Chapter 157: Huge favour
"Oh right, it’s been over a month," Vlad gasped, his voice filled with genuine worry. "How are you still holding up without the blood?"
Seraphina’s eyebrow flinched at how worried he seemed for her. "I-I can manage if I don’t use Sanguine Flame Art. Not like I was holding back because you were busy or anything."
"Still, you mustn’t starve yourself," Vlad insisted. "You should have told me sooner."
"D-do you think if you act all kind, I will remove the spell?" Seraphina blurted. "Dream on. You will stay tied up all night."
"Hah... Are you being serious?" Vlad sighed, shaking his head.
Seeing him acting all calm even when he was completely helpless only flustered Seraphina further. Now that the brawl was finally over and her anger had calmed, the realisation of where she was sitting dawned on her.
’Wh-what have you been doing, you shameless girl!’ she screamed inwardly, her eyes shaking, her cheeks slowly turning red. ’Have you thrown away all of your dignity, sitting on his stomach without any hesitation?’
She moved away from his abdomen, sitting beside him elegantly. "Ahem... have you reflected on your mistakes, commoner?"
"Isn’t it too late to behave like a lad—" Vlad’s words stopped mid-sentence as Seraphina’s pink eyes narrowed at him with murderous intent. "Could you clarify the mistakes, dear Sera?"
’Dear!!!???’ Seraphina exclaimed inwardly, barely maintaining the composure she had just regained.
"You first slammed me onto the bed and then pulled on my hair," she leaned closer, her index finger pointing at him while her other hand rested on her waist. "Is that a way to treat a lady? If you did that to any other noblewoman—"
"Why would I ever do that to any other noble?" Vlad scoffed, cutting her off mid-sentence. "You are a precious friend to me. I intend to be real with you."
’P-p-p-precious!!!!???? I am his precious!’ she gasped, her hands flying to her face, her whole body squirming. She was completely ignoring the word ’friend’ that he had used along with precious. ’He intends to be real with me... he intends to be really with me. How shameless!’
’There she goes again, acting all weird,’ Vlad thought. He would have facepalmed himself if his hands were free.
"Sera~" he called her softly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
The way he called her alone sent shivers through her. "Yes?"
"Please remove the spell," he requested, looking at her with his crimson eyes.
"Y-you haven’t apologised yet," Seraphina murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I’m sorry for offending you, Sera," Vlad’s response came surprisingly instantly. He gave her a pleading look as he continued, "Could you remove the spell now? The vines are hurting my wrists and ankles."
’So-so-so adorable!!!!’ Seraphina gasped inwardly, her jaw dropping, unable to handle the cuteness she was feeling. "R-right at it."
She flicked her finger. Or more accurately, she flicked away the whole advantage she had. The moment the vines vanished, Vlad instantly rose, grabbed both of her wrists in one hand, and pressed her against the bed, supporting himself above her with his other hand, one leg placed between both of hers.
"Wh-what are you doing, commoner?" Seraphina demanded in a low hiss, taking a gulp. "You dare sneak-attack me?"
"Guess whom I learned it from?" Vlad asked with a faint smile, the strands of his raven hair falling on either side of her face, near her ears.
"Th-this isn’t fair, commoner," she muttered, her eyes lowering, unable to look at his face from so close. "L-let go of me."
Vlad wanted to keep her pinned for a few more minutes to make her realise how it felt to be the one tied up, but since she didn’t react as strongly as he had wanted her to, he removed his hand and lay down on his back beside her.
"It’s not fun if you act like that," he said, placing his hands below his head.
He had only taken a moment to catch his breath when suddenly Seraphina tugged at the sleeve of his shirt.
"C-commoner, it’s becoming difficult for me to control," she murmured. Vlad turned his head toward her, only to find her looking at him with hungry eyes. Her whole body was shaking, her canine teeth slowly elongating. "I-I’m starving, and your scent is driving me crazy."
Vlad moved back on the bed and sat while leaning against the bedrest. "Come here," he called her.
Seraphina crawled towards him, a droplet of drool leaking from the corner of her lips as her vampire instincts slowly began overwhelming her.
"May I?" she asked, although it was merely a formality at this point.
"As much as you want," Vlad said, opening the first three buttons and moving the fabric of his shirt away from his shoulder.
"Pardon the offence," Seraphina said as she sat on Vlad’s lap, leaning closer to him, her rosy scent filling Vlad’s nose.
Upon reaching his neck, she parted her lips and dug her sharp canine teeth into his skin. Once she had punctured the holes, she pulled her teeth out, sealed the area around the holes tightly with her lips, and began sucking.
Low whimpers escaped her mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a desperate attempt to drink more, their chests pressing together in a tight hug.
"So you really have been starving yourself," Vlad sighed, his hand gently patting her head while the room filled with the wet sound of Seraphina’s sucking.
Around five minutes later, when Seraphina finally loosened her grip on Vlad’s body, her lips parted from his skin. Along with two tiny marks, a deep hickey was left on his neck.
"Thank you for the meal," Seraphina whispered as she moved back, still sitting on his lap.
"You really sucked me dry," Vlad said exasperatedly, his hand firmly placed on her head. The unintentional choice of words caused an instant blush to spread across her face.
"I’m sorry for being a glutton," Seraphina murmured, feeling intensely embarrassed by how shamelessly she was holding him.
"Silly, I’m just kidding," Vlad chuckled, wiping her lips, which still contained a bead of his blood. He moved his finger back to his lips and, licking it, said, "Ugh, what’s so good about this? It tastes like licking iron."
He was genuinely curious about what it actually tasted like for Seraphina to go crazy over it like this. It didn’t taste any different from what he had expected blood to taste like. Perhaps vampires have different taste buds?
While he was having these thoughts, Seraphina was still processing what he had just done.
’H-he just wiped my lips and kissed his finger,’ she gasped, her eyes shaking, her jaw hanging open. ’H-he k-kissed me. A-again!!! H-he is moving so fast!’
"Sera?" Vlad called, flicking his fingers before her face. He had been calling her for quite some time while her whole system had completely crashed.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Your canines are still elongated," Vlad said, her canines visible as her jaw remained open from the shock. "If you are still hungry, you may drink more."
"N-no, I am full," Seraphina blurted, her teeth returning to normal. "By the way, I had one more important matter to discuss with you."
"Like this?" Vlad asked with a faint blush, his eyes lowering. She was still on his lap, their faces barely a hand’s distance from each other.
"D-definitely not!" She jumped off him like a startled cat.
Once she calmed down, she settled beside him, their shoulders touching.
"So what is it you want to discuss?" Vlad asked, ignoring how close she was sitting to him despite the fact that there was a lot of space on the bed at Seraphina’s other side.
"Have you decided what path to choose to be promoted to a knight?" she asked, her tone serious.
"I definitely don’t want to serve any house," Vlad explained. "I want to choose the second path, but I’m not sure if any noble house would sponsor a D-Ranked—"
Before he could finish his words, Seraphina pinched his cheek.
"What is that for?" he asked.
Her fingers never left his skin as she stared at him with her cheeks puffed. "How could you say that with me here?" she demanded.
"What do you mean?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I have already talked to Luc—Father," she revealed, drawing a letter from her storage ring. She extended the letter to Vlad as she continued, "Just show this to Professor Victor. He will promote you to a One-Star Knight."
"Th-this is..." Vlad murmured, his eyes widening.
"House Cendral will sponsor you," she declared as if it were a matter of fact.
"Huh? But why?" Vlad asked. Except for being her blood bond, he genuinely couldn’t find any reason for House Cendral to sponsor him. And if he were to be honest with himself, he was not so naive as to be unaware of the ways of the nobles. He was already shocked enough that he hadn’t been kidnapped by House Cendral to be used as a blood bank for Seraphina for the rest of his life.
Why was House Cendral being so kind to him for no reason?
"What do I have to do in return?" Vlad asked, daring not to accept the letter without knowing the catch behind it.
Seraphina’s glare sharpened at him in annoyance at the question. But then, suddenly, she calmed her expression as she said, "There is indeed something Father wants in exchange for sponsoring you."
"And that is?"
"He said that you must become Seraphina’s slave, accepting her every demand," she revealed, flowing her hair back.
"You just made it up right now," Vlad scoffed, obviously not believing her words.
"What do you think, genius?" Seraphina retorted, placing the letter in his hand. "Don’t try to find the reason for someone’s kindness."
"Thank you, Sera~" Vlad whispered, his lips rising into a smile as he looked at the letter in his hand. "I will not forget this huge favour."