Taming My Vampire Servant

Minutes later, they arrived at Megalia City. They viewed the weeping willows and oak trees planted along the way before they reached the enormous city arc built with red bricks and had two turrets in the middle. 

As they walked forward, they saw Lucius on the narrow alleyway with roads made of red cobblestones and bricks. The three admired the beauty of the towers and turrets, as well as the modest bricked houses in the city. There were also some draping wisterias and grape vines on wires which were mounted on the brick walls.

Lucius then led them to Ebleu's house, which was just a few minutes walk from the arc. The old coachman lived with his wife in a small one story brown brick cottage, which could easily be distinguished because of its red door and chimney on the facade of it.

Ivory excitedly knocked on the red door, which she found cute, and when the old man heard their voices outside his humble home, he quickly opened the door. 

"Welcome! Come in!" Ebleu said with a wide smile. He led them to a small dining room, while his wife put the freshly baked blueberry pie on the wooden table paired with jasmine tea. 

It was only Lucius, Ivory, Sigmund, and Lycus at the moment, and the old man said that he would hold a separate celebration the next day for his neighbors and friends.

"Mother sends her greetings," Lucius said. "And father said he'll come by later."

"I see, thank you very much, Sir Lucius," Ebleu uttered. "It is thanks to your family's generosity that we can have a celebration."

Lucius gave a kind smile as he sliced some of the pie and gave a piece to the old man, "Thank you for your service all these years."

"Thank you for being my coachman, sir Ebleu!" Ivory happily said, then handed over a pouch before sitting on the chair. "Please take this token of appreciation from me and my family."

"Thank you, Miss Sprucemint!" he opened the pouch and gaped in awe. "These are… the rarest tea leaves in the kingdom! But how did you?"

Ivory giggled, "Lycus found it. He's good at finding hidden things." She made use of Lycus' heightened smell to find it.

"Old man," Sigmund uttered. They were all surprised when he took something from his pocket and gave it to Ebleu. "I made this. It's for you."

Ebleu delightedly received the small item. It was a block of wood, and his face was carved in it. "Wow, you are good at carving, Sigmund! Thank you!" then he stood up from his seat and placed it on the shelf.

"I didn't know you could carve," Ivory told him as the Servant sat next to her. "From now on, I will make you carve many pieces of wood and let's sell them together in Alpharion."

"Give me a log and I will carve your statue. I don't know if anyone will buy it, though," the Vampire jokingly said, and his Master hit him subtly at the side.

While they ate the blueberry pies, grilled pork ham, and mashed potato, Ebleu's wife also served the wine that Lucius gave.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Ebleu went to see who it was.

"General Goldwine!" Ebleu exclaimed. "Please come in!"

The General went inside and greeted the old couple. He then sat beside Lucius, and also greeted the others with a wide smile. He and Lycus just nodded at each other, then panned his sight towards Ivory and Sigmund. He turned to a serious expression.

Upon seeing Ivory intake more than three full glasses of red wine, Sigmund took the glass from her, "You'll get drunk," he then moved the glass far from her.

"Sigmund, you shouldn't stop your Master from drinking, you know," Ivory said, already sounding almost gibberish.

"Master," Sigmund said in a sarcastic tone. "Do you want to puke on the way home?"

She paused for a while and narrowed her eyes on Sigmund, "No."

"Okay, then stop being troublesome," he said, then Ivory leaned her head towards his shoulder and closed her eyes. He placed his arm on Ivory's side to prevent her from falling. 

"Lycus, may I speak with you outside for a while?" The General asked, and Lycus nodded, but he requested that they talk at a farther place. 

It was because Lycus already knew that the Vampire Sigmund had heightened hearing.

While the General and Lycus went out, Ebleu and his wife went to the kitchen to do the dishes and check the ingredients left, while Sigmund held Ivory close to him.

The Vampire gazed at Ivory's long eyelashes, and a subtle smile formed on his lips. 

Lucius noticed how the Servant amorously looked at his Master. He commented, "As time passed by, you're becoming more and more human, Sigmund."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

"I have never seen a Servant gazing at his Master like that," he explained, "You're like her lover more than her Servant."

"Rich boy, I am as confused as you, but I do not know how to stop myself from having these feelings for her," Sigmund sighed. "That's why I've been nagging you to help me find Ivory's parents. If she summoned me as a Vampire, then someone from her family might have summoned a Vampire before, back when the Class was still not yet banished."

"I don't know if I can find her father. You can ask Lycus about it."

"How about her mother?" he stared at him. "You seem like you already know… who she is."

Lucius furrowed his eyebrows. "I am… not sure how to handle the current situation."

"What do you mean? What kind of situation are you talking about?"

"Ivory's mother… She is-"

"Do you want more wine?" They stopped their conversation when old man Ebleu came in. "I can open the other bottle, if you want."

"Thank you, but I think I should bring my Master home," Sigmund told him. "Happy retirement. We'll pay you a visit when we visit the city."

Sigmund then stood up, then carried Ivory in his strong arms, while Lucius also bid goodbye to his ex-coachman and followed Sigmund behind.

They looked around but did not see Lycus and the General, and so, Sigmund told Lucius that he would be going first, and asked him to relay the message to the second Servant.

When Ivory woke up, it was already past midnight. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She was surprised when she saw her two Servants by the window, glaring at each other.

"I told you, you can stay at your own house. I can protect her alone," Sigmund said. "You know that she already trusts me a hundred percent, and our teamwork is already perfect."

"No. From now on, I will stay here in her room. Besides, I don't think you will be hiding something else, since I already know that you're a Vampire," Lycus responded. He crossed his arms, "Or perhaps… you are hiding something else."

"What the hell, Lycus!" the Vampire raised his voice at him. That statement struck him guilty.

Yes, he's hiding something else: he loves his Master romantically.

"What are you two arguing about?" Ivory asked, and she stood up from the bed. She approached her Servants and squeezed their arms to try to meddle in their heated discussion. "They will wake up if you continue to yell at each other."

"Apologies, Master," Lycus immediately kneeled. "I just want to be by your side… and protect you with all I've got."

"It's alright, I understand, Lycus," she patted his head.

"Ivory, don't tell me… You are allowing him to stay here?"

Ivory nodded, "It would be unfair for him, isn't it? Lycus has been a good Servant. Such a simple request is nothing."

"But-"

Before Sigmund could speak, Ivory placed her finger on his lips. "Hush. Stop overthinking, okay? I won't neglect you or replace you, if that's what you're worried about."

Sigmund gazed at his Master's beautiful light blue irises. He held the hand that was near his face, and kissed its back.

As Lycus was being patted, he tilted his head towards them. What he saw was not the look of a Servant towards his Master, but the look of a lover. 

And when the Werewolf took a glance at Ivory's face, he realized that she also looked at him the same way. He stood up as he thought about how big of a problem it would be. 

Ivory withdrew both of her hands from the two Servants and yawned, "Good. Then, I should continue sleeping," then she turned their backs on them and crawled to the bed.

As soon as she did, Sigmund and Lycus immediately took both ends of the blanket and pulled it to cover her up. 

"Thanks, you two!" she giggled, "I'll sleep now. No arguing, okay? I will be mad at you if you do not try to get along," then she felt her eyelids heavy and closed her eyes.

The two Servants sat beside Ivory on opposite sides of the bed, and they glanced at each other cautiously to watch each other's actions.