When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Hell, do as the demons do. "...And when they're as hot as hell itself, maybe do them too~"
"Pfft… I can't believe you are singing that right now."
The woman currently curled on his lap couldn't resist a snigger. Ashen smiled when he heard it.
'Ah… having you here is the best thing that could happen right now.'
The moment he got his hands on this "consort" who turned out to be Seraphine's possessed body, he felt an unprecedented sense of peace, as if nothing else mattered as long as she was beside him.
The same could be said for her. When she first opened her eyes, fear had almost overtaken her reason. One moment she was kissing Ashen; the next, she was a nun in a dilapidated cathedral.
"So am I a demon too? Are you going to do me too~? Hm?"
"You know what I mean, baby." Ashen grinned. He had already dismissed everyone from the throne room and forbidden entry without his express permission.
They had obeyed with relieved expressions, assuming the new consort had won over their lord with her foolish defiance. It wasn't unheard of that some vampires preferred that type. Instead of taking offense at rebellion, they savored the slow process of watching it melt from defiance into despair, and then acceptance.
It was simply unusual for a primordial to have such preferences, since they normally valued their own dignity above all else.
Of course, Ashen had no interest in any of those sick fetishes. He was just glad to have his woman safe on his lap.
Right after their reunion, he took the time to explain his Beholder's abilities and the consequences. Death was as real as ever. They had been thrown into a pivotal point in history, and the more they changed the original course, the greater the reward.
With cause and consequence out of the way, they relaxed enough for banter to find them.
Seraphine unceremoniously claimed his lap as she settled back against him on the throne. It was a sight that would make any vampire spit blood if they ever witnessed it.
"Jokes aside, you'll really have to let me have your blood, my dear consort," Ashen said with humor. "This body needs it to keep functioning; otherwise, I'll fall back into slumber."
"Oh? Then it appears I have no choice but to submit and offer myself. I'm an obedient slave after all." Seraphine answered with mock distress.
The eager undertone wasn't lost on him. He was fairly certain she was just curious about how it felt to have her blood sucked.
'Women and their fascination with vampires.' Ashen shook his head. Even back in Esperra, it had been the same; stories across every medium featuring mysterious vampires behaving seductively had always captivated women. His own wasn't immune either, apparently.
But since she wanted it, he chose to indulge her. It wasn't his habit to deny the women in his life much of anything. Even Alice's occasional, sadistic inclinations, he had always met them with courage.
He moved slowly toward her cheek. The back of his hand caressed her in smooth, unhurried passes, making her instinctively close her eyes and lean into it. The caresses moved along her jaw, then down her neck, his index finger tracing the faint outline of her veins.
He settled with a hand cupped at the back of her neck. A nudge forward, and she cooperated, letting her chin come to rest on his shoulder.
He honed in on the side of her neck, sniffing, then tickling with his nose, then—
Lick.
He let his tongue pass slowly over her skin. She shuddered visibly. Ashen glanced sideways and found her face crimson, her eyes glazed as if she were heavily intoxicated. Her lips let out constant hot breaths, and her arms moved to clutch him with all her mortal strength.
Like she was holding on for dear life.
'I haven't even started yet,' he grumbled internally, but didn't stop.
Seraphine felt the heat building under his tongue, as if she were being prepared as his next meal, and somehow that made it worse. Or better. She wasn't entirely sure which.
'This is… too shameless!' a corner of her head screamed, but it was promptly silenced by her kinky side that was currently at the helm.
The licking stopped. She already knew what came next from how his arms tightened around her waist and how his jaw moved at the edge of her vision.
"A — Hng—"
Bite—
A shocked moan escaped as his fangs sank in. The expected pain didn't come. Somatic Autonomy had already reversed the pain receptors in her neck while she was occupied enjoying everything else.
But he hadn't only altered her. He had altered himself as well; more precisely, the venom coating his fangs.
Ordinarily it was a simple paralytic, dulling nerves and suppressing movement to render prey quiet and helpless. Ashen had refined its function. Through Somatic Autonomy, he rerouted the venom's effect from inhibition to stimulation, selectively amplifying pathways associated with pleasure while suppressing those linked to pain.
The result was a complete success, if Seraphine's reaction was anything to go by.
Where numbness should have spread, warmth unfurled instead. Slowly… insistently... dangerously… It reduced her, by degrees, to a pleasure-numbed mess.
'A vampire bite is supposed to be pleasurable according to her fantasies, right?' He wasn't entirely sure since he was working from half-baked knowledge, but from the way she was completely lost in it, he figured he hadn't gone wrong.
He really was clueless.
Seeing as she was having the time of her life, he turned his attention to the actual task. Drinking.
Gulp… gulp…
Honestly, he had expected at least some aversion to it. Instead, he found Seraphine's blood to be simply… delicious.
The more he drank, the more he wanted.
No.
He was loving it.
He didn't know whether it was this body's instincts rendering the act so natural that disgust couldn't find purchase, or whether it was simply her taste burying everything else beneath it.
He didn't particularly care.
All that mattered was quenching the sudden thirst that had taken hold; drowning himself in what he could only describe as divine ichor; an ambrosial essence so exquisite that even gods might descend into madness for a single taste.
"Hnnngg~ ahh haaah…"
Gulp… gulp… gulp…
—!
He only came back to himself when his fangs retracted on their own, cutting him off.
'Somatic Autonomy…' He recognized it immediately. The skill had long since grown past simple survival maintenance; it now actively safeguarded his mental state as well. Hurting the woman in his arms had never been his intention, and the skill had acted accordingly.
'Haah… thanks.'
He didn't pull away from her neck. Instead, he pressed kisses and soft passes of his tongue against the bitten spot, as if apologizing quietly for overdoing it.
Thankfully, aside from a bit of paleness, Seraphine seemed to be fine. In fact, she was having the time of her life. "Why did you… stop? Did you have enough?"
"No. But I don't think your current body can handle more. You're a normal human right now, don't forget that." Ashen smiled helplessly.
"Ah…" Only then did she begin to feel the lethargy that came with blood loss. "I guess, you can only have a little every day, then?"
"That works. I only need a few milliliters to stay awake, so there's no problem."
"Great!" She patted her chest in relief. "Somehow, I don't want you biting anyone else if you can help it."
'Women…' Ashen rolled his eyes inwardly. It seemed the fantasy didn't end with the bite.
"Alright. Your vampire curiosity is satisfied, I presume?"
"Very satisfied." Seraphine licked her lips and fixed him with half-lidded eyes. "I might get curious again tomorrow, though. So please keep satisfying… my curiosity."
"If you insist. But we have more pressing matters." He settled against the throne. "The turning point I mentioned."
"Yes, I remember. You said this ability places us at a pivotal moment in history." Seraphine tilted her head.
"Right. After the first time around, I read everything I could find on Seravelle's history. So I have some idea of what's coming."
The epithet of the Sixth Step on his path had been 'Idle Chronicler.' To embody it, he had become a genuine historian, and the sense that allowed him to distinguish truth from falsehood in historical texts had stayed with him even after he ascended that Step. Among those who had studied Seravelle's past, his accuracy was probably unmatched.
"The vampire race rarely appears in what I've read," he continued. "But not because they were reclusive or secretive."
"Why, then?" A premonition settled in Seraphine's chest, and the way Ashen had started combing slowly through her hair as if softening what was coming only deepened it.
"Because they went extinct." He declared plainly. "It happened suddenly and abruptly. There was no visible cause, reason, or explanation."
"You're saying it like they were spirited away." Seraphine tried to laugh, but only a cramped smile came out.
"That's not far from the truth. One day they were here, living as they always had. The next… They simply weren't."
"Every vampire died."
The uneasy smile faded entirely.
"When did this happen?" Because from what he had described, the pivotal moment could only mean…
"1202."
"...What year are we now?"
"1202."
"..."
"..."