030 – My Sleep Habits Are Awful, My Hand Went Up Without Me Realizing It, Operation.

For Isabella Lilith, sleep was merely a tool for evolution.

Thus, from her perspective, if she didn’t specifically feel the need for evolution, there was no point in seeking out boring sleep.

She found it more amusing to watch even one more human behavior in the time she would have spent sleeping.

Thus.

“?”

Isabella wasn’t realizing.

That these unique experiences, the first of their kind, were all possible because it was a dream.

“Flying? Am I?”

She who had never flown in her life was floating through the sky.

“When did I evolve?”

Her memory was hazy, but she started flying around here and there with the thought that she must have evolved at some point.

She was enjoying this moment so much.

The fact that this first experience of flying wasn’t controlled as she wished was amusing.

The surrounding spaces changed with a whoosh, but she found it interesting that she felt this situation was natural.

‘So slow!’

The frustration of not arriving even when flying at full speed through a distance that would normally take only a few seconds felt strange.

“It’s Isabella Lilith!”

“The Primordial True Ancestor…! Run!!”

It had been hundreds of years since she last saw humans terrified by her flying through the sky, and she was delighted.

The face of a terribly emotionless man staring intently at her also gave her chills.

“Ughh…”

It was a feeling she had never experienced in her life.

‘Fear.’

For her, who was so far removed from the concept of death, this unfamiliar emotion gave her the experience of a shivering sensation as if she had hives all over her body.

“Huaaa…”

This naturally led to a reaction in her body.

“So refreshing…”

Shiver…

How long had it been since she’d expelled waste from her body like this?

She didn’t normally need to eat or drink in her current body, and she even skipped eating in order to watch the lives of humans without missing a single moment…

“Huh?”

Her lower abdomen felt very damp and sticky.

An indescribable unpleasant sensation unconsciously opened her eyes.

‘…Eh?’

And only after opening her eyes…

Did she realize, surprisingly, that everything she had experienced up until now…

Was what people commonly called a ‘dream.’

“Of course…”

‘..!!’

The fact remained: I’d soiled the place where I lay.

‘Where… where am I?’

I couldn’t quite place where I was, but the urge to wash overcame me.

“Haaa…”

Suddenly, a man’s sigh, heavy and drawn out, echoed as he entered the room.

“So the sleep clinic wasn’t the problem…”

It dawned on me then that the voice belonged to Mihyeon, the one who’d managed to get me, a creature bound to only sleep at home, to sleep.

And judging by how freely he entered, this was undeniably Mihyeon’s room.

Which meant the bed I was lying on was also Mihyeon’s bed… I’d defiled his bed.

‘Oh, how could I…!’

I’d dirtied Mihyeon’s bed.

I’d damaged Mihyeon’s belongings.

Having witnessed countless people unleash their fury on those who dared vandalize their possessions, I knew Mihyeon would be angry with me, too.

‘…scary.’

I was afraid.

A different kind of fear than the one I’d felt for the first time in my dream…

The fear that he would come to dislike me…

“…”

The fear that the fate that had finally found me would now abandon me.

The fear that the only person who could lull me to sleep, away from my home, would disappear…

The fear of losing the man who had allowed me to dream was overwhelming.

“…Isabella Lillith-ssi. I know you’re awake.”

A flinch!

…

Pat… pat…

A gentle hand caressed my head.

“Isabella Lillith-ssi is just a cat, isn’t she?”

“Huh?…”

A voice, soft as if addressing a child, calmed my fearful heart.

“When a pet makes a mistake, the owner is naturally the one who takes responsibility.”

“Myaong… Nyaong…”

The first vampire.

The Primordial True Ancestor.

The master of all vampires.

I’d been called by countless titles until now, but in this moment, I was certain.

“So, don’t feel burdened. How was the first dream you ever had?”

“It was wonderful… Dreams are really…”

‘Mihyeon’s cat.’

This, I knew, would become the new appellation by which I was called…

“Then, I shall lull you back to sleep. When you awaken, all will be neatly resolved.”

“…Is that alright?…”

Clearly, I had committed a terrible act against him, causing him harm.

Yet, Mihan forgave me, and moreover, allowed me to dream again.

“Of course, it’s alright. Isn’t that what a pet should do? Now, Isabella Lilith-nim drifts back into slumber.”

“Myaaao…”

Just before falling asleep,

I firmly resolved one thing.

“Sleep well. Sommeil.”

“Myaa…”

Although I had vowed not to interfere in any way with the history of humankind… I would protect this man, no matter what.

Even if the whole of humanity turned against him, I would defend him.

This fate that had come to me…I would not let it slip through my fingers like other humans so regretfully do.

*

Trickle, trickle, trickle…

I diligently gave her a *nyang-ppal* in warm water.

—

Isabella Lilith (■■■)

[Abduction] – Deactivated

[Espionage] – Layton Isold

[Sommeil] – Deactivated

—

“I could abduct you and you wouldn’t even notice…”

Perhaps it was because I was washing her gently, as if giving her a massage.

It was rather miraculous that Isabella Lilith-nim wasn’t waking up.

Pitter-patter…

After neatly drying the well-washed Isabella Lilith-nim with a towel,

I began to wash the blanket that she had soiled.

Scrub, scrub, scrub…

As I vigorously washed the blanket, I thought.

‘…I should have just left…’

When he told me to leave for two hours, I should have just left…

Why did I insist on washing the blanket myself…

…

I was sitting with Ella-ssi at a high-end restaurant outside the academy, diligently learning dining etiquette.

“You mustn’t rest your elbows on the table.”

“Ah…”

“You must eat while keeping your elbows as close to your body as possible.”

Watching her explain dining etiquette to me and eat with such grace…

“Quite elegant, aren’t we?”

“Well, she *is* nobility.”

I was only just realizing that something as simple as eating could be elevated to such an art.

“Also, while dining, if you’re holding utensils, you must absolutely refrain from gesturing while speaking.”

At first, I thought dining etiquette would just be about not smacking your lips.

Or not talking with food in your mouth.

Or not blowing your nose at the table. Things like that…

“You must not lean towards the plate to eat. You should bring the cutlery as close to your mouth as possible.”

“Even if you dislike a certain dish, you must never refuse it. Even if you truly cannot stand it, you must take at least a bite or two.”

“The napkin you used during the meal should be placed on the finished plate. And if there is truly no space to put your soiled napkin…”

Apparently, there were more than fifty different rules of dining etiquette, without even exaggerating.

And to think, this was only the most basic course…

The in-depth procedures for each individual dish would be taught this evening, so…

‘Should I… just skip dinner?’

Even *I*, a person from a nation that took food seriously, was starting to contemplate skipping the evening meal.

…

You had to cut corn off the cob with a knife, and when eating beans, use the knife to support them as you speared them with a fork?

Why not just grab the corn cob with both hands and gnaw away with gusto, or…beans? Who even wants to eat beans??

‘I guess I was just born to be a peasant.’

Each and every aspect of the dining manner was uncomfortable and strenuous,

But with a meal planned with the Marchioness in just five days, I absolutely had to learn the etiquette.

And since Miss Ella, who was teaching me the protocol, looked so exceedingly happy, I simply couldn’t bring myself to show how difficult it was.

“For someone learning etiquette for the first time today, you’ve adapted remarkably well.”

We strolled through the academy’s inner gardens, chatting idly with Miss Ella.

Heartwarming words of encouragement, like ‘You worked so hard today,’ were exchanged,

As were business-minded conversations, such as how best to divide the profits earned from the sleep clinic.

And then she said she wanted to sleep in my room tonight… …Eh?

“Pardon?”

I immediately spun around to face Miss Ella, my voice and expression betraying my confusion.

“As you know, I’m not a dormitory resident.”

“…Right?”

“So, I need a place to stay tonight.”

“???”

I knew that she was staying late at the academy for the sake of the sleep clinic.

But did that mean she wasn’t going home until, at the very latest, around eleven?

“Uh…”

“There’s no need to worry. I’ve already packed a change of clothes, a toothbrush, everything!”

“Uh-huh…?”

But…

If she could go home to pack…

“Surely, you’d be more comfortable sleeping at home…”

“…”

Watching Ella-ssi speak so casually, a feeling of injustice suddenly washed over me.

There’s a saying, ‘boys and girls shouldn’t sit together after the age of seven’ you know..

Her saying she wants to sleep in my dorm—doesn’t that mean one of two things? That she wants to sleep under the same roof as me, or that she’s going to kick the room’s owner, me, out?

It’s highly unlikely to be the latter, so Ella-ssi must mean the former…

“…Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Is there any reason I wouldn’t be? I can sleep perfectly well even without a luxurious bed, you know?”

“?????”

Am I the only trashy one here??

No, where did that shy woman go, and why am I the only one flustered?

So…Ella-ssi falls asleep, and I might do this and that… Uh!?!? Could happen??

No, no…? No..!

“…Aren’t you even a little worried?”

“Worried about what exactly?”

“Well…seeing as I’m a man, after all…aren’t you worried that I might, you know, do something untoward?”

“The Mi-heon-nim I’ve come to know so far wouldn’t do something like that.”

What kind of image do I have in her head, anyway?

Why is she so…

“…I see?”

“Perhaps, *will* you?”

“…No?”

“See? Even if I put on a leash and threw myself at you, you’re the kind of man who wouldn’t accept.”

Her eyes are looking at me with such trust…

‘..The “my sleepwalking is terrible, my hands might go up without me knowing” plan is hereby discarded.’