In a land far from Japan, I lived a humble life in the mansion. I was the Young Mistress of the mansion, after all. I was brought up in a very uptight fashion by mostly my Mother. At one point, the Master of the mansion, my Father, left for a meeting among other vampires of the same rank in a another village. A human overheard this, and manipulated several vampire hunters. My Father was among the unfortunate vampires slayed that evening. So now, we barely speak about Father. Mother had to take care of the whole mansion herself then, so I made sure she would have less to worry about. I watched over the fairy maids, remembering each of their names and making sure they were working diligently. During Mother's free time, I fed her information that I had discovered in the library that she took interest in, and accompanied her when she went outside for tea. But even so, I made sure I didn't act very clingy, though she knew that I loved her nonetheless. And as of recent, Mother had fallen very ill.
"Mother, are you feeling any better today?" I asked as I entered her room. I had woken up only a few hours before sunset this time. Rather early, for a vampire such as myself.
"Not quite, my dear." she told me. I could tell, what with the dark bags under her eyes and her slumped figure. Though I did hope that she had gotten at least a wink of sleep.
"Well if that seems to be the case, perhaps a bit of idle chatter over a cup of tea could be beneficial?" I snapped my fingers, and two maids piled in, one with tea and the other with cake. I knew these kinds of things cheered my Mother up. She gave me an approving nod, as the two set down the plates and I waved them off.
"So what exactly is on your mind?" she asked as she took a sip. I took a sip as well, and greatly enjoyed the hint of blood in it.
"The Scarlet Devil, I should say. Have you heard of it?"
"Hmm, actually I have not. Another rumor?"
"I think it's much more than just a rumor, Mother. They say that a crazed girl has been running around lately. Apparently she was cursed because of a spell, and gained the powers to destroy just about anything. But of course, you can't exactly put your trust into what the other villagers say."
"Crazed, huh? Maybe it was the effects of a long life. That drives a good number of vampires mad."
"But they say that she was like me, the Young Mistress of the household. But they did not specify what estate it was..."
"So they know that much? But the Scarlet Devil seems like quite the name for a young girl. How did she gain it?"
"Apparently she goes around, sucking the blood of humans and youkai alike. A messy eater like herself stains her pink dress scarlet. She has been framed for the deaths of quite a few of the villagers here, but no one knows who she is."
"Odd. They know about her status, but they don't even know her? I feel that the villagers are probably lying. It does them a great pleasure to do so." I nodded in agreement. A Scarlet Devil? The thought of it was rather absurd, wasn't it? So we put that matter to end, and I began to start the daily work. I greeted each maid properly, watched over the kitchen and checked around the basement. After that, I left to the secret archive which I called the library. So peaceful and quiet-excluding the clumsy maids-, I really was fond of such a place. From what I've observed, most children of my age were to be tutored by someone and made sure they were caught up on their studies. I took a liking to doing so automatically and have even excelled past the average expectation, so I have no need for a tutor. I browsed for a good book, and found something I haven't already read before. The book wasn't too long, only around a thousand pages. I then sat down and flipped it open, making sure I had my paper to write on. I was very deep into my studies when I heard a loud slam. I turned to the sound, a little irritated because of the interruption.
"Young Mistress!" the fairy maid called. "The Mistress is getting worse in condition!" with haste, I stood up and neatly closed my papers in the book. And from there I rushed to Mother's room. Mother was coughing horribly, and her face described great pain, just like I had been told by the fairy maid. Rather than asking Mother if she were alright, I immediately turned to one of the maids who were higher in status. I knew all too well that she was very educated in the medical field.
"What do you suggest is necessary to solve this problem?" I asked. From there she explained to me that an odd berry that grew on a tree usually cured vampires. I wondered why items for youkai were so hard to obtain. She said that she had hired a group of maids to get this, but I complained that fairies weren't the best in speed. Mother needed to be cured and fast, what with the distraught look on her face. I took off with great urgency, following the maid's instruction and immediately racing into the forest. I passed the group of fairy maids, and ordered them to go back and tend to Mother. With that, I turned corner after corner scanning every tree I passed with a slight of eye. None seemed to fit the description right. I was getting more worried and worried each second, as I recalled passing the same tree several times. I had scan the whole forest, from what I saw. There was no such berry around here. The only option was to search around the village, but to no avail. I came back to the mansion, hoping that maybe Mother had gotten better while I was away. But even so, I made with great haste getting back to Mother's room. "Is Mother alright?" I asked the second I opened the door. The fairy maids glanced at me, before averting their gazes to the ground. No one said anything, so I walked up to Mother, a bit confused. She looked like she was sleeping, so I guessed that they were staying silent, that way she wouldn't wake. But I realized that I was wrong, when I felt her hand. Ice cold. I knew that sign all too well. Immediately I took off mob cap and held it in my hands, fighting back tears. Whatever illness this was, it had taken Mother's life. Even though she was a vampire, she didn't last against it. The fairy maids left, and I let myself cry. For how long I let myself cry, I couldn't tell. But it felt like I sat there for hours. At once I proposed a proper burial for her, and the maids agreed. It took a few days to get it all done, but once it was finished, all of the fairy maids took a moment to stand in front of her grave. I stood there the longest, of course. I would've stood there longer, but the clouds began to part. I walked inside with a tear-stained face, only to be greeted by the head of the fairy maids.
"Young Mistress, I think now you will have to take the role as the Mistress of this mansion." I nodded silently, as I walked to my room and shut the door. After my Mother's... death, things became much more solemn around the mansion. I made sure I carried out the work I usually did, but otherwise I stayed inside my room. I really couldn't believe it. But I knew I shouldn't have kept myself locked up. After about a week, I finally got out my room and went back to spending my time in the library. It wasn't before too long that a fairy maid told me that I had a visitor. I didn't know a single person outside of the mansion, who could it have been? I nodded and entered the dining hall, where Mother held conversations with visitors. I saw that it was a tall man, obviously a great vampire. He must have been the head of another mansion. As he saw me, he bowed and I curtsied in return.
"I've heard of what happened from the villagers. I am very sorry for your lost, Lady Flandre." it was rather odd how he knew my name, but I nodded in return.
"Yes, thank you for your concern."
"You are but a young child as of the moment, would you like my assistance with the mansion?" though he sounded concerned, I wasn't falling for it. Next thing I know, he might think of taking over the mansion. That's the last thing I want.
"Though your offer is kind, I am rather mature for my age, and I think that I could support the mansion on my own." I told him. His expression showed that he wanted to argue with my point, but he stayed quiet.
"I see. I understand, Lady Flandre. I wish you luck with the mansion." he bowed once again and then retreated out of the mansion door. Good, I really didn't prefer his presence anyway. I thought that was the end of it but I was wrong. Mother also used to go to her own type of gathering with the other Mistresses, like my Father. I was told that I had to go to that, it was beneficial to the mansion. I groaned and went along with it, though it wasn't the best. When I got there, I was in fact the youngest Mistress they had ever seen.
"I'm sorry that this happened, Mistress Flandre." one of them told me. I was rather tired of being spoken to like that. I could handle my own, I'm not the kind of person to break down and cry. I'm a heartless kind of vampire with no emotions, I prefer serious business.
"You are not required to apologize to me, but I do thank you for being attentive to my needs." all of them were surprised at my extensive vocabulary, and I really didn't like being treated like a child, but I made it out alive. Thing started to seem a bit more cheerful as time passed. Some of the maids I could even call my friends, because they were rather close and I knew them well. I managed to keep everything like it was for longer than I could remember, but about five years after my Mother's passing, something strange began to occur in the village. A murder, I heard. Just one. It was apparently a girl found dead, her throat ripped apart and her blood drained. Why someone would drink the blood of a vampire, I wouldn't know. After the unfortunate incident, a similar one happened, only a week apart. I thought maybe it was just bad luck, but it turned into a whole chain of murders. Dead vampires, one by one. A maid actually spoke to me about it while I was in my studies.
"Mistress, have you heard of the recent murders?" she asked me as she set down a little snack.
"Yes, I have. Rather mysterious, and too frequent to not be considered a serious threat." the maid nodded in agreement.
"Do you think actions are to be taken?"
"Action on our part? I think not, unless this gets bad enough to the point where maids from my mansion, or I am targeted."
"What if you are killed?"
"Then all of you maids are to go free, you're no longer tied to this mansion."
"Mistress...!"
"I think that maybe the Scarlet Devil that popped up around five years ago may be the cause of this." I said, moving on from the previous subject.
"The Scarlet Devil? That would fit the picture, but what if we run upon this devil?
"If she is not hostile to the mansion, we should welcome her."
"Mistress, that's a bit too risky, isn't it?"
"Well, the villagers could have been lying on her. Maybe she wasn't a murderer after all."
"That's could be true..." from there, the maid sighed and continued with her work. I was looking forward to knowing more about this girl, this Scarlet Devil...