(Yo, my power was going on and off on Mondays, that's why there were no chapters; the snowstorm fucked us over.)
Slowly, I opened my eyes, though I wasn't met with the familiar ceiling of my room in my estate; instead, the wood was darker, like black oak. However, the appreciation of the ceiling was cut short as I was hit with a massive headache, causing me to wince.
"Ugh, my head." Grabbing my head, groaning in pain, I slowly sat upright, observing my surroundings through the migraine I was currently experiencing.
'This place, it's nice.' Wherever I was, the owner was clearly wealthy, though for some reason, they could've used a better color palette; they greatly overused red and black. Sliding off the bed, I approached the full mirror, looking at myself, though I spotted nothing out of the ordinary.
"Where is this pain coming from then?" Speaking softly, I plopped on a chair, rubbing my head as I tried remembering what had happened, but everything was blurry. 'Amnesia?' Rubbing my head, confused, I briefly thought about using [Rebirth], but in the end, I didn't.
Whatever is the source of my pain, if it can't be healed naturally through my Ichor, hastily using Rebirth before I even know why I'm in pain wasn't the smartest idea. 'Poison? No, even if I'd been poisoned, it wouldn't just be my head that hurts.'
Leaning forward, rubbing my temples, pondering through the pain as I tried to piece together my memories, the door was suddenly opened, only to see two faintly familiar people. One was a gorgeous woman, the other was a man.
"Marston, guard the door." "Yes, Mistress." Bowing, the man, Marston, stayed outside and closed the door while the woman approached me. "You're awake. You've been asleep for a week straight; I was beginning to think I'd pointlessly made that pact."
As she drew closer, some of the memories from that night gained clarity, causing my curious gaze to shift to mild annoyance and caution. "What the hell did you do to me?" At my question, she furrowed her brows, only for several blood tendrils to erupt from where she stood.
Faster than I could react, they grabbed a hold of me before forcing me to the ground. "Let us get our relationship straight, Alexander. You're now my subordinate. You will act like one. You will address me as Mistress. Am I clear?" Coldly, she gazed down at me while lifting my chin with her foot, causing me to snort.
"And if I say no?" Narrowing my eyes, meeting her gaze with my own, she didn't respond and flashed a smile. "Go ahead. Refuse me." As if to prove the danger of her smile, my heart began beating rapidly, furiously pounding against my ribs as if it were about to explode, warning me of imminent danger.
However, the danger my heart was warning me of wasn't from her; no, the danger was far too great, it was the same level back in Asckbon, when I protected Vanye from that lightning bolt, and during my fight with Chase, when Jasmine and I were nearly smited.
Realizing what this sense of dread came from, I sighed in defeat before responding through gritted teeth. "Yes. Mistress." Almost instantly, the sense of dread receded, and my heart calmed, returning to normal; yet even at the thought of disobeying her, it jumped.
"Good." Removing her foot, she retracted her tendrils, causing me to slowly stand up, highly annoyed at my situation. "What did you do to me, Mistress?" Speaking blandly with almost no emotion, she flashed a smirk, either amused or satisfied at my behavior, before gently shaking her head. "I do not know."
I didn't bother pressing the question; either she truly didn't know, or she did, but she refused to tell me, in which case, I could do nothing about it since I was her subordinate.
"Anyway, kneel. I am hungry." Waving her hand, dismissing the topic, she glanced at me, her pupils dilating while she licked her fangs, a sight that annoyed me as it was hot. Clicking my tongue, I dropped to one knee, prompting her to lean into my neck, bite down, and suck; while doing so, I could see her body tremble every now and then.
Eventually, after a few minutes, she retracted herself from my neck, where I got to see her flushed face and heavy breathing, as if she'd just finished nightly activities. Though after a moment, she calmed herself, returning to the serene Mistress from before. "Delicious, Mistress?" "What an amusing pet." Grabbing my chin roughly, she let go, causing me to stand up while she turned around, walking towards the door.
"Marston, get him proper clothes." "Yes, Mistress." Exiting the room, she gave Marston a look before walking away, while he closed the door, prompting me to plop back into the chair.
"This is just great." Muttering weakly, I look up at the ceiling, unsure of how this would play out.
"Zartha, what happened?" Addressing my trusty sword spirit, she responded, though there was a hint of exhaustion in her cold tone. 'This is your fault, Master… If you hadn't tried resisting Goddess Nihil, you'd be fine.'
I furrowed my brows, entirely confused about when I 'resisted' Goddess Nihil. 'During the pact, Master. Your memories of that time may be a bit jumbled, but remember.' Softly sighing, I did as she advised, working through the pain as I focused on remembering the events in the war room.
Blurry images flashed by my mind, but then, I remembered, well, I should say felt more than saw. I remember feeling something foreign invade my body, and out of instinct, I used [Heroes Will] to resist, obviously; why would I just allow an unknown force invade my body?
Well, resist was a bit of a lie. I tried resisting, but the invading force smashed right through my will, bypassing it as if it weren't even there in the first place.
"I-I see. So, that foreign force was Goddess Nihil? No wonder my head hurts; it must be the backlash I received." Softly sighing, annoyed and defeated, the door was opened once more; this time, it was Marston, who entered before tossing me an outfit. "Move human; don't waste Mistress's time." Hearing his condescending tone, I scoffed and stood up, standing a few inches taller than him.
"I can't do anything when the Mistress speaks to me like that, but get your tone straight, Marston." Narrowing my eyes at him, given how his expression was quickly filled with anger, he clearly didn't like my words.
"How dare a mere human speak to a pureblood!?" "I'll speak to you however I damn please; you're not nearly strong enough to garner my respect." Folding my arms, I kept my gaze, causing several blood tendrils to emerge from his as he lunged at me.
Seeing him, I used [Lightning Cloak], [Strength Augment], [Speed Augment], and met his lunge; slamming into each other, I grabbed his shoulder and threw a punch, yet just before connecting, I stopped.
"Satisfied, Marston?" Glaring at him, my lightning-clad fist less than an inch away from him, he narrowed his eyes while looking down, prompting me to follow his gaze, where four of his blood tendrils hovered an inch away from my heart. "Are you, Human?"
Snorting, we let each other go and created distance, though as I looked at Marston, the condensing gaze from before had vanished; he still looked at me with a gaze of superiority, but this time with caution. "Don't make Mistress wait."
With that, he exited, staying right outside the door while I rolled my eyes, annoyed at his personality and strength. Removing my shirt, I leaned down, grabbing the outfit, which was that of a Victorian butler, something I'd probably look good in, but I froze when I saw what looked like a collar.
"This fucker, is he trying to humiliate me?" Clicking my tongue, I approached the door, opening it and glaring at Marston, who was impatiently tapping his foot. "Hey, the hell is this collar for?" "A feed collar human; it dictates ownership." Seeing him look at me as if I were stupid, I felt the urge to strangle him. "I know what a collar is. Why did you give it to me?"
"It dictates ownership human; only the owner of you can feed off you." I used [Heroes Gaze] just in case to ensure he wasn't lying, but, unfortunately for me, he wasn't. Clicking my tongue, I slammed the door shut while looking at the collar.
"Fuck."
Forced to put up with the humiliation, I changed into the uniform, put on the shoes, and finished it off with the collar around my neck. "I really hate how I don't actually hate the look of the collar." Grunting in annoyance, I looked at myself in the mirror before exiting the room, standing before Marston, who gave me a once-over before snorting.
"Acceptable. Follow, Human." "Tch." Following Marston, he walked me down the halls, passing knights, other vampires, and non-demon races; I'd also look out the windows, observing the estate, which was easily bigger than mine.
After a few minutes, we arrived at the destination. "Mistress, we've arrived."