Chapter 19 - Crossing Services

　　In the townhouse with the white roses planted in the doorway, on Ruby Street in Uptown, the thirteen year old girl, Kate, had already been trained by Lynn to be a sweet little maid.

　　She walked into the hall with a light step and addressed Ray-Ray:

　　"Deaconess Leonardo, we have a visitor."

　　"What man? The master is recuperating, let him go back if he's not someone important."

　　"It doesn't seem to be anyone of any repute. But the man was good-looking and had a distinguished air."

　　Ray-Ray walked suspiciously to the window and glanced out the door.

　　And then there was Lord Kayne.

　　The teenage Bloods immediately became grim-faced.

　　"You go and entertain that honored guest and tell him to wait in the parlor."

　　After giving Kate her orders, Ray-Ray thumped up the stairs and headed for the second floor.

　　Sister has not yet returned from Fort Transylvania, and only she can guard her master!

　　He went straight to the Countess's room.

　　At this time Margaret was still weak from her first wound. It was still morning, so she was in a light sleep, as usual.

　　When Lei Lei entered the room, he saw that his master had not yet woken up, and the gauze quilt covered only half of his body, leaving his two bare calves exposed.

　　The countess frowned slightly, not knowing what kind of dream she was in, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly along with the rise and fall of her chest.

　　The opportunity could not be missed! Ray Ray extended his hands and cast [Powerful Transformation: Pig] on his master.

　　Awakened by the shock of the magic, the Countess was unaware that she had become a curvaceous, naive little piglet.

　　"Master, I'm sorry." Lei Lei stepped forward to pick up the desperately struggling, grunting piglet and put it into a large, airy box.

　　A bunch of weights were also put on the box just in case.

　　Then, Lei Lei set up another protective boundary in the room before locking the door.

　　Doing all this for one purpose: never letting the master meet with Lord Kayne!

　　Before he left, he put his head against the door of the room and whispered, "Master, if I die, please understand my pains in doing this, and sever the connection with Lord Kayne!"

　　Then he took a deep breath and walked down the stairs with his head held high.

　　He has to face the tyrannical Lord True Vampire Ancestor alone.

　　In the first-floor parlor, Edward was sitting comfortably in a padded chair, the room dimly lit so that it was difficult to see his expression.

　　"A million apologies, Lord Kayne, the master went out this morning and is not in at the moment." Ray-Ray walked into the parlor with a tray with black tea and a tea set.

　　Not daring to look at Lord True Vampire Ancestor's face, he went straight to the table and poured tea for True Vampire Ancestor himself.

　　"Ah, I took the liberty of interrupting, but I actually wanted to come and see Young Master Leonardo."

　　Ray-Ray was a little alarmed as to why Lord True Vampire Ancestor was speaking so politely.

　　He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kate, who was waiting in the doorway, before comprehending that Lord True Vampire Ancestor was still playing human.

　　He was slightly reassured that the other party didn't seem to be here to set the table.

　　"What can I do for you?" Ray-Ray then switched roles and assumed the appearance of a host.

　　He poured Kayne a cup of tea before sitting in the chair across from her.

　　"It's the same thing I didn't finish last time, something about my identity."

　　Ray-Ray nodded, since Lord True Vampire Ancestor was still acting, this meant that he needed a fake identity now.

　　"I see, then I'll ramble on as I understand it, and I'll ask Kayne-sama to correct me if there's anything wrong."

　　"Uh, go ahead." Edward thought to himself that the boy was really careful with his words.

　　"You are the bastard son of the Archduke of Romneya...?" Ray-Ray looked at Edward with an inquiring eye, he wanted to know if this setup Lord Kayne was happy with.

　　Edward didn't catch the questioning tone of Ray-Ray's voice, but instead wore a blank expression.

　　He didn't know much about the aristocratic system of this world, but only knew that in the original world, the "Archduke" was a kind of lord above the Duke and below the King.

　　The illegitimate son of an Archduke is allowed to be called a prince.

　　Seeing that Lord Kayne had not commented on the setting, Ray-Ray asked, "Lord Kayne, may I continue?"

　　What he's saying is: if you're okay with this setup, we'll pass this one, right?

　　Edward, who was struggling with how he was suddenly a prince, apparently didn't understand that level, so he said, "Sure, go ahead."

　　With that setting approved by Lord Kayne, Ray-Ray threw out the next setting:

　　"Your mother, the late Lady, was actually of more honored status than the Grand Duke, so although you are a bastard, you are in no way inferior to a true prince in Romanya."

　　"Oh." Edward still had a confused look on his face.

　　He felt that it didn't matter much if this world's cheap old dad and cheap old mom were nobles or whatever. Because there was no memory of the original owner, these people were just like NPCs to himself.

　　But this reaction from Lord Kayne seemed to Ray-Ray to be a normal behavior when forging an identity against a script, so he threw in a third setup:

　　"Your brother was born of the Archduke's rightful wife, and although he is inferior to you in every way, he is above you in the line of succession."

　　He weighed his words carefully; the setting was laced with a personal note.

　　Edward heard this and the confusion in his eyes cleared away, he had found the key point of the problem.

　　Assassinations of handlers for the sake of inheritance are commonplace in noble families, and kinship does not exist in the face of power.

　　"That brother of mine, he's not being cynical, is he?"

　　Ray-Ray becomes instantly vain, believing that his entrapment of private goods has caused Lord Kayne's displeasure.

　　The setting of this "younger brother" is actually a shadow of Lord Abel.

　　"Ah, that, ah, I can't really say, let's put that aside for now, anyway, the end result is that you left Romneya and came here in order to avoid a conflict with that one."

　　These are actually scripts that Ray-Ray made up off the top of his head, fake identities concocted so that Lord Kayne could fit in with human society.

　　Edward, however, is convinced that he is in control of the original owner's life trajectory.

　　The original owner must have left her country and came to the Eastern Continent after she lost her power in a political struggle.

　　Then this unlucky fallen prince, who was kidnapped by a vampire, was probably tortured out of his soul, and got himself his body.

　　Now, it must be the "brother" of Romneya, who, in order to consolidate his position, has sent assassins to himself.

　　"I see, that makes sense."

　　"Uh, yeah, it's good that you approve." Ray-Ray took Edward's words as an endorsement of his own doohickey.

　　"Thank you, I have one more request."

　　"Go ahead."

　　"Can you help me get in touch with my brother?"

　　Ray-Ray was startled, and he immediately realized that Lord Kayne was using the term "brother" to refer to Lord Abel.

　　"Sure." His expression gelled.

　　"Please convey to him for me that I have no interest in inheritance or anything."

　　"Uh... Huh?"

　　Ray-Ray kind of didn't believe his ears.