Taming My Vampire Servant

"Your… your inner thigh?" Diana asked.

Ivory nodded at her, "Yes. It's quite a troublesome place, right?" and chuckled. "Oh, I love your dishes, Miss Diana! Especially this grilled bacon," she took a slab of bacon onto her plate and continued eating.

Lucius looked at her mother, who seemed to be shocked as she stared at Ivory.

Diana noticed that her son was looking at her curiously in her peripheral vision, while she got teary-eyed. "I'll just get some fruits in the backyard," her voice cracked as she hurried out of the room.

"Continue eating, Ivory, I'll just assist my mother outside."

And so, the two of them went out, while Ivory continued to eat the savory, meat dishes.

'I wonder how Miss Diana cooked these… All are delicious!' she thought as she enjoyed munching the chewy lamb chops.

Minutes later when Diana and Lucius returned, Ivory was puzzled why they had not brought the fruits.

"Apparently, there was nothing to harvest yet," Lucius bluffed.

"Ivory, eat well, alright? I still have a lot of pork stew in the pot," Diana quickly changed the topic, and smiled kindly at the woman whom she truly believed was her daughter.

Lucius, on the other hand, was uncomfortable about it. What if she's not what her mother thought she was? What if she treated her as her own daughter, but she's not really her? He became determined to find out the truth, as soon as possible.

"Mother, can I bring food to the city hall?" Lucius said. "I'll also give some to Ebleu."

"Yes," Diana said, nodding her head. "Come back before tea time."

He placed some pork stew into two separate clay pots and tied a thick string into them so he could carry them with his hands. He first went to the stables which was several steps away from the house, and there he saw Sigmund and Ebleu playing chess.

"I lost again," Ebleu sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Go easy on me, will ya?"

"I can't. I never want to lose in any game," Sigmund chuckled. "Let's start a new game- Oh, hi, Lucius. How's my Master?"

"She's eating well. Very well," Lucius replied. He gave the pot of pork stew to the old man.

Ebleu replied with a smile, "Thank you, Sir Goldwine."

"I'll go to the city hall first to meet my father," he said. "Sigmund, do you want to come?"

"No, I have to stay here in case of an emergency."

"Alright. I'll ask another coachman to bring me there so you can eat, Ebleu."

The old man thanked his kind employer, and they watched his back as he walked away.

When Lucius returned, it was already past tea time. Ivory had just gotten out of the house, and she's waiting for Diana because she said she's going to send some fruits to Anne.

"Lucius, what took you so long!" Ivory exclaimed, "You missed our tea time-" 

She was startled when Lucius suddenly hugged her, his arms around her neck. She knew he wasn't the clingy or touchy type of person, so she was very surprised. 

"Did something happen?" Ivory patted his back. "Are you alright?"

"Ivory, I…" Lucius couldn't find the right words to say. Instead, he just embraced her more tightly.

She kept on patting his back, thinking that something might have happened that's why he was acting odd. "It's alright now," she said in a soft voice. "Whatever your worries are, I'm sure you'll get through it. Believe in yourself..."

Lucius pulled away, and her comforting words made him chuckle, "I feel alright now. Apologies for startling you."

Diana came out of the door and gave a basket of apples, lemons, and oranges. She handed it to her son, "Send my regards to your parents."

"Yes, Miss Diana, thank you very much for the fruits!" she exclaimed. "I really had a great time today, thanks to the both of you!."

"Next time, I will bake apple pie for you," Diana hugged her for a moment. "Take care on your way home, Ivory."

Lucius took Ivory to the stables and placed the basket of fruits in the carriage. When they had already left, he immediately returned to his mother's house. He saw his mother staring at two blue shell-shaped stones displayed on the wall-mounted shelf, humming a happy tune.

"Mother, what are those?" asked Lucius.

"Ivory gave these to us. Isn't she a sweet girl?" she smiled brightly. "I am very touched that she remembered us and bought us some souvenirs from Valios City."

Lucius stood beside his mother, "Yes…" he was glad he gave her coins to spend. "I'm glad that I have been kind to her since the first day we met.

And the two of them stared at the blue shells with hopeful smiles.

...

The day of Crown Prince Jirou's voyage was quickly approaching. A week later, Ivory and her allies were still in the process of thinking about how to avoid joining his three-week travel around the Kingdom. They had a brief meeting about it in the Principal's room.

"I received news that the Crown Prince looked into Ivory's background," Lucius told them. He was sitting beside Ivory on the sofa in front of the principal's desk, "A border guard told me that the prince paid one of them to do it."

"No offense meant, but I think the prince selected Arcea and Lucius as the class' representatives because they're the closest to Ivory," Principal Arthurdane said as he sat on his cushioned chair of the desk.

Lucius responded to this, "I'm not offended. Actually, it may work out fine, because if Ivory will be coming with us, then we're sure that she will already have two allies with her."

"But our main goal should be preventing her from coming to the voyage. We need a great reason… one that can last for three weeks," Lycus suggested as he sat comfortably on the sofa in front of Ivory and Lucius. He then looked at Sigmund, "You, Spirit Servant. Perhaps you have thought of a plan."

Sigmund, who was standing behind the sofa, glared at him momentarily, "She should just pretend to be sick for three weeks, and she's safe."

"Say that to the Crown Prince and he might send a lot of royal physicians," Lucius replied, and the Servant shrugged. 

"What if you send me somewhere for a punishment, principal?" Ivory asked.

But he shook his head. "I'm afraid he might reduce the resources he's been donating to the academy… I know about him liking you, so why will I send you somewhere far on the time of his journey? I can't risk it, right?"

"Ah, apologies…" she sighed.

Lycus raised his hand, and the others turned to his direction, "What if she goes for a secret training somewhere far?" 

"That's a good idea," Sigmund said. "She and I will be going far-"

"I will come with you," Lycus interrupted.

"What the- We don't need you. I am strong enough to protect her."

The silver-haired young man stood from his seat, and approached him behind the sofa. He glared at him, his light-blue eyes glowing, "But I am stronger than you."

Hearing this, Sigmund got angry, and his crimson-red eyes glowed as well, "She trusts me and can't live without me."

"She and I both belong to one family."

"But she belongs to me-"

"STOP IT!" Ivory yelled, making the two men's irises stop glowing. "We should decide on where I'll go before the Crown Prince arrives here to start his journey next month. We can't solve anything if the two of you are going to be like a cat and a dog."

"Who's the cat and who's the dog?" Principal Arthurdane jokingly asked.

Ivory thought that Lycus could be her dog and he seemed to be loyal, while Sigmund was more the independent type and could be her cat because she loved cuddling with him. 

She didn't answer this ridiculous question and instead suggested, "His journey will start here in the academy, so I have to train somewhere far."

Principal Arthurdane crossed his arm and rubbed his chin. He stood up and went to the shelf on his right, and he took one of the scrolls. He unrolled it on his wooden desk and a map of the kingdom was shown.

With his index finger, he pointed at the northeasternmost town of the Land of Rosaria.

"Stay in Sapphiros Town for three weeks," the principal suggested. "The tribal town welcomes visitors and adventurers, but they do not allow anyone from the castle."

"I've heard of that. It's the only town in the whole kingdom that was not conquered by the royal family's warriors. Instead, they have a peace agreement with them," Lucius added, "It's a perfect place for you, Ivory. No town guards, no town leader, no one to report you to Crown Prince Jirou."

Sigmund smirked, "If that's the case, Ivory and I will go there. Lycus, you just stay behind."