I Was Kidnapped by a Vampire Queen, and Now the Vampire Born from My Soul Wants to Take Me Back

The hall crackled with electricity.

It wasn't the silence of surprise.

It was the silence of "oh, this is going to be good."

The noblewomen in the back moved one step forward without realizing it.

The matriarchs at the tables along the sides lowered their glasses.

The waitresses left their trays resting against the columns.

Someone in the corner started whispering rapidly to the woman beside her, who whispered it to the next, and so on until half the hall was murmuring the same thing at once.

"So soon?"

"They're already challenging him?"

"At his debut?"

A duel between vampires was nothing unusual, but requesting one from the princess who had just been presented to the kingdom, especially when that princess was rumored to possess two Ego Weapons...

That was a bold declaration.

Against a column, Lisette parted her lips slightly with a smile.

"Kaela..." she murmured.

"I knew it," Celia replied under her breath. "I knew it from the moment we walked in."

"I thought she'd hold out until tomorrow."

"Kaela could never hold out until tomorrow..."

In the back, a noblewoman from House Grisel tapped her closed fan against her palm in irritation.

She had also wanted to request a duel tonight, but now Kaela was stealing her chance.

And judging by the expressions of three other noblewomen throughout the hall, she wasn't the only one.

Matt gently moved Noxx aside and calmly rose from his seat. He adjusted the cuff of his left sleeve, then the right.

"It would be my pleasure to have a brief match with you," Matt said clearly.

Kaela lowered her head slightly.

"Thank you for the honor, Princess."

Beside the small seat, Noxx adjusted the front of her dress. Matt gestured for her to take his place, and she obediently sat down.

The crown was still on Matt's head. He removed it and placed it on the armrest before giving his hair a small shake.

Before he could descend the three steps, Noxx caught his hand.

Matt stopped.

Noxx said nothing.

She only looked at him from the seat, her red eyes slightly wider than before, her hand wrapped around Matt's wrist as though she were trying to say something that refused to leave her mouth.

Matt understood about half of it.

"I'll be fine," Matt said quietly.

Noxx didn't release his hand.

"Noxx."

Noxx loosened her fingers.

"I'll be fine."

Noxx let go.

Matt descended the three steps.

The hall moved quickly.

Two waitresses dragged a central table to the side.

Four guards pushed a pair of chairs against the columns.

The noblewomen stepped back with the mechanical elegance of people who had done this before.

Within two minutes, the center of the hall had become a wide circle.

At the edge of that circle, the other five women from the lineup stood in formation again. Celia had her hands behind her back and her eyes slightly narrowed.

Eris wore the faintest hint of a smile. Rosalind remained still. Lisette's golden hair shone beneath the red lamps. Virelle kept her eyes fixed on Matt rather than Kaela, measuring something.

Kaela and Matt walked toward the center and stopped several meters apart.

Matt looked her up and down.

"Do you have an Ego Weapon?" Matt asked.

Kaela's jaw tightened slightly.

"No, Princess. My application is still being processed."

"Then I won't use mine either."

A murmur traveled around the circle.

Matt continued calmly.

"Just our bare hands."

Kaela raised one eyebrow slightly. Then lowered it. Then, very slowly, she smiled inwardly without allowing that smile to reach her face.

'...Just our bare hands? Seriously?'

Kaela had been training in hand-to-hand combat since before she knew how to read.

House Ardent had centuries of tradition behind it.

Her aunts were known for defeating armed vampires using nothing but their elbows.

Her mother had strangled a newly turned vampire with one arm when Kaela was four years old.

And among Kaela's generation within House Ardent, she was the best.

'Does he know?' Kaela thought. 'Did someone tell him? And he's still choosing to fight barehanded?'

Kaela felt warmth spread through her chest.

Either possibility was interesting.

If Matt didn't know, he was in for a surprise.

If Matt knew, that was even better.

Kaela flexed her fingers slightly.

"Then I won't use magic either," Kaela replied firmly. "This will be a purely physical fight."

"Perfect," Matt replied.

"And with your permission, Princess, I will make the first move."

"Go ahead."

Kaela vanished.

FWOOSH!

The air shifted around the circle. The noblewomen in the front felt the wind strike their faces.

Kaela reappeared in front of Matt, her right fist shooting directly toward his chin.

Matt moved his head four centimeters to the left.

Kaela's fist passed beside him.

Kaela's left leg was already rising from below, aimed at the side of Matt's body.

Matt lowered his elbow five centimeters. Kaela's leg struck it and was knocked away into empty air.

Kaela recovered her balance in midair, landed with her free hand braced against the floor, pivoted on that hand, and launched two rapid punches toward Matt's temple.

One.

Two.

Matt moved his head four centimeters to the right. Then four centimeters to the left.

Neither landed.

Kaela clenched her teeth, but continued.

A punch to the solar plexus.

Matt dodged by twisting his torso.

A kick to the thigh.

Matt moved his leg.

A spinning elbow.

Matt ducked.

A low sweep.

Matt jumped exactly ten centimeters off the ground.

'...What?' Kaela thought.

At the edge of the circle, someone murmured.

At the edge of the circle, someone else murmured.

And very soon, the entire edge was murmuring.

"Look at the way the princess moves."

"Not even a hair out of place."

"It's... elegant."

"It's not just elegant. It's clean. There isn't a single wasted movement."

At the back of the circle, Kassandra slowly lowered her fan.

Kassandra had watched her daughter Kaela fight many times.

Kassandra knew exactly how fast those fists were, how heavy those kicks were, and how difficult it was to dodge one of Kaela's full-body combinations without using magic.

Kaela had been launching flawless combinations for almost an entire minute.

Not one of them had even grazed Matt.

Kassandra tightened her grip on the handle of her fan.

'Well.'

Inside the circle, Matt still had his hands only halfway raised.

His left hand was at chest height.

His right hung loosely at his side.

Matt watched Kaela with the same expression he had worn while looking at the noblewomen during the banquet: neutral, calm, and slightly tired.

'...She's slow,' Matt thought. 'Her attacks are really clumsy.'

Matt had fought Iris, Elyra, and Aurora during combat trials. He had fought the beasts of the north back when he was still Iris, experiencing those battles from inside his own body.

Compared to that, this was child's play.

Kaela launched another combination.

Fist. Fist. Elbow.

Matt didn't dodge the elbow.

He blocked it with his forearm.

SMACK!

And counterattacked.

Matt's right fist shot out from his side, short, tight, and without telegraphing the attack. It traveled in a straight line toward Kaela's stomach.

Kaela saw it coming at the last second, but couldn't dodge in time.

THUD!

Kaela felt the blow enter through her stomach and burst out through her back.

All the air left her body at once.

A small circle of silence opened around Kaela.

At the edge of the circle, Kassandra's eyes widened slightly.

'...'

Kaela took a step back with her stomach caved inward and tried to recover.

She couldn't.

Matt was already on top of her.

THUD!

Another punch to her side.

Kaela tried to raise her arm to block.

THUD!

Another punch to the opposite side.

Kaela tried to turn.

SMACK!

A backhand across the face. Kaela felt her neck snap to the side.

Kaela tried to retreat.

Matt advanced at the exact same pace.

THUD! THUD! SMACK!

Three consecutive blows.

One to the liver. Another to the solar plexus. The backhand to the jaw.

Kaela folded over.

She tried to breathe.

She couldn't.

'Why can't I...?'

Kaela knew what strong blows felt like. She had taken plenty of them before.

From her mother, her aunts, her cousins. Blows that made bones crack.

Blows that had left her on the ground for several seconds until her regeneration forced her back up.

These weren't like that.

These were heavy.

Heavy in a different way.

As though every one of Matt's fists didn't merely strike with force, but left something behind. Something that sank into her muscles, into her tendons, and refused to come out. Her arms no longer responded as quickly. Her legs no longer responded as quickly.

Her mind still did.

Her body didn't.

'...This can't be happening.'

Kaela tried to throw a punch in return.

It came out slowly.

Matt moved his head to the side with a gesture that almost looked like boredom and struck again.

THUD!

To the chest.

THUD!

To the side.

THUD!

To the liver again.

Kaela fell to her knees.

Kaela's regeneration started working. It closed the split skin on her lip. It eased the bruise on her cheekbone. It repaired the tiny ruptured blood vessels in her liver.

But it didn't give her back her breath.

It didn't return the strength to her arms.

It didn't give her back her legs.

Fatigue wasn't an injury.

Fatigue couldn't be healed.

Kaela understood it with terrible clarity as she stared at the floor from her knees.

'...I can't stand up.'

Kaela closed her eyes. She opened them again and raised her head.

Matt stood in front of her, his hands lightly stained with her blood, without a single drop on his suit, without a wrinkle on his shirt, and breathing exactly as he had when he descended the three steps.

Kaela clenched her jaw.

Then she smiled.

An irritated, exhausted smile, with her teeth faintly stained red.

The smile of someone who had lost, knew she had lost, and was laughing at herself a little for believing, for two whole seconds, that she could win.

"...I surrender, Princess."

Silence filled the circle.

And then came the applause.

No one applauded Kaela.

They applauded Matt.

The applause began small, then grew louder, followed by cheers from the noblewomen in the front.

Someone whistled from the back.

A matriarch from House Grisel struck her fan against her palm enthusiastically.

And a noblewoman from House Azura, who had been taking notes on a scroll throughout the entire fight, continued writing without stopping.

Not one of those noblewomen had seen a single blow land on Matt.

Not one, during sixty seconds of combat against a recognized expert from House Ardent.

Matt raised one hand.

The applause slowly died down.

A vampire from House Verdant, carrying a folded white cloth over her arm, approached along the edge of the circle with her head bowed.

"Princess."

Matt took the cloth.

He wiped his right knuckles first. Then his left. The cloth turned pink.

Matt looked at Kaela again.

Kaela remained on her knees, breathing more steadily now, but still unable to stand. Her fists were clenched against her thighs as she stared at the floor.

Matt spoke to her in a calm voice.

"You have potential."

Kaela raised her head very slowly.

Kaela hadn't expected that. Kaela had expected contempt. Mockery. Silence. The typical reaction of someone who had just won without breaking a sweat.

Not a compliment.

"..."

Matt continued wiping his thumb.

Kaela swallowed.

"Princess. Could you... give me some advice?"

Matt looked up.

"Advice?"

"Yes."

Matt thought for a second. Then he said in a completely neutral voice:

"Look into boxing techniques."

Kaela blinked.

"...Boxing?"

"Boxing."

"I've never heard of it."

"It exists. Look it up."

"...Where?"

"In the human world."

Silence.

Kaela parted her lips slightly. Then she closed them again and lowered her head.

"...Yes, Princess."

Matt returned the cloth to the vampire from House Verdant, ran a hand through his short white hair, and turned toward the dais.

The applause returned, fuller this time, mixing genuine excitement, political curiosity, and that faintly frightened respect reserved for someone who had just humiliated an expert without messing up his hair.

Matt climbed the three steps.

Noxx had already risen from the seat and was making room for him, her eyes shining.

Matt placed a hand on her head, and Noxx smiled before she could stop herself.

Matt sat down, and Noxx settled onto his lap again with a movement much more natural than the first time.

In the circle, two vampires from House Ardent approached Kaela to help her stand.

Kassandra watched them from the back, her fan now closed against her palm.

Matt didn't notice her gaze.

But Elyra did.

And Elyra smiled.

◇◆◇

Beside the main throne, Iris was gripping her glass so tightly that her thumb was beginning to leave an imprint on the crystal.

Iris hadn't breathed in a while.

Iris had been watching the fight from the beginning, following every dodge, every counterattack, and every movement of Matt's body as the sleeves of his jacket barely fluttered, without a single trace of effort.

Iris remembered her own debut.

Her own duel. Her own noble opponent, who had also requested an "exhibition match," just like Kaela.

Iris had won, yes.

Iris had won decisively. But Iris had taken two blows to the arm, a minor spell to the side, and a scratch on her cheekbone that had lasted two hours before fully healing.

Matt took nothing.

Zero.

Not even a graze.

Iris felt her blood heating up.

And then, inside her head, Eleonora's voice drawled with all the calm in the world.

"Iris."

'No.'

"Iris, look at his face."

'No, Eleonora.'

"Look at Princess Matt's face. He's bored. Bored. After a fight. Meanwhile, at your debut, you finished the match with half your face smashed in. Remember?"

Iris closed her eyes.

"Do you remember what your face looked like when it ended?"

'Shut up.'

"Sweaty, one eye swollen shut, your dress missing half a sleeve, but everyone was applauding as though it were the most wonderful thing in the world, even though you had technically taken more hits than your opponent."

Iris clenched her teeth.

"Not Matt. Matt finished with his sleeves intact. And now he has the other one sitting on top of him."

'Eleonora.'

"Iris."

'I'm not doing it.'

"Doing what?"

'What you want me to do.'

There was silence inside her head for a second.

Then came Eleonora's barely contained laughter.

"And what do I want you to do, according to you?"

Iris breathed through her nose.

'Challenge Matt.'

Eleonora laughed harder.

"...Well."

'You want me to challenge him in front of the entire kingdom so you can fight whichever Ego Weapon he ended up keeping.'

"Well, well, well."

'You want to teach him a lesson.'

"...Yes. Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean it's a bad idea."

Iris opened her eyes.

In front of her, Matt remained seated in the small chair with Noxx on his lap and one arm loosely wrapped around Noxx's waist.

Iris took another breath.

"Come on, Iris. Is disobeying one or two of the queen's orders really that difficult?"

'...'

"Just for today. Just once."

'...'

"Iris."

Iris lowered her glass very slowly onto the armrest of the throne.

Carefully.

Without making a sound.

Then, in a firm, quiet mental voice, she replied:

'I make my own decisions, Eleonora.'

Silence.

Then Eleonora started laughing.

"Oh."

'...'

"Oh, oh, oh."

'What?'

"Mommy's girl."

If you’ve been enjoying the Gender Bender, comedy, and chaotic relationship dynamics in this novel, you might want to check out I Reincarnated as a LonelyFans Star with a Streamer System, written by jemarzan!

Genres: Gender Bender | Comedy | Ecchi | Girls Love | Romance | LitRPG | Slice of Life

The story follows Ren Takahashi, who dies from overwork only to reincarnate as Aika Shimizu, an 18-year-old girl struggling to survive in Tokyo.

And because apparently reincarnation wasn’t enough trouble, a mysterious system decides that her new career should be becoming a LonelyFans internet idol.

So yeah... now she has to survive internet fame, high school, her new female body, and all the chaos that comes with it. :’v

If that sounds like your kind of suffering—I mean, story—go give it a try! (ง ื▿ ื)ว

Click here or on the cover to read it!