Julia: Ah, home sweet home!
I stretch my arms when we get off the carriage, we arrived at the manor early in the morning. I am never riding in that thing again
Cressida: Don’t rex just yet, there’s work to be done! I bet the letters are multiplying as we speak.
Julia: What? *weary sigh* I can take a bath first, right?
Cressida: Of course you can, but don’t take too long.
Helen accompanies me to the bath. She is rexing in the warm bath as she gets the day off unlike me. I quickly wash myself and head to my dy’s study. There are 3 huge sacks of letters on the floor and another one near my dy’s desk
Julia: Holy fuck!
My dy looks up and gres at me
Cressida: Mind your nguage, you carry the title of Countess now.
Ah yes, I am a noble now, definitely don’t feel like one though. I guess I will take one sack and start working on it…
Julia: S-sorry my dy
The letters are the same old, request for supplies, weapons, blood. Reports of casualties and losses, pretty depressing stuff. After hours and hours of gruelling work lunchtime finally rolls around
Julia: Lunch!
I say almost jumping up from my chair. My dy gnces at me for a split second before going back to work.
Julia: My dy, it's time for lunch
Cressida: Then have your meal. I’ve already had breakfast.
Julia: I know you only drink blood once a day…
I walk up next to her and lean against the desk
Julia: But that was before you and I were bonded
She turns and looks up into my eyes
Cressida: Julia–
There was irritation in her voice, so I keel down and interrupt her. I want her to just take a 5-minute break, she has been working non-stop since we arrived at the manor.
Julia: Please my dy? Just have a small drink. I’m sure you will be much more productive after having a meal
I caressed my neck, gesturing to her to drink from it. There was heavy silence lingering in the air, I won’t insist any more if she refuses again but… I would feel bad if I am eating three meals a day, and she only eats one. I won’t lie I also have another motive, whenever my dy drinks from me, the intimacy and closeness I feel is just so… heavenly! I think I might be addicted to that feeling
Cressida: Well… if it’s just a small drink, I suppose it’s alright.
I close my eyes, and she leans down towards my neck and bites me gently. While I have gotten familiar with the sharp stinging sensation of her canines, the pain is still just as intense as when she had bitten me the first time. My hands rested on her thighs and when her teeth pierced my skin my fingers tighten around her slender legs
The pain dulled as she continued to drink and after a short while the feeling of her warm lips left my neck, I want more. I don’t want this feeling to go away, but as I can’t force her to keep on drinking.
Wait, I am not forcing her to overfeed right? It's ok for vampires to drink blood three times a day right?
Julia: My dy, it's alright if vampires drink blood 3 times a day right? I hope it isn’t unhealthy, if it is, I won’t force you any more
Cressida: No, it’s perfectly normal. It actually revitalises me.
She says as she wipes her mouth. I give her a satisfied smile
Julia: Good, then I hope you will drink from me three times a day from now on… I…
I blush a little as I say the next part, I lower my voice so that no one else might hear me
Julia: I like it when you drink from me, my dy
I quickly turn around and walk away before she can respond…AHHHH That was so embarrassing! I can’t believe I said that. That was definitely NOT smooth! Where is my game!?..... Let’s be real, I never had any game, that's why I have been single since my st retionship ended.
-----------
I let out a heavy exhausted sigh and put my head down on the desk and look at my dy. I just stare at her while she works. How is she not tired? The candles have been lit as the sun was starting to set, giving the room a soft warm glow. I really went and married a workaholic, huh?
Her eyes move to me
Cressida: Is something wrong?
Julia: N-No, nothing wrong my dy
I continue to observe her, and she puts her documents aside and props her chin on her hand. Her eyes meet mine once more, carrying a gentle and warm glow, almost as if she pities me.
Cressida: You’re clearly tired. Perhaps it’s time we wrap things up for today.
She starts gathering all the documents spread out on her rge table and puts them in a drawer. Ughhhhhh! I don’t want to end the day just yet, I want to spend more time with her without work, I want to talk to her, get to know her… but how… Wait, I have the perfect idea!
Julia: My dy, will you join me for a walk, I have something to show you
She furrows her brow
Cressida: Sure…
Julia: Great! Please wait for me in the gardens.
I quickly grab the handheld radios I summoned and head to the gardens. My dy is observing some of the flowers that seemed to have wilted and dried out
Julia: Thanks for waiting. Here
I hand her one of the radios. She inspects the thing from all sides
Cressida: And what’s this supposed to be? Another weapon?
I shake my head
Julia: It's a ‘radio’, using this we can communicate wirelessly over a distance. You just push this button here to talk, but only press it when you want actually want to talk
She copies my action and pushes the button on the side
Cressida: Like this?
Julia: Exactly like that, release the button when you are done talking
Cressida: Simple enough I guess
I give her a smile
Julia: Let me give you a demonstration now.
I walk to the other extreme end of the rge garden near the property wall. I push the button on the radio
Julia: Can you hear me, my dy?
A second ter my radio comes to life with her voice, she speaks putting a smile on my face. A quick learner
Cressida: You are aware that I’m a vampire, aren’t you?
The voice is very clear in spite of it being a bit windy. She points the antenna in my direction while talking, it's pretty cute watching her use a radio.
Julia: Yes…
Cressida: You do realise I can hear you quite well without this… magical contraption?
Oh, right, vampire super senses, I have to admit, her hearing is pretty good if she can still listen to me from this distance. But the radio can still be useful for them
Julia: It’s not a magical contraption! It's a radio, a pretty useful device. Tell me whats the limit of your hearing?
Cressida: I suppose if you were to walk another twenty steps, I might struggle to hear you.
Julia: Aha, With this thing you can talk up to one or two miles!
Cressida: What are “miles”?
I start walking around the edge of the garden as I talk, my free hand brushing the pnts and flowers
Julia: Um, I think the nearest town that we went to is around 10 miles
Cressida: That's…
She pauses for a moment
Cressida: Comeback here
I have left her speechless again! I slowly walk back to her with a smirk
Julia: So my dy, do you like it?
I ask her through the radio
Cressida: Tell me, is your pace deliberate, or are you simply enjoying the view?
Julia: That doesn’t answer my question
Cressida: Much to my surprise, I actually like it. It can be useful
Julia: Just you wait, I will summon even more impressive gadgets
I finally reach her, she takes my hand and pulls me further away from the manor. Her voice is almost a whisper when she talks
Cressida: I need you to train The Bckwing troop on this ‘radio’ contraption. They’ve all arrived here, in the manor, during our time in the capital for the bonding ceremony
My fingers start to py with the red ribbon when she mentions the bonding ceremony
Julia: Sure, no problem. Though enough work talk, I want to know more about you
She turns to me and raises her eyebrow
Cressida: Me?
Julia: Yes you. Since we are bonded, I thought it would be good for us to know more about each other
Cressida: Hm
She turns away and looks at the flowers at her side again, there were a few bees around collecting nectar
Julia: How about I go first? You already know my name, so let's start where I am from. I was born in a country called the “United States of America”, it's a federation. I am an only child. My dad died when I was very young, and my mom had to take care of me while juggling a high stress job. I don’t have many hobbies to be honest, I sometimes read novels, or just binge Netflix in my free time. And yeah, I was in the Air Force pretty much all my working life.
Cressida: Binge Netflix?
Julia: Ah, right… Have you seen a py? It’s where people act–
Cressida: I know what a py is Julia
Julia: Well in my world ‘Netflix’ is a pce where anyone can watch pys
That's too much of an oversimplification, but I can’t really expin to her about cameras, videos, internet and smartphones right now
Cressida: Anyone? Your home sounds rather interesting
Julia: Now your turn!
She looks forward as she speaks
Cressida: Well, I am Cressida Cowper, your bonded, as well as the Countess of Cowper County, one of the more prosperous regions of the Aqualunan Kingdom. I… My parents…
Her eyes seem overwhelmed by a deep sadness, but she maintains her composure.
Cressida: Forgive me, but I’d rather not speak of my parents. However, I’d be happy to share my hobbies. Before the war, I loved pying the piano, socialising, reading, and strolling through gardens such as this.
She puts a finger on her chin, as she ponders for a moment
Cressida: I believe you’re familiar with the nature of my work… What more?
Julia: Can you tell me about your dreams?
Cressida: Hm…
There is silence as she thinks about it for a good amount of time. The only sound in the garden is the sound of our footsteps, the birds and the occasional honeybee
Cressida: I think my greatest dream is to see my family name enshrined in the books of history. When people hear ‘Cowper County,’ I want them to think of the most prosperous pce in the world, surpassing even the Royal Capital. That way, the Cowper name will endure, and our borders will remain unchallenged.
Her goals seem noble, but her reasons are a bit selfish. Although I guess I would be the same in her shoes. In fact, I can bet she is a better person than any other noble in this kingdom
Cressida: I’ve shared mine, what’s your dream?
I let out a small chuckle and wrap my arm around hers. She doesn’t pull away. Yes!
Julia: I have many dreams, and they are nearly not as grand as yours.
Cressida: Oh? Do tell
Julia: Well I have already achieved one of them, I always wanted to marry– or bond in this case, with a beautiful kind girl. Now the only ones remaining are – Travel the world and lead a happy life
Cressida: I would call those dreams grand in their own right.
Julia: I guess they can be, but compared to yours they aren’t as ambitious
Well now that I said it out loud, aren’t my dreams much more selfish compared to hers?..... Ah who cares? Isn’t this moment nice? Just me and my bonded, taking a stroll through her (our?) garden.
Julia: Thank you my dy…
She looks at me curiously
Cressida: What for?
Julia: For making one of dreams come true
Her eyes dart away, nding on the flowers like nothing happened. Was I too forward again? As we continue our walk something suddenly clicks in my mind
Julia: Wait… Now that we are bonded does this mean I am Julia Cowper now?
She looks at me in mild confusion and surprise
Cressida: I thought it would have been obvious. You’ve been officially registered as Julia Cowper, I trust you don’t mind?
Ah Julia Cowper… has a nice ring to it.
Julia: I love it!
I give her a smile and hug her arm a little tighter, we continue walking in comfortable silence for a few more minute until my stomach grumbles
Cressida: Well, I think that’s our cue to go inside!
Julia: Yes…
God, why is my stomach so loud sometimes? As we head in my dy turns to me
Cressida: By the way, I need you to summon more of those 'guns'. The Bckwing Troop and some of the manor guards will be training soldiers to use them. I think 100 should suffice for now.
Julia: Your wish is my command. Will you be drinking from me as well now?
Cressida: Not now… Maybe after you’ve finished your dinner, you could come to my chambers.
Wait… WAIT! Was that a blush!? Did I see her blush just now? Before I could take a second look to confirm she is already on her way to her room.
-------------
I went to the mess hall where all the staff eat their meals, hoping to eat with Helen or Lilith but as soon as I entered the whole atmosphere of the room changed. Everyone got really quiet, as if someone would kill them if they made a sound. I could feel their eyes on me, they never looked directly but instead gave me quick gnces
What happened?... Oh…. Ohhhh. I get it now. My dy and Helen mentioned I was the Countess now as well. That's probably why they are acting so… weird
A maid walks up to me and bow slightly
Maid: Shall I serve your meal in the dining hall my dy?
Wait, is she calling me “my dy”... ME? That's too weird! The only person anyone should call that is in her room upstairs
Julia: N-no. I was here to eat with Helen. Also, please just call me Julia like before
Maid: But–
I see Helen waving to me behind the maid, I pat her shoulder
Julia: Don’t worry.
I walk around the maid and join Helen on her table who was about to start eating dinner.
Julia: I didn’t expect everyone to get so stiff around here
Helen: Well you are a Countess now, Julia.
Julia: I still don’t like it, especially when that maid called me “my dy”
Helen: That’s just the proper way to address you. In fact, if my dy— I mean, Lady Cressida, not you, were to know that I referred to you by your name instead of the proper title, she would probably reprimand me for my ck of manners.
Julia: If that ever happens you come to me, I’ll expin to her!
She chuckles and starts eating the grapes in her pte
---------
*knock* *knock* *knock*
Cressida: Come in
I enter her room while hugging my pillow. My dy seems to be inspecting something at her vanity table. Her eyes find me through the mirror before she turns around. She looks at the pillow I am hugging in confusion
Cressida: Ciming my room as your own now, are we?
Julia: No! I just… I… Do you remember when you told me to show more affection to make this bond look real? Well I thought we should sleep in the same room, I mean it seems pretty affectionate when two people sleep in the same room… Or wait, do bonded couples not do that here?
Cressida: They do…
She pauses, I look away when I feel my cheeks getting hot. This is so embarrassing! Should I have asked her this? Is this too soon? Am I going too fast?
Cressida: Is the act really necessary when it’s just us and the servants?
I look to the ground, not really able to think of a good counter argument. Ah hell, I really made her uncomfortable, didn’t I?
Julia: Still…
I reply in a low defeated voice. She walks closer to me and gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I look up to her face as she gives me a warm smile
Cressida: Even servants can gossip, I suppose, so yes, you are more than welcome to stay.
Ahhhh! She is so nice.
Julia: So…
I pull the colr of my nightgown down, giving her easy access to my neck. She steps closer and takes the pillow from my hand, throwing it on her bed. I stay silent as her arms warp around me tightly, her embrace is warm and comforting. Was she this warm at lunch too? My heart slowly picks up pace as I don’t feel any pain… Is she just hugging me?
I wrap my arms around her tightly in response, and not a moment ter do I feel the sharp pain from her teeth. Her tight grip on my head and back prevents me from jerking back. My nails dig into her back at the initial jolt of pain, but that starts to dull as she keeps drinking from me for a long time. Even though the bite hurts like hell I will still allow her to drink whenever she wants… It makes me feel weirdly close to her
When she finally releases me I feel a bit dizzy, but thankfully she supports me and prevents me from falling.
Cressida: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take so much. Are you feeling alright?
Her eyes look at me in worry
Julia: Yes… I just need to sit.
She helps me to the bed. The dizziness only sts for a few dozen seconds though.
Julia: Ok, I feel fine now. And don’t worry about me my dy, it’s my duty to feed you!
She looks away, not able to meet my eyes. I can’t make out what she is thinking, I don’t know if she is embarrassed or just doesn’t care. Or maybe she is afraid… Afraid that she will not be able to return my affections… God that would be bad, what if this retionship remains one-sided love from my side for the rest of our lives…
Cressida: I think we should sleep now. It’s been a long day, and there will be plenty to do tomorrow
Julia: Y-yes, my dy…
If these stars or whatever the people here worship, really do listen to us humans, I pray that they somehow bring us closer someday…
----------------
Waking up next to my dy was heavenly! It was a pretty good start to the day. Right now, I found myself teaching Lilith how to use radios.
Lilith: You know, Julia, you two are remarkably quiet.
I look at her in confusion
Julia: What?
Lilith: Your night-time activities with Lady Cressida are remarkably quiet.
My face instantly gets red and hot. Is she listening to us in our bedroom
Julia: Our “night time actives” are none of your concern please stop spying on us
Lilith: I wouldn’t call it spying, more like… attentive listening.
Julia: That's what spying is!
Lilith: By the way, you and the Countess have done it, right?
She winks. God will everyone pry about my private life here?
Julia: As I said before, our intimate life isn’t for you to know!
I will do it when my dy wants to, not a moment before! I hope nobody else asks me this, any answer I give would be super weird
Julia: Now do you remember everything I taught you about this radio?
Lilith: Not quite. I still don’t get what “frequencies” are, or what these “batteries” exactly do.
Julia: But you do know how to talk right.
She pushes the button on the radio and mine buzzes to life with her voice
Lilith: Yes, my dy
She has a mischievous smirk as she says that. I sp her arm gently
Julia: Then start walking.
I say getting irritated
Lilith: Your wish is my command, Lady Julia Cowper
I blush when she says that. She giggles seeing my reaction, but before I can say anything she starts walking away into the forest. This was an experiment to measure what the actual real life range of this radio was. There was no mention of the range anywhere in its manual
My radio buzzed to life when she was some distance away.
Lilith: Can you hear me?
She says while waving at me
Julia: Yes I can, now remember to count your steps accurately ok?
I had put a small step counter on the waist of her pants, but I don’t know how accurate that thing is.
Lilith: Yes, Julia
She starts walking away from the manor. We need to keep talking to know exactly where the limit is
Lilith: When you first told me this device runs on the same energy as lightning, I thought it was going to be another one of your impressive weapons that could incinerate our enemies with nature’s fury.
Julia: *chuckles* I doubt that would be practical since lighting can fall on you as well.
Lilith: We never know what to expect with your strange contraptions
Julia This thing runs on wayyy too small of a voltage to do any harm.
Lilith: Once again, I haven’t the faintest idea what you're on about.
Julia: Well let me first expin to you ‘batteries’. Batteries store energy. More specifically they store electricity, or maybe you can think of it as a safe form of lighting, at least the smaller ones are safe. But they only store a limited amount of this, so when it runs out, the radio will stop working
Lilith: See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it? Last time you went off on a ramble about alchemy
Julia: It’s chemistry. And yeah you are right. I shouldn’t have gone in such depth. Fun fact, the JLTV, the big armoured carriage that we rode to town in before also uses these batteries
Lilith: It does? But this ‘radio’ is so quiet, nothing like that deafening noise the carriage makes!
Julia: Well, the JLTV is a hybrid, it can run on either batteries which are probably as quiet as walking or diesel, which makes that deafening noise
Julia: Since you mentioned alchemy, it reminds me of some things I have been meaning to ask.
Lilith: Feel free to ask, I’m happy to help satisfy your curiosity.
Julia: What is ‘mana’ and how rare are magicians? I know magicians are rare, but don't exactly know how rare.
Lilith: The first part’s a tough one for me to expin, especially since I’m no magician. As a child, my mother used to tell me—mana is an energy that is everywhere, inside all living things, even in the air and soil. She said magicians were simply those who could shape it to their needs.
Julia: I see, so does that mean anyone can become a magician?
Lilith: I wish! She always said magicians are blessed by the stars to use mana. But honestly, take it with a pinch of salt, my mother was a bcksmith, not an expert in all this magical stuff.
Julia: And how rare are magicians?
Lilith: About one in a thousand. You’re more likely to find a bronze coin in the street than stumble across a magician. And your kind? Even rarer.
Julia: What do you mean?
Lilith: Wait, nobody told you?
She seems genuinely surprised
Julia: Told me what?
Lilith: There are five types of mages: fire, water, earth, wind, and ‘other’. You’re one of the ‘other’ kind. Those mages have all sorts of strange powers. Some can enchant weapons, others can control pnts or even command wild animals. Their skills are too varied to fit into one category. But not all abilities are useful. There was that one poor mage whose only talent was keeping pests away from crops. Not the most gmorous, is it?
Julia: Isn’t that useful though?
Lilith: It might’ve been useful... if the mage didn’t have to cast his magic on each individual crop.
That sounds tiring. I am gd I got this nice summoning ability
Lilith: By the stars, this device can reach a lot further than I thought
That brings a smile to my face. I hope this means this radio can be helpful to them
Julia: If you say “please” I will summon more for your team
Lilith: Nice try! It's your job to summon these items for us. And I’m your big sister now, so I can just order you around.
I chuckle, she is prideful. Why did she even start calling me her sister? Whatever the reason, I like it
Julia: I have a few more questions about vampires and theocracy
Lilith: Ah, now we’re talking! This is my area of expertise, so go ahead and ask me anything you want!
Julia: Vampires are stronger and faster than humans right? Then how are we slowly losing the war against Luxaria Theocracy?
There is a long silence
Julia: Hey Lilith are you there?
Lilith: It’s complicated, but I’d say there are three main reasons. First, they’ve got an abundance of silver weapons. I hope you know that silver is our greatest weakness.
Lilith: Second, their centralized structure. The Luxaria Theocracy is far more unified and centralized than Aqualuna, which lets them consolidate resources and invest heavily in their military. That’s likely why they have so many silver weapons. They also field a much rger army than us, even with a smaller popution.
Hm. Interesting… but still both of these factors can’t be responsible for our losses on the frontlines
Lilith: The third, and perhaps the most significant, is their battle priests.
Julia: Battle what?
Lilith: Battle priests, special kind of soldiers armed with a powerful staff that can stun only vampires. They wield some kind of light magic that temporarily blinds and deafens us, taking away all our senses except touch. And as if that weren’t enough, just being near those staves weakens our abilities significantly, we’re still stronger than humans, of course, but nowhere near our usual strength.
Battle priests? It sounds… pretty contradictory
Lilith: And if it wasn’t obvious, we’re the ones who call them 'battle priests.' They’ve got all sorts of pompous titles for themselves, 'The Enlightened Ones,' 'Guardians of the Light,' or whatever else inftes their egos.
Julia: Wait, so their attacks only affect vampires and not their own soldiers?
Lilith: Correct.
This is getting interesting
Julia: I thought magicians were rare, you make it seem like battle priests are a very common threat.
Lilith: They’re not magicians. It’s the staff that does all the work, they just swing it around.
Julia: What about humans, why don’t we send them to attack since this staff only seems to affect vampires
Lilith: Well, those staffs even strip the bonded human of their enhanced healing ability. And, let’s face it, Aqualuna has never had a rge human presence in its army. Humans are our primary source of sustenance. No one in their right mind would send them to the frontlines. Besides, the Theocracy’s military is well-trained and better equipped. If we sent untrained humans, they’d be crushed in no time.
Hmm makes sense why they are in such a bind. I never really got the chance to ask anyone these questions since they might think I am a spy or something, and after having Aurel point her bdes to my throat I was too afraid. It’s so nice finally getting to know the full picture. I had read about these “battle priests” in many letters that were sent to my dy, but I could never understand how powerful or what they actually were…
Julia: Thanks for telling me all of that.
Lilith: No worries. Though, I have to say, it’s surprising no one has taken the time to expin all of this to you earlier, considering how vital your skill is.
Well I never really asked anyone… sooo…
Julia: I am guessing the only way to deal with these battle priests is from a range, but your range attack for some reason don’t work
Lilith: Precisely. Their armour is too strong for our arrows, and their archers are skilled enough to decimate ours in no time. *Static noise* got numbers and training on their side.
Julia: Hey Lilith, I think we might lose connection soon, walk back if you don’t hear my voice clearly ok?
Lilith: Ok
Holy shit, almost all the cards are stacked against us. I should try and summon longer range weapons. I think we need mortars and artillery. And tanks as well… hell we need all the heavy armour and firepower we can have to turn the tide quickly… It breaks my heart thinking that there are people losing their loved ones by the hands of these Theocracy monsters, I need to speed things up somehow…
Lilith and I changed the topic to a lighter one. One where she compins about her team and I compin about getting only a single day off every month. Time goes by while we talk, this is nice, almost like a day off!
Lilith: How is *static noise*
Julia: Lilith? Are you there? I can’t hear you
A few seconds ter my radio buzzes again with her voice
Lilith: Looks like we’ve hit the farthest it can go.
Julia: Ok then tell me how many steps you have taken and how many are showing on that device on your waist
Lilith: I counted 4152 steps while the device shows 3996
The step counter is not off by much, not bad. I will use the lower estimate. So the radio has…… 2 miles of range approximately. It might be more in the grassnds in the north where the frontlines are. I also read about different antennas having different ranges, might have to summon and try those as well
Lilith: Quite impressive! This could allow us to unch more coordinated attacks on the rgest enemy camps
Julia: Sure, but… Just be safe ok?
I think I finally know what my mom felt when I joined the air force and got deployed.
Lilith: *chuckling* I’ll be safe, Julia. You know I always return for your blood.
I chuckle, but it does make me wonder… is she joking or is she really that addicted to my blood?
Julia: Now comeback for dinner, I will let you drink some from me
Lilith: I’ll be back before you even miss me.
I shake my head, this girl… There was silence for a few minutes. She will probably be back much sooner, since I told her to walk at a normal human pace while walking away. The step counter was acting weird when Lilith used her vampire speed.
Julia: Hey, Lilith.
Lilith: Yes?
Julia: Are you bonded?
Lilith: Not yet. Haven’t met anyone who has caught my interest like that. Why do you ask?
Julia: I just had a few questions… Never mind…
Lilith: Please, ask away. This forest isn’t exactly brimming with excitement.
Julia: This bonding thing… is pretty weird to me. My country never had vampires so we only married other humans. Marriages were a symbol of commitment and love. But bonding feels more…
I don’t exactly know the right word to describe it
Lilith: Pragmatic? Yes, I see what you mean. Bonding is primarily about survival—keeping vampires fed. It’s not necessarily a symbol of romantic love, like marriages are in other cultures. In fact, many bonds are formed between friends simply because it’s practical and convenient.
Julia: Really? So they never fall in love?
Lilith: Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.
Oh… so there is a chance that my retionship with my dy may never change
Julia: Also what's with this taboo of saying “I love you” to your bonded? Many people looked at me weirdly when I said it to my dy?
Lilith: Oh, that’s just among the nobles. It’s an old tradition, dating back to before bonding was even a thing. Back then, human lives were much, much shorter than ours, vampires were practically immortal. When a vampire fell in love with a human, it was inevitable their heart would break when their partner passed away. Some even ended their own lives out of grief. So, to prevent vampires from getting too attached, society started discouraging those deep emotional bonds. Making decrations of love taboo was just one way to do that.
Julia: That's pretty sad
Lilith: Yes, quite heart wrenching... Ages ago, there was even a fine for saying it in public. Most people have moved past that nonsense, but the nobles? They hold onto it like it’s some badge of honour.
Holy hell that's even sadder! I hope my dy is different from those idiotic old-fashioned nobles. I want to hear her say that she loves me, my heart already flutters imagining her saying those magical words.
Lilith: Almost there, I can see the manor ahead!
God, vampires are fast! Moments ter I see her in the distance heading towards me at an inhumane speed
Lilith: *huff* That was exhausting but *huff* worth it.
She stops near me, out of breath and exhausted
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I enter my dy’s room ready to give her blood and then end the day. She is sitting at the vanity table inspecting something in her hand. I walk closer to get a good look, it seems to be a very thick lens about the size of my palm. Weird, are they trying to invent a telescope or something?
Julia: What's that?
Cressida: Ah, Julia
She carefully puts the lens in a decorated wooden box with padding. The box itself looked very expensive as there were intricate carvings on it. My dy stands up and faces me.
Cressida: This
She picks up the wooden box
Cressida: Is a mana measuring lens. I pced an order for it after you summoned that massive armoured carriage.
Julia: Why?
Cressida: Do you recall fainting after summoning that small bck carriage—
Julia: The Mercedes
That poor car is just gathering dust at the side of the manor.
Cressida: Yes, that.
Julia: I do I took one step in its direction and fainted
Cressida: Well, you fainted because you exhausted all your mana. But what’s strange is that, just a few days ter, you managed to summon a carriage many times heavier than the bck one, without even fainting.
Julia: I think Aurel mentioned that the more magicians use their mana the more it increases. Isn’t it normal then, that mine increased after I summoned the Mercedes
Cressida: That’s true, though the increase isn’t usually so rapid. From what I’ve read, most mages show an increase of 1 to 4 percent after draining their mana completely, not two or three times the original amount. That’s why I want to observe how your mana increases.
She carefully picks up the lens, closes one of her eyes and looks at me through it.
Cressida: The mana around you seems substantial, but I have no reference to compare it to… This is my first time using one of these.
She puts the lens back in the box
Cressida: Regardless, tomorrow you’ll summon something big enough to drain all your mana, and then we’ll compare and see the extent of the increase.
She puts the box on the vanity table again starts to walk to the bed
Julia: Aren’t you forgetting something?
She turns around looking at me curiously
Cressida: What?
I pull the colr of my nightgown aside a bit seductively. Exposing my neck
Julia: Dinner?
Instead of her, I am the one who's blushing furiously. My skin suddenly gets searing hot, and I look away, too embarrassed to face her
Without saying another word she moves close to me and puts her hands on my shoulder. I look up into her green eyes, there is this hunger in them, if I didn’t know better I would have guessed that she was starving
Cressida: How is your blood so… alluring?
My breath hitches in my throat, is she… no, it’s just my blood she wants right now. Her grip on my shoulder isn’t strong like st night. It's so weak that I can easily back away if I want to. Maybe it's her way of making me feel safe, of telling me I can refuse her anytime I want to. But I am not going to refuse her, we are bonded, I want her to feel comfortable asking to drink from me anytime. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to say ‘no’ to her.
I feel her lean down to my neck slowly. It's so… Ugh is she teasing me? Her mouth hovers just above my skin, as her cool breath tickles my searing hot flesh. Why is acting so… hesitant? She’s usually the one to take charge and bite me without hesitation. Wait… Ah, yes, I never thought about it… maybe my approaches, flirting and this bond is making her feelings all fuzzy and complicated, after all it's her first time getting bonded too… In fact, I am the only one in love. For her this bond was purely pragmatic, me bringing feelings into this might be confusing to her…
Ah, just bite me! Frustrated by her hesitation I put my hand behind her neck and pull her towards me. As soon as I pull her, I finally feel the familiar blissful pain from her sharp teeth. God that hurts but also feels so comforting. If there was a way to extend this for hours instead of a few minutes I would definitely do it.
After a minute she pulls away, her hands still holding my shoulders, our eyes meet once more, and it feels like she is peering deep into my soul. I give her a soft smile, hoping to remove any doubts still lingering in her mind. The blood dripping from the corners of her mouth makes me giggle.
Julia: You always look so cute after you have fed on me
I carefully wipe the corners of her mouth with my sleeve, and she lets me. AHHH! She didn’t let me do this before, this is so romantic.
Cressida: Julia…
Her eyes carried a storm of emotions as she said that, each one serious and intense, filling me with worry.
Julia: Yes?
Before I could even react she had pulled away completely and hurried out of the room using her vampire speed. I ran towards the open door and looked around the hallway, but it was already empty
Julia: My dy?
I call but nobody responds. What happened? Things were going so nice… God, why am I such a fuck-up! I can’t even talk to my wife properly! Am I coming off too strong? Should I slow down?
I walk to the bed in defeat and y down. Why are retionships so complicated?
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*Next day*
Cressida: Now then, I want you to summon something rge enough to deplete all of your mana. Something useful would be preferable.
Aurel: And fear not, I’ll be here to catch you when you faint.
Aurel reassures me, but I was not really worried about that
Julia: Alright! I have just the thing in mind
I take a deep breath and prepare for the summoning, which means just imagining where I want the object to be summoned
I say the magical words (literally) and a JLTV with a mounted machine gun nds in front of us with a soft thud. I had summoned two JLTVs before this, although they didn’t have any mounted guns. The second JLTV I summoned was used to teach the guards how to drive, their horses were pretty slow compared to the armoured vehicle, that caused them to overexert their horses when I took my dy anywhere for a drive.
Hell I even started teaching my dy to drive, I never thought in my life I would ever get to see an elegantly dressed Countess drive a massive armoured car. It was pretty cute and funny as well. I couldn’t stop ughing the entire training session. But credit where it’s due, she’s an incredibly fast learner. She could drive much better than all the guards I trained with just 1/10th the amount of training.
Well good memories aside, I wanted to summon something even more useful, like a tank or a howitzer, but I don’t have mana to summon something as big as a tank. I had already tried it. Whenever I summon something too heavy the summoning just doesn’t happen. While I could probably summon a M777 howitzer, I have no clue how to operate such a big complicated piece of artillery, and by the time I do learn, the theocracy would have probably reached the gates of the manor
Aurel: Another one of those ‘JLTV’ carriages? And is that a gun on its roof?
I was starting to feel very tired, like I had just pulled an all-nighter. But I power through the fatigue
Julia: Not just any gun, it's a 50 caliber machine gun. Much, much more powerful than the weapons summoned before. If that things bullet hits someone's head, their head will likely explode
She looked at the gun with a hint of curiosity and surprise
Aurel: That sounds rather powerful. You'll have to show me a demonstration sometime.
Cressida: Your mana reserves aren’t depleted yet. Could you summon something else?
I turn to my dy looking at me through the thick lens. I bow slightly
Julia: Yes my dy.
I should stop bowing, right? She is my bonded after all
I turn to some empty space near the new JLTV. If I can’t have artillery then I will summon the next best thing. Mortar!
The bck metal mortar is summoned near the JLTV, just a few millimetres above the ground, it hits the ground with a metallic cnk
Cressida: That’s it? A bck pipe? I expected something more impressive.
I turn towards her about to expin what the tube was but maybe be she saw my tired eyes and heavy eyelids and decided now wasn’t the best time
Cressida: We will discuss it ter
She waived her hand in dismissal. She looked through the lens again
Cressida: Your mana is almost drained, Julia. Summon one more thing, and we’ll be finished for now.
God, even standing is hard right now… What do I summon? Flowers? Chocote? No, those aren’t useful. Ah, yes I remember. I wanted to try out a grenade uncher
I summon one right near the mortar and soon as it makes contact with the ground, a wave of exhaustion crashes over me. I can feel my eyes and mind shutting down, my body feels so heavy, yearning for a rest. I feel some strong arms catch me before I hit the ground…
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Authors note: I spent way too much time reading and watching videos on radios and their ranges for this chapter! And I know I dumped lots of info, but it makes sense storywise. Also, I will be starting my internship so expect the frequency of new chapters to drop significantly (Maybe one or two new chapters per month idk)
