“Won’t somebody please expin to me what’s happening?!” Esme excims, seemingly having reached the limits of her patience.

  “They’re vampires, Esme, and a group of them runs the library… I’m sorry, but I only found out about it recently myself,” Sincir expins, causing her gaze to snap in his direction before quickly returning to Collin once more, who clears his throat.

  “Let’s get to the point,” Collin says, “I trust our actions thus far have made plenty clear that, contrary to popur believe, we’re not monsters, but merely misunderstood…”

  Sincir snorts. “I’m not so sure about that.”

  Collin tightens his jaw. “We’ve lived here for centuries without harming the local popuce, other than the occasional murder to hide our identity from those who’d seek to destroy us; We built Inquiry, and we keep to yourselves, unless provoked. What else do you want from us?”

  Sincir hums and scratches his chin, as he faces Collin’s clear gray eyes directly. “You misunderstood me. You’re right in that by know I’ve realized you don’t pose much of a threat to Elderspire, so long as you’re left alone… But the fact you’re monsters from the perspective of a human is an undeniable reality, as it is the fact you cannot simply hide forever.”

  Collin narrows his eyes. “…What do you mean?”

  “I mean you’ll be found out eventually, and Elderspire will burn for it… With Victoria parading herself around, it might not even take that long.”

  Collin takes a deep breath, then shifts his eyes toward Noah, who is still leaning against the only exit.

  “…This might take a while, and we’ve confirmed he hasn’t come here for a fight. Take Gracelyn and leave, please. Her presence makes it hard for me to concentrate.”

  Gracelyn shakes his head, but she doesn’t wait for Noah to do anything, walking toward the door of her own accord… The look she throws Collin as she walks past carries unconcealed scorn within it.

  “I’m sorry; I guess it must be hard to see that which you could never touch…” she whispers to him sweetly, causing Collin’s expression to darken.

  “Noah, get her out, before I kill her,” he growls.

  Gracelyn ughs. “No need, I’ll see myself out.”

  Expression revealing nothing, Noah straightens himself as he steps aside and opens the door for Gracelyn to walk past.

  …Sincir has to admit, she has a nice ass.

  Once Gracelyn in through, Noah walks out as well, closing the door at his back after one st look over his shoulder.

  Once they’re gone, Collin releases a sigh. “I apologize for her behavior. She is the youngest of us, and becoming a vampire has made her believe herself invincible… I tend to be patient with the children, but in her case, perhaps I’ve allowed things to grow out of proportion. It is clear she doesn’t respect me.”

  Sincir chuckles. “Is that what it looks like? From where I’m sitting, it looked as though she was begging for a good spanking from you.”

  Collin blinks, then shakes his head. “I’ll rather not resort to violence, unless absolutely necessary.”

  …Wow, this level of denseness isn’t normal. No wonder Gracelyn looked so frustrated.

  Sincir gnces toward Esme, who seems to have finally calmed down somewhat, though the confused look on her face makes it obvious she also didn’t understand his comment.

  Ugh, these two are hopeless.

  “…Anyway, as I was saying, your current way of life is not exactly sustainable, is it?”

  Collin frowns, but he doesn’t deny it. “It is true we might have to leave this pce one day. But it is not like we have much of a choice… We need humans to survive, and to a certain extent, they’re right in being afraid of us.”

  Sincir crosses his hands over his p, then crosses his legs, as he smiles at Collin. “And what if there was a pce where you are accepted for what you are? A pce where you could walk under the moon, with your heads held high?”

  Collin narrows his eyes. “If such a pce existed, we wouldn’t bother hiding under the earth, of course.”

  “Well, it doesn’t yet. But I’ve been thinking it’d be nice to found a vilge or two somewhere… I’ve been told being a king is a rather nice feeling, and women flood to you. What do you say? You could become one of my right-handed men.”

  “…Was that a joke?”

  Sincir shakes his head. “Of course not. But I understand we’ve just met, and building trust takes time. How about this? I’ll solve one of your problems for you, and in return, you get in a good word about me to your master… After that, we’ll see where it goes.”

  Collin frowns. “I don’t mind conveying your words, doubtful as they may be, but I can’t imagine what you could help me with.”

  “Really…? Esme, come over here for a second.”

  Esme jumps, shifting her eyes from him to Collin and then back.

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “Come here, I said. What are you acting so scared for? He’s not gonna bite you.”

  Collin snorts, while Esme frowns.

  “W-what… Who is scared, I’m just shocked… I was working, and then Gracelyn dragged me here… You’re saying they’re all vampires? All of our nighttime workers?”

  “Hey, I was pretty shocked to, so don’t look at me like that. They’re the ones who lied to you-”

  “How stupid do you think I am, Sincir? They are not the only ones who lied to me, are they?”

  Sincir smiles apologetically toward Esme’s gre, and then, seeing as she isn’t going to come closer of her own accord, strengthens himself as he takes her cold, sweaty hand into his, squeezing it lightly.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmurs once her eyes finally meet his, “Not just for having lied to you, but for having put you in danger… I gave myself away before I realized the vampires lived here, and I could barely sleep st night in fear of what they might do to you for being my friend… But I couldn’t just storm the pce to save you, because it’d have made things worse.”

  Esme blushes. “I-I’m fine, and it’s not like it’s your fault our workpce turned out to be a nest of vampires.”

  Collin clears his throat, but Sincir ignores him as he smiles at Esme.

  “You’re a better friend than I deserve.”

  Her blush deepens. “Is that really all I am to you? A friend?”

  Sincir sighs. “Esme…”

  Oh Lords… Does she really think this is the appropriated time for revising the nature of their retionship?

  “Don’t Esme me. I can tell you want something from me, but I know your type.”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow. “My type?”

  “Yes. Your tongue is made of silver, and you use women to get what want, only to disappear as soon as things begin to grow any serious. The word marriage causes you to tremble in fear… There! You just did it!”

  Sincir averts his eyes from her accusatory gaze. “I’m sorry, but I thought we already went over this yesterday? I’m too young for a serious retionship…”

  “Is that so? Then whatever it is, I’m not doing it,” Esme says, snorting angrily as she pulls her hand from his and turns away.

  Sincir grimaces. It is clear what she’s trying to do here, but it’d be a problem if he looks weak in front of Collin, after all of that talk… Just looking at him know, it is clear the vampire is getting pissed watching what is obviously a lover’s quarrel.

  …And now that he thinks on it, was Collin the one Noah was warning him about, when he caught him and Esme pying? Is so, the vampire’s issues might be more serious than Varzath imagined.

  “…Are you done yet?”

  Sincir fshes the pissed-looking Collin a smile, before turning to Esme once more, who still has her back facing him. “Esme, love, don’t be like this. I promise I’ll make it up to you ter… We can spend the whole night doing it this time, and I’m make so you’ll never forget it. How does that sound?”

  “Not enough,” she retorts with a shrug, “Why are you offering me something it was probably already going to happen?”

  Shit, he has taught her too much… As usual, no good action goes unpunished.

  Sincir grimaces. “Fine, then tell me what you want.”

  Esme throws him a side-long gnce, eyes narrowed as she inspects his expression. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Sincir grimaces further. “What happened to our ages being too different, and our workpce being the same…?”

  “I’m retarded, so I couldn’t find a different way to tell you how I felt,” Esme says, her voice dry and dripping with self-deprecation.

  Sincir sighs. How is he suppose to refuse her, when she’s like this?

  “Esme, if you know what type of man I am, then you must know this won’t end well for you, even if I agree to make things official in between us. Look, I can help you find somebody who is going to love you-”

  “I don’t care,” Esme murmurs, averting her eyes from his once more as she does so, “Can’t you see it’s already too te? When I say you today, I thought my heart was going to explode from my chest… You sat next to me and I couldn’t breathe… Fuck the vampires, I thought I might really die when you grabbed my hand... Sincir, do you understand what I am trying to say, or do I have to spell it out to you?”

  ...Fuck. Still, he only has himself to bme; This is what happens when you py with fire too much.

  “Esme-”

  “I don’t care if you’re a burning furnace, and I’m attracted to you like a fucking moth… At this point, I’d rather be burned to cinders, rather than live my life without knowing what it’d have felt like.”

  Sincir groans. “…Monogamy?”

  Esme’s shoulders drop. “I won’t even try… I’m not stupid enough to believe I could bckmail you into marrying me. But… If you promise me I’ll be your girl from now on… Or at least one of them… Then I… I’ll do whatever you want.”

  Sincir shudders. Gncing at Collin, he realizes the vampire has an uncomfortable expression on his face, almost as though he is about to run from the room at any second.

  Ironic. All three of them want different things, and they all have the power to give what the other person wants... Fuck it, why not?

  “…Esme, you shouldn’t make promises you’re not prepared to fulfil,” Sincir murmurs, causing her shoulders to become stiff.

  “I’m not kidding!” she says, finally turning to him as she frowns, freckled face ruby red and brown eyes filled with unfallen tears. “I’m being serious, so please… Please don’t make fun of me.”

  “I wasn’t,” Sincir tells her, meeting her eyes directly and unblinkingly as he does so, “I just want you to understand what you’re getting yourself into.”

  “W-what?”

  Sincir sighs. “I know this is a bit much to take in, but the reason I’ve been working at the library for this past year and a half is that so I could gather information about Adall… You heard me earlier, right? I want to create my own kingdom, and vampires would make for a decent fighting force to start things with.”

  Esme blinks. “You were… You were really serious about that? About giving them a home?”

  Sincir shrugs. “Sure. I’ll admit the initial pn didn’t involve vampires, and I’ll need their full cooperation in order to make this work… But I’m willing to grant them full citizenship in exchange for their loyalty. It is a deal which benefits us both… Except I don’t have a way to gain their trust, just yet.”

  “I… I don’t understand where I fit in all of this,” Esme confesses.

  “You didn’t, until five minutes ago,” Sincir admits, gncing toward Collin and smiling as he does so.

  “…What?”

  Sincir grimaces, then rolls his eyes. “Esme, on one couch, we have a vampire twice as strong as the average rank A adventurer… A vampire who has problems with women. On the other, we have a pretty girl. I want the vampire to work for me, or at least with me, but he’s reticent… And since I know you won’t understand the obvious just from this, I’ll spell it out for you; You want to be my girl? Get your ass over there and convince him to work for me.”

  “You… You know I can hear you, right?”

  Sincir ignores Collin as he maintains his gaze firmly locked against Esme’s widened eyes.

  However, after several moments have gone by and she still hasn’t answered, he sighs and shakes his head. “That’s just how it is. Don’t worry, I understand… So, I’ll pretend none of this ever happened, and if you want, we can go back to being fuckbuddies and friends. I’ll find a different way to entice Collin, over there.”

  “Don’t patronize me, you bastard,” Esme murmurs, tightening her jaw as she does so, and then blushing slightly as she continues, “Is… Is building this kingdom of yours that important?”

  Sincir hesitates. In truth, building a kingdom is just the easiest, most straightforward way to amass a rge number of followers he could think of. He doesn’t know if it’ll evolve to become a Domain, or if it’ll help his people cross over to this side… But he needs to try something.

  “…It is. I’ll do it, or die trying, no in between.”

  Esme presses her lips together, then sighs. “…You’re a real bastard for making me do this, you know that?”

  Sincir smiles apologetically. “Sorry. Though, just for the record, I’m not forcing you to do anything.”

  Esme snorts derisively. “Right… A deal is a deal, I suppose. Just know that if you forget your part, I will murder you in your sleep.”

  Having said as much, Esme suddenly rises.

  For his credit, Collin doesn’t run away once Esme turns in his direction and begins to cross the small distance in between their couches, although the tension in his body, which grows with each step she takes forward, suggest that he might want to do just that.

  Esme is still wearing her brown librarian uniform, and she grabs the cloth of her shirt as she sits a meter or so away from Collin, though she stops there, face burning and eyes downcast.

  “I… Obviously, you heard us… Collin, right? I’m sorry you’re not good with women… I’m not good with men either. If I had never met Sincir…”

  Looking at the both of them staring at the ground, bodies tensed as a spring, Sincir almost ughs out loud… He wishes he had some snacks for this.

  “So,” Esme continues once Collin doesn’t say anything, “I want to help him, even if he’s a bastard, who made me go for a week without wearing panties…”

  Collin eyes widen slightly.

  “The week… It was supposed to end today. Want… Want to see it?”

  “It’s not free,” Sincir adds, causing both Collin and Esme to suddenly snaps their gazes in his direction, like scared cats, “But you don’t need to look so serious either, kid. Think of it as building trust… Or, in other words, she might not look like it, but Esme over there is a pervert. Keep your chill, and she’ll let you do a lot more than just look.”

  “Just so we’re clear, I’m not giving him my first time!” Esme interjects, causing Collin to widen his eyes again.

  “You… You two haven’t…?”

  Leaning against the couch’s backrest as he spreads his arms atop it, Sincir smiles at the both of them. “Esme thinks her first time should be something special, so we haven’t fucked yet... In fact, if you think you can convince her to give it you, go ahead. Just pretend I’m not here.”

  Esme grimaces. “You really are just pimping me out to some random guy we’ve just met.”

  “Again, not forcing either of you to do anything… Esme, how you convince him is up to you, and the price he sets is his own business.”

  Esme sighs. “He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?”

  “I’m starting to see that…” Collin murmurs perplexedly.

  “Well, you want to see it or not?”

  Collin swallows, maintain his gaze firmly on the ground as he murmurs, “I… You’re pretty, Miss Esme, but I can’t sell myself for something like this…”

  Sincir snorts. “Lords, nobody said anything about selling yourself. I’m not asking for your Soul, just a promise of friendship... What I’m trying to accomplish is going to benefit your people in the long run as well, but I can’t do it on my own.”

  Collin frowns, leg jumping up and down impenitently as he seems to go over their conversation in his head once more, most likely trying to decide if he’s full of shit or not.

  In truth, Sincir wouldn’t have offered Esme to just anyone like this. Collin is strong, and he seems intelligent… Furthermore, he is probably a good kid, or he’d have already used his strength to force himself on women. All in all, he reminds Sincir a bit of a male Esme, if she had five hundred years of repressed desires to work through, and a better straight face under pressure.

  “You… You’re not fucking with me, right?” Collin asks, suddenly looking up and meeting Sincir’s eyes as he does so.

  Of course, Sincir doesn’t run from his gaze. “Esme, take off your shoes,” he says, never averting his eyes from Collin’s.

  “Why my shoes…” she murmurs.

  The noise of her movements causes Collin to shudder; They must be much louder for him, but still, he doesn’t look in her direction, showcasing impressive control.

  “…I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” he murmurs.

  Sincir chuckles. “I know. Who said you’re the one she’s stripping for? If you’re not gonna do it, then so will I… Both Esme and me are reaching our limits.”

  “F-fuck…” Collin murmurs, pupils shaking and fangs having now extended enough to showcase his non-human nature at a first gnce. “Did you pn this, you bastard? Did you know I could smell her this whole time…?”

  “I guessed as much; But I wasn’t the one who dragged her here, remember? Me telling Esme not to wear panties happened before I knew there were vampires hanging around, and it was made for my own benefit… That being said, I can most certainly sympathize with your suffering. What about you, Esme? You’re so horny you’ve brought our friend Collin over here close to tears. Don’t you feel bad for him?”

  Esme sighs. Having taken off her shoes as instructed, she climbs on the couch as she leans closer to Collin, pressing a hand against his shoulder and causing the vampire to freeze under her touch.

  “…I promise I’ll be nice,” she murmurs, “So just ignore the idiot over there, okay? I know I said we’re not having sex… But I’m not cruel enough to leave you hanging, after this much teasing.”

  As Esme hands begins to walk down his arm, Collin swallows. “S-stop, you don’t know what-”

  “You’re a vampire, so you probably want to bite me, right? I’m not good at these things, but I can tell at least that much from looking at your expression.”

  Collin watches Esme’s hand fixedly until it finally reaches his own, clenched against his leg, and wraps itself around it.

  “…Rex,” Esme murmurs into his ears, “You can tell how horny I’m, don’t you? And look… My hands are sweaty, too…”

  Heh, he didn’t know vampires could have sweaty hands. Poor Collin, it must take a lot of effort to control himself to this extent. How does he normally eat, anyway? With such a dry personality, Sincir can’t imagine it is easy for him to sweet talk his way into a fresh neck…

  Suddenly, Collin rises from his seat; His movement is fast enough, that for Esme, it must’ve seem as though he teleported away from her, causing her to fall onto the pce he previously occupied in virtue the fact she was leaning against him.

  Breathing heavily, Collin stands near the door with a panicked look on his face, fangs exposed, and a visibly sweaty forehead as he gnces from Sincir to Esme and then back.

  “F-fine, you win, just make her stop,” he murmurs, voice pained.

  …Wow.

  “…I really did not mean for this to be such a painful experience for you. But at this point, I don’t think it’d be good for you if we stopped, Collin… Or for Esme. Look at her, she doesn’t have a lot of confidence as a woman to begin with, and now you’re treating her like this…”

  Collin groans. “Don’t make that my problem…!”

  Still, he does look at her again.

  Meeting his gaze as she straightens herself, Esme smiles warily. “That was pretty rude… But kind of impressive… And scary. Can all vampires move that fast?”

  “Of course not… I’m the second strongest…”

  Esme cocks her head. “Does that mean you could protect me, against all the others?”

  “If I tell them you’re mine, they wouldn’t dare touch you… What are you making me say!? You’re clearly his woman already, so why do you-?!”

  Esme points a finger at Collin, or, more specifically, his mid-section, and the obvious bulge of his member against his pants.

  “I won’t say I can smell you, but it does look pretty painful… Why don’t we help each other?”

  Seeing Collin’s mortified face, Sincir chuckles. “Look at him, Esme… I don’t know what sort of tragic past the poor guy has, but he’s worse than a scared cat when it comes to women. He just doesn’t believe you’re going to py it nice.”

  Esme frowns… Then immediately falls as she tries to rise and hooks her foot on the hem of her shirt, heading down head first.

  Collin arrives at the same time as Sincir’s wind spell, both of which stop Esme from cracking her skull… But not from having her bottom completely exposed; And having caught Esme by her midsection, Collin freezes as he stares at her naked, freckled bare skin.

  “…He can see everything, can’t he?” Esme murmurs, after a moment of stillness.

  ...Sincir ughs. Even as they both quickly separate from one another, awkwardly sitting each at a corner of the couch each, with their faces burning, he’s still ughing, and he isn’t able to stop in spite of the fact his stomach has begun to hurt.

  Collin constant apologies don’t help, and neither do the gres Esme continues throwing his way.

  “I fucking hate you so much,” Esme murmurs as Sincir wipes his cheeks from the tears brought by several minutes of ughter.

  Even now, she’s still blushing.

  Oh, man, this is too much. He hadn’t ughed this much since Ena pissed her pants during their tickling punishment…

  “Honestly, I don’t understand what you see in him, Miss Esme,” Collin murmurs, his gaze downcast as he sits with both hands against his knees and shoulders tensed.

  Since the accident, he still has to meet anyone’s eyes.

  Not good, not good, if he starts ughing again, they might actually come to hate him...

  Sincir takes a deep breath. “Okay, I can tell this is never going anywhere unless I take matters into my own hands… But first, I want to hear a confirmation from you, Collin. I’ll help you gain confidence with women, and in return, you become one of my subjects… How does that sound?”

  Collin grimaces, clenches his teeth, and then takes a deep breath, before finally raising his gaze to meet his, clear gray eyes gleaming intensely.

  “…Refusing at this point would only tarnish Miss Esme’s honor.”

  Though he has to stop himself from ughing again, Sincir nods, smiling at Collin devilishly.

  “In this case, shall we begin?”