interlude 1

At the same time as the other two left…

Nim collapsed as she no longer had any strength left.

"P… Princess… M… Mirabelle…"

Nim softly called out to Mirabelle while her teardrops fell onto the rooftop.

She truly felt that she was so useless. Back when Heather glared at her with those blood-red eyes while emitting a frightening aura… Nim had been completely unable to move, to the point where even her legs were trembling.

How could she even try and protect Princess Mirabelle like this, when she was unable to even remain calm in front of a vampire?

"Mother… What should I do now?"

Nim started walking down a small alley. She didn't even know how she got off the rooftop and into this alley.

Cold rain started falling upon her soft and weak body.

'Oh, it's raining?'

The cold rain fell against her dirty face.

Nim silently raised her head and glanced at the dark sky with an expression filled with sadness.

'It's so cold.'

Ever since she was young, she had felt that this world was just too cold. This city wasn't nice to elves at all… The vampires weren't nice to elves at all… She felt pain in her head… She felt loneliness in her heart… Marks of physical pain still remained on her body…

This was such a cruel world, yet Nim recalled the words that the princess just told her.

"Let's leave this place together. Come to my home. I happen to lack a maid like you at home."

The princess truly seemed like an idiot to her.

Nim happened to trip and fall to the cold ground as tears kept flowing. Before she fell unconscious, she hazily saw her mother's face which had a sad yet loving expression.

"M… Mother… give me… courage…"

Nim reached out her hand to try and touch her mother's face, before slowly closing her eyes and falling unconscious due to having lost all her strength.

Several people emerged from the walls' shadows. These people wore the same type of cape that Mirabelle did… No, more accurately speaking, these people were also elves. They had simply concealed their faces and ears under their hats.

"I heard that Princess Mirabelle was captured!?"

"That's what the report from the auction house said, Vice Captain."

"Honestly, just what was Joanna doing? She actually allowed Princess Mirabelle to go outside by herself?"

The elf walking at the front kept complaining in a begrudging tone.

Actually, she was severely injured as well. She might have died from her injuries if she hadn't received treatment and gotten to rest slightly.

The elves passed by the alley and discovered that an elf girl was collapsed within.

"Vice Captain…"

"Be on guard. She might be a vampire's blood slave. Her goal might be to pretend and act pitiful to attract our attention and then report our base to the vampires. They used this method to destroy one of our bases already."

The elves had learned from this previous mistake. One elf went over to search for any blood slave markings on the elf girl's body, while the other two elves remained vigilant. They would kill this elf girl instantly if she made any suspicious movements.

The female vice captain elf directly went over and crouched beside the elf girl, searching for any vampire markings. If she discovered any vampire markings at all, then she would be certain that this girl was the type of elf who would sell out other elves to the vampires.

"Heh, we can relax, she's not a blood slave. However… this red marking… Is she an elf that escaped from the auction house?"

The three elves all heaved sighs of relief. However, the vice captain kept crouching and inspecting the four small red markings behind Nim's neck.

"Princess… please save the princess!"

Nim was still unconscious as she muttered words in a dreamlike state.

"Princess? Who is she talking about?" the vice captain asked her subordinate in a serious tone.

"I… I don't know… Besides, we've never seen this girl in our squad before," replied a subordinate as she contemplated things while glancing at the notebook in her hand.

"P… Princess… M… Mirabelle."

Nim fell completely unconscious after gasping out this last sentence. Her face had become completely red as she panted heavily.

The vice captain pressed the back of her hand against Nim's forehead and was shocked to see how hot it was.

"She's burning up. I didn't expect that she had a fever… Could it be that she said this information in a confused state? Is her information real or false… No matter, let's take her with us. She might have information about Princess Mirabelle…"

"Yes, Vice Captain!"

One of the elves then put Nim on her back and carried her away.