Bethany groaned, her head was pounding incessantly. It was ironic she thought for a moment, she had obtained immortality but age refused to not catch up with her. An age ago a simple three day party wouldn’t have caused such an issue for her. She looked upon the bodies laying over her bed and groaned once more. It was awkward whenever she had to shove someone out of her tower when they had overstayed their welcome... now she had... hmm four? Ah no that leg had a different shade than that one it was definitely five.

  Although she could do with a snack, she thought with a mischievous smirk. She ran a finger down the neck of one of the more fair looking residents within her bed, not that they weren't all fair. Bethany truly did enjoy when her partners had that aura of femininity, even more so when they were men. Her choice in snack however was a cute young woman, probably named something like Gloria or Annie. She was most likely a farm girl? Hmm no the callouses on her hands were different, an avid gardner for sure but likely more of a service job than one that demanded heavy labor.

  It was ironic even with her head pounding like this she could still pick out all the little details that told her about a person's life. She moved in whispering to the woman's ear, "Enchanté young lady, you won't mind if I indulge a little would you?" Her silky smooth voice flowed out, if one could attach scent to voices hers would be that of a cinnamon whiskey, heavy on your senses yet so smooth down your throat.

  The nameless girl let out a gentle moan, a simple yet acceptable invitation. Bethany opened her mouth, two fangs reflected the light of the sun as she sunk them down into her neck, drinking in her blood, she was of course careful. She did not want to harm the girl, and she had noticed more than one bite marks along the rest of her body. She let out a small laugh as she remembered those bites very well.

  And then she heard the banging at the door, she rolled her eyes pulling her fangs out of the girl, slowly, intimately. The girl let out a whimper containing a soft no, a rejection of Bethany's choice. Bethany ignored her. Gently pushing her back into the pile as she floated out of bed, a flick of her wrist and a cloak flowed over to her. It was transparent mostly, made of fine red silk she wrapped it loosely over her shoulders, if anything it made her seem less modest.

  She opened the door still floating off the ground just barely, she heard a squeak and smiled as she got the reaction she wanted. In front of her was a young thing, hm, even younger than what she normally considered young, this one couldn't be more than what? Nineteen? Twenty? She leaned down to the blushing young man, who kept trying to look anywhere but directly at her.

  "And just what can I do for you? A love potion? Perhaps a spell scroll to strike down your rival? Or... the return of your love after she saw me in the market?" Her words teased and danced throughout the air, as the boy trembled with every sultry word.

  "Uh ma'am miss, madam... uh" The boy looked down at his paper and coughed awkwardly, "Arch Mage Bethany... De Cressier, the Lightlash family has requested your presence and services as tutor for their daughter Lily Lightlash. I have... the terms of the employment with me..." He barely managed to get the words out.

  Bethany sighed, more nobles thinking their star child was worth her time and effort, they never were. A noble showed the ability to cast magic miraculously after being given every resource needed and suddenly these fools thought they had a prodigy on their hands. Unfortunately her status within the Elsetean Kingdom was... rocky at best. It was one thing to be a vampire living amongst humans openly, it was another to be a vampire from the Rashkan Empire. Her agreement with the Elsetean royalty was quite simple, she had to at least humor any requests of magic tutoring from the nobility. It could be worse she supposed, it could be from anyone.

  "And this... Lightlash Family, where are they little one?" She asked, electing another slightly jerk from the boy. "Ah um... they are in the southern parts of Elsetean, just outside of the town of Fairhill ma'am!" He blustered out, Bethany smiled if anything at least she was enjoying just how nervous this post boy was. She held out her hand and he just froze for a moment before the gears finally turned enough in his head. He quickly handed her a scroll, did a quick salute, and turned, running away.

  "Lets see, ah yes the formalities and praising of my status, oh even a slight reminder of my contract of asylum how devious! Hmm hmm oh here's the part where they try and sell their-" Bethany paused as she read it, her feet dropping to the floor as she stared at the scroll. That... that couldn't be right? Three magics unlocked? At... five?! "Honestly, to lie to me! Me! Very well Lightlash Family, I will come see your pitiful daughter, since she's such a star magician I'm sure she'll be able to handle my toughest tests." She said thinking aloud, gloating in her own genius.

  "Now..." Her gaze turned and her brow wrinkled as she saw another four people strung about her tea parlor. She sighed as she floated back up, she had to get all of these lovely people out so she could begin to pack. Fairhill was far away after all!

  Lily sighed, the days after her little adventure had been... suffocating. Her "parents" weren't sure if they were more angry with her than they were worried when they found her in the tavern of the man who had calmed her down. Desmond was his name. Lily had told herself he was to be paid back in full for his assistance Only two of the kidnappers had been captured much to her dismay, but it was due to his quick thinking and control of the situation that they had been caught at all.

  The guards she had found were incredibly lax and took an abhorrent amount of time to reach the scene. They had even left her with Desmond to inform her "parents", truly it was a miracle she wasn't kidnapped a second time. She would need to fix that, but of course now she hadn't been allowed out of the house in four days! And her maid, Lia, now had a bed in her room. Right beside the window she had escaped out of.

  She grumbled to herself as she pet Luna, staring out the window from the library. "Honestly, I can take care of myself, they just... surprised me." She said, that was another issue, she had taken to speaking to Luna. She knew the cat could understand her so it made sense to her. But now her "parents" were worried she had been traumatized. The only thing the event had truly done is show her she had a lot of work to do.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  She couldn't become Queen if blubbering fools could just kidnap someone in her own town. Not that it was hers just yet but she intended to show her capability quickly and establish herself as a responsible and resourceful noble. She knew it would take more than simply being a talented mage to rise up the ranks of nobility and achieve the rank of royalty. She had already made some mental notes on how to improve Fairhill as a town, perhaps grow it.

  The most obvious was clearing up those forests, getting rid of the monsters and even cutting down some areas for growth. Fairhill was fine but it could be more, she'd need to see what kind of resources they had. She sighed, it would be a lot of work; she'd both need to study the politics and economic strength she had while studying her magic and improving it. She couldn't be... caught again. She would never be helpless again!

  ...

  She sighed, okay, perhaps the event had traumatized her slightly. She kept telling herself she wasn't just a little girl that, because she was older mentally, she was better than that. But in truth she was still just a little girl. She hadn't even left home yet when she had... had died. She hated thinking of that; she had a faint memory of how it felt to have her body crushed by a massive block of steel crashing into it.

  Luna began to stretch, before leaping out of her lap, looking back at her before it pranced away. Lily supposed that the cat had gotten tired of being pet, it had yet to change from a [Street Cat], she was curious if it could evolve into a [House Cat] or something of the like. Luna would prove invaluable to her understanding of Monsters and how they functioned within the System.

  She stretched and got up herself, she was about to move away to start reading a book when she spotted something odd. A Blackguard was arriving at the manor, she hadn't expected any visits from Kayla... So who was coming?

  Bethany had considered stopping in Fairhill before she went to talk to the Lightlash family; she was curious how southern Elseteanians tasted. But ultimately decided it was best to test the words of this Lightlash family after they had been so foolish to claim such a miraculous child to her.

  The Blackguard stopped right outside the manor, she sighed and waved a hand, "[Oh eternal queen of shadow, protect thine body and soul from the light of Illia, Greater Sun Protection]" a quick spell to protect her from most of the drawbacks of [Greater Sun Weakness]. She stepped out of the Blackguard, pulling out an umbrella, well of course it wasn't just an umbrella. It was enchanted to help as well with her weakness.

  She stepped out of the Blackguard, she was of course more properly dressed now. However, Bethany was a tease at heart, she wore long black robes inlaid with golden runes, that was slit down the chest showing a fair bit of cleavage only covered by black lace. Her legs were also revealed by slits down the side of the robe that showed how long they truly were, and while they did not see much use due to her floating once she stepped out she had stylish heeled boots.

  She floated towards the entrance and then stopped before she touched the stairs, with another wave of her hand she casted [Mana Hand], a small hand made of Mana appeared at the door and began to knock as Bethany wiggled her finger to conduct it. She did note that the ambient mana here did seem... stronger than most places. Her tower of course was far better she told herself but it was impressive for such a dense amount to exist in a manor.

  It was... honestly strange, she focused her senses, there were... a mere thirty people around, one small animal as well. Mana this dense should only exist in a much greater concentration of people. The only way it made sense was if all thirty of them were spellcasters, and ones of at least second advancement.

  The front door opened, a woman dressed as a maid. It didn't take more than a fraction of a second for Bethany to understand the woman had no greater magical ability. She probably only had [Lifestyle Magic] and most likely only from a [Class Advancement] or from using her Skill Points to buy it to make her job easier.

  "Lady De Cressier, it is an honor." She said politely with a bow, "If you would be so kind as to enter we have been awaiting you."

  Bethany rolled her eyes and floated up and then over, honestly Levitation was a trifle but it did well to remind people of her prowess, one could call it her resume in a way. The Manor was... fine. It was nice but she had seen a lot of noble homes, they were often opulent displays of wealth and status. This one... was less so. Ironically it did put the Lightlash Family a bit higher in her personal rankings of every noble she had encountered. She sighed, thinking back to her favorite noble family. The Glowgazer Family had a true genius as a child, she had much enjoyed teaching them magic. But that was a hundred years ago, and that mage was long dead.

  Her mood was ruined slightly but she put on a strong face, as she followed the maid into the Sitting Room. She noted that a lot of the servants were shooting her looks, which was... odd. Usually servants avoided her, but these ones seemed almost... protective. She pushed it out of her mind, if she wanted to erase this entire manor it was as simple as casting a spell. The Sitting Room was... nice, a big fire and three sofas, two bookshelves that were fully stocked, even a piano at the end of the room.

  Sitting there was Anthony and Heather Lightlash, as far as nobles went... they were impressive in their own right, Anthony was properly handsome, with salt and pepper hair showing his age, and his wife... well she showed far less age and far more cleavage. Bethany briefly considered how she could convince them both to join her in bed but pushed those thoughts away. She was here to show them their child was not special afterall.

  "Greetings, Count Lightlash and Countess Lightlash, it is an honor to be welcomed into your home." Bethany spoke with her sultry voice, excited to see the reactions, but they were muted at best, if anything the Countess seemed amused. Bethany could tell she was a mage as well, she smelt of ash. A fire mage then, rather standard it was the most common magic that humans found affinity with.

  "Thank you for coming all this way Arch Mage De Cressier, it's an honor to have you in our home. I've heard much of your magical prowess. I'm glad to know Lily will have such a wonderful teacher," Heather said, her voice was warm and welcoming, motherly even.

  Bethany chuckled, "Of course, but, and please take no offense, Countess Lightlash, I must test all possible students. If they do not... meet the standards required then I'm afraid I will have to turn down your request." She made sure to remind them of the terms of her agreement with the Elsetean Kingdom, she would have never accepted them if she couldn't reject the riffraff.

  "Oh not to worry, Lily will pass like a dragon soars, she is quite the talented genius," The Countess responded back, it was slightly irritating but she would prove them wrong.

  "Of course of course, where is the young lady?" She asked, and then Heather rang a bell. Bethany knew it well enough, those enchanted bells were quite popular. Shortly after Lily Lightlash entered and Bethany De Cressier's world changed.