"Vampire."
I froze at that Appraisal result.
During that incident, I'd happened to learn that Skills could be acquired using something called Skill Points.
I immediately acquired the Appraisal Skill and started experimenting with it on everything I could find.
The result? Appraisal was useless.
I tried Appraising everything within my line of sight, one after another, but all that came up were labels like "Bed," "Walls," "Desk" — the kind of obvious things you could tell just by looking.
Worse still, each use of Appraisal gave me a mild headache.
It wasn't much of an issue if I didn't use it continuously, but by the time I'd finished Appraising most of the objects in the room, I had a dull ache like the kind you get when running a high fever.
It was practically meaningless to use, and on top of that, using it came with a headache penalty.
I figured it was partly because the Skill was only Level 1, but I had no motivation to try and level it up either.
It was a dud Skill.
With a sigh, I Appraised my own hand as a last resort — and the result came back: "Vampire."
It felt like an eternity before I understood what that meant.
I thought it had to be some kind of mistake, so I Appraised myself over and over, but the result was always the same.
Why?
How?
Those two words spun uselessly around in my head, and I couldn't think beyond them.
"Oh no! My lady!"
My complexion must have been truly terrible, because the maid took one look at me and immediately sent for a doctor.
I secretly Appraised the maid — the result was "Human race."
My father and mother rushed over upon hearing about my condition, and I Appraised both of them too. They were both "Human race."
In other words, it wasn't the case that my parents were vampires and therefore I was one too.
I alone had been born as a vampire through some kind of sudden mutation.
If that was the case, then if a doctor examined me, he might discover that I was a vampire.
My blood ran even colder at the thought.
I wasn't even sure whether vampires had real blood flowing through them or not.
"No, wait."
"Yes?"
"You noticed it too, didn't you? This child is probably activating an Appraisal Skill."
The fact that I'd been listless and unresponsive was actually a good thing in this case. If I'd been in better health, my body would have given away the fact that I was reacting to something.
"Whether by chance or some cruel joke of the gods, this child appears to possess the Appraisal Skill. I suspect this condition is Appraisal Sickness. This is merely speculation on my part, but is it possible that the child has become unable to voluntarily deactivate the Skill?"
"Then that's dangerous!"
"It is dangerous, but it's not something a doctor can treat. We should perform an examination as a precaution, but beyond that, all we can do is hope the child manages to suppress the Skill's activation on her own."
"That can't be…"
I listened to my parents' conversation, and the murmuring of the attendants behind them, and it was clear they had misunderstood what was going on with me.
They were half right, so it wasn't entirely wrong.
Actually — so using Appraisal was visible to others. My score for uselessness just went up.
The doctor arrived and gave me an examination.
I couldn't resist.
On the verge of fainting from tension, I could only submit to whatever the doctor did.
"As I heard in your account, this does appear to be Appraisal Sickness. It seems strain has stiffened her body from pushing herself too hard. However, from what I can see, the Skill's activation appears to have stopped. Her condition should not worsen any further."
Both my parents let out a sigh of relief.
I, however, could not relax. My body remained rigid with tension.
"As a precaution, it would be wise to keep an eye on her for the day. If anything changes, please call me again."
"Doctor, thank you so much."
The doctor left without saying anything further.
I couldn't let my guard down.
There was still the possibility that my parents might question me privately afterward.
But despite my straining tension, my consciousness was gradually growing hazy.
An infant's body simply couldn't endure prolonged tension.
I fought against an overwhelming wave of sleepiness, desperate to know whether the doctor had truly left without noticing anything.
`[Proficiency has reached a threshold. Acquired skill 'Sleep Resistance LV1'.]` Thanks to that Skill's power, I managed to stay awake just a little longer.
But in the end, I couldn't hold out until my parents returned, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
When I woke up, my parents weren't there.
My mother was the worrying type, so I'd assumed she'd be at my side the whole time, but she was gone.
I quickly figured out the reason from the attendants' conversation.
Apparently, that spider Monsters from before had built its nest right near the town.
The resulting chaos had sent both my father and mother scrambling to deal with the situation.
I felt relieved.
For now, being alive meant the worst outcome hadn't happened.
It was only putting off the inevitable, but I was fairly certain they hadn't discovered that I was a vampire.
Normally that spider would have been a nuisance, but this one time I had to be grateful to it for muddying the waters.
What I needed to think about was why I'd been born as a vampire in the first place.
My best guess was that it was because of my Reincarnation, but I wasn't sure.
Could it really be because I'd been nicknamed "vampire" in my previous life?
If my second chance at life was going to be ruined over something that trivial, I couldn't bear it.
But the fact that I was a vampire was an unchangeable reality.
If anyone ever Appraised me, it would be game over in an instant.
I didn't know what kind of treatment vampires received in this world, but I was certain it wouldn't be anything good.
I absolutely could not let anyone find out.
But it was only a matter of time before I was exposed.
For the children of nobility, there was a ceremony called the Appraisal Ceremony — a social coming-of-age event.
In front of a crowd, a grand Appraisal was performed so that parents could show off how impressive their child was. It was basically a showcase event.
If that happened to me, it would be no different from announcing to the world that I was a vampire.
I had to avoid it at all costs.
But how could I possibly pull that off?