I Tamed the Slave Male Lead Chapter 32

I calmly began reciting the story I had prepared in advance.

“As I mentioned earlier, I had been looking for an opportunity to have an important conversation with the Master of the Magic Tower. In the process, I learned that the Magic Tower had recently been urgently purchasing various types of blood.”

“Ah….”

Ririen let out a small sigh, knowing full well that the blood had been purchased for her.

“At first, I thought the Master of the Magic Tower was conducting some kind of new experiment. But after looking into it further, I learned that you had recently been staying shut away from everyone… And then, on the night of the Crown Princess selection ceremony not long ago, I happened to see you in the forest near the Imperial Palace.”

“My goodness. How could that be….”

Ririen’s pale face flushed with shame. Seeing her reaction, I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

‘I pieced together about half of it based on guesswork, but fortunately, I was right.’

Of course, the reason I knew about Ririen’s secret was because of the original Blue Roses at the End of the World.

She appeared during the sealed labyrinth conquest arc of the original story.

Yusiliph was forcibly assigned the mission of conquering the sealed labyrinth by Crown Prince Sota. As he fought the monsters there and repeatedly came close to death, Ririen appeared as one of the mid-boss-level monsters.

After being bitten by the vampire bat Maro, she experienced her first episode and rapidly evolved into a vampire. Within a few months, she completely lost all traces of her humanity and, treated as a monster, was hunted until she eventually hid herself inside the labyrinth.

The Ririen Yusiliph encountered in the original story looked no different from a true monster.

He fought against her and nearly had his blood drained to death, but through a desperate stroke of ingenuity, he ultimately defeated her.

Ririen suffered fatal injuries and died, but in the final moments before her death, she suddenly regained her human memories and shed tears as she called out her father’s name.

That father was none other than Duke Ameshika.

From the very beginning, I had planned to use Ririen as my way of approaching Duke Ameshika.

It was the most efficient method, but it was also because I had taken a liking to Ririen as a character in the original story.

‘I’m… sorry. For hurting you. And… Thank you. For finally killing me.’

Ririen’s final words, spoken as she lay dying after suffering a fatal wound from Yusiliph, had really tugged at my heartstrings.

Come to think of it, there were an unusually large number of characters in Blue Roses at the End of the World who died unjustly or suffered terribly.

Regardless of how entertaining the story itself was, I really disliked that aspect of it.

Since I had ended up possessing a character in this world anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to save the people I could save and help those I could help?

The problem was how I could reach out to Ririen without making her suspicious.

At this point in time, only two people in the entire world knew that she was a vampire: Ririen herself and her father, Duke Ameshika.

I came up with the solution after seeing an article in the morning newspaper the day after the Crown Princess selection ceremony.

Mysterious Animal Carcasses Discovered in Forest Outside Imperial Capital… All Blood Drained from Bodies… Chilling Speculation That Vampire Monster May Have Escaped the Labyrinth and Is Roaming the Surface…

‘This is definitely Ririen’s doing.’

Because I had read the original story, I knew that Ririen would soon suffer a severe episode during the biology researcher selection examination.

So the moment I read the newspaper article, I immediately contacted my former professor at the Academy, Professor Mayaro, and casually asked about the date of the biology researcher selection examination.

And finally, on the day of the examination, I stopped by a slaughterhouse, obtained some fresh blood, and came here.

I wanted to give Ririen a chance.

As the only person who knew the story behind this world, I wanted to give a character who had exited the story in such a futile and miserable way one more chance to live.

Perhaps it was overly meddlesome of me, considering I was living on borrowed time myself.

I gave her a sincere smile.

“Ririen. I genuinely want to help you. So, would you help me meet your father?”

“But… why do you want to meet my father…?”

“To solve his greatest concern.”

“His greatest… concern?”

“A way for his daughter to become human again. I know how to do that.”

“What… Did you say?”

Behind Ririen’s astonished face, I could see Yusiliph staring at me with his arms crossed and a strange expression on his face.

His expression seemed to be asking, ‘Just who exactly are you? You’re suspicious beyond belief.’

But I pretended not to notice his gaze and answered Ririen gently.

“Let’s talk about that in more detail later. The practical examination is about to begin, so shouldn’t you go and get ready?”

“Ah….”

Ririen let out a small gasp, as though my words had finally brought her back to reality. Apparently, she had temporarily forgotten about the examination after going through her episode.

She hesitated before letting out a sigh and speaking.

“I think… I should probably give up on this. Given my condition, wanting to work as a researcher who handles living organisms is an incredibly selfish thing to do.”

I noticed her gaze fall on the back of my hand, which was wrapped in the handkerchief.

A little blood had seeped into the fabric. I couldn’t tell whether it was animal blood from the flask or my own blood, but apparently, it was enough to make her feel guilty.

I looked around and spotted what I had been searching for.

I picked it up and placed it in her hand.

“This.”

“…?”

What I handed her was none other than the experimental instructions she had dropped earlier.

“If you want to give up, you can. But as you said, becoming a vampire was an accident and something beyond your control. It wasn’t your fault. Just as being born with a particular bloodline is never someone’s fault.”

As I said that, I deliberately glanced at Yusiliph.

His expression remained impassive.

“But Ririen. If this is truly something you’ve dreamed of for a long time, I’d like you to try one more time.”

“Lady Maiona….”

“I’ll help you. I promise. Of course, to make that happen, you’ll have to put in a little effort first.”

I winked at her.

Ririen hesitated for a moment, her eyes wavering.

The eyes visible behind her glasses had returned to their original pitch-black color. They were pure and deep, shining like onyx.

There was still a little blood around Ririen’s lips from what she had just drunk. When I wiped it away with my handkerchief, she flinched but didn’t shy away from my touch.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, making her look rather adorable.

“So, what will you do?”

At my question, she hesitated for a moment before biting her lip and getting to her feet.

“I’ll… give it a try.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

I smiled and straightened her disheveled clothes.

“And when the examination is over…”

I whispered beside her ear in a confident voice.

“Make sure you come find me. I really can help you. Give me the chance to do so, Lady Ririen.”

Ririen bit her lip and gave a slight nod before leaving the room with a determined expression.

Click.

“Phew.”

The moment the door closed, I sighed and sank to the floor.

I had pretended to remain calm the entire time in front of Ririen, but who could possibly remain perfectly fine after nearly having their blood sucked by a vampire?

A sharp voice soon came from above me as I lay there, limp as freshly washed laundry.

“Are you aware of how dangerous that situation just now was?”

I hadn’t even noticed his approach.

Yusiliph was now standing right over me, casting a shadow across my head.

“…Huh? Of course I am.”

I answered absentmindedly as I watched Yusiliph naturally take my hand and begin unwinding the handkerchief.

“And yet you recklessly threw yourself into it like that?”

He criticized me in a tone that made me sound utterly hopeless as he began carefully examining the wound Ririen had inflicted.

“Ah….”

Perhaps because my tension had finally eased, a sudden pain shot through me when he touched the wound.

As I bit my lip slightly and endured the pain, Yusiliph said coldly,

“So you can feel pain after all. You were charging in so bravely that I thought you were losing your sense of pain along with your stamina.”

“What? You’re being a little harsh—??”

I was about to retort as I usually did at his sarcastic tone, but his next action left me so startled that I swallowed the rest of my words.

“Yusiliph! What are you doing?”

Good heavens.

Without the slightest hesitation, he pressed his lips against the red, swollen wound and began sucking on it firmly, as though drawing something out of my skin.