Ishtar is a young and saucy princess of the Phelios dynasty, in line to be Queen, and the granddaughter of the renowned King Phelios, who once defeated the Vampire King Dusel. However, Dusel, now reincarnated as Ishtar's pet wildcat, vows to avenge his previous slaughter at the hands of Phelios. But he has to find whom Phelios has been reincarnated as, something he can assess only by tasting his blood. Ishtar is more than willing to help, especially if it means seeing her cousins fight. She goes to her aunt Ramia and offers to marry whichever cousin comes out victorious in a colossal - and particularly bloody - battle of might. But Ishtar's protector, Dales, enters the fight as well, intent on ensuring that none of the cousins emerge victorious.

St. Phelios
A revered monarch and the Kingdom of Pheliosta's namesake. Phelios is famous for defeating the Vampire King Duzell in an epic battle that cost Phelios his life. As they died, Duzell vowed that they would meet again, leading people to believe that Phelios will be reborn into one of his heirs.

Duzell
Feared throughout the kingdom of Pheliosta, Duzell is a vicious vampire king who once slaughtered hundreds of men in a bloody battle for the kingdom. He was defeated by Phelios, but before he died he promised to return and once again face King Phelios in battle, next time emerging victorious. Now, 100 years later, he has been reborn as Princess Ishtar's pet cat.

Ishtar
A precocious princess who finds herself in the center of a century-old prophecy, Ishtar is the granddaughter of Phelios and the heir to the kingdom of Pheliosta. Although Ishtar is expected to live the life of a lady, and marry a proper suitor of royal blood, she would much rather spend her time infuriating Sir Keld and Darres by ditching her magic lessons and pretending to be a knight. It was on one such excursion that Ishtar found her pet kyawl, who just happens to be the reincarnation of the vampire king Duzell. Ishtar not only is aware of this, but is, perversely, more than willing to help Duzell in his search.

Darres
The captain of the royal guard, Darres is also Ishtar's noble, but rather dimwitted, bodyguard. Although Ishtar frustrates Darres to no end, he does care about her and deeply respects King Phelios. Perhaps Ishtar's most closely-guarded secret, however, is that she also cares deeply about Darres.

Sir Keld
Princess Ishtar's caretaker and instructor, Sir Keld may have been a great knight at one time, but he's now a laughingstock. Nicknamed the 'Old Fart' by everyone in the castle, Sir Keld, at the very least, means well.

Written and Illustrated by JUDAL

JUDAL's Vampire Game (Kyuuketsu Yuugi) and Carbuncle were both published originally in Japan by Wings Comics (an imprint of Shinshokan). She is known among other things for her depiction of irresistibly cute shounen-ai relationships.