VAP - Chapter 53
Chapter 53: The Supreme Sage Hopelessly Obsessed with Beauty (12)
After a few brief words of advice, the Chief Attendant hurriedly departed.
In fact, Yue Du suspected that the woman had to painstakingly squeeze out even the time for those few words. After all, Nai Yin had the air of someone who never handled practical matters, so the affairs of the castle and its domain were likely all pushed onto Tina.
...Having an unreliable boss is truly miserable.
Yue Du sighed, watching the attendant's retreating back.
Then she turned and strolled back to her room to read.
Of course, these weren't books for leisure, but rather a stack of brick-thick tomes as tall as two people, with gilt covers and parchment pages.
That's right—Yue Du herself was not idle.
In the last world, she could still wallow in laziness with Qi Jiu, lying around together like salted fish. But here, she had to learn summoning from Miss Bifula—and those piles of books were the homework assigned by the famous summoner.
"I myself have never received formal training as a summoner, nor have I ever taught a disciple before, so I'm not familiar with ordinary teaching methods."
"Therefore, I can only hold you to the standards of my own path of growth. It might be somewhat strict, but I will not relax my requirements just because the Lord shows you special favor. Do you understand?"
That was what Bifula had said.
Yue Du understood completely and replied, "I understand, Mentor."
But immediately after, Bifula made a pained expression, as if recalling something strange, and hurriedly corrected her. "Don't call me Mentor. Calling me Miss or by my name is fine, just not Mentor. God of all things, if the Lord heard you say that, what terrible torture would my little baby suffer!"
Incidentally, the "little baby" Bifula spoke of was a fluffy, black giant spider the size of a mammoth, the vicious glint in its eight eyes chilling to the bone.
It was Bifula's first contracted summon.
Yue Du: "...Alright."
She then asked, "But would Nai Yin care about that?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt they were inappropriate.
Just as she was about to change the subject, she heard Bifula ask in amusement, "What do you think? Besides you, who in this entire castle complex would dare to call the Lord by her name?"
"Believe me, child, sooner or later I'll have to call you Madam—and perhaps even add 'Galor' to that."
"You're joking."
"Oh, we'll just have to wait and see."
Startled out of her reverie, Yue Du suddenly realized she was already sitting at her desk, one of the many books on summoning open before her.
"What was I thinking..." she muttered weakly, burying her head in the book again. Thanks to her ability as a System to process information, she could memorize all the knowledge in a book after just one reading.
Of course, understanding and mastering it was another matter entirely, but even so, this saved a considerable amount of time, which meant she could soon be as leisurely as Qi Jiu.
Excellent.
Infected with the salted-fish syndrome, Yue Du made her decision without the slightest psychological burden.
That afternoon, Nai Yin's "drink" appeared on the dinner table.
Or perhaps, an energy supplement?
In the tall, clear glass was a pale blue liquid, its color so light it was almost transparent, resembling a blue cocktail.
In reality, however, it was the blood of a living creature—the blood of the Sea Tribe.
"I thought you'd be drinking human blood," Yue Du remarked, surprised, as she watched Nai Yin take small sips.
"They were all so happy to donate blood to you... Well, I was a bit doubtful you could finish it all."
Nai Yin smiled. "You saw all that?"
Yue Du: "Ah."
It was hard not to see it. The line had been right below her window, and she even suspected Nai Yin had arranged it that way on purpose.
"I'll make use of that blood as well, so don't worry about any of it going to waste."
Nai Yin took another small sip and said leisurely.
How long is she planning to drink that much blood...
As if sensing what Yue Du was thinking, Nai Yin sighed. "Only a few days. It won't last longer than a Holy Day."
"Drinking just a little blood from those of an insufficient level is useless. It all gets compressed into a thick liquid. Only blood provided by those at the level of Tina or Bifula doesn't require processing."
In other words, the blood of ordinary people and low-level practitioners was like a snack—it looked like a lot but didn't provide much nutrition, whereas the blood of high-level practitioners was the energy-rich main course?
Yue Du suddenly recalled that during the mass blood donation, Tina's portion had indeed been placed in a separate vial and labeled with her name.
Sustained by the blood of an Archmage and a Grand Summoner...
"Your appetite is quite large, then," Yue Du said sincerely.
But it made sense. The more powerful one's magic, the more energy one required. The fact that Nai Yin didn't need to absorb the blood of a fellow Dharma Saint, a Summoning Saint, or a Holy Warrior was probably a good thing.
Nai Yin, however, shook her head and said softly, "It's not a physical necessity."
"Then what is it?" Yue Du asked subconsciously.
Lord Nai Yin held the glass in one hand and placed the other over her left breast. Her pale, slender fingers stood in stark contrast to the jet-black fabric of her dress.
"...It's the emptiness in my heart."
It needs more blood to be filled.
Yue Du averted her gaze as if she had been burned.
Nai Yin continued, "I only have half-vampire blood, after all. The energy I need for daily life comes from a human diet. Drinking blood on certain days is to fulfill a condition, not for nutritional supplement."
Yue Du fell silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "The next line isn't going to be, 'Only the blood of my fated lover can make my heart whole,' is it?"
"Oh my, you've found me out."
Yue Du: "..." As expected.
Although she didn't remember such a detail in the original plot, it wouldn't have been surprising if it existed.
The protagonist had a vampire suitor, a willful young lady of the vampire race who had helped him immensely. The price she demanded was a fixed amount of his blood at regular intervals.
If such a belief existed among vampires, then that would explain it.
Seeing that she remained silent, Nai Yin slowly finished the entire glass of blue Sea Tribe blood and set the empty glass down on the table.
"It was fine before. Though I was never satisfied, I never felt empty. But now that I've met you, everyone else's blood tastes like plain water. No matter how much I drink, it can't fill this void."
Nai Yin said sorrowfully, "But I don't want to go back to how things were before in the slightest. This is truly a sweet sorrow, isn't it?"
Yue Du was clearly hesitant.
Even she didn't know what she was hesitating about. It was just a bit of blood; what was there to agonize over?
And yet, she was.
—What if it were Qi Jiu?
If it were Qi Jiu craving her blood, would she hesitate? Or would she agree indulgently, without a second thought?
The question surfaced abruptly, its presence vivid and undeniable.
Yue Du stood up abruptly. "I'm full."
Nai Yin frowned, looking at the nearly untouched plate in front of her.
Before she could stop the System who wasn't eating properly, Yue Du had already turned and left the dining room.
That evening, Yue Du refused the late-night snack service.
But at the usual time for a late-night snack, a maid knocked on her door, carrying a tray.
"Lord Galor asked me to bring this," the maid said. "You didn't eat much at dinner. You won't be able to sustain your daily training without replenishing your energy."
With that, she bowed and exited the room.
With mixed feelings, Yue Du stared at the exquisite meal for a long while, not sure who she was trying to be stubborn with.
After a long while, she finally forked a neatly cut piece of beast meat and slowly put it in her mouth.
Whatever the reason for Yue Du's hesitation, it didn't last long.
...It didn't even last a full day.
The very next day at lunch, the two were once again sitting in the dining room, both acting as if they had forgotten what had happened the previous afternoon.
This time, Nai Yin was no longer drinking the blood of the Sea Tribe. The liquid in her glass was now a bright red. It was human blood, but it seemed to have been specially treated; it looked very fresh and lacked any strong, coppery smell.
Anyone who didn't know better would have mistaken it for juice or some kind of wine.
Nai Yin sipped the blood from her glass, her expression placid.
Yue Du closed her eyes for a moment.
"How much do you need."
Nai Yin didn't seem to understand. "Hm?"
Yue Du said calmly, "I asked, how much blood do you need? Is one glass enough?"
As she spoke, the unused dinner knife in her hand was already pointed at her left arm. "Can I just use the knife, or do you need Madam Milan to draw the blood... Hmm, perhaps you'd prefer it to be sterilized?"
She blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, the chair opposite her was empty. The person who had been sitting there was now standing to her right, her fingers, as cold and white as jade, gripping the hand that held the knife, her gaze dark.
"What are you doing?" Nai Yin easily snatched the knife away, her voice rising unconsciously.
Yue Du said innocently, "Giving you blood."
Nai Yin laughed in exasperation. "Little Rose, are you doing this on purpose? Showing me your thorns? No matter what, you shouldn't do it like this—"
"It seems we'll have to draw blood, then. I'll go find Madam Milan."
"You..."
"I am doing it on purpose. But weren't you, too? You were certain I would soften, which is why you put just one glass of blood there, why you didn't hide what a vampire needs. Isn't that right?"
Yue Du didn't look at her, her eyes downcast. She felt the grip on her wrist tighten, but it didn't hurt.
"You've succeeded now. You didn't even have to wait a day for me to give in. So let me go. I'll go find Madam Milan."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Not until Yue Du struggled slightly did Nai Yin abruptly release her, murmuring, "...I'm sorry."
"You did nothing wrong. It's only natural."
Nai Yin straightened up. "You don't need to find Milan, and you don't need to think about giving blood. Don't worry, I exaggerated. That feeling of emptiness isn't serious; it has almost no effect on a Dharma Saint. I'm sorry for deceiving you."
"I can tell the difference between truth and lies," Yue Du said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "What was the point of all that? Don't you want my blood?"
"But not like this..."
"Oh, you want to bite," Yue Du understood. "Do you have to bite me directly to fill that emptiness?"
"No, but drawing blood would hurt."
Yue Du: "..."
And you biting me wouldn't hurt? It seems like it would hurt more!
"When vampires drink blood, they automatically secrete a substance that suppresses pain and induces pleasure, so it doesn't hurt," Nai Yin said honestly. "Of course, I also prefer this method. All vampires do."
That last part was particularly unconvincing. This Nai Yin felt no sense of belonging to either humans or vampires, just like Qi Jiu.
Yue Du felt a sense of helplessness, like she was dealing with a child. A voice in her heart said: Just go with it.
Just go with it.
She pulled down her collar.
Nai Yin watched her cautiously.
Yue Du felt a little awkward. "Don't just stand there. Go on and bite. Or do I need to wash my neck first? I just washed it this morning—"
Before she could finish, both of her wrists were seized.
Nai Yin leaned in, pressing her against the soft back of the chair, and bent down.
Soft silver hair cascaded down, the touch of it tantalizing.
"Are you sure?"
This time, she finally received an affirmative answer.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment