Kamakura's terrain is a natural fortress. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, it utilizes narrow, carved-out mountain passes known as kiridoshi to reject invaders from the outside.

  "...We cannot proceed any further on horseback."

  In front of the narrow kiridoshi leading to the Western mansion in Kita-Kamakura, Kei Kajiwara made a bitter decision.

  "All forces, dismount! We march to the mansion on foot!"

  Crunch, crunch, crunch. The armored samurai dismounted and began climbing the narrow slope. The scent of damp moss and the cnking of iron echoed through the air. Amidst that bizarre, intense tension, I walked closely behind Kei.

  Then, the view opened up, and the main gates of the mansion came into sight.

  "...My, my. Aren't you all dressed in quite a dangerous getup?"

  An unexpected scene unfolded before the gates.

  "W-What is that... a barricade?"

  Just inside the gates, antique chairs and high-end tables were piled up to form an improvised fort. And sitting gracefully with her legs crossed at the very top was a single woman.

  "Welcome, descendants of the Kamakura Samurai."

  It was Lady Sofia. However, she wasn't wearing her usual gothic lolita dress. She wore a bright red military tunic with white trousers. A feathered hat sat upon her head, and an unsheathed saber rested on her shoulder. She looked exactly like a commanding officer of the British Empire straight out of a certain Disney pirate movie.

  And standing beside her, wearing rugged Western pte armor over her usual long maid dress and wielding a massive cymore, was Anastasia.

  "I actually wanted to wear my Roman Empire armor, but it was buried way in the back of the closet. I compromised with this uniform from around the Revolutionary War since it was right in the front."

  Lady Sofia chuckled softly and shifted her gaze to me.

  "B-y t-h-e w-a-y, Shigure? What is the meaning of this? Care to expin?"

  "U-Um... well, there's a reason for this that's deeper than Sagami Bay..."

  As I stumbled over my words, Kei stepped forward.

  "No more words!!"

  Gripping the hilt of her katana with trembling hands, Kei raised her voice.

  "I... I am the descendant of Kamakura Gongoro Kagemasa! I am Kei Kajiwara!!"

  Her voice cracked, but her fighting spirit was genuine.

  "To fulfill Lord Yoritomo's dearest wish! Come, let us fight fair and square!!"

  However, Lady Sofia merely stifled a bored yawn.

  "Kajiwara? ...Ah, the descendant of that gejigeji (centipede)."

  "G-Gejigeji...!?"

  "Like father, like son, I suppose. Capable at their jobs, but... truly the exact spitting image of a pest."

  Lady Sofia cast a chilling gnce at Kei before looking back at me.

  "So, what will you do, Shigure? Are you on our side? Or are you siding with the samurai over there?"

  "Eh?"

  "Aiming for the exact moment the Head Maid and the security maids are absent... you've certainly done your research. ...Was it you who leaked that information, Shigure?"

  My heart leaped into my throat. I didn't leak any information... I think. No, wait.

  'Haa... Yoshino, listen to this. The Head Maid and the others are supposed to be here starting today, but I haven't seen them once. It's literally just me and Anastasia-san in the mansion right now. We are so short-staffed...'

  Ah. The memory of compining to my best friend Yoshino in the cssroom st week suddenly came rushing back. The person sleeping (or rather, pretending to sleep) at the desk behind us at that time was... Kei.

  (...I totally leaked cssified information.)

  As I turned pale, Kei, who had been completely ignored in the conversation, shouted as if her patience had snapped.

  "I said, no more words!!"

  With tears in her eyes, she swung her katana downward.

  "Will you mock me any further!? ...Fire!!"

  Along with Kei's agonizing cry, the samurai raised their bows in unison. Thwip, thwip! A volley of arrows rained down upon the two on the barricade.

  "! No!!"

  The moment I screamed...

  Poof. The figures of the two inside the gates vanished into thin air.

  "—Eh?"

  Thud. With a dull sound, a samurai standing right behind me colpsed. When I turned around, I saw Lady Sofia driving her saber directly into the gaps of the samurai's armor.

  "Hii!"

  Her eyes cked their usual listless hue. They burned with the crazed "crimson" of a beast standing before its prey.

  "Aren't you a dangerous bunch..."

  From there, it was a one-sided sughter. In the narrow, chaotic melee of the kiridoshi, Lady Sofia and Anastasia danced as they mowed down the samurai. Every time a bde fshed, a burly man would scream and be sent flying. Blood spttered across the ground, and groans echoed through the pass.

  "K-Kei! It's no use! We can't win against these monsters!"

  One of the surviving samurai grabbed Kei's shoulder with a blood-soaked hand.

  "At least you have to get away! Take the main family's daughter with you!"

  "I can't do that! If that's the case, I will fight with you!"

  "I won't let you escape."

  The Young Lady spoke in a low, menacing voice I had never heard from her before. She slowly approached, swinging her saber to flick off the blood.

  "A sudden decration of war is a breach of etiquette. ...It seems some 'discipline' is required."

  "Hii...!"

  Including Kei, there were only three samurai left. Blood was flowing from Kei's arm as well.

  "We're escaping together!"

  Suddenly, Kei grabbed my hand forcefully and started running.

  "Eh! What!?"

  "Run!!"

  From her back as she ran ahead of me, I could hear her ragged breathing and the pounding of her heart. The hand holding mine was trembling slightly. She was scared. In truth, Kei was terrified out of her mind.

  We ran blindly back the way we came. If we could just make it through this narrow pass, we'd reach the public road. Then we might be saved. However—.

  "...I said, you are not escaping."

  Standing at the exit of the kiridoshi was a silver-haired maid. Anastasia.

  "Hii..."

  The hem of her dress was stained, and someone's spttered blood painted her wrists. The iron armor bore dents from katana strikes, but her body itself appeared completely unscathed. Through her visor, I could see her eyes glowing a vivid, blood-red.

  "Shigure. I have a general grasp of the situation. ...Therefore, hand that person (Kei) over."

  Her usually polite tone was now as cold as ice. Kei, perhaps due to severe blood loss, leaned heavily against my shoulder; it seemed she could no longer move on her own.

  "Um... Anastasia-san... are you mad?"

  My trembling voice leaked out naturally.

  "Yes. I am exceedingly angry."

  An immediate reply. The ft, inflectionless voice paradoxically conveyed the sheer depth of her fury.

  "Um... there are a lot of reasons for this... please, just listen to me..."

  "I will listen to the reasons after I dispose of that person."

  Dispose. At the sound of that sterile, mechanical word, Kei's grip on my hand tightened. Trembling violently, she still tried to step in front of me to protect me.

  "They threw the first punch, so... I know they're in the wrong... But I think the battle is already over... I think... anything more than this is pointless..."

  I desperately squeezed the words out.

  "To let someone who harmed my master escape is a disgrace to a servant."

  Anastasia took a step forward.

  "If you are also a servant of this house, taking our side is the only logical path, is it not?"

  "I-I know that, but...! But Kei-san is going to die...!!"

  I cried out, sobbing.

  "I don't want anyone to die...!!"

  Tears welled up and spilled over, blurring my vision. I didn't know what to do. Caught in the middle, I felt pathetic and miserable for only being able to cry.

  "...So, you will not take my side."

  Anastasia muttered softly. I felt like her voice carried a profound sadness rather than anger. Slowly, she raised her massive cymore toward Kei.

  (Ah, it's over—)

  "—Nastya, that's enough."

  Slip. A white hand gently grasped the hilt of the descending sword from behind. It was Lady Sofia.

  "M-My Lady..."

  "I am fine. You and I have survived countless brushes with death, after all. ...That was a nice bit of exercise, it's been a while."

  Lady Sofia gently wrapped her hands around Anastasia's rigid ones, guiding the sword down. Her voice wasn't the crazed tone from earlier; it was her usual, affectionate voice.

  "Besides, if we make Shigure cry any more, the taste of her blood will turn salty, won't it?"

  Lady Sofia looked at me and fshed a mischievous grin. I colpsed onto the ground, my legs turning to jelly.

  "Anyway, let's take those two prisoners of war (Shigure and Kei) into the mansion. ...I'd like to hear your 'excuses' over a nice cup of tea."

  Later, in the mansion's drawing room.

  Kei had been treated by Anastasia in a separate room (I could have sworn I heard screams), and was now sitting on the sofa, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages. I was sitting in seiza (formal kneeling position) right next to her, facing Lady Sofia.

  "...Now then."

  Taking an elegant sip of her bck tea, Lady Sofia looked down at us.

  "Care to expin, Supreme Commander?"

  Gathering my resolve, I began to expin everything: the "Kajiwara cn's lore" Kei had told me, "Yoritomo's dying wish," and the "massive misunderstanding."

  "...I see."

  Lady Sofia pced her teacup down and let out a small sigh. For someone who just found out her best friend had betrayed her, her reaction was far too light.

  "Um... Lady Sofia. Aren't you sad?"

  I asked timidly.

  "To find out that your best friend from 800 years ago was actually after your life..."

  "Hehe. Shigure, you truly are a kind girl."

  Lady Sofia gazed out the window at the twilight-fading mountains of Kamakura and smiled wistfully.

  "Humans are very fragile creatures. ...Yoritomo, in particur, was an incredibly suspicious and cowardly man. Fearing me and my immense power was likely what he considered his 'duty as a king'."

  "That... might be true, but..."

  "But you see, the memories of drinking together with him, holding our stomachs and ughing out loud... The emotions I felt back then are an undeniable truth."

  Lady Sofia's eyes flickered with the colors of the sunset.

  "Regardless of what Buei thought of me, it doesn't change the fact that they are precious 'memories' to me. ...Therefore, I don't harbor any particur feelings of sadness or resentment."

  For a vampire living through eternity, a human's betrayal might be nothing more than the blink of an eye. Or perhaps, her love was simply deep enough to forgive all of it.

  "I understand your situation as well, Shigure. ...It must have been painful being caught in the middle."

  "N-No! It was my fault...!"

  "Just be more careful from now on. ...And as for the mummified centipede over there (Kei), I'll let her off the hook this time. Though she will be confined in my mansion for the time being."

  "...Y-Yes..."

  Kei shrunk into herself. Having been shown overwhelming martial prowess and an unfathomable depth of character, she had completely lost her will to fight.

  After Kei stumbled off toward the confinement room (?), an immense wave of exhaustion hit me, and I returned to the maids' standby room.

  "Haa... It's finally over..."

  Lady Sofia had forgiven me. But there was still one unresolved problem.

  Click.

  The door opened, and the silver-haired maid—Anastasia—entered.

  "Kh..."

  It was awkward. During the battle earlier, I had rejected her call and protected the enemy (Kei). Her anguished mutter, 'So, you will not take my side,' still echoed in my ears.

  "Um, Anastasia-san... about earlier..."

  Just as I stood up to apologize—

  Stomp, stomp, stomp!

  "Eh?"

  Ignoring my words, Anastasia marched straight toward me with an entirely expressionless face. And then—.

  "Wah!?"

  She effortlessly hoisted my body into the air. Calling it a princess carry would be too gentle. I was slung over her shoulder like a sack of luggage.

  "W-What are you doing!? Let me go!"

  "..."

  She didn't answer. She simply walked out of the room and carried me into the adjacent "nap room."

  "Wait, Anastasia-sa—"

  Thud!!

  I was thrown onto the bed. Along with the creaking of the springs, my vision spun. The moment I tried to escape, Anastasia wedged her leg between mine, tightly locking my thighs in pce. She grabbed both of my wrists and pinned them above my head.

  Total restraint. The eyes looking down at me were like frigid ice, yet they simultaneously smoldered with a burning heat.

  "Shigure."

  "Y-Yes..."

  Her face drew closer. The perfect bridge of her nose, her pale, bloodless skin, and her thin lips. With absolute strength that permitted zero resistance, she issued an order in a quiet but uncompromising tone.

  "...Stick out your tongue."

  "Eh...?"

  My brain short-circuited. My tongue? Why?

  "Did you not hear me? I told you to stick out your tongue."

  Anastasia's eyes glowed with a bewitching red light. I cannot defy her. My instincts were screaming it.

  "Y-Yes..."

  Trembling, I slowly opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue. It was a defenseless and utterly pathetic dispy.

  Anastasia looked down, evaluating my state. Then, narrowing her eyes in satisfaction, she slowly brought her face closer.

  "..."

  When she was so close that her breath brushed against my lips—.

  Smooch...

  "Nn!?"

  Suddenly, the tip of my tongue was captured by her lips. Hot. Even though her skin was supposed to be cold, the spot where she kissed me felt hot enough to burn. She thoroughly and relentlessly sucked on my tongue, as if savoring a premium dessert.

  "Nn... mmph... kh"

  My mind went bnk from the embarrassment and the bizarre sensation. As if to sever my chaotic thoughts, Anastasia narrowed her eyes sharply.

  "...Do not move."

  The next second.

  Bite.

  "Agh...!?"

  A sharp pain shot through me. Anastasia's canine teeth had mercilessly pierced into my tongue. The taste of iron flooded my mouth. It was my blood.

  "Nn... slurp..."

  She didn't pull away. Pressing her lips against the wound, she began to sip every st drop of the fresh blood spilling out. The pain, combined with the unique floating sensation of having my blood drawn. The strength drained from my body, and my fingers, which had been gripping the bedsheets, went sck.

  "...Nn, hah."

  When her lips finally parted, a red thread of saliva and blood trailed from my mouth. Anastasia wiped the blood from her lips with a finger and smiled bewitchingly.

  Pant... Pant...

  As I gasped for air, her hand crept toward my chest. Right over my heart—the pce where the pulse of my life beat—her cold palm pressed down firmly through my dress, as if checking it.

  "..."

  In rhythm with my heartbeat, her fingertips slowly dug into my flesh. Rather than a caress, it was proof of absolute domination, as if she were holding my very life in the palm of her hand.

  "This racing heart, the words spilling from your mouth, the blood flowing in your veins... all of it belongs to me."

  Anastasia decred in a sweet, heavy whisper right into my ear.

  "You are not allowed to use them for anyone else. ...Do you understand?"

  "Y-Yes..."

  "Good."

  She smiled in satisfaction and removed her hand from my chest. However, I wasn't free just yet. The next pce her gaze stopped was my right hand.

  "...Hm?"

  Her eyebrow twitched. She tightly grabbed my right wrist and lifted it to eye level. Crusted onto it were the dried streaks of blood from when I had held Kei's hand and ran earlier.

  "...It stinks."

  Anastasia's voice dropped to absolute zero.

  "I don't like it."

  "U-Um, this is..."

  "Silence."

  She cut me off, gring at me with an overbearing pressure that allowed no argument.

  "It is filthy. It requires disinfection."

  "Eh—"

  No sooner had she spoken than Anastasia pulled my right hand to her mouth and trailed her tongue over the dried blood.

  "Hya!?"

  Rough. It was a slightly abrasive sensation, like the tongue of a cat. She meticulously and relentlessly licked away the other person's blood from my palm, the gaps between my fingers, and my wrist. It was as if she were overwriting the filthy stain with her own saliva.

  "Nn... slurp... lick..."

  Wet sounds and hot breath clung to my right hand. A shiver of embarrassment and fear ran down my spine.

  "A-Anastasia-san... please, no more..."

  "Not yet. ...The stench still lingers."

  She lightly bit my fingertips and looked up at me reproachfully.

  "To hold hands with someone like that... Your hands are not something just anyone can touch so casually."

  "I-I'm sorry..."

  "Show your apology with actions, not words."

  Anastasia finally let go of my newly cleaned (and saliva-soaked) hand, and brought her face close, looming over me. Those red eyes completely filled my vision.

  "Listen to me, Shigure."

  Cupping both of my cheeks with her hands and completely blocking any avenue of escape, she decred.

  "I will not even allow the scent of anyone other than the Young Lady and myself upon you."

  "..."

  "...Your answer?"

  It was an absolute, inescapable cornering. The right to refuse never existed in the first pce. With teary eyes, I parted my trembling lips.

  "...Yes, Anastasia-sama..."

  "There is no need for 'sama'. ...Good girl."

  She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and, finally, pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. That kiss felt as hot as a brand of ownership, carved deeply into my very soul.

  (End of Chapter 7)