Taming My Vampire Servant

...

Three days later, Ivory and her Servants were fetched by Lucius in a stagecoach at dawn. The four-seater wooden carriage with golden wheels had four horses, and a coachman with his assistant. Ivory's luggages, placed atop the carriage, consisted of her favorite old knapsack and two worn-out leather duffel bags that his father lent her for Sigmund's and Lycus' clothes. 

Even though Ivory chose to sit beside Lucius, Sigmund pulled her towards him as soon as she rode the carriage. Lycus worriedly glanced at his Master, but she shook her head. She knew that her stubborn Vampire Servant wanted to be obeyed, so he would insist on what he wanted to do because that's his habit.

After saying goodbye to the Sprucemints, the horses started moving forward. Everyone in the carriage was excited for their journey.

Lycus was elated that he would be going on a year-long mission with his Master. Lucius was excited as well, because he knew that in that one year, he would be with his older sister, and the two of them would be able to get closer. 

Sigmund, on the other hand, hoped that he could have some alone time with Ivory during their stay in Topazeon Town. He wondered if Ivory would be given her own room, but then Lycus would be lingering around, so the possibilities of being alone with her might be impossible.. 

Ivory felt her Vampire Servant's hand tightly holding her waist. He usually does this, but after kissing him more than a week ago, she got too conscious of him!

"Ivory," Sigmund called in a soft voice near her ear. "You can sleep on my shoulder if you want. It will be a long trip."

She hesitated for a while, but after thinking it through, it was only her who was overthinking. Perhaps, her Vampire Servant felt nothing about it and just wanted to shut her up? She nodded and smiled at him, before following his suggestion. From her waist, Sigmund placed his arm on her shoulder to serve as her pillow, and she leaned her head comfortably on him.

It was a seven and a half hour travel. In the middle of it were several stops to rest the horses. When they were nearing Topazeon Town, they passed through the slanting gigantic arc ruin, which was as big as the hills. The sides were conjoined to the hills with gemstones attached on its surface.

As they looked closely, they gaped in awe when they noticed the different colors of the gemstones shining as they reflected the yellow sunlight that afternoon. The snowy pathway had several hoofprints and wheel prints, too.

Ten town guards and four castle knights were assigned in the arc to inspect the people coming in and out of the town. 

Topazeon Town is surrounded by several mountains rich in ores. All the gemstones and currency coins' material came from that blessed place. At first thought, the excavated resources taken from the mountains surrounding the small town should have made the townspeople rich, but it was not the case. Sadly, it was the middlemen from other cities who were richer than the town's miners.

Upon seeing their identification scrolls and a permit from Qawiun Academy, the guards let Ivory and her group through. The coachmen, after dropping them off to the inn which was a property of the academy, left for a different inn which could house the horses.

Like most of the houses in Topazeon Town, the academy's inn was small in area. It only has one floor with an exterior painted in yellow. They walked along the pathway covered with snow. 

The group entered the inn with a simple, yet homey atmosphere. At the left side of the abode, a woman was sitting behind the long wooden table.

"Welcome to Precious Inn," the female receptionist said with a warm smile. She was all dolled up and had tan colored skin and big light brown eyes. Her dark brown copper hair was tied at the back with her long fringes braided on each side. She was also wearing a pink turtleneck uniform with puff sleeves styled with pink topaz earrings and ruby necklace.

She then examined the appearance of the three handsome fellows behind Ivory and wondered who they were. "How many rooms?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"We're from Qawiun Academy," Lucius answered. He unrolled the scroll he held, and showed it to her, and Ivory did the same.

"Ah, I have been waiting for you! I am Fiora, and I am in charge of this inn," she said, then immediately peeked through the small shelves below the long, wooden desk in front of her. She gave them three palm-sized, rectangular wooden tags with numbers engraved onto its surface. "One for Miss Ivory Sprucemint, one for Mister Lucius Goldwine, and another one for Academy Assistant Sir Lycus."

Hearing this, Sigmund rejoiced internally, knowing that Lycus would be separated from them. 

The receptionist explained further, "For Mister Goldwine and Sir Lycus, I assigned them each to single-bed rooms. Although the principal asked for a two-bed room for Miss Sprucemint and her Servant, I apologize if I assigned you to a double-bed room…" Fiora creased her brows, thinking about the broken window on the room that should have been assigned to Ivory. "I hope it will be alright, since he's your Servant."

Ivory saw the troubled expression that the lady had. Although she hesitated because of the possibility that she might be tempted again to be weirdly intimate with her Servant, she shook her head and tried to erase the meaningless thought. She's the only one affected anyway.

"It's alright," Ivory said. "Don't worry about it."

Lucius looked at Sigmund's grinning face, and he facepalmed. Ivory is his older sister, and now that he knew this fact, it doubled his worry. What if through these coincidences, she'd fully sunk deeper into the abyss of a forbidden love? How could she get married and have a family of her own when she's been developing feelings for her own Servant?

On the other hand, Lycus crossed his arms, and it made him glance at his Master, who turned beet red. He already knew that she might have also started to have feelings for the Vampire, and there was nothing he could do.

If he was the same old Lycus who was not bound by a contract ritual with Ivory, he would have stopped him and forced him to stay away from her. But the situation became different. In order to gain Ivory's trust and improve the quality of the Silverblade mana, Lycus should ensure that she's happy with his presence. He then thought, if the situation became worse and the time came that Ivory would be the one who'd want to stay away from Sigmund, he'd do everything to help her.

"There are private bathrooms and fireplaces in each room. We also have a common kitchen in the room located at the end of the hallway!" she exclaimed. "Please enjoy your year here!" Fiora politely bowed her head, then glanced at the three handsome guys as they walked to the inner hallway. Now that she observed that Sigmund was a Servant, she dropped him off the list of the hot men she's interested in, and she thought of taking either Lucius or Lycus as her lover!

Precious Inn had only six bedrooms for rent, and a common kitchen was located at the end of the hallway. There were three rooms on each side. Lycus was assigned in Room 2, while Lucius was in Room 3, which were both on the western side.

When they reached the middle of the hallway, they took a look at their tags and saw their assigned room numbers.

Lucius yawned, "Please wake me up for the team dinner later. I want to sleep more."

"You couldn't sleep in the carriage, probably because you couldn't put your head on Lycus' shoulder," Sigmund laughed at the blonde young man.

He responded to the noisy Vampire, "You're crazy. I hope everyone is as fortunate as you," he chuckled, and Sigmund raised his brow on his statement, then waved his hands at them. He entered his room and closed the door.

"Master, I want to stay in your room," Lycus told Ivory.

Seeing Lycus' puppy eyes, Ivory replied, "Don't worry too much, Lycus. I will visit your room for your mana replenishment every night," she patted his head.

If Lycus had a tail, he would have wagged it with delight by now. He loved it when his Master pats his head.

Sigmund narrowed his eyes on the long-haired Servant, "That's enough," he fumed with jealousy, then grabbed Ivory's wrist that was patting her other Servant. He took her knapsack and his duffel bag, then with heavy steps they went inside room number four, which was across Lucius' room.

Ivory was startled with the loud bang of the door. She saw her Servant sliding the wooden latch to lock it. She then said, "Sigmund, you're too harsh on Lycus."

"You said you'll visit him every night," Sigmund answered as he placed the bag on a small table beside the small bathroom's door.

"Of course. He needs mana, too," Ivory was trying to make him understand. "I only have one body, but I have two manas and two Servants. It's not like you consume the same kind, so why are you being so selfish with my mana?"

"It's not the mana that I do not want him to have."

"Then what?!" she said in an angry tone, "What is it that you do not want to share with him-"

"You."