"Um... can I pay in installments?"
Elizabeth wrapped the oversized men's white lab coat tightly around herself, her bare toes rubbing against the floor uneasily.
The domineering aura she had displayed earlier, looking ready to destroy the world, had long since vanished.
Now, she was just a pitiful woman buried in debt.
Victor sat behind the counter, tapping a ledger with a quill pen.
"Installments?"
He raised an eyebrow, eyeing her with the scrutiny one might give a non-performing asset.
"Ms. Elizabeth, aside from a castle collapsed into ruins and a body that is useless for anything other than looking pretty, you have no collateral."
Victor pointed to the suffocating figure on the bill.
"Five million gold coins."
"Given your current earning capacity, if you went to a human town to wash dishes, it would take you roughly thirty thousand years just to pay off the interest."
"Thirty... thirty thousand years?"
Elizabeth’s vision went dark.
This wasn't a bill; it was clearly a deed of sale.
"I really don't have any money."
She bit her brand-new enchanted titanium alloy fangs, looking aggrieved.
"All my treasures were stolen by adventurers. But I can go rob someone! I'm stronger now; I'll go raid those human merchant caravans!"
Victor shook his head, looking disapproving.
"Robbery? How crude."
"We are a legitimate medical institution. How could we engage in such illegal and undisciplined activities?"
He closed the ledger with a sharp snap.
"Since you have no money and no collateral..."
Victor leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, the corners of his mouth curling into a meaningful arc.
To Elizabeth, that smile looked more terrifying than the impact drill.
"Then there is only one option left."
Victor looked her up and down.
His gaze swept unscrupulously across her fair neck, her full chest, and those breathtakingly long legs.
It was the gaze of a butcher checking if the meat on the chopping block was fresh.
"Pay with your flesh."
Those four words caused the temperature in the clinic hall to drop to freezing instantly.
Elizabeth froze in place, her mind going blank.
Pay with... flesh?
Hot blood rushed to her head, turning her pale face a deep crimson.
Even though she was a vampire who had lived for hundreds of years, God knew she had spent those centuries mostly sleeping and scaring people; she hadn't even touched a man's hand more than a few times!
If she were still her old mummified self, she would have lashed out with her claws long ago.
But now...
She glanced at herself in the mirror.
Radiant and curvaceous.
This man... he really was a pervert!
He went through all that trouble to heal her just to turn the noble Blood Queen into his plaything?
"You... you're shameless!"
Elizabeth covered her chest tightly, retreating to a corner.
"I am a noble member of the blood race! I will never sell my body!"
"Even if you use that drill on me a hundred more times, I will never yield!"
She spoke with stern severity, but her watery red eyes betrayed a hint of weakness—an unspoken 'if you really force me, I don't think I can resist anyway.'
Victor frowned, looking utterly bewildered.
"Where did your mind go?"
"Who wants your body? I'm saying you'll pay it back through physical labor!"
"Huh?"
Elizabeth was stunned. Her 'death before dishonor' lines got stuck in her throat.
"Not... not that kind of payment in flesh?" she asked cautiously, a trace of disappointment hidden in her voice.
"Nonsense!"
Victor rolled his eyes, wearing an expression that said, 'Your thoughts are filthy.'
"I'm a doctor; I have standards for hygiene."
He pointed at Elizabeth's sharp-nailed hands.
"Look at those hands. How many people have they killed? How many times over the safety limit is your bacterial count? Even if I were desperate, I wouldn't touch a high-risk pathogen."
"..."
Elizabeth felt like an arrow had pierced her chest.
She was being rejected.
The great Blood Queen was being rejected because her "bacterial count was too high"!
This was even more infuriating than being asked to pay with her body!
"Then what did you mean by labor?" she ground out through clenched teeth.
"Working."
Victor snapped his fingers.
"The clinic is short-staffed. Alice only knows how to snip things, and I need to be the lead surgeon."
He pulled out a piece of parchment—the 【God-Chosen Employment Contract】.
"I've taken a liking to two of your traits."
"First, you can release a blood mist. That mist has strong hallucinogenic and anesthetic effects, right?"
Elizabeth nodded. That was a blood race talent, the Blood Mist.
"Excellent."
Victor clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"From today on, you are the chief anesthesiologist."
"In the future, when we encounter patients who are afraid of pain or can't afford anesthesia fees, you'll be responsible for giving them a blast of blood mist. It's cost-effective and environmentally friendly."
Elizabeth's mouth twitched.
Using a blood race talent as an anesthetic? What a waste of talent!
"Second."
Victor pointed to an abacus.
"You're a noble, so your math should be decent."
"I need a shrewd housekeeper to control costs and collect debts. And while you're at it, suck dry anyone who tries to skip out on their bill... ahem, I mean, persuade them to pay."
He pushed the contract toward her.
"Position: Anesthesiologist and Finance."
"Salary: None (deducted from debt)."
"Benefits: Room and board, one cup of special blood plasma daily, and regular dental care."
"Term: Until the five million is paid off."
Victor flashed a devilish smile.
"Sign it. Sign it, and you'll no longer be a wandering ghost, but a proud employee."
Elizabeth looked at the contract.
If she didn't sign, she would have to face hunger and pursuit outside.
And if she did sign...
Though she would lose her freedom, the scent of that blood plasma was truly too fragrant.
Plus, there was the sense of power from her new teeth.
Most importantly, being near this man gave her a sense of security—as if even if the sky fell, he would just saw it open with a chainsaw.
"I'll sign."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. She dragged her thumb across her fang and pressed it onto the contract.
Whir—!
Red light shot into the sky.
An indelible brand appeared deep within her soul.
【Ding!】
【Successfully recruited God-Chosen No. 2—Blood Queen Elizabeth】
【Position: Anesthesiologist / Finance】
【Loyalty: 80 (Duplicitous Heart)】
"Welcome aboard."
Victor smiled like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.
He tossed over a set of brand-new clothes.
"Change out of that dirty lab coat. Since you're the financial manager, your image is important."
Elizabeth caught the clothes.
【Dark Nurse Uniform (Onee-san Edition)】.
A tight black pencil skirt, black silk stockings, and a cap with a red cross.
The design was bold, perfectly accentuating her devilish figure.
"This is... a nurse uniform?"
Elizabeth held up the black stockings that were thin as cicada wings, her face flushing.
How was this 'dignified'? This was clearly even more shameful!
"Is there a problem?"
Victor had already sat back in his chair, not even looking up.
"Science shows that seeing beautiful medical staff increases a patient's will to live by thirty percent."
"Go change. Also, that unconscious goblin at the door is about to wake up. Get your blood mist ready; his consultation fee hasn't been settled yet."
Elizabeth sighed.
Yet, her body moved involuntarily.
"I understand... Director."
She clutched the clothes and walked toward the changing room.
As she passed Alice, the girl, who was wiping her scissors, looked up and gave a meaningful smile.
"Welcome, Vampire Auntie."
The scissors made a sharp snip.
"We're colleagues now. If you dare to be lazy, or try to steal the Director's blood..."
"I'll pull out every single one of your new teeth."
Elizabeth shuddered.
Looking at the director with the chainsaw, the nurse with the scissors, and then at herself, a vampire accountant in black silk...
What kind of hellhole was this?!
"My life... is so bitter."
The changing room door closed.
Outside the window, the goblin who had just woken up and was preparing to flee suddenly felt a chill on its neck.
A cloud of red mist silently enveloped it.
"Trying to run?"
A cold, seductive, and dangerous mature voice whispered in its ear.
"No money to pay the bill? Then leave your kidneys behind."
Rate on N.U.
