For the second time, Seishan froze.
It was the second time in a matter of mere seconds that this man had left her entirely thrown off balance.
Under different circumstances, she might have found it charming—endearing, even. However, given the current situation...
"Leave," the Princess of Song ordered, her voice cutting directly toward her guards.
"But, my lady—" one of the handmaidens started to protest.
"I said leave!" Seishan repeated, raising her voice.
The girls obeyed. Casting a final, lingering glare at the young man, and then a respectful glance at their mistress, they filed out to guard the corridor, shutting the heavy door behind them.
Once they were gone, silence fell over the room, cold and sharp as a blade.
"Thank you, miss Seishan, for agreeing my selfish request," Sunny said. There was no malice or hidden agenda in his tone—just a simple, genuine expression of gratitude.
It was imperative they were alone for what he was about to say.
Slowly, Seishan pushed back her chair, stood up, and crossed the room with an enchanting, elegant stride. She locked the door to ensure they wouldn't be disturbed.
Click. Click.
Twice, the key turned to the left in the lock.
Twice, the quiet of the room was punctuated.
"I hope you are aware of what it means for a lady to be left completely alone with a man in her private chambers, Mister Sunless."
Seishan spoke with her back to him, one hand still resting on the key. She turned her head just enough to look at him over her shoulder. Her hair veiled her eyes, leaving only her full lips visible. Her tone was coy, laced with heavy, deliberate sensuality.
A picture as captivating as it was hypnotic.
Enough to make any man drop his guard completely. Just long enough for him to miss the hidden blade manifesting in her right hand amid a silent swirl of sparks, perfectly concealed from view.
"Of course I do," Sunny replied casually.
The princess turned her gaze back to the door.
Then... she dashed forward.
Thud.
Before Sunny could even blink, he found his back slammed against the floor, pinned by the throat with the razor-sharp edge of a dagger pressed directly against his neck.
Looming over him was a monstrous creature with long hair whipping wildly in the air. The crimson irises of her eyes had expanded to swallow the pupils entirely. Her grotesque, oversized mouth split her face into a bottomless maw lined with two rows of razor-sharp teeth.
This was Seishan's Dormant Ability—the power to assume this monstrous form: Nosferatu.
"Speak! Who are you really? What faction do you belong to?" the princess hissed, pressing the tip of the blade just enough to prick his jugular.
Sunny didn't flinch, nor did he blink.
In his mind, having explored various probabilities with the aid of [Mind Weave], he was already thoroughly prepared for this outcome.
Without breaking eye contact, he let out a slow sigh. "I already told you. My name is Sunless. I don't belong to any faction, and I'm not part of any Clan. I come from the Outskirts."
Seishan studied him closely. In this form, although it constantly fueled the agonizing bloodthirst born of her Flaw, it also allowed her to hear the flow of blood within a person's veins with perfect clarity.
The Princess of Song tightened her grip, pinning him to the floor with the sheer weight of her mutated body, and listened intently to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
There was no lie in his words.
'How?'
Her scarlet eyes widened. Seishan couldn't believe it.
This boy was either a masterful liar, or he possessed a Memory or an Ability that allowed him to completely mask his deceit.
Given the dangerous amount of classified information he had brought to her door, she leaned heavily toward the latter.
"The war, the domains... how do you know these things?" she insisted.
Sunny felt the cold tip of the dagger begin to pierce his skin.
He remained perfectly calm. He offered no resistance.
He didn't need to.
"I just told you, Seishan. Shadows have eyes and ears everywhere."
Sunny replied with a warm, genuine smile.
Deep within his pitch-black eyes, there was no twisted glint of a scheming mastermind, but rather the gentle, golden glimmer of someone looking at a dear friend after a very long time.
'Shadows? Eyes and ears everywhere?'
None of those answers made sense to Seishan. The princess's astute mind raced rapidly through the possibilities.
'Could he be from a secret Clan?' she concluded internally. 'He mentioned shadows... could he be in possession of the highly sought-after Shadow Lineage? A Shadow Clan? But Mother never mentioned the existence of such a Clan.'
Seishan looked at Sunless in a completely different light now.
"You... are you a member of the Shadow Clan?"
"..."
Sunny blinked, genuinely confused.
Suddenly, the conversation was taking a wildly unexpected turn.
"Uh..." He glanced left and right, as if searching for a way to steer the conversation back on track. "No. Or rather, not yet. I was thinking of founding one—or rather, seven—but I'm not part of any Clan."
"You're lying!" the Princess of Song barked, raising her voice to pressure him into confessing.
Sunny let out a slow sigh.
He had allowed her to ambush and interrogate him, hoping to earn her trust through his forced honesty, but clearly, that plan wasn't working in the slightest.
Thus, he found himself forced to resort to another method. One he had desperately hoped to avoid. The very reason their relationship had abruptly severed in the previous timeline.
Calling upon the [Blood Weave] trait, Sunny commanded his blood to flow from the minor wound currently inflicted by her dagger.
Instantly, a single drop of dark red blood slipped from his jugular.
--------------------Flashback--------------------
A snowy expanse blanketed the forest floor near Ravenheart. Deep within a cave, Ascended Sunless rose from the makeshift cocoon of shadows he had woven out of necessity to brave the elements.
Seishan was there, tangled in the dark blankets, hiding her face in shame.
"Shan... Are you—"
"No! Don't look at me."
Sunny tried to reach out, to tell her it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't bear to meet his gaze.
It had all happened in a flash. They were fighting Fallen abominations when, suddenly, a Corrupted Demon joined the fray. The battle had been intense and grueling, leaving both of them wounded. Seeking shelter, they retreated to the cave to rest. Then, Seishan had reached up to touch his cheek, noticing a fresh cut bleeding. Driven by the primal urge of her Flaw, she had licked the blood from his skin.
From that moment on, it was a total blackout.
Sunny's blood wasn't normal; it was the blood of a Daemon. And for Seishan, it acted as an overpowering, mind-shattering aphrodisiac.
Sunny remembered the sudden, desperate weight of her body tackling him to the ground, the exquisite softness of her flawless grey skin grinding frantically against his own. Clothes discarded in a frenzy. The scalding kisses shared in the pitch-black cave. The taste of her firm breasts between his teeth. The scalding tightness of her weeping passage as it swallowed his rigid length, all while a tiny crimson trail slipped from her core, staining the pristine snow beneath them.
Their minds had completely surrendered to pure, unadulterated lust. They made love through the entire night, their fingers tightly intertwined. The wet, rhythmic slap of flesh meeting flesh echoing in the dark. Sunny cumming deep inside her, over and over again.
It had been Seishan's first time. It had been the first time for both of them.
"I'm sorry. I didn't... I'm so sorry."
The Princess of Song wept, clutching the shadowy blankets to her chest. The passion they had shared was intense, raw, and beautiful, but she couldn't help the crushing guilt of having violated him. Her immense pride in her self-control had been utterly shattered.
"..." Sunny opened his mouth to speak, but closed it a second later, realizing that words wouldn't be enough to heal her pain in that moment.
Instead, he wrapped an arm gently around her waist, pulling her tear-stained face softly against his chest.
--------------------End of Flashback--------------------
After that night, Sunny departed for Antarctica at Jet's request, sponsored by Clan Song.
He and Seishan didn't speak for a long while, both too immature and overwhelmed to navigate the emotional fallout of their "incident." And by the time they finally mustered the courage to face each other, Nephis had already changed. She had invoked the [Shadow Bond], shackling Sunny to her will and stripping away his freedom.
'I miss you, Shan. You have no idea how much,' he thought, staring up at her, lying perfectly still on the floor of her quarters.
A sharp, bittersweet aroma pierced the Princess of Song's senses, instantly igniting a fierce, molten heat deep beneath her navel. A single bead of dark, crimson blood pooling at the tip of her dagger captured her entire focus.
Seishan's monstrous visage melted away, returning to her delicate, breathtaking features, her teeth shining white once more.
"..." She straightened her back, lifting the blade slightly, and opened her mouth to speak. But the words died in her throat, her gaze utterly captivated by the mesmerizing crimson trail trickling down his neck.
Seishan felt her chest rising and falling erratically. A violent, thrilling shudder wracked her frame as the scalding heat from her lower belly rushed up to her palate, completely fogging her mind. Her pupils dilated wildly. Her body burned with a terrible, consuming fever, desperate to satiate a hunger she didn't even know she possessed. Beneath her dress, the princess was instantly drenched.
"Ngh!"
Sunny gritted his teeth as he felt her sharp canines suddenly sink directly into his neck over the shallow cut. A wave of exquisite, numbing warmth radiated from the bite, flushing his cheeks.
"Mh! Mmh! Mmh!!!"
Seishan moaned feverishly, greedily suckling his blood in frantic, desperate gulps.
She had tasted blood before. Rich, hot, metallic, heavy—sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet. But this? This was like a sweet, intoxicating venom; the more she drank, the more desperately she craved it.
To protect the princess's reputation, keep her sweet, desperate moans from leaking into the corridor, and secure a bit of privacy, Sunny had already summoned a Memory in advance. Resting in the palm of his right hand was the [Mythical Rock]—the heavily upgraded version of the [Ordinary Rock], into which he had woven a series of enchantments, including a perfect sound-isolation barrier.
"Mmh! Mmh!!!"
Seishan was literally writhing on top of him, moaning uncontrollably in sheer bliss. Sunny felt the soft, heavy pressure of her firm breasts mashing against his chest—a sweet sensation eclipsed only by her thick thighs tangling frantically with his. A slick, hot wetness constantly secreted from her core, soaking through their clothes as she shamelessly ground her hips down on his thigh.
After a couple of minutes, the Princess of Song finally tore her fangs from his flesh. She threw her head back and let out a loud, shuddering cry as a violent orgasm ripped through her body, her slick passage gushing profusely.
"Aaaaah!"
Her euphoric cry filled his ears. Then, Seishan looked back down at him, panting heavily. Her crimson eyes were blinded by an overpowering, primal thirst. Sunny, who had unconsciously brought his hands up to grip her soft waist, could feel just how feverishly hot her body had become. A surging wave of arousal forced his erection to rigid attention, pulsing painfully against the constraints of his trousers.
Clothes had officially become a nuisance. The dance had just begun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued...