"By the way… why do you keep calling me 'boy'?"
Natasha answered without even turning to look at me.
"By my standards, you're just a boy."
I sensed the mockery in her tone, and it irritated me.
"What? You don't look that old. In the end, you can't be more than forty or fifty."
Natasha burst out laughing. After a moment she said,
"Boy… I'm over a hundred years old. That's why I call you that."
My jaw dropped.
A hundred?
Sure, I knew it was hard to judge a mage's age, but she looked like a woman in her thirties. My guess of fifty had already been an exaggeration.
"Anyway, boy… who are you?"
Her question snapped me out of my daze.
It seemed I had completely forgotten to introduce myself.
"Sorry. I'm late with that. My name is Theodore Karl."
"Then tell me, Theodore… why are you in the Abyss?"
I frowned at the question.
"Isn't it obvious why I'm in the Abyss?"
The veins on Natasha's face tensed.
"Boy, don't answer a question with another question. And more importantly… why is someone as weak as you in the Abyss?"
"The answer is simple… I'm a vampire."
Natasha's eyes widened in shock.
"Did you just say you're a vampire?"
"Yes."
She immediately stepped away from me, staring with open caution.
"Then why don't you emit any demonic aura?"
That was exactly why she had thought I was human.
Most people I met asked me the same thing.
But I never answered them.
Only my father knew the real reason.
"It has many reasons," I said calmly. "And they're personal. I'd rather not talk about them."
Her expression shifted, as if her entire worldview had just cracked.
"That's impossible. Creatures of the Abyss always emit a demonic aura."
I moved closer again after she had backed away and ignored the cautious look in her eyes.
"Is it really that strange?"
She answered sharply.
"It's not just strange. It breaks logic. No matter how well a creature hides its demonic aura, a trace of it always leaks out."
Then she studied me carefully.
"But from what I can see… You don't emit anything at all. It's as if the aura doesn't exist."
She wasn't wrong.
I didn't actually possess demonic energy.
I only converted it.
So that was the reason the other talents in the sect used to look down on me.
Still, Natasha's reaction irritated me.
"Why are you acting like I'm some kind of monster? If I wanted to harm you, I would have already done it."
I helped her.
I treated her wounds.
I saved her life.
Yet she still looked at me like that.
It honestly annoyed me.
She seemed startled by my sudden anger. She clutched her dress awkwardly and spoke in a more polite tone.
"I'm truly sorry. But you know how obsessed vampires are with blood."
"That's not the majority," I replied. "Anyway… what happened to you? And why are you in the Abyss?"
She seemed to notice I was trying to change the subject, but she went along with it.
Perhaps she was the kind of person who tried to be considerate of others.
Natasha lowered her head as memories resurfaced.
"I was the daughter of a fifth-level mage. I lived a life of comfort and affection. But my father disappeared while searching for a path to advance."
"I was his only child, and he left me his magical inheritance. Over time I became one of the promising talents of the sect."
"When I reached the third level, I accepted a disciple, following the sect's traditions."
Natasha paused for a moment, breathing heavily.
I could see the sadness in her eyes.
It seemed she had been wanting to talk about this for a long time.
"One day, while I was travelling, I came across a village that had been destroyed by demons."
"The only survivor was a young boy who had been tortured… all four of his limbs had been severed."
"The child clung to life desperately. His cries were what led me to him."
"I pitied him, so I decided to take him in and raise him myself."
"With time, I discovered he was extremely talented in magic. That made me happy."
"Those years were the best years of my life."
"But Patrick changed… when the sect leader's son tried to propose to me."
"At that time, Patrick had reached the second level and was considered a promising talent."
"He was furious when the sect leader's son proposed. He pressured me to refuse the marriage."
"I was going to refuse anyway. The magic I practice makes marriage impossible."
"But Patrick's behaviour still angered me, so I scolded him for trying to force his will on me."
"After that, I noticed he became strangely attached to me."
"Eventually he gathered the courage to propose to me himself."
"I rejected him immediately. I told him I had always considered him my son, since I raised him from childhood."
"But that only made him angrier."
"He argued that he wasn't my biological son. At the time he was already sixteen, so how could I still call him my son?"
"He was right."
"My refusal wasn't truly because I saw him as a son… but because I simply couldn't marry due to my magic."
"And I didn't want to reveal that secret."
I interrupted her.
"Then why are you telling me now? Aren't you afraid I'll reveal your secret?"
She turned and looked directly at me.
"Will you?"
"No."
"That's why I told you," she said calmly. "And honestly, the secret isn't that important anymore. Not after I reached the fourth level. Besides… you're not human."
My eyes widened.
"How were you captured if you're already a fourth-level mage?"
Her voice became quiet.
"I had just advanced to the fourth level. It was my period of weakness. I hadn't gathered any magical energy yet."
Oh.
I see.
"So what happened after you rejected Patrick?"
She took a deep breath.
"Surprisingly, Patrick dropped the matter and apologised. Over time I trusted him again."
"He eventually became my deputy. That's why I kept him beside me when I broke through to the fourth level… You know how vulnerable that period is."
Honestly, her story was starting to bore me a little.
Though I didn't show it.
"So right after your breakthrough he sealed you so you couldn't absorb any energy… then sent you to the Abyss to suppress you and place a Succubus enslavement circle on you?"
She shook her head slightly.
"It's close to that… but I was the one who entered the Abyss. In short… the whole thing was a trap."
I cut in again.
"So they tricked you into thinking you had a chance to escape. You found a teleportation circle in the room."
"You believed Patrick hadn't noticed it. So you used the last of your energy to activate it."
"Meanwhile, he deliberately placed it somewhere you could see… because he couldn't activate it with his own power. Right?"
Natasha stared at me in shock.
"That's correct. But how did you figure all of that out?"
I placed my hand on my head in frustration.
"Isn't it obvious? You must have been extremely disoriented after your breakthrough."
"Otherwise, how could you believe that such an expensive teleportation circle would be left sitting in the room without Patrick destroying it?"
"They completely played you."
I laughed softly.
And through my laughter… I could hear the sound of her teeth grinding.