For a moment, Valred was entranced. It was as if he was seeing his sister, Isabella, in a new light—stunningly beautiful, radiating the vibrant energy of youth. He was momentarily speechless.
"Valred, what are you staring at?" Isabella laughed, amused by her usually sharp-witted brother's sudden awkwardness. Her laughter only made things worse. Valred opened his mouth to speak but nearly bit his tongue, causing Isabella to laugh even harder.
Valred felt a wave of embarrassment. It was always him teasing his sister for being clumsy, but now the tables had turned. Seeing Valred blush and fumble, Isabella was overjoyed, as if this was the happiest moment of her life.
"Alright, stop laughing!" Valred finally snapped, and Isabella, having had her fun, calmed down, though a playful smile lingered on her lips.
"I need to tell you something," Isabella said, her tone shifting. "You know I'm fourteen now, right?"
Valred nodded.
"At this age, most vampires are expected to take on responsibilities for Sylvanian. Only by achieving something significant can we earn our citizenship by the time of our sixteenth birthday."
Valred nodded again, sensing where this was going.
"Besides, I've hit a wall in my studies and growth. My progress has slowed. I've mastered intermediate magic, but advanced spells are beyond me—and I don't want to pay the 'price' like the madmen of the Nirakochi family. So, I need to find another way."
"So?" Valred prompted.
"So, I'm leaving for a while. I'll be heading to the southern border, near the Principality, to serve in the military," Isabella said calmly.
"I see. When will you be back?" Valred asked, having guessed this outcome early on, so he remained composed.
"I don't know. Maybe I'll never return," Isabella replied, her mood darkening.
"Never?!" Valred's voice shot up an octave. Isabella laughed again, and he realized she'd been teasing him.
"Just a possibility—there's always danger in the military. But don't worry, the chances are slim. I'm not helpless. Whether it's orcs or human bandits, I can handle them."
After teasing Valred, Isabella reassured him.
"So, when are you leaving?" Valred asked.
"Tomorrow," Isabella answered.
"That's why you wanted to spend the day with me?" Valred finally understood why his sister had been dragging him around all day.
"Yes."
At this, Isabella also felt a pang of sadness. "Even though we'll meet again, it'll be a long time apart—and I don't want that. I want to stay with you, even if you complain, even if Mother favors you, even if you call me stupid—as long as we're together. But I can't! I have to keep improving. You're so talented, achieving so much at such a young age. What am I supposed to do?! Can't you slow down and wait for me?! But if you weren't like this, you wouldn't be worthy of being the Count of Castaigne. So, I have to become someone worthy of you, do you understand?! Valred, I love you! I've loved you since the day we met! You're mine, and no one can take you away!"
Isabella grew increasingly emotional as she spoke, gripping Valred's shoulders and staring into his eyes as if she wanted to devour him.
Valred realized that both women in his family had a touch of madness—not just his mother, who could unnerve people with her intense gaze, but also his sister, Isabella.
As Isabella spoke, Valred felt a wave of fear and tried to calm her down. "Alright, sister, take it easy!"
Hearing this, Isabella paused, then slowly released Valred's shoulders.
"Sorry, I got carried away," Isabella said, feeling a bit embarrassed as she noticed Valred's pale face. "The thought of being apart from you for so long makes me feel terrible."
"Me too, sister," Valred replied, genuinely feeling a sense of loss. Despite Isabella's often troublesome behavior and her recent emotional outburst, she was still his sister, someone he'd spent eight years with.
For some reason, Isabella seemed disappointed by Valred's response. Perhaps it was because her words, which bordered on a confession—or rather, were a confession—hadn't elicited any reaction from him.
But Isabella chalked it up to Valred's age, thinking he simply didn't understand the deeper meaning behind her words.
"Maybe I'm rushing things. After all, Valred's only eight," Isabella told herself. Normally, she wouldn't make such a mistake, but the impending separation had made her anxious. She feared that something might change during the two years she'd be away, so she wanted to act first.
She'd subtly enlisted her cousin Eric to plant the idea earlier, then spent the entire day with Valred, running around before finally revealing her feelings in the serene lakeside setting. For someone as usually carefree as Isabella, this level of planning was rare. Unfortunately, she'd overlooked Valred's age, rendering her efforts futile—or so she thought.
What she didn't know was that beneath Valred's youthful exterior lay the mind of an adult. Her intense declaration of love hadn't gone unnoticed. The problem was, Valred didn't know how to respond. From Eric's earlier comments to Isabella's confession, it all felt like a dream to him. In his previous life, he'd spent his entire existence in the military, where even the mosquitoes were male. He'd been lucky not to develop any other inclinations, let alone experience romance.
And in this life, despite his noble lineage, exceptional abilities, and striking looks, his age had kept him from hearing the word "love." For the first time in both lifetimes, someone had confessed their feelings to him, and he was overwhelmed, unsure how to respond.
Fortunately, he was still young. If he didn't know how to answer now, he'd figure it out later.
For the rest of the day, Valred and Isabella skipped classes, playing by the lake and then taking the carriage into the city. Valred took Isabella to the tavern where the incident had occurred the day before and recounted the story of the hot milk, embellishing his role in intimidating the human soldiers. He gestured animatedly, hoping to make her laugh.
After the story, they still didn't want to go home, so they returned to the academy, climbing to the top of the tower to gaze out. When Isabella said it wasn't high enough, Valred used a levitation spell to carry them up into the clouds.
That night, they returned to the tower's peak, where the blue moon of Tonia hung in the sky. They leaned against each other, looking up at the moon. Valred said he'd one day become the Duke of Sylvanian and conquer the Old World, and Isabella declared that if he was the Duke, she'd be the Duchess, never to be outdone. Valred laughed and agreed. They talked like this until they eventually fell asleep.