A man strolled into a basic-looking study with purpose and looked around.


    “They really were poor bastards; why did they make things so difficult for me, then?”


    Two women flanked the slightly fat man''s sides and spoke seductively.


    “Husband, why do you chase this woman? Are we not good enough for you?”


    “Yes, what Victoria said is right. Do we not pleasure you every night? Where would a third woman even sleep!”


    The man ignored the two women with a slightly annoyed expression and walked over to a large desk at the end of the study.


    “Steven, hand me the key,” the man said in a commanding tone toward a butler. The butler bowed and handed the man a small silver key.


    “My lord, we recovered this key from Baron Karles’ pocket upon his death.”


    The man ignored the comment and moved his heavy body to sit in the chair, putting the key into a keyhole and turning left—he pulled the drawer open with a slight click.


    Inside was a single notebook. It was brown and seemed heavily used.


    “Leave me be,” the man commanded, and his two wives and butler reluctantly vacated the room.


    “You thought you could escape me, Fay Karles? Since that day, I have had my eyes set on only you. So where did you run off to?” With grin, he opened the notebook.


    Inside the notebook, there were random entries without titles or dates; it seemed that the baron used this notebook as a way to vent his frustrations.


    “Let’s see what secrets you hold,” the man mused as he began to read.


    ***


    The long war has finally ended; upon my return, his majesty saw in his infinite kindness to award me a border territory to rule. Unfortunately, I suspect he sees me as a threat and wants to keep me at arm’s length, buried in paperwork managing this backwater fief.


    ***


    I have been living here for the last five years, and in my old age, my servants and people have become worried that I do not have an heir. Apparently, I am the nicest lord they have ever had and wish for my family line to continue ruling over them.


    ***


    This beautiful woman called Angelica arrived in my town recently with her family and has been chasing me for the last few months. She seems rather ambitious, which can be dangerous, but I have no other options; I’m getting old, after all. So, even though she is a merchant’s daughter, I might marry her.


    ***


    We got married! I enjoyed the whole process; it was pleasant to invite all my old war buddies over and see them again.


    ***


    Angelica is pregnant. I hope it’s a male, so I will finally have an heir to pass my knowledge on. Angelica seems convinced it will be a boy and is already planning how he will take over my noble title and fief.


    ***


    “It’s a baby girl!” the midwife proclaimed but quickly shut up, seeing our faces. I was disappointed, and Angelica looked ready to kill the poor little thing.


    ***


    We decided to name her Fay; although not a boy, we have found a use for her. A duke of our kingdom recently had a baby boy and is looking for arranged marriages. I suggested that the boy meet Fay via a letter to the duke.


    ***


    Since the age of three, Angelica rigorously trained Fay to be the perfect wife. She is a ruthless teacher and shows no sympathy. Fay often comes to me crying. I read and tell her stories. She especially loved ones involving a prince charming coming to save a damsel in distress; maybe she’s hoping for her own prince charming to save her from her mother?


    At the age of ten, she asked, “Daddy, can I learn magic, too?” She seemed to love the stories about magic and adventures and used them as an escape from her daily routine.


    “No,” I replied. She cried.


    ***


    Fay is twelve years old and will be meeting the duke’s son Dylan Henson today.


    The man, Dylan Henson, who was reading the notebook, sat up slightly at the mention of his name. This was a memorable day for him, after all. Fay’s cuteness and temperament had completely encapsulated him. The other girls his father had introduced him to as a child were all meek and submissive, but this girl was feisty. She fought back against him and made it far more interesting.


    Looking back at the notebook, he continued reading with renewed interest.


    ***


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    The meeting did not go well. Fay ran away from Dylan despite all our training, proclaiming that he was ugly. Although I agree with her, it’s still rude to scream it in his face.


    The large man clicked his tongue at the mention of that.


    To my surprise, Dylan proclaimed that Fay would become his wife and then left.


    ***


    Fay continues to refuse the idea of marriage; Angelica beats her daily and hurls insults. My wife has become crazier ever since the duke’s heir became interested in Fay. I knew she was an ambitious woman, but this is extreme. She seems set on being the mother of a duke heir’s wife.


    ***


    Due to Fay’s continued refusal to marry Dylan, the duke is taking the matter into his own hands. I have been sent a notice by Duke Henson to participate in a scouting mission into the vampire’s stronghold in the mountains, which is basically a suicide mission. I assume he wants to kill me off to force Fay to marry Dylan to stay a noble. My title can sadly only be passed onto a male heir.


    Seeing how ruthless the duke is, I have second thoughts about the marriage. However, if I am going to die and have no heir to my title, I see no point in giving Fay a lifetime of suffering.


    In a possibly stupid move, I quickly sold off my assets and ordered Angelica to move to the neighboring country of Kassinki. She is not happy and put up a resistance. I threaten to divorce her before I leave, meaning she will no longer be considered a baroness and demoted to a commoner.


    She screamed at me and cursed me to die but left with Fay and a few servants.


    ***


    Today I leave for the suicide mission. If you ever read this, Fay, I hope you find happiness. I am sorry I failed as a father.


    Goodbye.


    Dylan Henson grinned. “What a foolish man. Why write down your daughter’s location for me? Now I finally have a clue to chase her.”


    ***


    Fay’s door opened, and a tired-looking maid walked in.


    “Morning, Jessica,” Fay said to the woman, and she returned a tired nod.


    “Morning, mi’lady. How shall I style your hair today?”


    Fay rolled out of bed and sat at the dresser; a nineteen-year-old girl with long, black hair and ocean-blue eyes stared back in the mirror. She was relatively short at only one hundred sixty centimeters, but she had well-defined features.


    “Straight, but two small strands of braids to go over my ears.”


    The maid grunted in reply and began the hour-long process of styling Fay’s hair, doing her makeup, and choosing her outfit.


    Finally ready, Fay twirled in a white dress and admired her hair. “Yep, it’s perfect.”


    At the table downstairs, Fay was served eggs and bread for breakfast. Eggs were a local speciality of Kassinki. Right as she dug into the food, she froze when she heard the loud clink of heels on the stone floor.


    Mother was coming.


    “Fay, you ungrateful bitch, this is all because of you!”


    Fay replied calmly, “Mother, I want to decide who to marry; although Dylan is the heir to a duke family, he already has two other wives and is also ugly. If you force me to marry him, I will kill myself first.”


    Threatening suicide was the only tactic Fay had found to make her mother back off. Her mother’s chances of ever climbing the noble hierarchy would vanish if she were to die. Moreover, since her father had been sent on a suicide mission and was unlikely to return, her mother had no way to produce more children without a husband.


    After finishing breakfast under the hateful glare of her mother, Fay left the house and took the carriage into the city. Unfortunately, she had almost no money, meaning that despite being a noble, she couldn’t eat in restaurants. As a compromise, she spent the day at the university library.


    Without hesitation, she beelined straight to the magic section and continued trying to read Basic Principles of Mana Manipulation.


    Fay was not allowed in the library, but the guards assumed she attended the university and let her inside without question due to her noble clothes and temperament. Getting access to this many books would otherwise be impossible. My mother forbids me from learning magic, and I have no money to pay a tutor or enroll in this university, so my only option is self-study.


    Reading a magic book was like understanding advanced mathematics written in an ancient language. It was impossible for the uneducated. After two weeks of coming here every day, Fay had only mastered a fundamental skill, Mana Manipulation, at the F-grade.


    In the library was a stone; when she placed her hand on it and injected some mana, the stone glowed slightly, and some information appeared on its surface:


    [Fay Karles]


    Skills:


    Mana Manipulation [F]


    Fay read the contents of the stone with a sour expression. The stone displays a person’s skills on its surface. I heard that an expert mage should have five to ten different skills. But I only have one. Maybe Father refused to let me learn magic because he already knew I was hopeless at it?


    Feeling dejected, Fay decided to return home. It was early December, so the carriage’s inside was freezing; Fay could see her breath.


    Once she finally arrived home, the door seemed smashed in, as there was a fist-size hole where the doorknob used to be.


    Did a monster break inside?


    Barry, the carriage driver, bravely stepped in front of his mistress and cautiously approached the door. The smell of fresh blood filled the area, and they looked at each other with pale faces.


    He went in first through the door with cautious steps, trying to avoid bits of broken furniture on the hallway floor and avoid making a sound. A woman’s sobbing came from the room on their right. It sounds like mothers crying since we left our Oshal, Fay thought as they carefully approached.


    Barry also seemed to recognize the crying and quickly entered the room. Not that Fay could blame him for his haste. If her mother were to die, he would be executed for abandoning a noble.


    Right as he entered the room, Barry’s head went flying. It impacted the doorframe with a sickening crunch before shattering. His now-headless corpse stood still for a moment before falling back onto Fay.


    She was so shocked by the scene that she was frozen in place. Everything happened in slow motion. Barry’s headless corpses fell onto her and she instinctively reached out to catch him, only to be crushed under the heavy man’s weight.


    While falling, Fay saw her mother tied to a chair and a piece of cloth filling her mouth. Snot and tears covered her face. Despite the situation, Fay felt slightly happy to see her in such a miserable state. So many times, she brought her to tears but never cared. Fay could also see the corpses of the other four servants on the floor, including her maid, Jessica.


    While she was distracted and lying on the floor, a tall man emerged from the shadows of the room and appeared next to Fay’s mother. His predatory red eyes were filled with murderous intent.


    “Since a prized lamb has appeared, I have no use for a used wretch like you,” he said deeply.


    His black nails elongated to the size of small daggers, and he rammed them straight through her mother’s skull. She squealed like a pig before her head fell forward with dead eyes.


    Fay felt conflicted. Disgusted by the scene, but she felt immense happiness seeing her mother so brutally executed.


    She was my tormentor for my entire life. She has never been kind to me, only wanting to sell me to the highest bidder for her gain. However, her thoughts were interrupted as the monster who had killed her mother strode toward her.


    “I wonder how you will taste.”


    He moved toward her with phantom-like speed and sunk his fangs deep into her neck. The world started spinning.


    “Delicious,” the monster proclaimed. Foreign magic invaded her body, and from then on, she was a slave to the vampire.