I’m Not Falling for the Vampire Princess! - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Suika looked at Jona, her tone remaining calm as ever. “So, are you going with Fanier?”

Jona gripped Suika’s hand tightly. Her heart screamed no, but she didn’t dare say it in front of Fanier. After all, this princess the one the King had simply picked up—had the audacity to break into Princess Aurora’s castle just to drink her blood. If she provoked her, Jona feared the little blood she had left wouldn’t last three days.

Jona hoped Suika would take her away decisively, but clearly, Suika wasn’t the type to do such things.

Ignoring Jona’s terrified expression, Fanier forcibly pried Jona’s hand away and spoke provocatively, “Sister Suika, it seems Miss Jona doesn’t really want to go home with you.”

A look of hurt crossed Suika’s eyes, yet she said nothing. She released Jona’s hand, handed the umbrella to her, and turned to walk away.

Jona’s eyes widened. Wait, she’s just leaving? Like that??

Wasn’t Jona her nominal fiancée? Was she really going to just watch her fall into Fanier’s hands? No wonder Jona died so miserably in the book; it turned out Suika didn’t care about Jona’s life at all.

But Suika was a legitimate princess and the one in charge of the vampires’ magical potions; why would she fear Fanier? Even if she wasn’t skilled in destructive magic, in terms of sheer power, she shouldn’t lose to Fanier.

Suika had already walked far away. Fanier’s hand rested lightly on Jona’s shoulder as she sneered, “If you keep staring at Suika, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

The biting chill couldn’t be dispelled even by the sunlight. Jona was so frightened she nearly dropped the umbrella. She asked tentatively, “Um, I might have eaten something bad… I don’t remember much. So, can you tell me what exactly happened between us? And why did I become Princess Suika’s fiancée?”

“You can actually come up with such a lame lie. What, do you want to become Aurora’s fiancée instead?” Fanier snatched the umbrella from Jona’s hand.

Jona expected the ruthless princess to throw the umbrella away, but surprisingly, Fanier supported Jona and held the umbrella over her.

Unfamiliar with the surroundings, Jona could only follow Fanier with great effort. Seemingly dissatisfied with Jona’s slow pace, Fanier scanned the area. Seeing that the street was empty, she once again reached out toward Jona.

“I’m giving you one last chance. Are you going to feed or not? If you keep putting on these fake airs of restraint, I won’t care if you live or die.”

Feeding meant drinking blood. The mere thought of the metallic scent made Jona’s stomach turn. She shook her head frantically.

Turning her head, she spotted a fruit stall by the road with many tomatoes. Jona’s eyes lit up, and she asked Fanier, “Do you have any money?”

“What?” Fanier looked as if she had heard something absurd. She followed Jona’s gaze and saw the piles of tomatoes. “You… you aren’t going to eat food meant for blood-servants, are you?” Fanier’s face was written with pure disgust.

Jona swallowed hard. “Is it not allowed?”

She hadn’t eaten in a long time. She couldn’t bring herself to drink blood like the other vampires, and having been fed upon by Aurora and Fanier in turns, she was now extremely weak. If she didn’t eat some normal food soon, she felt she truly might die.

Seeing Jona’s pitiful eyes, Fanier stepped forward impatiently, tossed a gold coin, and picked up a tomato to hand to her. “You’d better not play tricks. If you don’t finish it, don’t blame me for being rough with you.”

Jona took the tomato and nodded gratefully. “I promise I’ll eat all of it!”

Watching Jona take large bites of the tomato—to the point where tomato juice stained her cheeks Fanier looked puzzled. “Is food for blood-servants really that delicious?”

Jona nodded vigorously. In this world, being able to eat normal food felt wonderful.

Jona wolfed down the tomato. Feeling she wasn’t full, she pleaded, “Can I have another one?”

“Take it yourself. Do you expect me to feed you?” Fanier held the umbrella, her tone dripping with impatience.

“But I don’t have any money. Can you buy me another one?” In Jona’s mind, you had to pay for things. Fanier had only paid for one tomato; how could she take a second?

“That gold coin is enough to buy this entire stall. How much more money do you want? Is this stall your property, and you’re trying to use this as an excuse to scam me? Miss Jona, do you think I’m as stupid as I used to be?”

“No, no! I really didn’t know how much a tomato costs.” Seeing Fanier approach, Jona shook her head frantically. She couldn’t begin to imagine what the original host had done to Fanier.

Jona decided that the more she said, the more mistakes she’d make. It was better to just eat her tomatoes quietly. After all, Fanier’s current behavior suggested she had been deeply hurt by the original Jona.

Jona shook her head, forcing herself not to think about it. She had just picked up the second tomato and before she could take a bite, a sharp pain shot through her lower abdomen. It felt as if a knife was inside her, shredding her internal organs.

Is the food poisoned? But who would poison a fruit stall? Jona didn’t have time to think. The tomato rolled to the ground, and she clutched her stomach, sinking slowly. As she collapsed, she grabbed Fanier’s ankle and pleaded, “It hurts… help me…”

Fanier kicked Jona’s hand away. “What act are you playing now! Stop faking it!”

Jona closed her eyes helplessly. She regretted not washing it before eating. It must be food poisoning from an unclean tomato. But wasn’t this a vampire’s body? Why was it so fragile? Before Jona could figure it out, the world turned black, and she fainted.

Seeing that Jona’s state was truly wrong, Fanier finally knelt to check on her.

“Heh. To stay by Suika’s side, you really have no end of tricks.”

This was the last sentence Jona heard before losing consciousness.

“Fanier, you shouldn’t have given her random things to eat.”

“Suika, you’d better get your facts straight before taking sides! She’s the one who insisted on eating it!”

“Regardless, as a vampire, one cannot consume unprocessed food while in a state of starvation.”

“I’m a vampire too; how come I’ve never heard of such a rule!”

“It’s not a rule; it’s common sense.”

“Heh. Who knows what kind of scheme this devious woman is playing. Suika, don’t say I didn’t warn you keeping a woman so full of lies by your side will only lead to regret.”

With that, the sound of high heels gradually faded away.

Jona slowly opened her eyes. She felt a sharp pain all over her body, as if she had been beaten. Looking down, she found a bruise on her arm. Not again, was I bitten again?

Jona checked carefully and found no tooth marks on the bruise it seemed she had fallen. Looking at the scrapes on her knees, Jona couldn’t imagine how she had been unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

Suika also noticed the bruise on Jona’s arm. Recalling how Fanier had casually tossed Jona in front of her, she leaned down and lightly kissed the painful spot on Jona’s arm. When the cool lips touched the aching area, Jona thought Suika was going to drink her blood too and instinctively shrank back.

But the narrow operating table didn’t offer much room to move, and Jona soon had nowhere to retreat. She spotted various knives on the side table and couldn’t help but hug her arm. How did I wake up in a place like this? Is Suika going to dissect me?

Sensing Jona’s fear, Suika said apologetically, “It’s my lack of ability to protect you. I should have caught you when Fanier threw you to the ground… it’s my fault for not having Fanier’s speed.”

Jona’s eyes widened. As Suika touched her, the bruise on her arm slowly vanished, and the scrapes on her legs healed.

Jona looked into Suika’s eyes. In the novel, she hadn’t inherited the Queen’s pale blue eyes but instead possessed emerald-green pupils. She wasn’t like Aurora, born to inherit the throne, nor was she like Fanier, reckless with her power, and she couldn’t be as willful as Sisha.

Initially, Jona couldn’t imagine what this legendary, aloof princess would look like. But seeing the look of disappointment in Suika’s eyes, a pang of pity suddenly rose in her heart. Her fiancée was entangled with others, yet she had to face it with such poise.

“Thank you, Princess Suika,” Jona thanked her sincerely. She felt that the Suika before her seemed much kinder than the other princesses. Jona almost lost herself in those green eyes, but the physical pain snapped her back to reality.

Wait. I remember in the novel, Suika nearly poisoned everyone else and even gouged out their hearts. In this world of survival of the fittest, there was no such thing as “kindness.”

Suika gently stroked the bite marks on Jona’s neck, her tone a bit helpless. “Does it hurt? Fanier simply has that temperament; I apologize to you on her behalf.”

Jona nodded, then shook her head. “How long will it take for this bite mark to heal?”

“A spell was placed on this wound. Even I cannot remove the brand, let alone wait for it to heal on its own… but it’s fine, we’ll find a way.”

Jona asked tentatively, “Did I faint because I ate the tomato?”

“Not entirely. You lost a significant amount of blood and didn’t replenish it in time. Eating other food abruptly will indeed cause discomfort.”

Just discomfort? Jona remembered feeling like she was dying.

Suika picked up a bottle of pale blue liquid from the shelf. “This is an energy-replenishing potion. Fanier mentioned you’ve switched to a vegetarian diet lately; drink a bit of this before eating, and you won’t feel so bad.”

Jona took the potion, feeling relieved. Perhaps Princess Suika wasn’t bad by nature; she shouldn’t let the novel influence her. “Is this your home?”

Actually, Jona wanted to ask, Is this your laboratory?

Suika froze. Seeing the vigilance and fear in Jona’s eyes, she said with some disappointment, “I suppose so. I do spend most of my time here. You… don’t like it here?”

Jona felt the place was eerie and indeed didn’t like it. But seeing how gentle the person before her was, she didn’t have the heart to say words that would hurt Suika.

Suika, however, seemed to read Jona’s mind. “It truly can’t compare to Aurora’s castle. If you don’t like it, I’ll send you back.”

“I don’t… I don’t want to go back to Aurora’s.” After all, Aurora was just like Fanier—they both treated her as food. Even “gentle” blood-drinking was still blood-drinking.

Suika smiled and rubbed Jona’s head. “I meant, send you back to your home. We haven’t officially held the wedding yet; I shouldn’t keep you here for too long.”

Jona let out a sigh of relief. It turned out she actually had a place to hide in this world. Hiding at home might be safe.

Jona followed Suika through the streets. At night, the vampire world was much livelier than during the day. Everywhere on the streets, blood and fangs were visible; the alleys were filled with vampire revelry. Under the moonlight, they bit into one another, shedding all the noble elegance of the daytime.

Jona was glared at by a vampire at the street corner and shrank behind Suika. Suika lightly took Jona’s hand. “Don’t be afraid. Ordinary vampires don’t dare offend the nobility.”

Of course, there were exceptions. The fellow who had targeted Jona came stumbling toward her. He was like a drunkard in the human world completely devoid of reason, wanting only to release primitive desires.

Jona instinctively wanted to pull Suika away to hide, but Suika stood firm. Suika said in a deep voice, “A lowly creature dares to look directly at nobility?”

The reckless fellow turned into a cloud of blood mist before he could even touch Jona.

“Let’s go.” Suika returned to her gentle tone, the blood-red tint in her eyes vanishing as if nothing had happened.

Jona was shaken. She gripped Suika’s hand tightly. Only after seeing that Suika could also become enraged did she realize how cheap life was in this world.

Suika sent Jona back to her manor but stopped at the gate. Although Jona wanted to go in and rest early, she politely asked, “Don’t you… want to come in and sit for a bit?”

“We aren’t married yet; it would be impolite of me.” With that, Suika unfurled her wings and vanished before Jona.

Jona let out a sigh of relief. Back in her own home, she should be safe, right? She pushed open the door; it was pitch black inside. Fortunately, being a vampire now, she had excellent night vision.

Jona placed the potion Suika gave her on the table, then felt her way to the window. She pulled the curtains aside, and as moonlight flooded the room, things became much brighter.

Looking at the empty manor, Jona couldn’t help but mutter, “Am I not a noble too? How come there’s not a single person at home? Aren’t nobles supposed to have blood-servants?”

“So Miss Jona enjoys the feeling of being served? In that case, how about I serve you?”

A red figure stepped slowly out of the shadows. Jona saw that beautiful yet somber face clearly it was Fanier.

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