The grass was cool beneath Albedo's shoulders, faintly damp with condensed mana, carrying the metallic warmth unique to blood-aspected domains.
He lay there without tension, one knee bent, the other stretched out, bottle loosely balanced in his hand as if he hadn't just been dragged across space by a vampire matriarch powerful enough to redraw borders with a thought.
Raven watched him for several seconds, wanting to see what was so special about him to enrapt her daughter after just their first meeting, and to keep her so clingy to him after all this time.
Not a single movement escaped her notice.
His breathing was even, no hyperventilating or anything. His mana wasn't flaring defensively. No subconscious killing intent leaked from him, no coiled violence waiting for permission. Even his eyes that were very sharp and observant held no trace of panic or resentment.
Most people, when pulled into her personal domain without warning, reacted in one of three ways.
