"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness to see you awake at last."
"..."
This time, Ashen did not rage. He opened his eyes and fixed the head maid with an unreadable gaze.
"Regina…"
"Yes, my lord… how may I serve you?"
"...If you had to save a human, no matter what, what would you do?" he asked, though he did not expect an answer. It sounded less like a question and more like a thought spoken aloud.
The maid did not question the purpose behind it. She merely tilted her head slightly, considering it with earnest care.
"My lord… to me, humans are fragile beings. If not claimed by illness or blade, they simply wither away in less than a century."
The words were harsh, yet her tone held no contempt. She spoke with certainty, as though stating an undeniable truth.
...Because, to her, it was.
"If I were to save one at all costs… the only solution I can think of is to turn them into a vampire. Newly born as they would be, they would at least resist the erosion of time."
"...A vampire." Ashen's eyes regained their luster.
'I suppose being human for so long blinded me to such a simple answer.'
The sages had probably assumed he wanted his consort to remain human, merely so he could keep drinking human blood.
"Thank you, Regina. When my consort arrives, bring her to me immediately."
The head maid's eyes widened slightly. It was the first time her lord had ever thanked her.
"Yes, my lord."
She quickly composed herself and bowed deeply before taking her leave.
***
"So… we failed, huh..." Seraphine's lips curved into a bitter smile as she was pulled from the dreamscape.
"I'm sorry..." Ashen's voice was thick with shame.
"Please don't be. You did everything you could... I saw it all."
There was no reproach in her voice. Only a gentle, soothing melody, as though the three times she had died had never truly mattered to her.
Ashen's mind replayed the last death over and over again. It was even more gruesome than the ones before it.
The spell had worked. But instead of Seraphine, only a zombie-like remnant of her image had returned. Even that had not lasted more than a few seconds before collapsing into the same fate.
"Look on the bright side. At least we got another chance since time rewound again."
Despite her reassurances, the failure still grated on him terribly.
"Seraphine... do you mind becoming a vampire?" he suddenly asked.
"Oh? Just like you?" Instead of recoiling from the idea of abandoning her humanity, Seraphine looked intrigued by the prospect of sharing his race.
"Uh... not exactly. Newborns are ruled by their instincts, so they can become aggressive and moody if they are not well fed."
"And...?" Seraphine did not see the problem. Nothing would change for her, since she knew Ashen's blood would always be there.
"...And they are subservient to the one who turns them. They feel compelled to obey, like a child obeying their parent." He had only just found the relevant information in the library, so he was fairly certain he knew what he was talking about.
Seraphine remained completely undeterred by the supposed drawback. "So I won't have to jokingly call you daddy now? Since it would technically be true? Hehe..."
Ashen face-palmed.
'What did I even expect from this vampire-loving woman...'
"Alright. Since you agree, let's get to it."
"Nice! So, how do we do it? Is it a special bite?" she asked eagerly.
"No."
"Then do you have to drain my blood first?" She struck her fist into her palm with a triumphant look, as though she had solved the mystery.
"Not that either..." Ashen rolled his eyes. "You just have to wait."
"Euuugh... that's boring."
"No way around it. To turn someone into a vampire, I need to cultivate a special drop of blood inside my body that you'll eventually consume."
"Ohhh. What's special about this blood exactly?"
"It's a compressed drop that will devour your blood and fuse with your marrow. After that, your marrow will start producing the same kind of blood vampires have, which will in turn change your body into an immortal one."
"Mm-hm. And how long will we need to wait for this drop?"
Ashen thought for a second, "It could be used the next day, but we'll wait as long as possible. The more condensed it becomes, the better the result."
Seraphine nodded twice. "You're the vampire between us, so I'll do as you say."
"Don't worry. This time, it'll definitely work."
***
After three months of waiting, the moment Seraphine had been eagerly waiting for had come.
Ashen pressed his lips to hers, passing her the precious drop of blood he had cultivated for months. As she swallowed it, her body began to change before his eyes.
For a moment she was corpse-hollow, skin sinking against bone, before the change reversed like tape rewinding. Except the tape kept rolling... past where she began. Her skin brightened, becoming almost luminous, and her curves became even more pronounced, while her eyes seemed to shine brightly for a moment.
Ashen could feel the overwhelming vitality rolling off of her in waves.
When she regained her clarity, the first thing she did was lunge at him in a hug. Her mouth found his skin almost instinctively but she didn't bite yet, merely nibbling at his neck.
Ashen was impressed by her restraint, but he gently caressed her head and softly said, "Drink. No need to hold back." And so she did; her fangs sinking into his flesh as she drank deeply from him.
She pressed her body like she wanted to fuse with him, while her newly grown fangs sucked persistently.
He let her take as much as needed.
'As long as you live, you can suck me dry, love.'
*
*
*
Ashen watched with a blank face as the so-called immortal body he had poured everything into slowly withered away.
'It doesn't make sense...'
'Why are you dying?'
'Why...?'
Only now, as he looked at the immense vitality he had spent three months cultivating being swallowed into nothingness, did he understand.
Her body had been tampered with to remain dead, no matter what.
"Ah–haah. AHHHHH—"
"..."
"...I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
Drip... drip...
"I'm... sorry."
A trembling hand touched his cheek and caressed it.
"S'not... your fault..."
Fwsoosh—
***
He blinked.
"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness to see you awake at last."
.
.
.
"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness to see you awake at last."
.
.
.
"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness to see you awake at last."
"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness..."
"My lord, it is to my utmost..."
"My lord..."
"..."
.
.
.
***
Blink—
"My lord, it is to my utmost happiness to see you awake at last."
"Ha—"
"Hahahahaha..."