"...So that's why I want your help," Soren finished.
He sat on the edge of the small sofa in Lilliana's dorm, leaning slightly forward with his hands clasped between his knees.
Next to him, Lilliana sat, a cup of tea resting in front of her.
The room was familiar to him now.
Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with romance novels that Lilliana seemed to adore.
Potted plants were scattered around the room, their leaves neatly trimmed.
The faint scent of tea and flowers lingered in the air.
Lilliana took a slow slip, then looked at him over the rim of her cup.
"Am I being used right now?" she asked lightly.
"Yes," Soren said without hesitation. "Please help me."
She let out a short laugh and set her cup down.
"Were the clubs really that bad?"
Soren nodded immediately.
"Bad is an understatement."
Lilliana tilted her head.
"You do know that the study club isn't that big of a deal, right? I went there for four years. It's pretty easy if you listen well."
Soren slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.
He didn't say anything.
Lilliana's gaze sharpened.
"Spit it out," she muttered.
"Huh?" he asked, playing dumb.
"You just thought something mean, didn't you?"
"Whatever could you mean?" Soren replied, feigning innocence.
"If you don't tell me," Lilliana said calmly. "I won't help you."
Soren sighed.
"...I was just thinking about how unfortunate it is that my closest friend was unable to join any clubs for four years straight."
Lilliana's eye twitched.
"Do you want to be bitten?" she asked.
"Sorry, Professor Roseblood," he replied immediately.
A small smile tugged at her lips as she looked away.
"Pfft. Well, anyway, I don't mind being the supervisor for your club, but…"
Soren straightened.
"But?"
"Have you even thought about a name? Or an idea, at least?"
"..."
He stared at her silently.
Lilliana stared back.
"Did you really come to me before you even thought of anything?" she asked, sounding half exasperated, half impressed.
"I have no clue what to do," Soren admitted with a sigh, slumping a little.
"How are you going to convince everyone else if you don't even have a concept to show them?"
"Well," Soren said, counting off on his fingers, "I think Amelia, Sis, and Felix would join anyway. They don't really care about anything else. Essy depends on her mood, but she'll probably say yes if she finds it interesting."
"And the other two?"
"Olivia was the one who dumped this on me in the first place," Soren said flatly, "then she said she would convince Alex."
Lilliana hummed.
"What about the remaining student? You said you need eight."
"I'll have to find someone," Soren replied.
Lilliana rubbed her temples.
"Ren, sometimes you seem really smart, and then other times…"
"...I'm aware," he muttered.
She let out a long sigh.
"I'll be the supervisor, just try to get things sorted out by Friday," she said at last.
Relief loosened the tension in his shoulders.
"Thanks, Lilly," he said sincerely.
"If you're grateful, come see me more often. Ever since… that day, it feels like you're purposely avoiding me," she said, looking at him with a small pout.
Soren's expression stiffened.
He looked down, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"...No, it's not that, I just didn't want to be a bother."
He shifted his gaze toward the floor, embarrassed.
A sharp flick landed on his forehead.
"Ah—"
He winced and pressed a hand to the spot as he looked up at her.
"Was there any need?" he complained.
"You're an idiot, Ren," Lilliana said with a gentle smile. "I already told you that you can come over whenever you want."
She paused, then added, a bit more quietly, "Besides…"
Her words trailed off.
Soren blinked.
"Besides what?"
Lilliana's eyes flickered, and in the light, they flashed a brief, vivid red.
"...How long are you going to make me wait?" she asked.
Soren subconsciously swallowed.
He knew what she meant.
"Did you run out?"
Her gaze drifted away from his, roaming around the room instead.
"Not necessarily…" she muttered.
Soren tilted his head.
"Then what's the problem?"
"Uhm…" Lilliana fidgeted slightly. "Would you rather eat fresh food or leftovers?"
"Obviously fresh—"
He stopped mid-sentence as understanding hit him.
"Ah."
Lilliana's cheeks were faintly pink.
Soren sighed lightly, then reached up to unbutton the top button of his uniform shirt; he loosened the collar and tugged it aside, exposing the pale skin of his neck.
"I told you to ask if you wanted some," he said.
Lilliana hesitated for a moment.
Then she stood up from next to him and walked toward him, her steps quiet on the floor.
She lowered herself onto his lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world, settling her weight comfortably against him.
Soren's hands automatically moved to support her waist.
"Use your brain, idiot Ren," Lilliana mumbled as she shifted closer, arms sliding around his neck.
"I can't use my brain if you don't explain things properly, dumbass," he retorted.
She huffed quietly.
Her fingers brushed his hair back, tucking it behind his ear, fully revealing his neck.
Her eyes lingered there for a heartbeat, the colour deepening again, a glow of red circling her irises.
"It's embarrassing," she muttered under her breath.
Before Soren could respond, her fangs extended, sharp and white, and sank into his neck.
A sharp sting ran through him.
He flinched slightly, fingers tightening on her waist, then the pain dulled into a strange, pulling sensation.
His heartbeat sounded louder in his ears for a second, then steadied.
Warmth left his body in a slow, measured draw.
Lilliana's arms tightened around him, the front of her body pressed fully against his.
Her lips were warm where they met his skin, and he could feel the slight movement of her jaw as she drank.
He waited until the initial shock faded.
"How is it more embarrassing to ask than to actually do it?" Soren asked dryly.
In response, Lilliana bit down a little harder.
"Ow—ow—okay, sorry," he hissed.
The pressure eased.
Instead of biting, she began to lick the wound gently, her tongue warm against his skin.
The sensation made his shoulders twitch.
It wasn't painful, just odd.
He had gotten used to it over time, but it still felt difficult to describe.
The sound of her drinking had already faded, replaced by quiet, wet sounds as she cleaned away the blood.
Soren looked down at the top of her head, her pink hair brushing against his chest.
'But seriously, how?' he thought.
She was twenty-three years old, a grown woman, but she had spent most of her life alone, without friends, without romance.
By all rights, she should have been shy or awkward about the act of feeding itself.
Instead, she had no problem climbing onto his lap and sinking her fangs into his neck.
The only thing she got embarrassed about was asking for it.
He had tried to blame it on some kind of "vampire culture" in his head, but even then, certain comments she had made in the past didn't line up.
He sighed quietly and patted her back with one hand, his palm moving slowly in a calming rhythm.
Time slipped by like that.
The room was silent except for their breathing and the faint, almost inaudible sounds of Lilliana's mouth against his skin.
Eventually, she pulled back.
Her fangs left his neck with a soft pop, and she let out a heated breath right against the spot she had bitten; her lips brushed his skin as she did, sending a small shiver through him.
"Are you full?" Soren asked.
"Mmm…" she hummed. "For now."
She leaned her head against his chest, content.
"How much blood do you have left anyway?"
"Enough for a couple of weeks, but… it's not nice."
"How so?"
"It's hard to describe," Lilliana said, frowning slightly. "After about a week or two, blood bags start tasting off. They're still drinkable, but it's not enjoyable."
"Then just throw them out, I'm back now, aren't I?"
"That's a waste," she argued. "Plus, I don't want to be a bother."
Soren snorted.
"Use your brain, idiot Lilly," he said, repeating her earlier words.
"...Whatever," Lilliana muttered, though she relaxed more fully against him. "How are you always okay after I feed, though?"
She tilted her head back enough to look up at him.
"An ordinary person wouldn't be able to handle this. Feeding once per week is already the limit for most humans. You let me drink two or three times and still walk around like nothing happened."
Soren bit his tongue lightly.
'How do I explain this…'
There were a few reasons, but the main one was something he couldn't just tell her about.
The system, the status window, [Stella's Secret], those were all things he still hadn't found a way to explain properly to anyone.
"My body regenerates blood faster than normal," he said finally.
Lilliana blinked.
"And whenever I feel dizzy, I use [Blood Absorption] on blood bags I keep in my spatial ring," he added.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking it over.
"I guess that makes sense," she said slowly. "But what do you mean by regenerating blood faster?"
"Exactly that. My body heals roughly four times faster than a normal person."
According to the status window, [Stella's Secret] increased both his health and mana regeneration by four hundred percent.
Even if Lilliana fed on him regularly, his body usually returned to normal after about a day of rest.
Of course, a full day of feeling lightheaded or weak wasn't ideal, which is why he used [Blood Absorption] on stored blood to shortcut the process whenever he had to.
Lilliana's brows furrowed further.
"...Doesn't that mean that if I gave you the blood bags I have stored and you use [Blood Absorption] on them, you would be back to normal, and I could feed again?"
Soren looked at her flatly.
"Now do you understand why I kept saying that you could ask whenever?"
Her eyes widened slightly as it clicked.
"Then… from now on I'll do that."
The reason she had been hesitant this whole time was a mix of embarrassment and worry.
Embarrassment about asking, and worry about overdoing it and hurting him.
Now that she knew he wouldn't collapse from it, that worry had less ground to stand on.
She snuggled closer against his chest, her body warm and light.
"Nnn," she let out a soft, nasal sound of comfort.
Soren adjusted his arms so that he could hold her more securely.
"So," Lilliana said after a moment, her voice muffled against him, "what are you thinking of doing about the final person?"
"To be honest, I haven't really thought about it."
"..."
Lilliana stared up at him with narrowed eyes.
He cleared his throat.
"...But I have a basic idea," he added quickly.
"And that is?" she prompted.
"If I'm making a club," Soren said slowly, "and the members are all people close to me, I'd rather not invite some random person just to fill the number. That would only make things awkward."
Lilliana nodded.
"Plus… that would probably make things difficult for you, right?"
Soren's eyes flickered for a second.
"...Right," he admitted.
He didn't elaborate, but they both knew what she meant.
With his past and with the way he clung to a small circle of people he trusted, adding a stranger into that space would be hard.
"So I was thinking that I should look for someone I can trust to keep to themselves. A ghost member."
"A smart idea," Lilliana said.
"There's a problem, though," Soren muttered with a sigh.
Lilliana tilted her head.
"What problem?"
"Think about who the members of the club are."
"Ah," Lilliana nodded.
"With a princess, two dukes, a viscount, a count, and the hero, it'd be hard to find a true ghost member who doesn't care about any of that."
Lilliana finished his thought.
"If it were a noble, they'd probably try their best to build connections, and if it were a commoner, they might not even be able to consider joining. Being in the same club as that group would make them a target for harassment from the noble students."
Soren nodded.
"That's the problem," he sighed. "Besides, we only have two days left to sort this all out."
Lilliana smirked, her eyes glinting with amusement at his bitter expression.
"At this rate, you might follow in my footsteps, junior of the study club."
"That'll never happen," Soren said firmly. "I'll bribe someone if I have to."
Lilliana raised an eyebrow.
"Wow, talking about bribery to a professor? When did you grow so bold?" she asked playfully.
Soren clicked his tongue and reached down to pinch her cheek slightly.
"Shut up, it's not my fault that the clubs here suck, is it?"
She shrugged.
"The book club is fine, isn't it?"
"You know, when I visited, over half of the people there were reading smut."
Lilliana blinked.
Soren smiled at her, a playful glint in his eyes.
"Do you know another interesting fact?"
Her instincts clearly warned her, but she still replied.
"...Go on?" she said hesitantly.
"Some of the books they were reading…" Soren paused for dramatic effect, "...matched the ones on your bookshelf."
Lilliana froze.
"H-how…?" she stammered, her face immediately flushing red.
"That night when we were reading, you went to the kitchen to make tea, remember? I pulled a book from the shelf. The cover felt strange, so I checked it."
He chuckled.
"It was a false cover."
Lilliana's mouth shut tight as she refused to meet his eyes; her ears were red now, too.
"Now," Soren continued, voice full of evil amusement, "what would my fellow students think if they knew that their strict professor spends her nights reading such explicit books in her dorm?"
Her cheeks burned a deeper shade of pink, matching the colour of her hair almost perfectly.
She trembled slightly on his lap.
"Pfft," Soren let out a chuckle, unable to hold it back anymore.
That chuckle bloomed into a full laugh, his shoulders shaking.
He genuinely didn't care that she had read that kind of thing.
If anything, he thought it was normal.
She was twenty-three, lived alone, and had only just started making friends; it would have been stranger if she had no interest in that sort of thing at all.
He wasn't particularly conservative himself.
As long as it was consensual, he thought people should enjoy what they wanted.
But teasing Lilliana was too fun.
He had been holding onto this piece of ammunition for a while now, waiting for the right moment.
It was also payback for her teasing him in the past.
He kept laughing, watching her squirm, until suddenly…
She moved.
Chomp!
"Ow— ow— ow! Stop! I'm sorry!" Soren yelped as Lilliana pounced and sank her fangs back into his neck in revenge, her grip around him tightening.
————「❤︎」————