Giving Every Yandere Villainess Her Happy Ending!

”So, this is it, huh?”

The estate of a viscount. It definitely didn’t look like one. It looked bigger than the entire Brimstone estate. If I had to guess, this place had been standing for literal centuries.

House Crimson, if I was remembering correctly. One of the oldest houses in the entire kingdom. Founded by Baron Lucien Crimson and his wife, Alicent Crimson.

But according to historical records, Lucien died of old age, while Alicent died a few years later after she disappeared from the face of the earth when her carriage was intercepted by bandits on the way to Highheim.

Definitely not suspicious.

”Lady Lillith, you’ve returned.”

The guard at the gate spoke in the tone of a literal dead person. His entire body and face were covered in plate and mail.

”Obviously. No need to mention the obvious.”

Lillith waved her hand, and the guard immediately moved to open the gate. Whatever was wrong with that guard, he definitely wasn’t fully conscious.

Inside the estate itself, the place was beautiful. Again, it was far more beautiful than the Brimstone estate despite being a ducal house.

And I could already tell why.

”Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Lillith smiled, gesturing to a group of maids with crimson veils covering their faces, wearing red robes instead of the classic maid outfit.

”They work day and night to make sure the front garden looks beautiful. We even have maids for the back garden, the pagoda, and well... almost every room.”

”That’s definitely a lot for wages.”

”What wages?”

She giggled.

Well, that answered my question. These people were definitely thralls.

I kept my expression neutral as we walked through the garden. The maids didn’t look up as we passed. Their movements were too synchronized, too precise.

Watering cans tilted at identical angles. Pruning shears snipped at identical rhythms. None of them spoke. None of them even seemed to breathe.

”Lillith.”

”Yes, Reyn?”

”These maids. Are they...”

”Thralls? Yes.”

She said it without hesitation, without shame.

”They’ve been in my family’s service for generations. Well, their families have. The blood oath is renewed every few decades.”

”Blood oath.”

”Mhm. It’s an old Crimson tradition. The families swear loyalty and provide people who won’t be missed, and in return, they receive a small portion of our blood. It keeps them healthy, extends their lives, makes them stronger.”

She gestured at one of the maids, who paused mid-prune to bow in our direction.

”Whoever these people once were, they were the complete unknown of society. Criminals, gamblers, everything you could think of.”

”House Brimstone could use some of them,” I joked, but Lillith didn’t seem to think so.

”I could try convincing my parents to provide you some if you’d like.”

”I’ll think about it.”

Honestly, a few blood-oath servants were hardly the worst thing I’d encountered. I think my own men back when I was a general looked more lifeless than them.

Lillith’s smile widened.

”I’ll be sure to keep a reserve then, just in case you make up your mind.”

We walked through the front garden, past a fountain shaped like a coiled serpent, and up a wide stone staircase to the main doors.

Two more thralls in plate and mail stood on either side, their gazes fixed straight ahead through the small holes of their armets, their hands resting on the pommels of their swords.

They didn’t move as we approached. They didn’t even blink.

Lillith pushed the doors open herself.

The foyer beyond was grander than anything in the Brimstone estate. Vaulted ceilings painted with murals of crimson-winged figures. Chandeliers of black iron and red crystal. A staircase wide enough for ten people to walk abreast, sweeping up to the second floor.

And at the top of that staircase, one figure waited.

”Lady Alicent Crimson...?”

I muttered audibly. So she was the vampire of the family. That meant Lucien was the human.

But what about the current viscount?

”So this is him, Lillith?”

She was beautiful, absurdly so. Black-and-white hair and the same crimson eyes as Lillith. I could tell immediately that she was weaker than her daughter now.

”Yes, Mother. My one and only consort.”

Alicent descended the staircase slowly, her hand trailing along the banister.

The motion was deliberate, almost theatrical, the kind of entrance designed to remind everyone in the room who held the power. Her black-and-white hair cascaded over one shoulder, and her crimson eyes never left my face.

”You’re smaller than I expected,” she said.

”And you’re older than I expected,” I replied.

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. A month ago, that kind of bluntness would have gotten me killed. But now I had a literal vampire queen beside me.

Even if she was her mother, that bond alone would make her protect me. Besides, I wasn’t even lying.

Would vampires even consider being called old an insult? I honestly think they’d take it as a compliment.

Alicent stopped at the base of the stairs. For a moment, the foyer was silent. Then she laughed, a sound that was surprisingly warm.

”I like him.”

She turned to Lillith, who had gone very still beside me.

”He’s got spine. That’s rare in Brimstone men, from what I remember. Duke Presley Brimstone was such a boring man two hundred years ago. And even now, Duke Cain is way too brooding even for me.”

I raised my hand.

”Oh, do you have a question?” Alicent asked.

”What’s the situation with the current Viscount? Is he a half-vampire as well?”

”You’re looking at her, master,” Lillith replied for me.

And Alicent laughed again in response.

”Illusions and deceptions, a vampire’s strongest abilities. After my husband died, this entire house has been controlled by me and my clones, who pretended to be viscounts.”

Wait...

Does that mean—

”I know what you’re thinking, Reyn. And yes, I’m their firstborn daughter.”

Now that’s something even the original story never told...!

So Lillith was already at least a century-old vampire at this point? But how did that even make sense? Her strength, her personality, none of it matched up.

”I can already see you thinking even harder, master. Don’t worry, we’ll answer all your questions after you get acquainted with the rest of the family.”