Legacy World 4.24 BaoBao's Unwell?

At the end of the day, Vlad and Vanora returned to the castle instead of the inn. Vlad knew that Vanora preferred to not waste time on teleporting between three areas. Besides, the table in the study was large enough for them to eat at, without needing to move anything aside. 

“Vlad… Can you keep your distance whenever we’re in front of others?”

“Why?”

“I don’t want trouble.”

“No one would dare.”

“Of course, YOU won’t be troubled.”

“You won’t be either, if you’re associated with me.”

“Trouble will find me BECAUSE I’m associated with you.”

“Who?”

“Anyone who could be interested in taking my place beside you?”

Vlad seriously thought about it. “Who’d be so daring? Anyway, you’re no coward. So, what’s the real reason?”

“I’m no coward but I’m not stupid either. I know my limits.”

“You’re now strong enough that not too many are your match. Besides, I can help if anything goes awry.”

Vanora continued to supplement her argument, but Vlad always found something to rebut her with. She had no proof that trouble would find her, while Vlad could say that nothing had happened thus far. Their persistence caused the discussion to drag through dinner and after it. 

Finally, Vlad threw out a condition that he had believed she would never do.

"If you'll kiss me on the lips every single day, then I’ll agree to stay away." It pleased him to see her stunned into silence. "Now can you go to bed?" He asked, considering the discussion over.

She frowned and slightly pursed her lips. Her expression made him feel even more pleased with himself even though it also felt like a tiny stab in his heart. /So this is how much she doesn't like me.../

Suddenly, he was grabbed by his coat and pulled forward. His lips got crushed and his eyes went as wide as saucers. Vanora, however, squeezed her eyes shut. Her frown revealed how much was pushing herself to do this. Nonetheless, an unfamiliar warm fuzzy and ticklish emotion filled his heart and stomach. It was weird but he liked it. 

When she finally let go of him, he had a silly grin plastered to his face.

"Now, do you agree?" She sounded as cool and calm as ever. It poured cold water all over him and he wondered if his mind played a trick on him. The slight red tinge on her cheeks and ears told him that the kiss was not a dream or hallucination. Still, the fuzzy feeling was gone. It felt awkward and somewhat sad now. 

“Well, you fulfilled the condition.” He admitted defeat with a sad half smile.

 She nodded curtly then headed to bed.

Once Vanora disappeared behind the black curtain, the both of them let out a heavy sigh without the other knowing. 

Vlad collapsed together with his sigh and was now squatting with his head buried in his arms. /I actually thought that she liked me, even if only a little. How stupid have I gotten. To her, the kiss was just a means to an end. Does she even see me as a guy? Ah... Fuck it. I'll just use this as a chance to get even closer then./

On the other side of the curtain, Vanora was lightly touching her lips with her fingertips, with a dazed look on her face. /My first kiss.../ She then covered her face with her palms. /I can't believe I just exchanged my lips for this... It better be worth it.../

The next day on, Vlad kept his end of the deal.

He proactively woke up earlier than Vanora to complete his morning duties. By the time Vanora woke up, he would be done. Their routine stayed the same otherwise. He made tea for her while she washed up in the bathroom opposite his study. Then, they teleported to the surface.

Vlad no longer approached Vanora or went remotely close to her. The only time the hell beings saw them together was when they arrived and left. It was similar to Vlad’s relationship with Raven. Vanora also integrated well with the other demons of her nature and respected Vlad as much as they did. So, questions and suspicions gradually died down. 

At the end of each day, they returned to the castle to wash up and eat. Vlad also never stopped his efforts at conversing with her while she ate. However, her responses seemed a little colder. Even so, she never failed to give him a quick peck on his lips as thanks for the day, before retiring to bed.

This continued for months. Although Vlad continued to keep up his end of the deal, he grew increasingly cranky and irritable.

He felt conflicted about her kiss. It was nice to feel her soft supple lips against his, even if only momentary, but was it okay for it to continue like this? She was obviously not enjoying it like he did. It also hurt as much as it felt good for him, because the kiss meant nothing to her. Not to mention how it was a torture each time he suppressed the urge to hold onto her and relish in a deeper kiss. It was as if he took one step forward only to go two steps back. 

Having never questioned himself this much before, he developed a headache. One day, he caved in and told Vanora that there was no need to kiss him to keep him away. Vanora’s face lit up with pleasant surprise. It looked as if a load was taken off her shoulders. 

On the other hand, BaoBao had been having a whale of a time seeing Vanora so awkward and uncomfortable like a fair maiden in love. She never behaved this way before, so found it entertaining and cute. As a spectator waiting for their relationship to develop further, Vlad dashed his hopes and left him in the dumps. 

While the two had clear opinions on this matter, Vlad stayed conflicted. The change in their interactions was not obvious, but he could tell that Vanora warmed up to him and was more at ease with him, than she had been before their first kiss. So, Vlad knew that he made the right choice. This did not help clear his feelings up, though. As much as he liked making Vanora happy, he was still depressed about losing the physical intimacy. He also did not like being away from her for so long. The increasing number of butterflies and bees buzzing around her made things worse. 

Vlad’s moodiness got so bad that even the stupidest hell beings could not help but notice that something was odd. Vlad was cold and aloof before, but now he was a scarier version of Raven. 

They originally thought that it was related to the growth in his powers, but gossip soon changed their opinions. The ones around Vlad shared their experiences with those around Vanora. 

Every time Vanora would have suffered a grievous wound, a body would miraculously fly over and knock down the opponent, thus giving Vanora and her comrades an opportunity to fight back. The other side shared how Vlad randomly threw bodies away instead of cutting them down, tearing them apart, or reducing them to ashes. What was weirder was that he kicked or threw whoever was closest to him, no matter if the victim was friend or foe. This made everyone, even Rosa, avoid being around Vlad when he fought.

The ones with Vanora shared how easy and fun this war got. Vanora may be quiet and unsociable but that was what made her easy to get along with. Hell beings were often too loud, emotional, fierce, or arrogant. These easily led to conflicts. Vanora never picked a fight or had an issue with anything they did or said. So, whenever they were en route to the next destination or taking a break, more and more hell beings surrounded Vanora. In truth, Vanora never needed to take part in anything. She was like a bystander being entertained by all their antics and interactions. The ones with Vlad, however, shared how miserable their lives got. Everyday, it was harder to breathe around Vlad. If they got caught in it, they could not move away even if they wanted to, like a fly caught in a sticky trap.

They inevitably pieced the information together and eventually realised the truth behind their demon lord's bad mood. Vlad paid attention to Vanora. She must be special. Once this was established, the hell beings began treating her with more respect and took greater care of her. Once, a fellow male demon tried to offer her the reddest and juiciest meat they had caught, in an effort to please the demon lord. Yet, he was met with a death glare that made him wet himself on the spot. Thinking that the fault was with offering her the wrong food, more hell beings offered her more things, hoping to please Vanora and get into their demon lord's good books. Unexpectedly, Vlad's mood only worsened further. The ones with Vlad begged those around Vanora to take it easy on them, but no one knew what they could do to make things better. 

Meanwhile, Vanora worried about her current circumstances. Vanora was aware of the gossips and Vlad's mood and behaviour. She kept her reactions as boring and minimal as she could, but Vlad was not making it easy for anyone to move on. This defeated the purpose of distancing herself from him. She sighed inwardly as she wondered if it was possible to get him to behave more properly and willingly. 

/Why is he so obsessed about staying by my side? Only if I can figure this out then I can address it properly.../

[Well... Maybe... Just maybeeee... He... You know... Maybe Vlad…]

Hearing BaoBao hesitate so much for the first time in a long while, she guessed what he wanted to say. /You're trying to say that he probably likes me?/

[Yes!]

When Vanora did not respond, BaoBao fretted. [Sorry... That was presumptuous of me.]

Vanora sighed. /No, BaoBao. It's just... I just can't bring myself to believe it. After all this time, we still haven't seen Angela. Doesn't that mean he's protecting her. Why would he do that? Because he loves her. All those make perfect sense. My existence and the way he's with me is what doesn't make any sense. How would I dare to think of such possibilities for for myself? How can I?/

Before BaoBao could get her to elaborate, she continued.

/If anything, it's more likely he views me as belonging to him. You know, like a property?/

[Would he kiss a property that belongs to him?] BaoBao was genuinely puzzled.

/He's a demon. A demon lord. No reservations about acting on whim. Moreover, maybe I'm like a pet, like a dog. You'd kiss such beings, wouldn't you?/

[I... guess so...?] Although he knew it was something hard for him to relate to, he also felt that her reasoning this time seemed harder to accept than usual. 

He processed all the data he had and considered how beliefs and assumptions could bias a person's judgement and perception. So much was being processed at once that the current version of himself could not support it. There was a possibility that Vanora's judgement may be inaccurate too, but that conflicted with his trust in her. Also, how could she be right and wrong at the same time? This created further errors and issues with further simulations. 

He eventually let out a soft groan like he was in pain.

/BaoBao? What's wrong?/

[It's weird... I don't feel so well…]

/Is it possible for systems to fall sick?/ Vanora got worried. If he fell sick, she had to quickly find out how she could help him. 

[Not that I know of… But I don't feel very well… Something's not right...]

/Oh... Um, how about you stop thinking about anything and disconnect from me for now?/

[Mm…]

/Rest well, BaoBao./

BaoBao tried to reply but he was too tired to. He was falling asleep. This alarmed and scared him because systems never needed sleep. However, no matter how hard he tried to fight the drowsiness, he lost to the pull and fell into a deep sleep akin to a hibernation. 

Vanora retired for the day without a clue about what was happening to BaoBao.

Somewhere deep in the universe, there existed a gathering of stars and sparkles that resembled the milky way, but was not it. A tiny star amongst it flickered like a flame about to go off. Smoke and sparkles gathered in front it and formed a vague outline. 

"An abnormality has appeared?" It questioned itself because an abnormality had not occurred in eons.

Another vague outline formed out of seemingly nothing. "Locate it immediately." It ordered. More outlines appeared and got to work.

"It's a system by the name of BaoBao. Its body is breaking down." 

"What's with this amount of data stored within it? Haven't we already told it to stop with the data collection?" Another questioned after they ran a diagnosis.

"So it processed much more data than its body could take."

"How irrational."

"Seems like a deviant has appeared..." Everyone turned to the outline in the centre them all. Everyone trusted his judgement without question. 

"What should we do? Let it burn up and consume itself?" 

"It's no issue assigning another system to its host. On standby and waiting for your command."

The in-charge went deep in thought, while the others waited patiently for his answer.

It knew how the word 'deviant' struck fear in everyone's hearts. They had been wary of such developments because the risks were too great and results tended to be unpredictable. The probability of each outcome was so miniscule that literally anything could happen. To minimise the loss of systems, the most optimal path of development was created for their entity over the years. After that, they never lost another system and everything ran smoothly. Who knew that eons later, another deviant would appear despite everything that was put in place to prevent it?