For dinner Lilith again made a simple meal, as she had at midday, and of course it was delicious too.
Also the same as midday: Lilith went on quietly watching Elena eat while she herself only took the occasional bite of a green leaf.
Elena, though, was distracted. All through the meal she could not stop herself glancing at the cupboard where the tea was kept.
She was wavering. Wavering over whether to go through with the poisoning at all.
Because of that, dinner turned unusually silent. Neither of them spoke, and the only thing left in the air was the crisp clink of cutlery against plates.
Dinner ended in that silence, and Lilith took the dishwashing on herself, telling Elena to go and rest properly.
Elena of course accepted without hesitation; it was not as though she actually wanted to be a maid.
"Oh, and remember to take a bath. I've already left a change of clothes in the bathroom, so do put it on~"
"I know!"
Elena gave a perfunctory answer and went to the ground-floor bathroom.
The bathroom and the washroom were connected, and outside there was a basket for dirty clothes and a rack for hanging clean ones.
Elena spotted the "clothes" Lilith had prepared for her at a glance: an ultra-thin silk nightdress, and a pink one at that.
The critical areas did appear to have been given some extra thickness, but...
"There's no way anyone would call this decent clothing! What's the difference between wearing this and wearing nothing, hey!"
Elena could not stop herself shouting it.
Lilith, washing dishes in the kitchen, naturally heard her, but she did not answer — she only smiled.
Inside the bathroom, Elena had no choice anyway.
She soaked in the tub, quietly enjoying this moment of peace.
Come to think of it, this was the first bath she had ever taken. Back when she was with the Organization there had been no time to soak, because of the training.
She collapsed with exhaustion after every session, and would either rinse off quickly or simply not wash at all.
And Elena also felt that soaking in a bath was when a person was at their least defended, which was another reason she had never done it.
But... this time she soaked without any misgivings, and she was not sure why. Did she trust Lilith?
No. Perhaps it was simply that if Lilith wanted to kill her, she would not need to go to that much trouble.
She had only had that brief contact with Lilith last night, but instinct told her that Lilith was not something she could lay a finger on.
So in truth she did not hold out much hope for the poison, or for any future assassination.
Still, since Lilith had given her the opening, she absolutely intended to take it. Even if she failed, all that happened was that she went on being a maid.
There would be a punishment... but at least that beat dying, didn't it?
That thought led Elena to another thing she did not understand: why had Lilith kept her?
She did not get it. Was there something special about her? Or did Lilith simply find it amusing?
But then, there was far too much she could not make sense of — such as why this vampire had turned up in human territory at all, and become a lord with a title besides.
"Haah..." The sigh escaped her.
There was no telling how long this life would go on. Perhaps one day Lilith would get bored of the game and let her go?
She remembered what Lilith had said just before they came back inside...
"Don't you go getting ideas about running away. If I have to catch you and bring you back, what's waiting for you is a far crueler punishment~"
There was no way to read that as anything but serious!
She had never planned on running in the first place, but just in case, she had to keep the option open.
Time slipped by while Elena's thoughts wandered.
Until Lilith knocked on the bathroom door.
Knock knock knock—
Lilith's voice came from outside as well.
"Elena, don't soak too long. You'll faint in there."
"I know! You talk too much."
Elena climbed reluctantly out of the tub.
Once she had toweled herself off, she looked at the pink silk nightdress.
"Forget it. There's nobody else here anyway, so I'll just wear it!"
Elena said it aloud to psych herself up, and swallowed her embarrassment and changed into the nightdress.
She opened the bathroom door to find Lilith still waiting outside, and as Elena came out in her new clothes, Lilith's gaze swept over her from head to toe of its own accord.
That gaze made Elena cover herself without thinking, and a faint flush rose in her cheeks.
"Not bad. It suits you beautifully, just as I thought~ Wear this one in the evenings from now on!"
"Pervert...!"
Elena muttered the curse, then went straight past Lilith and headed for the second floor without looking back.
"Good night~ See you tomorrow~"
Lilith smiled and wished her good night as she watched Elena's retreating back.
Elena had absolutely no desire to answer.
Back in the room, Elena lay on the unfamiliar bed, looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling.
Tomorrow was the day to make her attempt. She would have liked to hold out a couple more days, but she was afraid that if she spent any longer around Lilith she would lose the resolve entirely.
Lilith had been extraordinarily good to her all day, and she had very nearly fallen for it.
But she was convinced this was Lilith's method — that Lilith meant to control her step by step, through gentleness and punishment both.
So she had to act before she fell all the way in. If once did not work, then twice, then three times; one of them would succeed eventually.
Her mind made up, drowsiness gradually rose over her, and she slipped defenselessly into sleep.
***
The next morning Elena got up very early, when the sky had only just begun to gray.
This was the hour she used to start preparing for training, so she had kept it up, and it had gradually become habit.
The moment she got out of bed she saw the wardrobe standing open. She went over to look and found it hung full of humiliating clothing.
There were even three identical copies of that maid outfit, and the cabinet beneath the wardrobe was packed with stockings.
She was certain the wardrobe had still been shut last night, and that it had been empty when she checked the room before.
Which left only one possibility... Lilith had been in her room!
The thought sent Elena straight into a search of the bedroom, but she found nothing out of the ordinary.
It seemed Lilith had come in purely to stuff the wardrobe full of clothes.
"That old hag... does she like seeing me in this stuff that much!"
Elena could not resist another muttered curse, and then took out a maid outfit and changed into it.
Because whatever else could be said, the maid outfit was still far better than that nightdress that was barely distinguishable from nothing.
Once everything was ready, Elena left the room.
She went first to Lilith's room and leaned against the door to listen. Faint breathing came from inside; Lilith must still be asleep.
This was the best chance she would get.
Elena went straight down to the storeroom and dug up the buried poison.
Except the drug's color had changed a little. It looked somewhat pink now, though red was still the dominant shade.
Perhaps that was from being buried too long? she thought.
With the poison in hand, Elena went to the kitchen, dragged the little stool over, and climbed up on it.
She opened the cupboard with the Blood Iris in it and took out the packet that had already been opened.
But just as she was about to open the vial and pour the liquid in, she stopped.
She hesitated. Was she really going to end it just like this?
But she shook her head hard almost at once, throwing the wrong sort of thoughts out of her mind.
She had made up her mind long ago, and she could not suddenly start regretting it now.
She uncapped the vial, poured the entire poison in at one go, then shook the packet to mix it evenly through.
And at that very moment, footsteps came from the second floor. Lilith was awake.