Taming My Vampire Servant

That night, Ivory and her two Servants, together with Lucius, were imprisoned in the small confinement area at the back of the town hall with a small window with metal bars. The room only had haystacks on the floor, and two rectangular logs on each side that served as chairs.

"Do they think we're horses?" Sigmund crossed his arms, and he kicked the hays underneath his feet. "That scum of a town guard chief… I'll make sure he'll pay for this!"

"It's so cold…" Ivory muttered. She kept rubbing her palms to keep her warm. 

Noticing that his sister had no gloves on, Lucius tried to ignite fire using the hay underneath their feet, but he was unsuccessful. "I knew it. This room is magic-proof."

"We should have fought them back then," Lycus muttered.

"I rarely agree with this guy, but I also want to crack that man's head," Sigmund said and clicked his tongue.

But Lucius shook his head, "If we did, we'll lose our chance to have a lighter punishment."

"What is a light and a heavy punishment, rich boy?" the Vampire asked sarcastically.

He answered directly, "Something that can still enable us to move our body, even though we're confined in this space, while a heavy punishment is something like flogging numerous times… At least in my understanding."

"It's subjective, don't even bother to think about it," Sigmund answered. He almost held Ivory's hand, but when he panned his sight on her finger, he saw the pretty emerald ring that was given by Vernon.

"Did the jeweler betray us?" he asked. "Why isn't he here?"

"It's his house, so why will he be imprisoned? We are the only ones being accused since we do not live there," she responded. "I still want to hope that Vernon did not betray us."

Later on, Ivory and Lucius decided to rest, while Sigmund and Lycus watched over them.

Ivory laid beside Lucius on the haystack, while they stared blankly at the stone ceiling. She noticed that he had not yet slept, "Can't sleep?"

"Yes," he then took some of the hays beside him and covered Ivory's body, even giving her some of the hays covering him, "Here. I know you're cold, Ivory."

"Thank you, but how about you, Lucius?" she asked, worried about her best buddy.

"I will be alright, don't worry about me," he said with a kind smile. "Is the warmth enough? Do you need more hay?"

"I'm still cold, but-"

"Ask one of your Servants to lay beside you," Lucius suggested. 

He wanted to test if Ivory really had a plan on forgetting her love for Sigmund.

Ivory glanced at her two Servants, who were both anticipating her decision.

"Come here… Lycus," Ivory finally said.

When Sigmund heard this and he saw him lay down beside her, he felt disheartened. Now, he knew that Ivory was really set on forgetting him.

Lucius, who saw the flawed Servant's sad expression, felt guilty about it. He knew that he was the one who gave Ivory the idea of moving on from him. And even though he knew that Sigmund had feelings for her, he wouldn't risk his own sister. There will always be a possibility of him endangering her. 

He couldn't support Sigmund on something that was wrong, but to lift his spirits a little, he told him, "Sigmund, why don't you lay down as well?" He patted on the space beside him, between Lucius and Lycus. 

"What the hell, Rich boy, are you saying I'd lay beside you? No way."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Lucius chuckled. "I am merely telling you to contribute to our group's warmth. It's too cold." 

Sigmund glared at Lycus, before he laid down in between the two men. Then both Lucius and him faced the ceiling.

Ivory still shivered, and the second Servant noticed this. He turned towards her.

"Master," Lycus whispered, nearing his head towards her face, "You're shivering. Would you like me to warm you up?"

Ivory smiled at his suggestion. She clearly saw the difference in personalities of her two Servants. If it was Sigmund, he wouldn't ask; he would hug her immediately without any warning.

Wait. Why was she thinking about Sigmund again? She needed to pull herself together and get used to not thinking about him! 

"Master?" Lycus worriedly muttered after seeing her frown. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing," she answered in a soft tone. She tightly embraced her silver-haired Servant. 

Ivory wanted to bury her face on Lycus' broad shoulder, but she couldn't help herself look at her beloved Vampire Servant, who was already laying on his side and was looking back at her with a serious face. 

While they were gazing at each other silently, Ivory thought deeply. She realized that she was too used to her and Sigmund's closeness. She only wished that she would be able to forget the happiness she felt and his warmth whenever they cuddled on cold nights.

She knew that setting things right would negatively affect the power and quality of their mana, but what could she even do?

Should she rather accept her feelings for him to have a very powerful mana, or deny her feelings for him and just focus on building her trust with Lycus?

She still has another mana, which is more powerful than her normal mana. She could easily train with Lycus because he's not flawed unlike the Vampire.

Sigmund, on the other hand, wondered how he could overcome this predicament. He knew he was just a mere Servant of Ivory, and he would be too greedy if he wished for them to become lovers. He couldn't do anything, could he? 

Goddess Destinia made him a Servant because what he prayed before he died of the plague was to be immortal. He did not expect the Goddess to grant his request on his deathbed. His life with his past Master was almost great, if not for the mess with the Silverblades and the Dragonicus clan. He thought he's done because of the crime that he was previously accused of, but fate was rather playful to bring him to the world once again, and to make things worse, he became a Servant who had human desires.

It was a long moment of gazing at each other's eyes, like they did the talking instead of their lips. It was as if they're telling each other that they miss each other, but they both knew that they couldn't be together. 

Because Servants do not sleep, Ivory got sleepy and closed her eyes. And when she did, Sigmund continued to stare at his Master. They're just in the same haystack, but she felt so distant.

Lycus, on the other hand, felt conflicted. He was pleased that his Master had chosen him at that time, but she saw the loneliness in her eyes. As he held her tight, he wondered if he could somehow lessen the pain he was feeling.

But he knew that no matter what else he said or did, he could never replace her first Servant. He would just fulfill that one role given to him - to be her loyal Servant, and he'd be there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on. 

…

When the sun had risen, Principal Arthurdane visited them in the small magic-resistant prison cell. It worried him a lot that it was Ivory's group that was tangled in the town's matters. Of all the staff of the academy, it was the Principal who knew of their character. He knew they would never do such a thing.

His crow Beast Servant in its inactive state rested on his shoulder, observing them. "It's all my fault… I was the one who made you come to this faraway town," the principal told them as he held the metal bars, "Apologies."

But Ivory and Lucius shook their heads. They never blamed the principal, because they were clear on why they were sent there - to investigate the special black gemstone which was an ingredient to create the dark mana. It was just unfortunate that they got tangled up on another matter.

Lucius said, "It's not your fault, sir. We were the ones who wanted to look for the missing scrolls."

"They said that you stole it… Of course, I did not believe it. Why would the son of General Goldwine steal those, right?" he scratched the back of his head. Honestly, he did not know how to explain it to Lucius' father when they'd meet.

"Did you meet a purple-haired man?" Ivory asked. "He was in the house that time. He's the shopkeeper's twin brother, but he can clear our name."

Principal Arthurdane got confused. He was sure he saw him reporting them as the suspects. "Are you sure he's your ally?" 

They all looked at the confused principal. They were very sure that Vernon was a nice guy.

"Are you sure? He was the one who reported you and gave his statement in front of the town leader," the principal sighed, "But he said that he will tell everything that had happened once you're all in front of the crowd, so that everyone will know what kind of people you are."