Taming My Vampire Servant

Two hours before sunrise, Ivory and Sigmund finally returned to Precious Inn. They did not expect Lucius to still be awake, and his eyebrows creased when he saw the two together, holding hands, and happily talking to one another!

When Ivory saw him in the lobby, she asked, "Lucius? Why are you still awake at this hour-"

"I was waiting for you," he then panned his sight to the Vampire, who averted his gaze, "Where did you take my sister?"

"Calm down, rich boy-"

"How can I possibly calm down? When I saw Ivory missing from the crowd, I immediately ran around town. I didn't even get to attend the circle dance, just to find her. You troublesome guy," he sighed, trying to keep his anger in check, "If I had not checked back here at the inn, I wouldn't know that Sigmund also left… I had a hunch this might happen, but-"

"Lucius, even though I did not attend the circle dance, I danced with Sigmund, so I am really happy right now. Don't you want to see me happy?" Ivory told her younger brother, who was obviously upset because of their stubbornness. 

"I want to, but obviously, with your current situation, the two of you can only have temporary happiness," he then pointed at the Vampire, "You even took my coat without my permission!" 

When Sigmund heard this, he immediately removed it and gave it to Lucius.

"Ssshh, the guests might wake up! How about you sleep now," she approached him then grabbed his arm..

As Sigmund saw Ivory leading Lucius to his room, a short laugh escaped from his lips. But behind his smile, he wondered how long he and Ivory could mess around. 

…

The guests of Precious Inn said their goodbyes and left Topazeon Town. The Summer Topaz Festival was done, and the locals now spent a lot of time removing the decorations and cleaning the streets.

While Lucius, Trevor, and Sigmund were in the front yard detaching the colorful lanterns, Ivory and the others were in the kitchen, preparing their lunch.

Ivory and Fiora noticed how Grisha's eyes gazed at Zen, while he was slicing carrots on the wooden chopping board at the counter. When Zen turned his head to her, she immediately pretended that she was concentrating on peeling the cucumber she had been holding for a long while!

"How fortunate, they stood opposite of each other after the music stopped. I am sure Grisha's on cloud nine right now," Fiora said, as she and Ivory were peeling potatoes on top of the dining table behind Zen and Grisha.

Noticing the frown in Fiora's lips, she asked her, "But why are you sad? Who was your destined man during the circle dance?"

"It was my neighbor, ugh!" she skewered the small knife into the potato, "He has been bullying me since I was a kid!"

"Oh, didn't they say, the 'more you hate, the more you love'? Perhaps he's really your soulmate?" Ivory chuckled, amused with Fiora's reaction, then she paused in peeling the potato, "I apologize. It's because I went missing that Lucius couldn't go to the circle dance."

Fiora sighed, "It's not your fault. That's just the Goddess' way of telling me to give up on him."

"Eh? You are already giving up?"

"I think I have been doing my best, but I cannot move his stone heart at all[parang may mas better, not sure dito]."

"I know you might have heard from me countless times, but I am telling you again. Do not give up, Miss Fiora."

Fiora finally smiled, then responded, "Thank you. Miss Ivory."

"What are you two talking about?" Lucius suddenly appeared in the archway. 

Fiora panicked, raising her voice, "Ah, it was nothing-"

Unfortunately, when she waved her hand, she hit some potatoes, and three of them came rolling on the wooden floor. Fiora immediately stood up from her seat and she chased the potatoes, but they stopped at Lucius' feet. 

Lucius picked up the potato that rolled towards his shoe. With a kind smile, he gave it to Fiora, who was kneeling in front of him.

Fiora could not avert her gaze on the blonde young man's smile. She was just speaking with Ivory about moving on, but so much for that. If her heart's not yet ready to love another man, should she follow her advice not to give up on him?

"Mister Lucius!" she said, mustering up her courage. At that time, she tried not to care about how many people were looking at her. "Mister Lucius! I like you! Can I be your lover?!"

Lucius widened his eyes in surprise, not expecting Fiora to say it out loud. Although he already felt that she had some sort of affection towards him, he never thought that she'd be bold enough to confess in front of many people!

He first offered his hand and helped her stand up. Then he uttered, "Apologies… Can we talk, just the two of us?"

"Ah… yes," Fiora gulped, nervous about a private moment with her crush.

The two of them went to the backyard, which was full of Grisha's laundry that early morning. The sun was blazing at the peak of the sky. 

Being the gentleman that he was, Lucius stayed quiet and waited for the shy Fiora to speak up.

Wanting to get out of the awkward silence, she finally spoke, "I apologize that I wasn't thinking straight a while ago. I should have confessed in a better situation, but I am true to my words. I like you so much!" Fiora noticed the seriousness in Lucius' eyes. 

The warm wind blew, and the damp blankets hanging on the clothingline swayed with it. But even in that windy noon, Lucius was not swayed with Fiora's words even a bit.

"Fiora," he called, "Apologies. I do not plan on having a lover right now."

The receptionist girl knew to herself, that day would come. She knew that even the strong sunlight wouldn't melt Lucius' icy heart. She knew she already gave her best shot, and assisted him with the best of her abilities as a receptionist and manager at the inn.

But just like her past crushes, she also failed with Lucius.

It took her so long before she could reply. "It's okay," she said, and tears were already forming in her eyes. She turned around, not wanting him to see, "Oh well, it's not the first time I got rejected. I guess I have to move on, then."

Hearing her fake a laugh, Lucius felt bad. He was already used to rejecting women, but even so, he felt a pinch of guilt in rejecting someone he already considered as a friend.

Lucius excused himself to give Fiora some alone time. As soon as he returned inside the inn, Fiora hid behind the blankets, and she cried a bucket of her sorrow.

In the hallway, Ivory blocked Lucius, and narrowed her eyes on him.

He sighed, knowing what his sister wanted to tell him,  "I rejected her."

"Fiora is a sweet girl. I like her for you."

"Love is not my priority right now," Lucius shrugged.

"Huh? What is your priority, then?" Ivory curiously asked.

"Family."

"What comes after family?"

"Being strong. Master magic and mana control, as well as other Advanced techniques-"

"Oh, Lucius, you're going to waste your youth," Ivory shook her head and left him in the hallway.

"What's so good about falling in love?" Lucius muttered, and he did not notice Trevor behind him. 

He was carrying with him a basket of seed potatoes. "I heard ya," he chuckled, then told him to come with him to the backyard.

Fiora was already gone, and the two men proceeded to the backyard, which had a vertical vegetable garden with rectangular wooden boxes placed against the fence. They crouched and using a shovel, Trevor dug up the damp soil and placed seed potatoes in the middle. 

"Kiddo, as a married man, let me enlighten you about that troublesome thing called love," Trevor said while he continued digging up the soil, "You know, me and my wife almost unlisted our marriage because I burnt the chicken I was grilling."

Lucius was surprised with this, "Then what happened after that?"

"I apologized, of course," he laughed, "It did not happen only once. It happened a lot of times. There was even a time that I almost burned our house. She was very furious at me and she ran after me around town while holding a kitchen knife!"

The blonde young man was amused with Trevor's stories about his wife. He seemed to have a cat and dog relationship with her, so he wondered how their marriage lasted for a long time.

"You must be wondering why I am telling you this."

"Yes, I wonder," Lucius chuckled, "It's not like I'm finding myself a wife."

"Well, I just want to tell you how much I love my wife," Trevor gave a big smile. "I am sure that in your lifetime, you will get to meet your destined person. It is not about how short-tempered she is, or how clumsy I am. I am staying with her through thick and thin, because it's her. And she's the only one I want to be with for the rest of my life."

Still a bit confused with what the middle-aged man said, Lucius just nodded at him. Maybe now, he still didn't understand the words he uttered. However, someday, when he would meet the one for him, he would understand what he meant.

Maybe by then, he would understand why his sister went crazily in love with her Vampire Servant.