Chapter – 02: Desire and Desire Again
I drank his blood.
The human before me had clearly said so.
Does that mean Lady Camilla drank human blood?
Ben couldn’t make sense of what this human had been saying for some time now.
Setting aside the fact that she drank blood, the audacity of asking for a price for it was enough to shock anyone.
Even more astonishing was the price the human proposed.
“Take me in.”
Was he speaking in his right mind?
Ben was briefly bewildered by such an outrageous statement, but he quickly decided not to overthink it.
The disposal of this human was, after all, a matter for his master. He only had to handle his own duties.
If what the human said was true, it meant that the lady—who had not drunk human blood since that day—was doing so for the first time.
Was it true… or not?
Ben watched his master with eyes filled with half expectation, half doubt.
Camilla didn’t say a word. She simply stared at the human hanging against the wall.
That alone was enough confirmation for Ben.
If the human had been lying, his head would have already flown off.
A surge of joy welled up inside Ben, but he maintained his composure with centuries of cultivated self-restraint.
Finally, Camilla, who had kept her mouth firmly shut until now, spoke.
“Leave.”
“Eh?”
“I said leave.”
Though startled by the sudden command, Ben sensed the seriousness in Camilla’s expression and, along with the attendant, exited the room.
Left alone together, a heavy silence settled.
Camilla was the first to speak.
“You want me to take you in as payment for your blood. Is that your purpose?”
Leotiz nodded, and Camilla’s laugh burst forth.
“Ahahaha!”
The laughter echoed through the dark prison like knives scraping across metal—chilling and unearthly.
After her fit of laughter, she composed herself into a somewhat serious tone.
Though her tone was serious, her mind was far from it.
“Does that mean you want to enter my domain?”
“Yes.”
“And why?”
“I want to be like you.”
The relatively simple reason wiped the smile from Camilla’s lips.
“You want to be like me? Surely you don’t mean… you want to become a vampire?”
“Something like that.”
Her eyes narrowed at the confirmation.
“I’ve fallen for you.”
From the very first time I saw him, I couldn’t look away.
He didn’t seem like one of the vampires who had slaughtered my companions in the forest.
Strength that annihilated foes in an instant.
Cold ruthlessness that could end anyone’s life without hesitation.
Leotiz was captivated by that power.
It was what he had long been searching for and had finally found.
He wanted it. He wanted to touch it.
So after regaining some of his strength, Leotiz buried his fallen companions and diligently followed Camilla’s trail.
Finding her was difficult, and obstacles continued to appear.
Even though it was a vampire’s domain, he had never imagined that such monsters would be unleashed.
The skeletal, skinless corpses exuded explosive power and speed, incomparable to any monsters he had previously fought.
Even now, recalling the threat of those yellow eyes made his hair stand on end.
By the time he finally reached the castle, his body was thoroughly exhausted, tattered like a rag.
Even faced with such a heartbreaking story, Camilla remained indifferent.
‘Crazy.’
He had seemed crazy in the original story, but seeing him now, she realized he was even more insane.
Falling for a vampire he should have hated.
Well, coming alone into a vampire den and laughing like that wasn’t exactly sane either.
If she had met him right after her possession, she might have enjoyed this situation.
Since the original story no longer meant he would die by her hand.
But after spending ten years in this place, she couldn’t naïvely accept the situation.
Living in that long stretch of time, completely changing someone, even forgetting oneself—it was no small span.
Camilla had lived through it.
“Many have come asking to be by my side. I wonder what happened to them.”
Leotiz shrugged. Camilla, as if expecting this, continued.
“They died.”
“······.”
“They ended up as ashes, trying to meddle with me.”
She hadn’t wanted to say that, but Leotiz clearly needed a shock.
“So you should be careful what you say. Especially someone as fragile as you.”
“Even so, it doesn’t matter. You’ll take me in anyway.”
Crack.
A strange sound, and blood flowed from Leotiz’s mouth.
Camilla’s eyes widened.
‘He bit his tongue?!’
The sweet scent of blood grew stronger, and Camilla’s expression crumpled before muttering, “I suppose I have no choice,” and biting her own wrist.
Crack—
A sweet yet cool fragrance brushed Leotiz’s nose.
His jaw was pulled upward, and lips met.
“!”
The two lips moved in a dazzling dance of reluctant but necessary tension.
When his jaw grew stiff, their lips finally parted.
Luckily, the bleeding stopped, and the wound on his tongue healed completely.
“What are you doing?! Were you trying to die?!”
Vampire blood possessed extraordinary healing power.
But giving blood could also intoxicate the recipient and risk taking their life.
Camilla had taken the risk.
Though he had survived the dangerous moment, Leotiz smiled.
“You like my blood.”
The words, spoken with a smile, made Camilla’s eyes widen.
“Your cheeks are flushed this much.”
Golden eyes, like a full moon, looked upward.
The black hair framed translucent skin, glowing with the heat of excitement.
Redness bloomed across pale skin like fiery petals.
Blood tinted the plump lips.
Eyes glimmered with the heat of desire.
It was the face he had longed to see.
A smile appeared on Leotiz’s lips.
Camilla, on the other hand, looked down at him with cold eyes.
“So, you don’t value your life at all, huh?”
“Can’t you just see it as my resolve?”
Her cold gaze softened at his words.
“Then I suppose I must prepare myself too.”
After all, she was taking in someone who might one day kill her.
At first, she hadn’t planned to take him in at all.
Perhaps he no longer had reason to hunt vampires, but now that they were entangled, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t try to kill her.
Yet seeing him bite his tongue to gain her attention changed her mind.
‘Keeping him isn’t a bad idea.’
And, truth be told, she did crave Leotiz’s blood.
The only human she could consume.
Camilla lifted Leotiz’s jaw with one hand.
‘He is handsome.’
Her golden eyes lingered on his torn clothing, taking in the closely-knit muscles.
Lean, but not frail; a body forged through discipline.
Tall enough to stand out even among vampires.
Yet his face was delicate, enough to be mistaken for a nobleman rather than a monster hunter.
Fortunately, a face worth devouring.
“Very well, I will take you in.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Camilla bit firmly into the nape of his neck.
“Ugh!”
Two streams of blood flowed from the bite.
Where her lips had been, two crimson dots marked his neck.
The faint red light spread downward in a web-like pattern across his chest.
When it reached his chest, Leotiz exhaled hotly.
His heart burned.
Breathing became as difficult as swallowing fire.
“Haa… haa…”
Camilla lifted his jaw with her finger and commanded.
“Swear.”
Though it was the same voice, it carried an unmistakable, absolute authority—like a primordial engraving that could not be defied.
“Swear that you will faithfully serve as my vassal!”
The final words rang, and Leotiz felt his heart leap.
“Ugh! Haa!”
He bit down hard to endure the pain and gulped back his ragged breaths.
But he had to answer.
It was both the duty and right of a vassal.
“I swear.”
As he answered with difficulty, the crimson lines covering his torso gradually faded, and the pain subsided.
The lines converged back at his neck, forming a strange pattern.
When the ritual was complete, Camilla removed all the restraints binding him.
Leotiz’s body slumped; it was natural after the draining ceremony, and facing the castle guards had exhausted him further.
Camilla laid him across her knees, cradling his shoulders with one hand and brushing the sweat-soaked hair from his face with the other.
Her gaze held both pity and anticipation.
“Now that you’ve made a contract with a vampire, you won’t be able to regret it.”
Camilla whispered softly into Leotiz’s ear.
“I will desire you… again and again.”
Finishing her tasks and stepping outside, she found no one there.
How dare they leave their master alone.
Camilla resolved to punish them properly, but one task remained: moving the unconscious Leotiz.
Being a vampire, lifting a human was trivial. But the scent of his blood was overwhelmingly stimulating.
It would have been better if it had been mixed with other blood. Otherwise, she might have fallen for him again.
She decided to tend to his wounds first and adjusted her hold, ascending the stairs.
At the final step, she opened the door and froze at the sight before her.
