Taming My Vampire Servant

Rin chuckled, "No, I think you look younger."

Obelius was pleased with this, and so he gave her a slice of apple pie on a smaller plate, "Here. For the compliment."

The two sisters laughed as they saw how their brother liked what Rin said. And so, the four of them continued chatting about random things.

It was the first time that Rin got close to commoners, apart from her loyal maidservant, Ofelia. In her mind, she was already enjoying the company of the Sprucemints, and wondered if she could be truly friends with them if they'd known about her real identity.

After eating, the Sprucemints washed the dishes, then cleaned the table. Although Rin volunteered to help, the two young women insisted that she should just wait at the living room, because she's their brother's special guest.

Later on, Andreia and Thea bid goodbye, as they had to return to the Qawiun Academy dorm. Obelius and Rin continued sculpting.

Obelius was quite a strict teacher, but Rin loved learning. He was quite amazed at how focused Rin was, and he thought that she was better than him in his beginner days.

When night fell, Obelius and Rin had tofu skewers for dinner. When Obelius was done with taking a bath, he noticed Rin sitting on the carpet in front of the fireplace, reading a scroll.

Rin was distracted with the lavender scent she smelled. When she turned around, she saw Obelius sitting behind him. "Ah, I didn't notice you there."

Obelius' usual spiky hairstyle was now down with some water dripping from the tip of his hair.

Rin turned beet red at how hot the man seemed, especially in front of the fireplace's light. She stared at him for so long, making Obelius wave his hand in front of her eyes.

"Rin?" he said, "Is that your father's journal again?"

"Yes. It's fascinating that he even went to the secluded places in the Land of Sandria," Rin sighed, "I wonder how long I can be free."

Obelius saw how bothered his young guest was. He wanted to try to make her feel better, but he did not know how. Instead, he stroked her head, "Don't worry. You're safe here with me."

The runaway princess widened her eyes and blushed, surprised at Obelius' actions. It was the first time she was comforted in that manner, yet it made her feel secured. "Thank you…" she uttered.

Just when the two of them were enjoying each other's company, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll go check who it is," Obelius said, scratching the back of his head. "Who is it at this hour- Kyra?" he was shocked to see his sister, wearing a knight's armor. Behind her were seven other knights in their armored horses.

"Big bro, hello!" Kyra Sprucemint said. Like all of her siblings, she had their mother's light blue irises. She has a black short layered hair and side bangs.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"We're looking for the missing princess…"

When Rin heard about this, she swiftly ran upstairs.

Kyra got a glimpse of the orange head from behind her brother, so she commented, "I didn't know you had a lover."

"Hey, she's not… She's just my apprentice in sculpting," Obelius retorted, "Anyway, how can I help you?"

"Here," Kyra gave him a scroll with a colored sketch of the princess, "This is Princess Cyrina… If you see her by any chance, kindly report to the Silverblade Castle."

Obelius got a quick look at the sketch, then took the scroll from her, "Alright… Then with her missing, does that mean her engagement with the prince of the Kingdom of Juno was postponed?" he sighed in relief, knowing that he didn't have to finish General Lucius' angel sculpture immediately.

The female knight nodded and said her thanks. She bid goodbye to her brother, then she and the other knights went to the next house farther ahead to ask about the princess.

When Obelius closed and locked the front door, he saw that Rin was not by the fireplace anymore. However, she left her father's journal.

Obelius brought down the scroll with the sketch of the princess, then took the unrolled scroll. He had no intention to read it, but his sight came across something familiar: his parents' names.

He read out loud, "I met Ivory for the first time in person, and she looked as beautiful as she appeared in my dream. But I never expected her to be with Sigmund, the man I despised the most… I swore in the Silverbade name, that I will do everything to get rid of…" Obelius already knew about the history of his parents and the King. He also knew that it was only the past, and now they're on good terms after clearing up all the misunderstandings.

Rin, upon seeing that the knights were gone, went downstairs, and she saw him  holding and reading her father's journal.

"Uhm, what are you doing!?" she immediately ran to him. She knew that the old journal contained clues about her true identity!

Obelius knew she was going his way, so he purposely lifted up the scroll so that she wouldn't reach it. 

Rin jumped many times, trying to reach the scroll above. But she couldn't.

The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes on her. He noticed that some long, brown hair strands were showing on her nape. With his other hand, he swiftly grabbed her orange hair, then pulled it away.

And the princess' long, brown hair was exposed, messily falling down her back.

"You…! You're the missing princess… Shit, I'm in trouble," Obelius said. He dropped her orange wig, then reached out King Levi's journal to her.

Instead of taking the journal, Cyrina grabbed his arm, and her calm indigo irises gazed into his crimson red irises, "Please… Please don't bring me back to the castle," she started getting teary-eyed as she tightened her grip on him, "I don't want to marry the prince of the Kingdom of Juno… There are still many things I want to do in my life!"

Obelius creased his brows. He didn't want to make the woman cry and feel miserable, but he wanted to set things right for her, "Listen to me, your Highness," he wiped her tears with his finger, "You are a princess of our kingdom. Running away will not solve your problem."

"Then.. What should I do?" she pursed her trembling lips, "I'll just accept my fate and be caged in the Huang royal family's palace? Become nothing more than just a crown prince's wife who can't set foot outside the palace grounds?"

"That's not what I meant. If you truly want to become free, you should directly tell your parents and convince them."

"But they're the King and Queen! And they always tell me how important this marriage is!"

"You won't know until you try, right?" Obelius touched the tip of Cyrina's hair, "You look awful. Let me comb your hair. I always combed my sisters' when they were younger."

With the suggestion, Cyrina calmed down. She waited for Obelius to return, with his sister Andreia's big brush on his hand. 

As Obelius was combing her hair, the runaway princess told him, "How about you come with me to the castle? Help me convince my parents."

"No way," Obelius right out said, "Why should I? We only met yesterday."

"But you took care of me… You're even combing my hair now."

"I just… I just felt like it," he said, his ears turned red in embarrassment. "Besides, I don't know if the King can still recognize me. It's been years since I last saw him. I was only six years old at that time."

Cyrina pouted, disappointed with his reaction.

…

When the sun had risen, there were loud knocks on the door. 

"OBELIUS! OBELIUS, OPEN UP!" a woman's voice said.

Obelius opened up after yawning, and saw an enraged Minerva. "Why are you so loud this early- What the?"

Behind Minerva were his sister Kyra and several knights, who glared at him for an unknown reason!