While waiting for one of Mistress's competitors to arrive, she had Marston fetch something, apparently for me to use; as we waited, I used [Heroes Gaze] eyeing the newly arrived Vampire, who had just entered the estate in a carriage.
Compared to Mistress, he looked much older, a middle-aged man, though annoyingly, he was pretty damn handsome. 'Tsk, are all pure-bloods just naturally good looking?' Grumbling at the unfairness of the world, I continued to observe him, concluding that he was slightly weaker than Mistress, when he suddenly opened his eyes and looked directly at me.
As I narrowed my eyes, surprised he sensed me watching him, I suddenly tilted my head to the side, reacting on pure instinct, barely dodging a blood-spike from penetrating my head; however, I wasn't able to fully dodge it as it tore through my right ear, which was already healing.
"What a rude bastard. You see how a guest behaves in your own territory, Mistress? He clearly has no respect for you." Grabbing the handkerchief from my breast pocket, I wiped the blood from my ear while glancing at Mistress, who just glanced at me with a faint smirk, amused at my instigating tactics.
"You were asking for it; a misbehaving pet deserves punishment." Smiling in amusement, Mistress leaned back, brushing her hair to the side while I suppressed a snort. "I understand, Mistress, but that's your duty; he's overstepping his bounds; I'm YOUR pet, so only you can punish me." "Fufu, I know humans are shameless, but have you no pride? To so easily call yourself someone else's pet. I wanted to enjoy breaking you more."
Seeing how my instigating tactics weren't working, not like I expected them to in the first place, I scoffed and folded my arms. "Hmph, is pride going to change my situation? Besides, it's not the worst thing to be the pet of a gorgeous Mistress." Averting my gaze, I glanced at the door, which Marston just entered from, carrying a few items.
"Hmm, tell me, are you being honest, or are you just trying to inflate my ego in hopes of me lowering my guard around you? Which one is it, Alexander?" As the Mistress leaned forward, looking at me with a calculating glint of amusement, I remained silent, not bothering to respond, though the same couldn't be said internally. 'Tsk, dammit, just my luck to become a pet of such an intelligent woman. Looks like escaping is going to be much harder.'
"I've gathered everything, Mistress." Marston gently set the items down on Mistress's desk, causing her amused smile to recede while she motioned for me to approach. "Pour your blood into these vials." Glancing at the numerous vials, I clicked my tongue and grabbed a scalpel, repeatedly cutting my wrist as I filled up the vials with my blood.
"So delicious." Hearing Marston's voice, I subconsciously shivered before snapping my gaze at him, only to see him staring at my dripping blood with an intense, heated look. "Oi, don't you fucking dare. I'll fight you to the death; I am not letting a man drink from me." It was already humiliating enough to practically be Mistress blood-bag, but at least she was a woman; the last thing I wanted was a man biting down on my neck and sucking.
Though, despite my words, Marston showed no reaction, seemingly not having heard me in the first place. "Fufu, so amusing." While Mistress chuckled, I continued to fill up the vials before finally stopping.
"Tsk, is that good enough? 20 vials, what's next, a bucket?" Dropping the scalpel, I wanted to throw the vial at Mistress, but my rational mind won out, and I set it on the desk. "Who knows?" Waving her hand, Mistress summoned a large tendril of blood, which consumed the vials; actually, the correct word would be stored.
"Mistress, do you use space mana?" Folding my arms, I glanced at her tendril, which slowly retracted into her body while she shook her head. "No. Though I do thank you for reminding me, once this is over, I'll have to go over your status panel. I need to see just how useful my pet truly is." As she smirked at me, I clicked my tongue, annoyed that I'd be forced to reveal nearly all my secrets before her, when, thinking of the near future, she suddenly snapped her fingers.
Following her snap, Marston quietly moved behind her, standing in a subservient posture; seeing him move, I softly sighed and copied him, standing parallel to him on the Mistress's left while he was on her right. "I hate my life." Muttering softly, a few moments passed, only for the door to open as the middle-aged man who had attacked me previously entered, flanked by his maid.
As the door closed behind him, he silently came to a stop, standing a couple of feet away from the desk, his eyes scanning the room, only for them to fall onto me. "You should train your pets better, Mavis." After staring at me, he shifted his gaze to Mistress, or in this case, Mavis. 'So her name is Mavis? Dammit, that's a pretty good name.' The more I learned about Mavis, the harder it was to find things to hate about her.
"Fufu, I do apologize about that, Quvan. I got him recently, so I haven't had the opportunity to train him." Faintly smirking, Mavis leaned forward, propping her chin on her hand, causing Quvan to lightly nod. "Anyway, to what do I owe this unannounced visitation?" At her question, Quvan furrowed his brows, sporting a troubled expression.
"It's in regards to the alliance Vivian, Yostella, and Pontimon have made." "Hmm, so you've come to ask for assistance? Well, if you'd submit to me, I'd gladly help." Smirking, Mavis eyed Quvan, who frowned. "Mavis, if you don't wish to partake in the serious discussion, I will just see myself out." "Fufu, just a harmless joke, Quvan. Here, why not have this? An apology if you're still not satisfied."
Summoning a tendril, Mavis outstretched it to Quvan before it spat out a vial of my blood, causing him to raise an eyebrow before he uncorked the vial, his eyes instantly dilating. "This distinct scent!" Watching him sniff my blood with a slightly lustful expression, I couldn't help but shiver in disgust.
'What a freaky species.' 'You're only now realizing that, Master? They drink blood, when were they never not freaky?' Nodding in agreement with Zartha, Quvan, having had enough of just sniffing, tilted his head back and downed my blood.
"W-What delectable blood, it's, goodness, so delicious, my mana reserves have even strengthened! Such potent, miraculous blood, goodness. The taste, the smell, the effect, every single part of this blood is superb!" With a dumbfounded expression, he gazed down at the empty vial before glancing at Mavis. "M-Mavis, do you perhaps have any–" "Fufu, I only have a few vials remaining, I can't just give them up willy-nilly; I'm sure you understand."
Although greatly disappointed, Quvan regained his composure and nodded reluctantly. "I-I see. Tis only understandable, such miraculous blood can't be easily come across. My apologies, my greed took control." "It is all right, I perfectly understand. Now then, let us discuss the reason you'd made such a visit."
As if she hadn't orchestrated the entire flow of events, Mavis and Quvan spent a good hour discussing plans and ways to deal with the triad alliance between Vivian, Yostella, and Pontimon. Eventually, having come to a positive conclusion, Quvan bade farewell and left, having turned down Mavis's invitation for dinner as he apparently had things to do.
"Vampires need to eat? I assumed blood was enough." Leaning towards Marston, I whispered to him, causing him to side-glance at me. "It's merely a luxury." Nodding, I returned to my spot, only for Mavis to suddenly start chuckling, though it quickly rose to full-on laughter, which was melodic and echoed off the walls, filling the room.
'C'mon, man, even her laughter is beautiful! Doesn't she have something I can hate!?' It was genuinely starting to make me upset; besides the obvious stuff, such as being forced to be her pet, I couldn't find anything to hate about her.
Eventually, after a few minutes, she calmed down, her laughter dying in her throat as she wiped a single tear streaking down her cheek. "Hehe, one down. Now, it is only a matter of time." "Um, time until what, Mistress?" At my question, Mavis shot me a victorious smirk. "Until Quvan's faction submits to my own."
While I doubted she'd make a mistake, as she's proven herself to be rather intelligent, I didn't quite understand how making Quvan drink my blood would get him to submit to her. 'Well, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.'
"Now then, Alexander, let me view your status panel." "You sure? It's not that impressive, it's honestly probably just a waste of your time, someone as important as you wouldn't want to–" "Show me." Her little smile vanished as she narrowed her eyes at me, causing me to scoff as I folded my arms before reluctantly showing her my status panel.
"Tch, uncomfortable."