Chapter 10: Aurelia’s Special Thanks[R18]
Somewhere beyond the estate walls, a masked man knelt in the dark.
A pouch of gold coins landed at his feet.
"Confirm the target," a voice said, hidden beneath a hood.
"Aurelia Astrax."
A pause.
"If she survives this..." the voice continued, "...don’t bother coming back or else your life is forfeit."
The masked man said nothing.
He simply vanished into the trees.
---
Back in the living room, three wives stared at Lucien like he’d grown a second head.
"You really improved it," Evelisse repeated, still processing.
"Told you I did." Lucien handed her the newly written notebook.
"Here’s the improved technique, it’s yours now too so use it well."
He waited for the chime.
Nothing came.
’No investment ping, no gacha spinning wheel. Nothing.’
’...Right so I can’t invest a system reward even if I remake it myself and get a system reward back. That’d be too easy.’
’Got it, loud and clear, system so I’ll be filing that under ’confirmed system rules’ for now.’
He left Evelisse squinting at the book, brow furrowed in concentration, and retreated to Aurelia’s room to cultivate in peace, letting the Mana Breathing Art hum quietly through his veins and core.
An hour later, Evelisse gave up on the technique entirely and flopped onto the couch to watch TV with Seraphina and Aurelia instead, declaring cultivation "boring" and "something for tomorrow, probably."
Peak procrastination behavior in other words.
---
By evening, Lucien was back in the kitchen.
Dowry ingredients in hand and an uncommon culinary manual, freshly claimed.
A new recipe unfolding in his mind like it had always lived there.
Dinner came together fast, better than lunch, with it being more richer in mana and more complex in making.
They ate together, the table filled with easy conversation and the occasional argument between Evelisse and Aurelia over portion sizes.
The moment the first bite landed, the chime rang.
[Ding!]
Three holographic spinning wheels appeared and spun above each girl’s head.
[Aurelia — ×6 — Reward: 2 Months Cultivation Progress]
[Seraphina — ×5 — Reward: 1.5 Months Cultivation Progress]
[Evelisse — ×6 — Reward: 2 Months Cultivation Progress]
Lucien blinked.
’Cultivation progres, never seen that one before.’ He thought before checking its description.
[Cultivation Progress — 5.5 months]
[Instantly condenses mana that the user can currently gather for the specified time. Amount of mana depends on the user’s ability to gather mana. Accelerates mana refining massively.]
’Seems like the system is starting to diversify the rewards now, nice, very nice.’
’Now I’ll be able to raise my cultivation rank even faster than just cultivating alone.’
He separated afterward, slipping into Aurelia’s room to claim his reward before anyone noticed him vanishing with an armful of nothing.
The moment he settled on the bed, he mentally claimed the reward.
Instantly a massive surge of mana filled his body, which he started circulating through his mana veins.
As stated in the description, the refining was massively accelerated and with his cultivation technique also helping, around 2 hours later he finished refining all the mana into his core.
The moment the reward finish settling into him, his cultivation surged forward, a full stage snapping into place.
[Ding!!]
[Beginner E-Rank Cultivation Achieved.]
[Rank: F (Middle) → E (Beginner)]
’A small step forward, but a step nonetheless.’
---
Aurelia found him still cultivating when she came to sleep, mana circulating steadily around him, rank freshly climbed.
"You advanced," she said, studying him.
"Turns out dinner works wonders," Lucien said.
"How about I thank you properly for the herbs then, husband?" Aurelia said.
"I wouldn’t mind a specific kind of thanks," Lucien said. "The kind involving considerably less clothing."
He expected the blush. The stammering. The ’it was an accident’.
Instead, Aurelia simply walked toward him, unbothered, steady as ever, hips swaying with each step she took.
"Just us," she said. "No audience this time. So I can do what I want."
’Oh. Oh, she’s not embarrassed at all right now. Interesting.’
Aurelia grabbed Lucien’s face and kissed him hard, tongues sliding deep and wet.
"Husband, I want you right now," she said between kisses.
Lucien pulled her to the bed, yanking off her clothes. "Then let take these off fast," he growled.
She stripped quick, then he kissed down her lips to her tits, biting her nipples hard.
"Fuck, yes, bite them more," Aurelia moaned.
He moved to her well defined abs, licking lower until his mouth hit her pussy and clit.
"You’re already wet," Lucien murmured.
"Eat me, husband" she demanded. Lucien licked and sucked her clit, tongue fucking her pussy until she bucked.
"I can’t husband, get inside me quickly,"
Aurelia said.
Aurelia pulled him onto the mattress. She grabbed his cock, lined it up, and sank down in one motion. "Fuck—"
Lucien thrust his cock in slow at first.
"Deeper, husband," she urged. He picked up pace, pounding faster.
She wrapped her legs around him and yanked his lips to hers.
"Kiss me while you fuck me," she said. He slammed harder, her pussy gripping tight.
"I’m cumming inside you," Lucien groaned, flooding her with cum.
Aurelia rolled on top, riding his cock intensely.
"My turn to lead," she said.
She started riding him hard, thighs flexing, abs tightening with each bounce.
"I am supposed to be thanking you, so I will satisfy you completely."
Lucien sucked her nipples and gripped her big ass. "Ride me faster, wife" he growled.
She did, slamming down repeatedly. "Like this? Is this what you want from your first wife?"
She slammed down again and again.
Aurelia’s pace increased. "Husband, your cock feels so good inside me. Tell me if I’m doing it right."
"You’re doing perfect," Lucien said, then flipped her onto her back. "My turn."
Then he lifted her up, pounding from below.
"You said you like it rough," he reminded her, thrusting deep and fast.
"This is rough, just the way you like it."
"Yes—!" She wrapped her legs around him.
"Harder, husband. Fuck me like you’re fighting me."
Lucien obliged, pounding into her. "You’re tight."
"Only for you," Aurelia panted. "As your wife, my body belongs only to you, so use it and fuck me harder."
"You want it that bad?"
"Yes!" She met each thrust.
"I need it. Give me everything." She yelled.
He pounded into her relentlessly.
Aurelia’s breath hitched. "Husband—I’m close—"
"Come for me," he said.
She came with a sharp cry, her pussy clenching around him while shaking and squirting hard.
Lucien followed, filling her again.
They went two more rounds in different positions, her moaning commands like"Fuck me rough" and him replying "Take every inch."
Finally they collapsed together, breathing hard.
"So, how do you like my thanks?" Aurelia murmured.
"It was the best," Lucien said.
Aurelia finally passed out from exhaustion.
Lucien laid her gently on the bed and kissed her on the forehead.
She drifted to sleep. He cleaned her and himself up, slipped her nightdress on, then got in bed next to her, covering them both.
They fell asleep tangled together afterward, breathing slow, the room quiet around them.
---
The window shattered inward. Waking both of them up, instantly alert.
A fast shadow moved across the room aiming straight to Aurelia.
Lucien’s body reacted before his mind caught up — he shoved Aurelia sideways, hard, and the blade meant for her heart buried itself in his upper back instead.
Pain flared, white-hot pain.
Stab. Push. Move.
The assassin recovered fast, dagger rising for a second strike.
Lucien grabbed the blade still lodged in his own back and pulled, ripping it free with a snarl, and kicked the assassin square in the chest. Sending them back across the room.
Aurelia finally fully awake appeared at their side and smashed her sheathed sword across their chest with the edge.
The figure coughed blood and crashed through the broken window frame, broken glass stabbinginto them.
Lucien followed fast, leaping out after them, landing directly on top of the assassin mod air and driving the stolen dagger toward his throat.
The assassin twisted at the last second. The blade skidded — but still opened a line across his neck, likely cutting at an artery.
Blood welled. The assassin kicked Lucien off, hard, then triggered something — a skill, a technique, Lucien wasn’t sure — and blurred into the darkness, gone before he could give chase.
By the time Lucien limped back through the front door, all three wives were already there.
Aurelia held her sword, sheath discarded, eyes scanning for a threat that was no longer present.
"He ran away," Lucien said, breathing hard. "But his neck’s cut plus the other injuries they received, he won’t get far without treatment."
Seeing his condition Evelisse quickly applied whatever first aid knowledge she had finding a cloth and wrapping his right shoulder and back.
While cleaning the window shards embedded in him.
Pressing the wrappings so the blood wouldn’t flow out the deep wounds.
Seraphina was already moving, pulling a small vial from the dowry stockpile.
"Healing potion," she said, pressing it into his hand. "Drink it."
He did. The pain dulled, the wounds closing a just little— but not all the way.
Seraphina’s eyes went to his shoulder, still bleeding profusely, then to her own wrist.
"It’s not enough," she said quietly. "Vampires heal faster from blood from what I heard. You should—"
She tilted her head, baring her neck instead.
Lucien hesitated only a second.
Then he leaned in and bit down, gently, drawing a slow pull of blood past his lips.
Seraphina’s breath hitched. Her fingers curled into his shirt, a soft, strangled sound escaping her throat.
He pulled back before it went further, licking the small wound closed.
Warmth spread through his back and shoulder almost immediately, the torn muscle knitting a tiny bit faster and cleaner.
"Better," he murmured. "Should be fully healed in a few days completely. Lucky I’m a vampire,"
Aurelia crouched down, picking something off the floor near the shattered window — a small ring, half-warped from impact, bearing the broken fragment of a noble crest.
She turned it over in her fingers, frowning.
"This," she said slowly, "should belong to that assassin. Looks like he dropped it during the fall."
Lucien took it, studying the fractured emblem.
’Half a crest, it’s not enough to know whose other is but it’s enough to start looking.’
Before he could say anything else, the system chimed —
[Ding!!]
[ Investment Recognized.]
[Investment: Protected and saved wife at the cost of taking severe injuries.]
[Damage Received in Her Place: Severe.]
[Calculating Bond...]
[Calculating Value...]
[Aurelia Astrax — Bond 13% — Max ×13]
[Random Multiplier...]
[Spinning...]
The wheel spun far longer than any before it, numbers blurring past too fast to track.
[×11]
It landed.
[Reward Generated...]
[Mythical Bloodline Evolution Crystal.]
[Legendary Talent Awakening Crystal.]
Lucien’s pupils contracted.
"..."
"...This system," he murmured, staring at the words hanging in the dark, "really is generous giving rewards when protecting them."
***************
[A/N: Loving the story so far?
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