«Alright, to recap: to calculate the limit of this function—»
The professor's lecture is suddenly cut short.
The classroom door slams open with a loud bang.
Ren bursts into the room, breathing heavily, like someone who has just sprinted all the way here.
«Ren Volkom, what a pleasant surprise. Welcome among us.»
The professor crosses his arms, voice dripping with sarcasm.
«Have you started collecting tardiness stickers? This is the third time this week! Come on, let's hear it—what's your excuse today?»
«Well, um...»
Brianne and Isabelle, completely naked, sneaked under the boy's sheets that morning.
He was still deeply asleep, lost in the world of dreams.
«Until you make me your familiar, I won't let you leave the house!»
Isabelle blackmailed him, using her naked body to trap him in place.
Her arms and legs wrapped tightly around Ren's, completely immobilizing him with her physical strength.
«Lady Valakys is right! It's the least you could do after everything she's doing for you!»
Brianne added, helping the woman with everything she had at her disposal.
That was the bizarre incident Ren had to deal with shortly before classes started.
It ended with nothing more than a clumsy outburst of anger from the vampire prince.
An absurd and embarrassing situation that certainly can't be used to justify another tardiness.
«...the car broke down,» Ren justifies himself.
The professor sighs at the poorly convincing excuse.
«Get to your seat and thank your lucky stars for having such a caring desk mate.
She's been taking notes for you since the start of the lesson.
Take her as an example, or you'll be watching your fourth year through binoculars!»
«I'm really grateful, Rebecca. You shouldn't have, seriously,» Ren thanks her after taking his seat beside her.
Rebecca smiles at him.
«For something so small? You should probably come up with a better excuse next time, though.»
There's a slight trace of annoyance in her voice.
«But I'm not making it up, it's the truth!» Ren insists.
«Then what about that lipstick mark on your neck?» Rebecca asks suspiciously.
She points to a slight bordeaux smudge, the same shade as Isabelle's lipstick, just below the boy's chin.
Ren pales and rubs the spot frantically with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
«It's Brianne Leviantis' doing, isn't it?» Rebecca asks, arching an eyebrow.
«Brianne?» Ren repeats, puzzled.
~But we never gave anyone at school a reason to think there's any connection between me and her. How did she figure it out?~
«There have been rumors for a week now that she's living at your place.
Apparently, someone saw her coming out of your house!»
~Damn it! I should have seen that coming...~
«Well, yeah...» Ren takes a moment before answering. «...she's my cousin.»
Rebecca processes that piece of information with a surprised grimace.
«Cousin... by blood?»
«Let's just say she's more of a cousin by marriage,» he replies vaguely, avoiding going into too much detail.
Markus Dulcar is the elder brother of Morgana Dulcar, one of Dariam Volkom's wives.
So even though Ren and Brianne are technically cousins, they share no blood relation.
«I guess that makes you happy, huh? Brianne's an extraordinarily sexy girl.
Since her first year here, all the guys at school have been relentlessly hitting on her, yet she's turned down every single advance.
And now, after just one week, she's living with you?» Rebecca says, her irritation growing. «Just out of curiosity, do you often see her in lingerie—or even naked?»
Ren flushes crimson.
«W-What kind of question is that?! And why do you even want to know?!» he stammers, clearly annoyed by the third degree about his relationship with Brianne.
«I was testing the waters...» Rebecca murmurs, looking away.
«Testing the waters... for what?»
«Forget it. You really are a doofus!» Rebecca grumbles.
Ren just replies with a displeased expression.
The kind of disrespect that, in the kingdom of Mildelar, would have gotten her executed if directed at the vampire prince.
But here in the human world, all he can do is shoot her a few angry, threatening glares.
Glares so clumsy that Rebecca bursts into laughter.
She bends over from laughing, but then a pained expression crosses her face.
She brings a hand to her thigh—under her skirt, a bandage is clearly visible.
Her calf is bandaged too.
But it's not just the bandages that catch Ren's eye.
Rebecca's thighs are quite slender—nothing like Isabelle and Brianne's thick ones.
But they're still firm and toned—the classic thighs of a slim but athletic girl.
At the sight of her smooth, well-shaped thighs, Ren jolts.
A gaze somewhere between lust and embarrassment, one Rebecca either doesn't notice or pretends not to.
«W-What happened to you...? It looks pretty bad,» Ren asks, quickly looking away to avoid being caught staring.
«Oh, no, it just looks worse than it really is.
Yesterday afternoon, I was jogging and fell into a ditch hidden by branches and leaves.
I got scraped up, that's all,» Rebecca replies with a smile.