Reincarnated as a Vampire Princess

When I finally awoke, my parents were gone. Instead, the fluffiest maid I had ever seen was sitting in a chair next to my crib. She had orange hair, and her ears were fluffy. They ended in white tips, like her tail happily swaying behind her. She wore a typical black maid outfit with a white apron and smiled as she looked down at me. 

The first thing I did was try and reach for her ears. I wanted to feel the fluffiness, but sadly, my arms were too short. 

“Oh, the princess has finally awakened. I am sorry, but I must entertain you as your parents are busy.” She leaned in close enough for me to almost touch her ears as she poked my cheeks. 

It was indeed a tragedy. The ears were so close, but I still couldn’t grab them. I could barely touch the maid’s face; her cheeks were so soft, though not what I wanted. Her tail started to sway even more. I would be in heaven if only I could grab her ears! “Ugah!” I let out a strange noise, and she started to giggle.

“You are quite lively, aren’t you, princess?” 

It was then that I finally noticed she kept calling me princess. Maybe I was someone important? Everything was strange. Her ears and tail seemed natural. Why didn’t I question anything before? Could it be that I am stupid? No! I am just a little slow. With this much circumstantial evidence. How could I not realize I was in another world? My parents also both had fangs, and my mom had crimson eyes. What could this mean? Was this one of those fantasy reincarnations? Nobody told me anything about it. The maid must have noticed the strange noises I was making while lost in thought, as I was grunting to myself.

“Sorry, little princess, I forgot to introduce myself! From now on, I am your maid, Yumi.” She did a well-practiced curtsey, and my immediate thought was, why was she introducing herself to a baby? 

She passed the time by telling me stories of my parents. She paid no heed to the fact that I was a baby and shouldn’t be able to understand anything.

My parents were great people to her. Yumi said that everyone in this Kingdom of Arris respected my parents. They were tolerant of ordinary people and didn’t discriminate against any race. 

Yumi was an enslaved child in the neighboring Kingdom of Shulk and became a free citizen when Shulk lost the war, becoming a vassal of Arris. 

Arris forced the vassal state to free all its people, but several chose to move to Arris even after being compensated for their hardships. After all the years of torture as enslaved people, many of the freed beastkin held resentment and bitterness towards Shulk. She was just about to tell me how she ended up in the kingdom when I heard the door to the room open. My mom opened the door energetically. 

“Are you telling her that old story? You know she won’t be able to understand you.” Yumi’s face turned crimson as she realized she had been talking to a baby this whole time and looked down in shame. 

“My apologies, my lady! I-I…” 

“Fufufufu…” My mother started heartily laughing before she waved her hands. “It is okay, Yumi. I was teasing you. Anyways, how has my little angel been!?” Yumi happily smiled, although her face was still red, and her fluffy ears twitched. 

“She is so precious and a great listener!” Yumi said proudly.

“Fufu, I am sure. She is my daughter, after all.” 

I couldn’t help but release a laugh of my own. It was the pure laughter of a baby, and when my mother heard it, she beamed before picking me up in her arms. 

“Someone is happy!” My mother couldn’t help but rub her cheeks up against mine as I continued laughing. 

“So Precious!” Yumi whispered from the side. It was quiet, but I could still hear her.

“Well then, I will take my leave.” Yumi bowed before exiting the room. 

I became saddened that the fluffy ears and tail were leaving me behind. One day, I would experience that fluff. I vowed to myself. My mother noticed the change in my expression, and her eyes followed mine towards the room’s exit. 

“Don’t worry, En. You will get to see her again. More importantly, I bet you are hungry!”

Now that she said it, I was starting to feel hungry. Oddly, I hadn’t been fed at all since my birth, but it was only now that I was beginning to feel hungry. Suddenly, my mother pulled out a vial filled with red liquid. It appeared out of nowhere in her hands. 

Magic! That had to be magic! I was elated; my mother could see that as she smiled warmly at me. “Yes, yes, I am sure you are hungry now.” 

No! That wasn’t it!

My mother obviously couldn’t hear my internal thoughts as she popped open the vial. Immediately, my nose became assailed with a metallic scent. The smell made me feel more hungry as I stared at the open vial. 

It was then I finally realized what this was. It couldn’t be more evident that the liquid was blood. Even I could recognize that, but my hunger drowned out the fear of drinking blood as my mother brought the vial to my lips. I expected it to taste awful as the blood warmed my tongue, but instead, the taste was refreshing. I couldn’t help but want more, but as soon as it started, it was over in the next few seconds as I gulped it down.

I felt newly invigorated. I initially wrote off my parents’ fangs and every other sign, but now it couldn’t be more obvious. I did reincarnate as a vampire princess.