"Hic... No matter how many times I see it, you really can hold your liquor, huh?" Rachel mumbled.
Gabriel twirled the glass of wine around, then raised a brow.
They had been drinking for nearly an hour now, and while he was completely unscathed, Rachel was almost knocked out cold. There was some vomit on the seat beside her too.
'She's a real lightweight, but how does she know about my alcohol tolerance? No way she stalked me when I was in the club with my friends, right?'
A shiver ran down his spine, realizing that this exact same woman was now his wife.
'Tsk... At least we're about to land.'
Once the wheels of the private jet hit the ground, Rachel's expression became more relaxed. Then, she burped out a cloud of red mist, and as it so happens, that mist smelled like alcohol.
"Sheesh, that's way better," Rachel exclaimed.
"How did you sober up so fast?" Gabriel asked in shock.
Rachel puffed out her cheeks. "I was actually going to teach you how to do it, but even after so many years of practice, I'm no match for your alcoholism."
'She's making it sound like all I do is drink all day... It's not my fault I have good genes.'
Seeing Gabriel's expression, she let out a chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll teach you when we're back home. Now put this on."
She pulled out a black coat out of thin air and tossed it to him. Gabriel caught it, raised a brow, and put it on.
"Where'd you pull that out from?"
"Blood storage. It's one of the Vampire Noble perks you'll unlock once you mature in a few days. You can store a lot more in there than just blood. It's more like an inventory from a game, you know?" Rachel replied.
Finally, she walked past him and left the jet. He followed not long after. A black car was already waiting for them, and once they got inside, they were driven out of the airport and into the Privier county's main city.
"Wanna stop by a restaurant on our way back?" Rachel offered.
Gabriel was about to agree, but then he remembered something.
"Aren't we allergic to seasoning or something?"
"Heh. Well, yeah. But I own 24 restaurants in this county, so I'll let you choose some while we're picking out new staff," she said.
He really was in disbelief at how efficient she was.
If anything... He felt like he had been getting spoiled from the moment he turned into a vampire.
Not that he hated it though.
'Being spoiled is nice. That just means I'll be able to do something that much more special for her when I get stronger.'
Smiling to himself, Gabriel nodded at her. With that, she pulled out her phone and for the next half hour, she began showing him each restaurant one by one, until finally, they picked out one that served Italian food.
After the great war that happened, Gabriel never thought there'd be a restaurant that actually sold Italian food. Much less anything European, since Europe was wiped off the map.
The car stopped on cue as as they arrived at the salon. From the looks of it, it was just a beauty salon, and from the long line out front, a very popular salon at that.
Everyone was staring at their phones, yet the moment Rachel stepped out of the car, all eyes landed on her.
...Or that was what he thought at first, until he climbed out of the car and noticed that all their gazes shifted to him. The women blushed and began taking pictures, gossiping, and even crowding him.
"I-Is this some kind of promotional event?"
"Is he here to meet his girlfriend?"
"Can someone tell that woman to move out of the way? She's blocking my video."
The last comment in particular ticked Rachel off as she suddenly stepped in front of Gabriel and put her hands over her waist before puffing out her chest.
"You vixens need to learn when to fuck off. Now leave before I call my pet Cerberus."
"..."
"Phahaha!"
"What's up with her?"
"Did someone record that? Send it to me~"
Her expression grew even colder at the mockery, until Gabriel decided to step up and narrow his eyes at all the women.
Instead of saying anything though, he went ahead and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
Then, Gabriel just smiled at the women, making them all get the message loud and clear. The women forgot they were even waiting in line, so Gabriel took Rachel's hand and led her inside.
On the other hand, Rachel's mind had completely blanked out, to the point where she only regained consciousness when she found herself sitting in the back room of her beauty salon.
There was a mirror in front of her, as well as the curious Gabriel who glanced at all the fancy items women used for their make-up. Though when he realized she was staring at him, he quickly composed himself.
"I took us to the back of the salon. You weren't answering me, so I just talked to the staff. They seemed pretty chill, all things considered," Gabriel said.
Rachel raised a brow. "Is that so? Well, the staff are also vampires, so I'm sure they recognized your status. Anyways, are you ready to start recruitment?"
"Of course," Gabriel replied.
She chuckled and stood up. Then, she led him through the salon's back rooms. He wasn't sure why it was such a big salon to begin with. Were all salons like this?
After just a couple more minutes, they finally entered a large room with two chairs, a table, and a few doors off in the distance.
"How'd you fit something like this in a back room...?" Gabriel asked in amazement.
Rachel puffed out her chest. "Well, I built this place underground. The entry is also a secret, unless you know your way around the city."
"And only vampires know the way?" Gabriel asked.
She shook her head. "Not really. I don't mind employing humans. It's just that, every time I had a human working for me, they'd get disgusted by what I do, and so they'd just take their first check and leave."
Ah.
"That makes sense."
"Heh. I made recruitment a bit more clear this time, so those who show up now are people who already know what they're getting themselves into," she added and sat down.
Rachel got comfortable, and tapped the seat beside her before saying:
"Sit down and relax. The first few candidates are about to enter."