"H—huh? Something—something inside you?" Serelith stammered as she spoke the sentence.
The problem was, she was smart enough to understand where this conversation was heading. Not to mention, their faces were only a few inches apart now. Serelith could even feel the prince's breath brushing against her skin.
"Why?" Evander asked, his expression playful. "Are you nervous?"
"Nervous? Ah, of course not. Why would I be nervous?" The girl struggled desperately to steady her wildly racing heartbeat. On top of that, she also had to keep her facial expression under control. She couldn't let Evander suspect anything or become wary.
In that moment, Serelith suddenly felt her chin being lifted, forcing her to meet Evander's gaze directly. Yes! The man had just tilted her face up with his finger!
Gulp!
Serelith almost choked on her own saliva when Evander lowered his head even closer. In this position, she clearly knew what was about to happen. But fortunately, a light bulb suddenly lit up in her head.
"Ouch, my stomach!" Serelith shouted—just as their faces were about to touch.
That instantly made Evander pull back, his face shifting to one of concern. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
With an innocent gesture—exaggerated, yet surprisingly convincing—Serelith nodded. If the system were human, he would have wanted to applaud the girl's acting right then and there. Look how perfectly she played her expression and movements down to the tiniest detail.
"Do you want me to call a physician? It seems there's a serious illness inside you," Evander said.
"No, Your Highness. I just need some rest. I mean, the day you found me lying on the roadside, I really was just a poor woman with no home or food. I already told you, didn't I, that I got separated from my family because of the chaos? I think this pain is just the aftermath. So if I eat well and get proper rest, I'm sure I'll recover soon."
Ah, this girl really was clever. Look how she managed to solve two problems at once with a single lie.
Seeing Evander's expression soften as he began to believe her, Serelith secretly smiled in triumph and muttered in her heart, I'm a genius! No one could've come up with a better plan than me. Now I've not only escaped from this perverted prince, but I can also live in luxury for as long as I want. As for the mission… I'll think about it later. No need to rush things, right, system?
The system, which had been silently watching between them all this time, could only facepalm and sigh in disappointment.
[Do whatever you think is right, Miss. After all, it won't be long before you can't relax like this anymore.]
Serelith, of course, didn't want to hear that. So she ignored the system's last remark and simply focused on Evander, waiting to hear what decision he would make next.
"All right. You'll rest tonight. Whatever food you want, just tell the servants. They'll serve you well. But if your condition doesn't improve, I won't wait for your permission to call a physician."
This was the answer Serelith had been waiting for. As a result, out of pure joy, the girl widened her smile until her teeth showed, bowing respectfully. "Of course, Your Highness."
Just as the girl turned around, Evander grabbed her wrist tightly, pulling Serelith into his embrace. "Eat whatever you want, and rest as much as you wish. Because tomorrow, I truly won't let you go."
Gulp!
Serelith swallowed hard, cursing inwardly. Hey, why do I feel like a girl being sold by her father to some rich boss to pay off debts?
---
Serelith didn't wake up even when the sunlight began to warm her fair skin beneath the blanket. But when someone knocked on her door—accompanied by a servant's voice saying they were delivering her breakfast—Serelith's eyes immediately flew open.
Still wearing her nightgown—a black, sheer dress that reached just below her knees with long sleeves—the girl hurriedly got out of bed and opened the door.
"My Lady, this is the breakfast you requested last night," said one of the four maids, each carrying a tray.
Just from the appearance of the food, Serelith was sure it would taste delicious. But somehow, something felt off. She was hungry, and the dishes looked luxurious—but why didn't she feel as excited as when she saw blood?
Unable to find an answer, the girl shook her head to dispel the strange thought. "Come in, place all the food on the table."
"Yes, My Lady."
As soon as the four maids left, Serelith quickly dropped herself into the chair, facing the feast before her. "Oh my God, it's been so long since I've eaten all of this."
[Oh, come on. You've only been here less than a week. That means just a week ago, you were still eating all of this in your original world.]
"Shut up!"
Annoyed—and starving, of course—the girl immediately grabbed a piece of sandwich made with special seasoning. But when she sniffed it, she felt nothing. The bread smelled good, of course, but her appetite didn't stir in the slightest.
Unwilling to give up, the girl set the bread back down and picked up a piece of horse meat instead. Yes, it was horse meat—sliced neatly into several pieces.
"Maybe I should eat protein first before the bread," she muttered, still trying to stay positive.
Unfortunately, the same thing happened again. Serelith's appetite didn't rise even when she smelled the horse meat. "Is it because this is horse meat and not beef?"
That shouldn't matter, right? Well, it shouldn't. But even then, Serelith kept trying to stay optimistic. She continued sniffing the aroma of all twelve plates with different dishes brought by the maids earlier. Yet the result was the same—she felt no appetite at all. Some of the food scents even made her nauseous.
"Oh my God, what's wrong with my stomach? I've been hungry since last night, but why don't I feel like eating at all?"
The girl stayed silent for a long time, wondering what might be happening to her. But instead of finding an answer, Serelith's head felt like it was about to burst. "Ah, whatever. No matter what, I'll try to eat it anyway. Maybe I really am catching a cold today and can't smell this food properly."
At that moment, Serelith finally put a few pieces of meat into her mouth eagerly. Honestly, Serelith couldn't even taste what it was like—it felt truly strange. It wasn't tasteless, but somehow she just couldn't feel the flavor.
Until, in the middle of that activity, Serelith started realizing one thing. "Why am I still not full?"
Serelith had already finished nine plates. Clearly, any normal human would feel full after eating that much food. But why didn't she?
"I think something's wrong with my stomach." She paused, moving restlessly. Her mind was in complete chaos. "System!"
Not long after, the system appeared right in front of Serelith's face.
"System, what's wrong with me? Why doesn't this food make me full? Look, I've eaten so many plates already, but it feels like the food just passes through my stomach!"
The girl shouted in panic. Who wouldn't be? If that much food couldn't make her full, how was Serelith supposed to satisfy her appetite in the future? Moreover, earning points in this game wasn't easy. That meant it wouldn't be easy for her to buy more food later either.
But the system didn't seem as panicked as Serelith. Ah, or maybe it couldn't be. The system was just a robot—how could it have expressions?
[Miss, you are a blood-eater now. What will make you full and give you appetite is only blood. So no matter how much food you eat, it will never satisfy your hunger.]
This was something she really didn't want to hear. But it was the truth. In fact, Serelith had suspected it for quite some time, though she kept trying to deny everything. Only this time, there was no denying it anymore.
"So I can only eat blood, huh?"
[Not necessarily. You can still eat anything you want. It's just that it won't have any effect, including removing your hunger.]
Serelith felt like fainting. But right at that moment, the sound of her door being opened reached her ears. A moment later, the clicking of shoes against the floor followed.
"Well, well, look who's the Crown Prince's guest."
Without even turning around, Serelith already knew who was standing behind her. It was Kathlyn. Who else would be shameless enough to barge into someone's room without permission? Yeah, even though this wasn't technically Serelith's room, shouldn't a noble—especially Kathlyn—at least have some manners?
"Your appetite is really impressive, Serelith. You finished everything?" The girl sat on the table and rudely grabbed a piece of chicken thigh, eating it right there without caring that Serelith was staring at her in confusion.
"Sorry, Miss Kathlyn. I thought our positions in this palace were the same. We were both guests here, so why did you have to act superior?"
"Same?" Kathlyn put the bone back on her plate before jumping down and leaning her face close to Serelith's. "How could we be the same? I was the right hand of Prince Christopher. Whereas you," she pointed at Serelith's chest, "you were merely Evander's pet."
Serelith's temper boiled at once when she heard that. Without waiting, she twisted the girl's hand that was on her chest. "Do you know what I regretted most in this world? Praising you and telling myself you were graceful—even if that praise had only ever been in my head."
Not wanting to let her anger explode further, Serelith decided to leave the room and leave Kathlyn alone.
"How annoying. Who did she think she was," Serelith muttered as she turned down the corridor. "If this weren't a palace, I would have finished her. Even if I had to fight to the death, I would still defeat her."
At that moment Serelith passed a servant carrying food. Somehow, she stopped the servant. "Hey, who was this food for?"
"Oh, it was for Prince Evander, Miss."
"Evander? What a coincidence." Serelith murmured. Unexpectedly, she took the tray from the servant's hands. "Let me deliver this. I happen to have business with him anyway."
A faint smile appeared on her face. She intended to use her connection to Evander to get back at Kathlyn. After all, she was not an innocent girl who would just take being bullied.
Hmph!
What—do nothing? Of course Serelith had to retaliate.
"But, Miss—"
"Never mind, don't worry. Don't you trust me? I'm also someone close to the Crown Prince. If I reported you for preventing me to him, I wouldn't be able to save you from his anger either."
It seemed Serelith had exploited her special relationship with Evander to threaten the servant. Sure enough, the servant bowed immediately and let Serelith go.
How delightful it was to have power.
Alright, she pushed that aside and focused on delivering the food to Evander's room. Luckily she had been in his room the previous night, so finding it now was not difficult.
"Prince?" Serelith knocked several times. Even after knocking repeatedly, the large door remained closed.
"Strange. Was something wrong with him?"
Worried something might be wrong, Serelith dared to open the door herself. It turned out it wasn't locked at all. She got deja vu from the previous night when the same thing had happened.
But the problem was Kathlyn had been in her room; it was impossible for Kathlyn to already be in Evander's room so quickly.
"Prince!"
She called through the whole room until her gaze fell on a steam cloud coming from the bathroom—then she knew Evander must be in there.
"He was bathing right now. I'd better leave if I didn't want to be devoured alive by him."
She left the tray on the bedside table and ran out of the room. "I'll speak to the Prince later. First I must save myself."
---
In front of the mirror, Serelith dabbed some beauty products on her skin while smiling sweetly. "Ah, this product was really good. In the real world it would take months to make my face glow; here it only took one dab and my skin looked radiant! Incredible."
As she continued her routine, the door to her room was suddenly kicked open. Several soldiers entered, and even King Marius appeared behind them. Wait—what was happening? Their expressions looked as if they wanted to devour Serelith on the spot.
Serelith couldn't control her racing heart when she saw the scene. The makeup on her face almost ran from sweat.
"Your Majesty the King, what was this about?" Serelith asked amid the thunderous beating in her chest. Her knees felt unable to support her trembling body.
"How dare you still pretend in front of me?" Marius pointed at Serelith with a face full of anger. "Soldiers, capture that criminal! Seize the murderer of my child!"