I wondered what effect the ritual would have on me if it worked properly.
It was just my speculation, but I thought the side effects barely affected me because of the mistake they made.
Then again, it could also be due to the Legacy I possessed. According to Liliana, I was born with the legacy of a god who is either forgotten or dead, which made me quite popular in the supernatural world.
Damn, did I ever have any privacy? My entire existence seems to have been a public spectacle for the supernatural elite.
....
Anyways, back to the work at hand. I gazed at the nervous woman, the very reason for all my headaches, who was now just a few feet away.
"So, how have you been since the day you almost made me your slave?" I asked, my voice laced with a thick layer of sarcasm.
She flinched, her shoulders hunching inward as if to make herself smaller.
"A-Ah, I'm... Val. You see, I..." she stuttered, her words failing her.
She couldn't even manage a proper sentence.
This was annoying.
The powerful, arrogant princess I remembered was gone, replaced by this timid, frail creature.
I studied her more closely.
Her crimson hair, usually meticulously styled, was a tangled, unkempt mess.
Dark circles smudged the skin beneath her eyes, and her frame seemed thinner than I expected.
The vibrant fire I associated with her was reduced to a flickering candle.
"Hey," I asked, a sliver of genuine worry seeping into my voice.
"You're looking as if you haven't slept or eaten in a while."
Wait! Why am I worried? This is the woman who stalked me, tried to turn me into a vampire, and is now the reason for this whole mess.
My own feelings were a confusing tangle.
Then, like a bolt of lightning the answer came to me.
That ritual.
I thought it didn't affect me much this is already scary
Then I understood How much these women must be feeling because of their mistakes.
If Liliana felt that agonizing pleasure and pain from even the slightest separation, then what would Eleonor feel?
Decrease in energy?
Judging by her weak and disheveled appearance, I concluded that was the case.
I sighed, a long, weary exhalation that felt like a surrender.
"I don't care anymore. Come here, or we both will die." What merit would I have if I wasted time and died because of it? None at all.
"Huh? B-but I haven't showered! Wait!" she tried to escape, but I was faster.
I grabbed her hand and felt how thin it was, her skin unnaturally cold.
The feeling of her palm in mine was like holding a fragile bird.
I realized now the effect she was going through.
For Liliana, it was a mix of pain and pleasure until she fulfilled the ritual with me.
But for Eleonor, it must be related to her very life force.
Her health.
"Hey, tell me, are you thirsty for my blood?" I whispered, leaning in so only she could hear.
She shivered, her eyes widening, her gaze fixed on me with a ferocious, desperate hunger that I recognized all too well.
Yep. For a vampire like her, it's blood.
She needs my blood to consume, or her health will deteriorate more until she dies.
And her initial reluctance to get close must have been due to her pride in her weak condition, or her shame over the mistake she made which cost her an increase in rivals.
I made the conclusion.
"Don't hesitate anymore. Drink up. Then we can talk."
Eleonor's eyes widened at my words, a mix of surprise and pure desperation flickering across her face.
She hesitated for a moment, her gaze darting between me and the door, as if weighing her options.
But as the reality of her situation sank in—the profound weakness in her limbs,
the gnawing hunger in her belly, the way her vision swam—she seemed to deflate.
Her shoulders slumped, and she nodded slowly, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek.
"You're right," she whispered, her voice barely audible, a hoarse echo of her former self. "I... I can't keep being like this."
With a trembling hand, she reached out to me, her fingers brushing against my arm.
The contact sent a shiver down my spine, and I felt an inexplicable pull towards her, a magnetism I had felt with Liliana but amplified.
Eleonor's eyes locked onto mine, pupils dilating with a fierce, ravenous hunger.
"I'm... I'm so thirsty," she confessed, her voice thick with need. "For your blood."
The admission hung heavy in the air between us, charged with an electric, primal tension.
I looked into her hungry eyes, seeing the desperate need etched into every feature.
With a steady hand, I began to unbutton my shirt, one button at a time, a slow, deliberate act that felt both intimate and vulnerable.
Her gaze followed my movements, her breath hitching as more of my skin was exposed.
When I shrugged off the garment entirely, leaving myself bare before her, an audible gulp rumbled in her throat.
Slowly, deliberately, I turned my head to the side and tilted it down, presenting the vulnerable column of my neck to her.
The pulse point throbbed visibly beneath my skin, a siren song calling to the predator within her.
"Here you go," I murmured, my voice low and soothing. "Take what you need."
Eleonor's control lost at the sight of my exposed neck.
With an obsessed look, she lunged forward, her hands gripping my shoulders tightly as she buried her face against my throat.
I gasped as I felt the sharp prick of her fangs piercing my skin, a brief flare of pain quickly replaced by an intense, overwhelming rush of pleasure.
She began to suck greedily, her lips sealed around the wound as she drank deeply.
The sensation was unlike anything I had ever experienced—a mix of exquisite pain and overwhelming ecstasy that coursed through my veins like liquid fire.
My knees weakened, and I stumbled back until I was pinned against the wall, her body pressed firmly against mine, a desperate anchor.
Her hands roamed over my chest and abdomen, nails digging into my flesh as she clung to me.
The wet sounds of her feeding filled the room, punctuated by her soft moans and growls of satisfaction.
I could feel the strength draining from my body with each pull of her lips, but instead of frightening me, it only served to heighten my arousal.
Her hands cupped my face gently, thumbs brushing over my cheeks as she leaned in closer, a serene, almost peaceful expression on her face.
I could feel the warmth of her breath over my lips, and my heart skipped a beat unconsciously.
"Valerian. It's really you, right? Not some illusion like before?" she asked, her eyes filled with hope and a strange lucidity I hadn't seen before.
I nodded, a single, definitive gesture.
But
I regretted it the very next moment.
The brief moment of sanity shattered.
The meek and shy expression of hers instantly changed to a lovesick, crazed look, as if the last few minutes had never happened.
"Ah, ah, ah! Valerian! It's really you! you finally accepted me! Ah! I love, love, love, love you!" she uttered, her voice a desperate, maniacal chant.
She hugged me tighter than a bear would, a suffocating embrace of renewed strength.
Damn my bones, I grimaced as I felt a few of them breaking.
"Sniff, sniff."
Then my heart almost stopped as I felt her lost gaze as she sniffed my body, her nose tracing a path along my neck, over my chest, her senses taking in everything.
"Hey, darling, tell me where were you before coming here?" she asked, her voice dangerously sweet, the lost, distant expression returning to her face.
I gulped in instinctive fear. Yanderes are scary!
"Ah... you should know it already, right? I got married to five women, including you," I managed to say, knowing these words would blow her fuse. Let's get ready for impact.
A chilling silence filled the room. Her body stiffened. The happy expression on her face slowly evaporated, replaced by a vacant, horrified stare.
"Ah, yes. How could I forget that mistake? I can't forgive myself! How could I let my darling get married to someone else? Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable..."
she kept uttering the same words, a low, rhythmic chant of self-blame that was a thousand times more terrifying than any scream.
She began to rock us back and forth, her head against my chest, as if she were cradling a broken child.
Now what? She's blaming herself like crazy.
I was tired of her mood swings, but I knew I had to do something, or else we'd both die from the decreasing time.
Ah, since yanderes are essentially unstable women, I can't treat her roughly, which might backfire.
Alright, I got this.
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that," I said, my voice as calm as I could make it.
"Even if I am married to other women, I am still your husband as well."
I hoped this scumbag line would work here.
And as if Big G finally heard my prayer, Eleonor finally calmed down and looked at me with sparkling eyes, her head tilted to the side.
"Yes. Why didn't I realize it before? Yes!" I sighed in relief.
"I can just lock you up in here so you could stay with me forever! Yes, that's wonderful!" she concluded, a happy, beautiful smile blooming on her face, but mine was as dark as a black hole.
Girl, do you realize I could die if I don't find the others after I'm done with you?
But looking at the cute, charming smile of this particular redhead, I gave up hoping for understanding.
Alright! Yossha! Let's knock her unconscious after fulfilling my duty here.
I made this my last resort.
Yes by Becoming a scumbag.