Maids VS Apocalypse

"I think I found a solution."

The silver-haired dhampir was stiff for a good two seconds before she cocked her head to the side, her elegant brows drawn together as if asking a silent question.

"The blood."

A biting chill enveloped Mark not an instant after he uttered the curt response.

"Hear me out first! You can get angry afterward!"

Lara’s gaze retained its iciness and the lack of a response didn’t help. She seemed to be studying his expression, trying to peel the layers of his personality to arrive at his true intentions.

Just as frost began to form around Mark, the maid sighed softly and looked away. He took that as his sign to explain what he had in mind so he considered his words carefully and cleared his throat with a cough.

"To put it simply, I just have to be unconscious when you..."

He suddenly realized he had no idea how to call it without making the matter sound problematic.

"Master," still facing forward, Lara closed her eyes as she spoke, "are you suggesting that I take care of it while you’re asleep?"

"Well, not exactly..."

Mark had a feeling that he would be forced awake if she were to bite him while he slept. For his plan to work, he would have to be out cold with no chance of being woken up by the strong desire.

"I have a way to quickly expend all of my Mind Power."

Lara’s eyes widened slightly and she turned to look at him. She understood what he was getting at without him having to say it out loud.

Mark’s plan is simple: when the time comes, he would convert all of his MP to Gold and pass out. Lara’s bite only lasted for a few seconds so they didn’t have to worry about him recovering in the meantime.

"... I see..."

Lara shifted her gaze away from him and relaxed her expression. She seemed to be thinking the matter through so Mark kept his silence and awaited her verdict.

"Master," She spoke after a few seconds, and judging by her tone, she was unconvinced. "I believe you have misjudged the problem."

A lightning bolt struck Mark at that moment. His mind went into overdrive trying to figure out what mistake he had made yet he failed to do it in an acceptable time, prompting the maid to give him the answer.

"Even if you are unconscious, I would still have to use the fangs of this vessel."

"... Oh..."

A major oversight. His solution only covered his inability to control the strong desires induced by the bite, but the problem was the bite in itself. There was no point if she was still forced to sink her fangs into his neck every time. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Suddenly feeling defeated, Mark turned to stare blankly at the other side of the truck. His previous confidence vanished into thin air, and though he tried to think of another solution, he found himself unable to come up with anything.

He was left with no choice but to give up for the time being and that only made things worse for him. Lara’s words rang in his ears at that moment and reminded him of how much of a disappointment he was.

"Sorry..." he said."If I were a better master, I probably would’ve found a better solution by now."

"Indeed."

To think a single word could kick someone while he was down. Mark could only lean back and laugh weakly at his own pathetic self. He had nothing to say so his mouth should have remained shut for the remainder of the trip. That’s how it should have been.

"It’s just a bite, you know." He said. "There is no need to attach a deeper meaning to it."

A vampire’s bite can turn others into their kin, that’s why it is considered as a form of mating. Dhampirs are unable to do the same so one could argue that it was entirely different.

In the first place, the craving experienced by the maid belonged to the vessel, not the entity residing in it. If the two really are separate then she didn’t have to put too much emphasis on guarding its chastity.

’Now that I think about it...’ Mark noticed an important point he failed to consider before. ’How long will the contract last?’

He never specified it in the game so it should be indefinite, but he knew that the system did make some changes so the concept would work in reality.

Lara, or the entity he’s contracted to, made it sound like the summon wasn’t just a one-off for her, almost as if this was just another job she had to complete before moving on to the next one.

If that was the case, she had no reason to care for the vessel, seeing as it was nothing more than a shell that would be discarded once her job was done.

"Master, are you sure it is nothing but a bit?" The maid spoke after a brief silence. "Because your reaction that time said otherwise."

Her voice was even, which left Mark a little bewildered. He found it difficult to believe she wasn’t angered by what he said.

"... you’re right... I guess it’s not just a bite..."

Suddenly Mark felt like he was a scumbag trying to render something important into nothing more than a physical act. No matter the argument, at the end of the day it was up to the maid to decide how much importance she would like to attach to the action.

’When you put it like that, it sure does sound like...’

Mark took in the profile of his maid and tried to decipher her expression. He failed miserably, of course, even though he didn’t need any confirmation to know she was mad.

’Great... I just had to ruin things again...’

All he wanted was to overcome the hurdle separating them yet he only made it bigger. Mark began to suspect that there was no way for him to escape being hated as long as the dhampir was forced to sink her fangs into him.

’Not just a bite, huh...’

The memory of that night surfaced in his mind, bringing with it all the sensations he had experienced. It was still vivid even after two days. He had lost all reason at the time and allowed his desires to control him, but that wouldn’t have happened if he never had desires to begin with.

"Maybe... maybe I do want you to bite me..."

The words streamed out of his mouth without his notice. When the realization hit him, his eyes shot open and his head whipped to the left.

It should have been obvious from the very start; he was a healthy young man and she was a gorgeous young woman. It goes without saying that he would want to do those things with her.

When he voiced that desire, however, it suddenly became more real, as if a translucent veil had been lifted to reveal the truth that was barely concealed behind it.

Being made to face that desire without a warning, Lara could only stare at the young man, her eyes wide with shock. A crimson color spread from her cheeks and reached all the way to her ears. In just a few seconds, it took over her face.

Her lips parted as if she had something to say, but after a long moment of silence, she seemed to give up. All she could do was turn away and lower her head. Mark could have sworn that he saw a trail of steam slowly rising from it, but that might have been the heat playing with his head as evidenced by the burning sensation taking over his face.

"Lara, I-"

He grasped at straws but failed to find an excuse. It felt like he was repeatedly stabbing a shovel into the soil, but before he could dig himself a deeper hole, he sensed that the truck was slowing down to a stop.

"Hey," turning around in the driver’s seat, Franco looked at him with tired eyes. "It’s time to switch."