As I hummed along happily that night, I wondered what she would think about the events that had transpired in the Empire. Our spies were among the best in the world, but even without them, the news was spreading surprisingly fast. That girl. How did she manage to woo Isis? I couldn't figure it out, but I was happy just to try. I've not had this much fun in a long, long while, I thought to myself as I inched ever closer to our glorious castle deep within the Abandoned Woods.

  However, on the way there, I encountered a Cyclops who had sughtered a pack of HellHounds and was now eating them. It fixed its rge, one-eyed gaze upon me, tightened its grip on its bloody axe, and roared threateningly. Every other monster had been careful to avoid me, but this Cyclops was different. You're not very smart, are you? I could kill and present its heart to her as a gift, but... She seems to not like monster blood, I remembered.

  "Look, child, if you truly love your life, you'll move out of my way," I spoke softly, but it seemed to understand my intent, as I could see the fear in its eye at that moment. Lowering its massive axe, it quickly made itself scarce, leaving behind the HellHound corpses it had been snacking on. How young, I thought to myself as I collected the HellHounds' blood with magic and drank it before continuing on my journey. After an uneventful, fifteen-minute walk, I stopped before its majesty...

  In all my years, it had never once failed to move me with deep feelings of awe, so I'd usually give myself a moment to appreciate its beauty and splendor, the Obsidian Hall, our greatest pride as Dhampir. Spreading my wings, I soared through the skies towards it, enjoying the cool breeze on my face along the way. When I finally arrived at the gate, the guards recognized me at a distance, bowed, and saluted me, saying,

  "Marquis Dartinius, the Queen awaits your report!" I acknowledged them with a nod and entered the castle, thinking, Now, where was that garden again? The Obsidian Hall was an architectural wonder built by the magic of our Queen, with everything from libraries, theatres, arenas, dungeons, and more. It almost felt like a byrinth sometimes, and it was not unusual to see entire sections of the castle rearranged on a whim. Luckily, the maids found and started leading me to her.

  I carefully observed them on the way there, seeing through the weak front they liked to present. Each one could probably defeat a small army by themselves, but a lesser, more inexperienced Dhampir would fail to see this. If he disrespected them, the Queen would deem him someone not worth her time and would treat him with absolute contempt, sometimes even killing him outright depending on his actions. Very few Dhampir know the truth about the Queen's servants, I thought to myself with a smile as we arrived at the garden. From there, I thanked the maids as I walked into the forest of colorful flowers.

  As I looked at the Roses, Lilies, and Orchids, I was happy just to be in the position I was, but I was also worried. I didn't want to say or do anything that would jeopardize my position or ruin my standing with her. I had to watch her moods and be careful with my words. It wasn't easy the first time, and it never got easier with time. In some ways, she's still a mystery to me...

  "Where are you going, Dartinius?" At once, I found myself seated on a red chair with a white table full of an assortment of dishes, mostly sweets before me.

  "L-dy Cassandra, I offer my deepest apologies for making you wait!" I said as I got down on one knee and bowed.

  "You may rise, Dartinius," She said in an intoxicatingly sweet voice. I looked up to see a gorgeous, almost doll-like face in its perfection. Her long silvery-white hair shone in the moonlight, and her crimson eyes seemed to see through everything, even my shallow thoughts and foolish emotions. To think I'd still freeze up like this after all this time...

  "Thank you, dy Cassandra," I said as I got back to my seat.

  "So? Tell us your report. What is it about this human you speak so fondly of?"

  "Lady Cassandra, I've never seen anything quite like it..." I carefully expined Daphne's incredible feats in the war as she listened to me with an unreadable expression on her face. When I had finished, she smiled and asked,

  "You think she has what it takes to become an Apostle?" Straight to the point!

  "Yes, Lady Cassandra. You guess correctly."

  "You're so easy to read, Dartinius," She remarked with a slightly bored expression on her face. I didn't know how to respond to that, and seeing that, she ughed and said, "But we do love watching you squirm." She observed my reactions with a gleeful look in her eyes. I knew where this was going, so I tried to change the topic by asking,

  "Lady Cassandra, may I ask what happened to Romanov?"

  "We sent him on an errand. He won't be coming back for a while now," She answered with the same, scary look in her eye. I tried to bring up another topic, but it was already too te. "Come," She ordered with a tone of finality, and I stood up immediately, walking up to her as I awaited the next order. "Kneel," She commanded and watched with an amused smile as I obeyed. "Lick my feet." She crossed her white, beautiful legs and presented her right foot to me with an impish smile on her face. She knew I hated every second of this but loved watching me swallow my pride each and every single time.

  Hesitantly opening my mouth, I started sucking her big toe before moving on to other areas. "You have an unusual sense of pride, Dartinius, one that we so love to trample," She said with an expression of pure bliss on her face. When I was done with her right, she presented her left foot to me and watched in pleasure as I began with it. I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! "We knew our lord already had his eyes on her for a while now, and Isis visited the other day to inform us about her exploits." What? "To think you came all this way just to please us!" She ughed it off like it was nothing, but I was seething with fury. I came all this way... just to do this?! It took all the self-control I could muster and more not to bite her at that moment, as an action like that could easily spell the end for me.

  Once done, I looked on expectantly for the reward that made all of this worth it, trying my best to hide all hints of negative emotions. She smiled at this and bit her dainty index finger. I watched as a trickle of blood escaped, almost drooling as she stretched forth her bleeding finger towards me. The Progenitor's blood! I thought to myself as I tched on to her finger and sucked up every precious drop.

  "This is for being one of our favorite toys," She spoke to me softly while rubbing my hair affectionately. Delicious! Simply delicious! I could never get used to it or get enough of it. It was sweeter than the blood of a monster and greatly exceeded even the quality of human blood. It was the greatest reward a Dhampir could ask for, which also served as a stat boost.

  "That's enough. You may leave now," She stated in a tone of absolute finality, so I arose and thanked her for ridiculing me, as was the custom, only to be then transported out of the castle by magic. Great. So, you kick me out as soon as you've had your fun, huh? I thought to myself while resisting the urge to sigh. At least, what happened back there was tame compared to what her maids must go through, I thought to myself while thanking my good fortune. And Romanov... must be going through a lot, were my thoughts as I flew back to Luxoria, the capital of the Kingdom, that night.