The Vampire's Bride

"Young Master, the hot chocolate for your guest is ready. Do you want one of the maids to give it to her right now or wait 'till she's finished?" Brian informed his young master.

Leo was acting weird so he took a small mood check on Leo and found out something amusing...

Young Master is... irritated.

The man who was cold and ruthless could actually act... like a human...

Leo suddenly glared at Brian as if he heard his thoughts. Brian faked a cough and avoided his Young Master's eyes guiltily.

Leo's irritation was not only seen on his face, even his tone as he spoke gave him away, "No! Do not disturb her!"

" ...Yes, Young Master."

Leo kept his eyes closed as his leg moved up and down as fast as it could. He took deep breaths, trying to control himself. Finally, he opened his eyes and ordered calmly, "Give me the hot chocolate and the coffee now. Are her clothes ready?"

"Yes, Young Master. Would you like to personally deliver both the drink and her clothes?"

Leo pondered as if considering what Brian told him. He nodded his head and said, "Yes. Give it to me. Also start preparing for dinner or some snacks if it will take long."

"Yes, Young Master. This butler will see to it that everything is done immediately."

Leo raised a hand, dismissing Brian and the other maids in the room. A few seconds later, Mallory's clothes and two cups were delivered to him.

"You may leave now."

"Yes, Young Master."

The maid bowed and left, not overstaying her welcome in Leo's room.

Now that Leo was alone, he finally got the time he needed to loosen up.

His thoughts drifted to what happened that afternoon in their school.

As Leo was in heaven, drinking the sweet yet limited blood of Mallory, he felt his body getting warm. Mallory was also feeling warm.

Leo's hand moved up and down on her back. The moment it touched a certain clasp of her clothing, Mallory flinched.

Leo felt her body tensing but he continued, as if he wanted to be sure.

She couldn't fight back as she felt Leo's hand circling around the area of her bra. Her mind was filled with only one thought: her nightmare.

Of course there was no way Leo knew about that.

Leo thought it was fine... no reaction yet no rejection. He continued to peck Mallory's cheeks with kisses and trailed down to her neck.

The moment he did, he felt something was wrong. It was as if he finally realized the fear Mallory had inside.

Her blood still tasted sweet but... it was suffocating.

Leo quickly yanked his head back and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. He spoke slowly, as if he himself couldn't believe it, "Your blood... tasted different."

He noticed Mallory's eyes slightly shook in fear. It was only there for a second but he noticed it. That was when he knew it was true.

Tasting your destined partner's blood can give away what your partner is feeling... Up until this point, I never thought that what my old man told me is true...

Leo embraced Mallory gently, as if trying to calm her down, "It's fine... I'll stop now. Don't be scared."

He looked at the petite woman in her arms. 'So... she's scared of me.'

It took a moment before Mallory realized that Leo had stopped. She nervously pushed Leo who, in return, followed her wishes.

Mallory did not speak and only lowered her head as she shivered.

Mallory lowered her head and mumbled a simple 'thanks'.

Leo ruffled Mallory's hair as he chuckled, "Shall we go?"

Mallory looked at Leo in fear. Go... where?

Back... to their classroom?

Thinking that she might misunderstood him, Leo quickly explained, "I-I mean, let's go back and skip school. I'll just tell the principal about our leave. You can't go to class when you're shivering."

Mallory looked down at her clothes hidden by Leo's polo.

The first thing she saw was her... strawberry printed bra...

Definitely not a good choice for the day...

Leo followed her line of sight and finally took noticed of her bra... and the print.

It felt like they were the only ones in the world since the place was empty. Everyone was in the building since it classes were already starting.

Leo stopped just before the gate, hiding Mallory, as he quickly took his phone to call for a ride.

As he was talking to his driver, he saw Mallory facing him and having a 90 degrees bow.

"Thank you for your help, Master Orpheus. I will return your polo as soon as possible."

Mallory stood up and continued, "I'll be going now. I think that it's better if you stay. Thank you and goodbye."

With that, Mallory turned on her heels and headed for the gate.

It was at that moment that Leo felt... slightly annoyed.

Leo quickly grabbed Mallory's slender arm and asked, "Where the hell are you going?"

Mallory did not understand.

Why is he getting angry at me? I didn't say anything wrong...

... did I?

Mallory hesitantly replied, "Back home."

"Just wait. I already called my driver. He'll be picking us up any minute now."

Mallory felt something weird when she heard him. 'That is not my home... what is Master Orpheus saying?'

"It"s fine. I could just walk back home."

Leo knew she did not get a single hint and hissed, "Which home?"

W-which home? Isn't it obvious?

"M-mine...?" Mallory's answer turned into a question as she felt pressured by the amount of irritation she found in his eyes.

And that was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"You kn— !"

"Young Master, I came to pick you up." A man dressed up nicely came out of a glossy, expensive, black car.

Leo did not explain things to Mallory and literally dragged her into the car. At least Leo still had a few restraints on him to throw Mallory at the back seat as gentle as possible.

He sat besides her with his eyes tightly closed. He only had one thought throughout the time.

"She's truly clueless!"

Leo mumbled as he emptied his coffee. He heard the water getting weaker as Mallory finished taking a bath.

Leo sighed. Seeing how Mallory reacted when they first talked and the way she acted in school, he could roughly guess that she had a... rough time in life.

Taking a deep breath, Leo stood up and knocked on the bathroom door. He heard a small yelp coming from the other side of the door followed by a question, "W-Who is it?"

"It's me. I brought you some clothes. Can you open the door? I'll hand it over."

"Y-Yes..."

A 'click' was heard as the door of the bathroom slightly opened. Suddenly, a pair of cautious eyes emerged from the door.

Leo stifled a laugh when he handed her clothes. 'She's just like a kid...'

"Be sure to dry yourself and it's cold during the night."

"Y-Yes, Master Orpheus."

Mallory quickly shut the door on his face, not even noticing that Leo still had something to say.

Leo was left dumbfounded. It was the first time that someone closed the door on him. He laughed as he held his head.

Really... his woman was fearless. Was she embarrassed because of what happened earlier?

Definitely.

Inside, Mallory buried her face on the newly set of clothes handed to her. She was so embarrassed that she could not even look at Leo in the eyes.

Thinking at how Leo reacted when she opened the door, it was as if nothing happened.

Did it happen a lot of times that he was used to it by now?

So what he did was actually... nothing to him?

Suddenly, Mallory felt something was wrong. Her way of thinking strangely seems like she was... jealous.

... she was... what?

Nope. No no no no no! She's definitely not jealous!

Shaking her head, Mallory slapped both of her cheeks and dressed up quickly. She took a deep breath before exiting the bathroom. "M-Master Orpheus... I-I'm done."

When Mallory opened the door, she saw Leo sitting on a nearby couch while holding some doc.u.ments. He did not lift his eyes as he spoke, "Thanks. I'll get in soon. You rest for a while. Dinner will be ready in a while."

"Y-Yes..."

…

It had only been ten minutes and Mallory felt bored. She had emptied her chocolate drink and had no food to keep her busy. She did not even bring with her her bag. After all, they did not return to get their bags in school.

Just as Mallory was busy rolling on the mat like a child, something caught her eye. It was the paper that Leo was holding. She got up and started pacing around the table anxiously. She maintained quite a distance around the table; from time to time, she kept glancing at the paper but restrained herself to actually take a look at it.

Should she look at it?

She knew she shouldn't but she was curious.

In the end, her curiosity won and she promised to just take one glance at it. She counted up to three before taking a look at the papers.

There were two sets of papers. One on top of the other. The first thing she saw... an omiai.

Master Orpheus will be having a blind date?

Mallory wanted to look at the name written on the page. She slowly moved forward to take a look at the name and the familiar signature of the woman at the bottom.

However, her phone started ringing just before she could take a good look at it.

She was startled that in an instant, she was at the corner of the room; she distance herself as far as she could from the table.

She was scared to death by her phone! Well... at least it was not Leo who caught her.

Mallory slowly calmed herself as she opened her phone, wondering who would send her a message.

The moment she saw the name, her face suddenly bloomed; her lips curved upward, showing a genuine smile on her face.

She read through the message happily. She was too happy to even notice the room had gone cold.

So cold that the room's heater did not stand a chance.

And the root of the coldness was... the newly fresh-out-of-bath man who was standing at the bathroom door, watching Mallory smiling.

At first he was glad to see Mallory smiling. But the next second, he wondered, what if the person was a 'he'?

Thinking about that, his countenance turned dark... he was clearly jealous.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden appearance of the cold voice startled Mallory. She looked behind to see Leo whose hair was still slightly dripping.

Mallory quickly turns her head as she answered, "An old friend sent me a message..."

Leo: "Who?"

Mallory: "Someone who took care of me when I was young."

Leo: "A man?"

Mallory: "..." His questions are...

Mallory slightly shook her head as she replied, "No. My friend is a 'she'. Her name is Jianne."

Leo nodded as if he was approving of her answer. The moment he heard the gender, the coldness in the room dissipated immediately. However, Mallory caught hold of the coldness and involuntarily shivered. She rubbed her arms as she mumbled, "It's cold..."

Isn't the heater on? Why does it feel like I'm standing on top of Mount Everest right now?

Leo was about to speak but was interrupted by a series of soft knocks followed by a certain butler's voice, "Young Master, Miss, your dinner is ready. Would you like to have dinner in your room or at the dining table?"

"Table," Leo spoke, not even asking Mallory where she wanted. Well, Mallory knew she cannot choose so she meekly followed Leo's order and got ready for dinner.

Mallory went out of the room right after Brian left. Leo, on the other hand, stayed for a while. His eyes were emotionless as he was in deep thoughts. Seeing that he was not moving, one could barely tell that he was debating on something.

In the end, he pulled out his phone and dialed a certain number. After a couple of rings, a man's voice came from the other line, "What is it Leo? I already sent the informations of that woman already."

"Not her—" meaning that he wanted the man to look into another person's profile.

The man could only sigh as he listened to Leo, "What is it?"

Leo: "Jill... search everything about a woman named Jianne."

Jillion: "..." What the actual f***!

It's around dinner time...

It's not even a day yet he already changed women?!

Isn't that worse than a person who changed girlfriends as frequent as they change their clothes?