on time every day.]
[Strangely enough, despite having his blood drawn by you for several years, Kitahara Toru shows no signs of anemia at all. He is so lively that you sometimes wonder whether he is truly human. Yet his blood is indeed human blood, and as a vampire, you are certain of this.]
[At the end of spring.]
[Under Kitahara Toru's relentless insistence, you go out with him once, to Disneyland in Chiba.]
[Setting aside the process, it was fairly enjoyable?]
[Only one thing troubles you... you cannot be recorded by cameras. This means it is difficult for you to preserve memories with him. Photography, an invention that captures and freezes memory and time, is the simplest and most convenient way for humans to preserve beauty in their short lives.]
[Because you cannot take photos, your mood during this date is not as wonderful as you imagined.]
[Kitahara Toru seems to guess what you are thinking and comforts you, saying that it does not matter if you cannot be captured in photos. All memories related to you will be stored in his mind... at least until his death, they will not be easily forgotten.]
[What Kitahara Toru does not expect is that upon hearing these words, you instead turn cold toward him.]
['Death, death, death... why say such unlucky things for no reason?']
[More than a decade of time is not long for you, yet you have still developed feelings of not wanting Kitahara Toru to leave your side.]
[Perhaps, you could turn him into one of your own kind?]
[But turning someone into a vampire is equivalent to adding a family member, a partner. It is an extremely shameful act.]
[Still young, you do not have the courage to add a partner.]
[To you, Kitahara Toru is more like a servant than a lover.]
[Blindly turning him into one of your own kind is not a good choice. You need to think for a very, very long time.]
[Probably.]
[After a few decades pass, you will be able to make up your mind.]
[Humans are more fragile than you imagine, yet also stronger than you imagine. You believe there is still plenty of time to consider this.]
[Before that, you hope that no accidents will occur.]