Elanore dreamt of floating pink energy drinks everywhere. She was high up in the clouds, and she sucked from the nectar of energy. It was like tasting from the wellspring of life itself, and she took her fill of ambrosia. She felt like a Greek philosopher, pondering the meaning of the very universe itself.

  And then she woke up.

  The energy drink heaven fell away to her inn room, and she stretched in the early morning light. The cauldron who vowed to watch over her floated some feet away.

  “Good morning, Pot. Did anything interesting happen while I was sleeping?”

  The cauldron shook his body to and fro. “No, your majesty. The night passed smoothly.”

  Elanore heard a yawn coming from the wyvern girl, and the vampire turned to look at her. She watched the girl blink several times, her crusty eyes taking in the atmosphere. She is kind of cute when she wakes up.

  The wyvern stretched and spoke in a tired voice. “Good morning, mistress.”

  “Good morning. This is only the second time I have seen you wake up, but you look so tired. Are you having nightmares?”

  Naela shook her head. “I am not used to this kind of sleeping. Usually, I would sleep for several days on end and wake up to hunt. Then I would go back and do it again.”

  Ella chuckled. “Are you sure you’re not actually a dragon?”

  “I am sure that I’m not a dragon. You already proved it before with your inspection thing, right?”

  Elanore nodded and stepped out of her bed, putting on her boots. “[Cleanse],” she said, cleaning all of the grime away from her outfit. She did the same for her wyvern after Naela put on her maid dress.

  “What are we going to do today, mistress? Are we going to have those dumplings again?”

  Ella chuckled. “You really liked those, but humans don’t really work that way. They don’t eat the same thing for dinner and breakfast all the time.” Elanore reached her hand out towards Naela’s head, but the wyvern pulled away.

  “What are you doing, mistress?”

  “Uh, sorry, I really wanted to pat your head.”

  The wyvern girl raised her eyebrows before scrunching up her face. “You wanted to pat my head, mistress? Is there some reason why?”

  Elanore shook her head and sighed. “No, I just thought to do what came to mind. Don’t worry. I won’t try it again.”

  “Wait!” The wyvern stopped the vampire from walking towards the door by grabbing onto her robes. “I...I didn’t say that you can’t do it. I just wanted to know the reason for it, mistress.”

  Elanore turned back to the wyvern, taking in the girl’s reddened face. It was such a drastic change to her previously tired expression, and the vampire witch couldn’t help notice how meek Naela seemed. Ella had no idea what spurred on these changes, but something about it pulled at her heart strings. Once again, she found herself thinking that the wyvern in front of her looked adorable.

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  The vampire’s cheeks became as red as the maid in front of her, and she started to reach again with her small hand. Eventually, the hand arrived at the soft and fluffy pink hair of the girl in front of her. It was every bit as pleasant as Ella imagined it to be, and she started tapping her hand against the wyvern’s head.

  Naela’s tail waved behind her, and the girl looked down towards the wooden floorboards. Her wings sprouted forth in her excitement, tearing through the maid dress.

  “I am sorry, mistress!” Naela flinched and drew away from Ella’s hand.

  Elanore shook her head and sighed. “It’s alright. Don’t even worry about it. I can make an enchantment for this type of thing later. Remember? We are contracted now, so that means you are in my care.”

  ///

  Ever since their interaction in the room, Elanore and Naela found it harder to speak to one another. The vampire witch simply watched as the not-dragon finished her breakfast. This one was composed of triceratops sausage and flat cakes that were not totally unlike Earth’s pancakes.

  Elanore ordered her heart to stop thumping, remembering the whole reason she came to this world. That’s right. I am here to start an energy drink empire!

  The only way she’d be able to take on such a mission in peace was to leave behind civilization once more. It was fun while it lasted, but these heathens have no idea what it means to have a floating cauldron and a hankering for energy drinks.

  Elanore followed Naela’s gaze towards a man and a woman holding hands. The two of them walked towards the centralized mammoth fountain in the plaza. Bleh, I knew there was some kind of love virus going around.

  The vampire witch grabbed onto Naela’s wrist. “Come on, we need to get out of this city as soon as possible. Let’s go check if that store has my outfit finished.”

  Elanore ran towards the store, despite the weak protests of her wyvern. She opened the door, hearing the familiar chimes, and seeing the familiar girl behind the counter.

  “Hey, Helena! Did you finish that outfit?”

  The woman smiled from behind her counter and reached down below it. She pulled up a long wooden box and placed it on top of the surface. “Of course, I wanted to work fast, since I knew you would come back with payment.”

  “You did?”

  Helena nodded. “After all, you are a special guest here.”

  “How much is this one? You got everything I asked for?”

  “Yes, actually, there is even more in there. Altogether, I will give you a slightly higher price than her maid outfit. How does 20 silver coins sound?”

  Elanore nodded, not wanting to argue with lowered prices. These people don’t even know for sure if I will come back, yet I keep scamming them. I am a scheming vampire witch, after all.

  The vampire grinned, showing her pretty fangs. She searched within her inventory and found the 20 silver coins before chucking them on the counter. “Don’t come crying to me later!”

  Elanore reached towards the wooden box, ready to unlatch it.

  “Wait,” Helena said, staying the vampire’s hand. “Don’t open it here and now. I already know you will be leaving. Can’t you wait until you’re out of the city?”

  “Oh, why is that?”

  “I don’t want some of my regulars thinking you got it here. They might start asking for troublesome outfits. It’s better if most of my work goes to making the usual.”

  Elanore sighed and shook Helena’s hand. “I guess I have no choice. But what happens if the things don’t fit me?”

  “That’s impossible. After all, I contain a certain ability…”

  Elanore focused on Helena’s skills, until she found the one that might be responsible. [Inspect].

  Well, aren’t you a peeping Tom?

  “Hey,” Helena said, narrowing her eyes. “You look like you’re going to say something rude!”

  “No, I was only thinking it!” Elanore laughed and grabbed onto the wooden crate before rushing out of the shop.