John woke up the next day, and as usual, a couple of minutes later, he heard a polite knocking on the door. "Come in," John said.
"Good morning, Young Master."
One of the maid vampires entered the room with a tray that had a single glass of blood on it. The maid moved to put the tray on the table located next to his bed.
"It's alright, I'll drink the blood right now, then you can take the blood and tray with you."
John took the glass of blood from the tray and drank a huge amount of it. He looked at the maid, who had long brown hair tied into a neat ponytail. She looked like a woman in her early thirties, though John knew age was deceptive here.
"If you don't mind me asking, Miss, what is your name?"
"My name is Rebecca, Young Master." When the maid said her name, John saw no emotional expression on her face; she was the picture of detached professionalism.
"I'm pretty sure you know who Elena is, right? Do you possibly work longer than her here?"
"Yes, Young Master, this one is familiar with the maid Elena is. This one has also served the Crimsons longer than her."
"Wow, so you must be strong, right? If you and Elena had to fight, do you think that you can beat her in a fight?" John's eyes were immediately drawn to the concept of power dynamics, a habit he'd picked up since arriving.
With no hesitation, Rebecca said, "Yes, Young Master, I can beat Elena with no difficulty."
John's eyes were sparkling when he heard this maid was even stronger, having seen how powerful Elena was against the werewolf. He was clearly trying to map out the castle's pecking order. "Can you beat Richard in a fight? Or maybe Aunt Reina?"
Rebecca looked at John for a moment, her gaze flat. "This one will never hurt one of the members of the Crimsons."
"Oh, come on, Rebecca, this is a hypothetical question!" Rebecca stood there and looked at John, who was staring at her, all excited with stars in his eyes.
Rebecca then gave a light cough, finally breaking her rigid demeanor just slightly. "Well, Young Master, to be honest, Master Richard is quite young. In some cases, a vampire's age does not always mean he is stronger, but a vampire does get stronger with age. In this case, I am older and much stronger than Master Richard. On the other hand, Lady Reina is far stronger than this one."
John nodded his head, feeling a surge of pride that the person training him was considered one of the strongest in the castle, second only to the clan leaders. "You straight, Aunty Rebecca, I like you." John then drank the last of the blood in the glass and returned it to the maid.
Rebecca gave John a light bow. "Young Master, it is not necessary to call this one aunty. Rebecca is acceptable."
"Cool, Rebecca it is. Well, if that is all, then you may leave. I want to lay in bed for a few hours before it is time to go training."
"Yes, Young Master," Rebecca replied before leaving the room.
When Rebecca closed the door, she paused on the outside. Most of the time, she maintained an emotionless expression, a mask essential for a centuries-long servant of the Crimson family. But John's casual comment—"You straight, Aunty Rebecca, I like you"—had unexpectedly breached that composure.
Standing in the hallway, she thought, "Young master said he likes me." The comment brought a rare, warm smile to her face, a subtle softening of her features that was never seen by the family. She took a deep breath, let the moment pass, and then walked away to continue her duties, her purpose momentarily reinforced by the young master's kindness.
====
After a few hours, John put his training clothes on and made his way to the training ground where Reina was waiting for him.
Tip and Nate, two of the castle's younger recruits who had never gotten the chance to see John, walked up to him. They had heard all the dramatic rumors about the event where John survived being hunted by a werewolf.
"Young Master John, we are really glad that you managed to survive and come back safely," Tip said, his voice earnest. "How did Young Master survive? We heard that one bite of a werewolf is fatal to a normal vampire."
John smiled wryly and scratched the back of his head. "It was not that impressive, guys. I would not be standing here if Caden didn't come through and lay the smackdown on that wolf guy."
Nate and Tip were instantly excited to hear about Reina's son. "Wow, Young Master, I wish I was there to see Master Caden in action. We only heard stories on how great Master Caden is with a sword."
"Me too, me too," Nate echoed.
Reina, who was genuinely happy to see the young boys admire her son, cut in sharply. "Okay, boys, it's time for training. I want you all to start running."
John hated running, but he instantly remembered how all the previous sessions had helped him survive in the forest. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, John started running. This time, Reina did not let John rest; she made him run until his legs gave out. After John was done recovering, Reina gave him dumbbells and made him do all kinds of upper body exercises until his arms felt like jelly.
After John finally recovered, he took a plastic bottle of blood out of his storage ring, ready to take a much-needed drink, until Reina stopped him.
"No, John. This time, you are not allowed to drink blood to help you recover. I thought about how I can make the training more intense, and I got an idea," she said, smoothly taking the bottle out of John's hands.
"Guard!" Reina called out.
One of the vampire guards immediately came up to her and gave her a light bow. "How may I be of service, My Lady?"
She handed the vampire guard a note. "Bring me this prisoner."
"Yes, My Lady."
After about fifteen minutes, the guard returned with the prisoner Reina had instructed him to bring. It was a man who was about five-foot-eight, with thick, messy hair and a big nose. He was clearly human and looked utterly terrified, yet defiant.
Reina walked up to the prisoner. "Are you prisoner number 008?"
"Fuck you, vampire slut! My name is Russell!" the man spat, fueled by fear and rage.
"Hey, you can't talk to my teacher that way!" John immediately inserted himself, instinctively defending Reina.
The prisoner Russell looked at him angrily. "What is your name, boy?"
"John."
The prisoner, Russell (008), looked at John and said, "Oh, then fuck you, John."
Reina merely smiled at the prisoner's comment. "John, we will not be training outside. We are going to an indoor training room inside the castle. Guards, please bring the prisoner along."
Reina turned and walked toward the castle entrance, and John immediately followed. "Aunt Reina, why are we going to train inside the castle?"
"Oh, no reason, John. I just want this training to be a little private," Reina said, giving a low, knowing chuckle.
They walked until they reached the lower part of the castle, stopping before a huge black door. Reina opened the door, revealing a large, stone-walled room that looked designed for combat. A man was already inside waiting for them.
"Hey, Caden!" John cried out, relieved to see a familiar face. Caden simply waved from the other side of the room.
John looked back at Reina. "Aunt Reina, what is Caden doing here? Is he going to train me next?"
Reina's expression was calm, but her eyes held a fierce intensity. "No. I called Caden to keep an eye on your fight with the prisoner. I am going to leave you here with him as I have business to attend to. Do try your best to win this fight."
John was shocked. His blood-hunger was momentarily forgotten, replaced by panic. "Wait, hold up, do you want me to fight this grown man?"