"Why do I always get dragged into engagement problems?"
Natasha turned toward me with an expression of irritation.
"Did you say something?"
"No, no… I didn't say anything."
I'm definitely not stupid enough to provoke a Fourth Rank repeatedly.
After a moment, I asked her carefully,
"Anyway, how do we remove your seal? And why did that demon shave your head?"
She let out a relieved breath.
"Since you said you're a vampire, that means the problem is already solved. As for why she shaved my head… she was jealous of my beautiful hair."
I didn't comment on her remark about her hair.
Instead, I focused on the seal.
"What I mean is… removing this seal only requires vampire blood."
The moment I heard that, I straightened up.
"How can you be this lucky? Don't you think this goes way beyond coincidence?"
"For example, out of all the layers of the Abyss, they take you to the vampire layers. Then you happen to be trapped on this mountain. And right at the critical moment I show up, kill that demon easily because she lowered her guard… and on top of that, the seal requires my blood to break."
I looked at her.
"Isn't that a bit too much?"
She replied calmly.
"Honestly, I agree. Yes, it would look suspicious… but I'm actually the reason for it."
That surprised me.
"How? What do you mean you're the reason?"
"I have an item that makes me lucky for a short period when I activate it."
A lucky item?
Those are extremely rare. Not even my father owns one.
So how does she have one while only being Fourth Rank?
And why would she even tell me about it?
Before I could ask, she answered,
"I told you because you don't look like a snitch. And my intuition would warn me immediately if telling you was dangerous."
I didn't fully accept that logic.
Is that really worth the risk?
A Fourth Rank intuition is powerful, sure. Especially since I'm weaker than her.
But still… why does she sound so confident?
In the end, I swallowed my questions and asked her to explain how to break the seal.
...
The moment Theo asked me how to break the seal, a sharp pain twisted inside my stomach.
I didn't know how to explain it.
I hesitated for a moment before finally telling him the method.
As soon as he understood what I meant, he stepped back several steps.
"Huh? Why is the method to break the seal… this perverted?"
The shock was obvious in his eyes.
When I noticed the suspicion in his gaze, I quickly explained.
"Patrick made it like that on purpose… just to humiliate me."
My explanation seemed to calm him a little.
But he still said hesitantly,
"But… I'm getting engaged next week."
The moment I heard that, anger surged through me.
"Boy, why are you acting as if I'm going to violate you or sleep with you? It's much simpler than that. And would this even count as betrayal?"
We argued for a few minutes before he finally agreed.
That bastard was acting as if he were the most handsome man in the world…
Even though, to be honest, I had never seen a man more handsome than him.
Still, the way he behaved annoyed me greatly.
...
Honestly, the whole thing felt perverted.
I began cursing the day I decided to climb this mountain.
After making up my mind, I noticed she started taking off her clothes.
It seemed the potions were helping her recover a little.
She began pouring water over her body to separate the clothes stuck to her wounds.
After a long struggle—reopening some of the injuries in the process—she finally managed to remove them.
It felt like my heart was bleeding when I handed her another potion.
I pretended to be generous, but those potions were valuable.
Still… it would be worth it if Natasha owed me for this.
Suddenly she said,
"Theo… do you have any more potions?"
I answered instinctively,
"What? Do you think I'm a king's son?"
Then I quickly added,
"No… I don't have any left."
When I finished speaking, I noticed the despair in her eyes.
She said quietly,
"Theo, I need to be free of wounds for the seal to work. Do you really not have any more potions?"
I grabbed my hair in frustration.
Honestly, I rarely use regeneration potions.
I only took some today because of training.
And as a vampire, I rarely need them anyway.
So I simply shook my head.
She asked,
"Can you get some from your house?"
I immediately refused.
The deadly storm outside made that impossible.
To be honest, the situation looked hopeless.
I noticed she kept glancing at me from time to time, as if hesitating to ask something.
Finally, she spoke.
"Theo… I want your blood."
I had expected something like that.
"Natasha, even if I swallow my pride and give you my blood, you know the side effects if it's not purified."
After confirming that she was willing to bear the consequences, I decided to give it to her.
The idea that vampires never give their blood…
That was just a tradition created by the clan to increase demand.
We sell our blood through the clan anyway.
In the end, it's just a matter of supply and demand in the market.
I used my nail to cut my hand.
Drops of pure red blood began to fall, then slowly floated toward Natasha.
I made sure the blood contained no genes or anything else.
After Natasha drank it, she suddenly screamed in pain.
She crawled across the ground, twisting in agony, breathing heavily.
But at the same time, her wounds began to close.
Her skin started healing.
And red hair began growing from her bald head.
It poured down like a red waterfall.
The process lasted several minutes before the pain finally ended.
Natasha was breathing quickly from exhaustion.
I froze where I stood.
In front of me stood a nearly perfect being—at least in my eyes.
Even while breathing heavily…
She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.