"Is it good?" In Lionnis's finest restaurant, Isaac was tirelessly feeding Sophia, who was wrapped in her blood wings, wearing her leather outfit repaired by Bloodheart's magic, her body beneath swathed in gauze and bandages, bound tightly with holy ropes, and her feet shackled with chains. She devoured the food voraciously, trying to restore her strength and blood. Isaac sat beside her, asking.
"Not good!" Sophia said, her voice still hoarse, her vocal cords not fully healed. "When I'm out, no matter how busy, I always teleport back to my castle for meals! Eat, then teleport away. The last time I didn't eat at home was over a century ago!" The food here was, as always, inferior to her castle's fare.
"I haven't been back to eat or use the bathroom in days! My castle slaves will be worried," Sophia added.
"You… you even use the bathroom at your castle?" Isaac asked, puzzled, and curious about her odd claim that "slaves will worry."
"Of course! My castle has the world's best toilet, built by Vlad!" Sophia boasted. Seeing Isaac's confusion, she continued, "Vlad's my incompetent father. You know, I'm the only vampire who needs the bathroom often." After fainting yesterday, when Isaac bandaged her wounds, her lower body was a mess—she'd been holding it for days, and the crossbow bolts piercing her caused… an accident. Upon waking, realizing Isaac had seen it all, she shared more about her body, including her vision, hearing, and how she could "see" his arousal with her echolocation.
"Little Zack knows so many of my secrets now, even my naked, unconscious body and my… mishap," Sophia said, giving Isaac a strange look.
"Y-You… I was just cleaning and bandaging your wounds! I didn't—" Isaac stammered, terrified, but Sophia cut him off. "Little Zack's so reliable now, rushing to bandage me despite the myth that vampire blood corrodes everything."
"I was scared, but I thought you were dying. Everyone's heard vampire blood melts anything, but I couldn't care less then."
"You didn't know," Sophia smirked, "I took precautions long ago, altering my blood to be human-like."
"The cost is that my blood's efficiency dropped—less energy, less effective for elixirs." She sighed, disappointed, but quickly smiled. "But since Little Zack wasn't harmed by my noble blood, my goal was achieved." Her radiant smile captivated Isaac.
"By the way," Sophia's tone turned icy and menacing, "seeing my naked body usually means death."
Isaac's hair stood on end, his throat tight.
"Hmph." Sophia stared at him with queenly authority, no trace of her playful demeanor. "But since Little Zack worked so hard to save me, I'll spare you."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Duchess Dominatrix!" Isaac shouted in fear.
"Idiot, why yell so loud?" Sophia glared at the sweating Isaac. "We're in public! Everyone's staring!"
"S-Sorry…" Isaac lowered his head, still sweating.
"Hey! Keep feeding me, you dolt!" Sophia's complaint snapped Isaac back. He mechanically forked a piece of meat into her waiting mouth.
"Want a drink?" Isaac held up a bottle of wine.
Sophia eyed it. She hadn't drunk water in four days, and with her human-like thirst, she was parched. But drinking meant needing the bathroom… Screw it, she was a pampered noblewoman, not one for restraint. Desperate, she pressed her lips to the bottle, and Isaac tilted it, the liquid flowing in with a "glug, glug, glug."
Their vampire hunt earned 50 gold coins, plus the 20 Isaac scavenged, totaling over 70. Sophia also took over 100 coins from Anna, claiming compensation for her injuries, making Isaac richer than ever. This was why he could afford Lionnis's best restaurant, though its food, in the gourmet nation of Gulens, was still lackluster to Sophia. Her cloak fit the opulent setting, but Isaac's shabby clothes stood out starkly among the nobles and tycoons.
"Didn't expect that mongrel here," Sophia said, glancing at a man in gothic noble attire.
"Who's that?" Isaac asked.
"A Kartan mongrel," Sophia said, referring to a high vampire of the Kartan royal clan. Without 100% pure progenitor blood, even a royal vampire was a mongrel to her.
"Kartan? You mean Blood—" Isaac began, familiar with the infamous Kartan vampire family.
"Exactly, Blood Dragons," Sophia confirmed. "They killed an adult fire dragon once, obsessed with knightly honor and martial prowess—muscle-headed mongrels with nothing else."
The vampire's keen hearing caught "Kartan" and "Blood Dragon." He turned, saw Isaac and Sophia, looked shocked, and bowed.
"I thought that mongrel would challenge me to a duel. Mongrels are mongrels," Sophia said coldly.
Isaac, sensing trouble, packed food for Anna, and they left the restaurant.
"Why wasn't cowardly Little Zack afraid of death last night?" Sophia asked on the way back."I… don't know," Isaac replied. "Maybe your courage, Lady Dominatrix."
"Oh? So you're still your usual death-fearing self?" Her voice, thanks to vampire regeneration, was no longer hoarse.
"Yes," Isaac admitted, hesitating before asking, "Lady Domin—Sophia, are you afraid of death?"
Sophia stopped, turned, and stared at Isaac, making him uneasy. She leaned close, her lips nearly touching his ear. Anyone knowing she was a vampire would scream for him to beware.
"Little Zack," she whispered, "did you know, since vampires are already dead, we're all terrified of true death?"
Isaac was stunned. Vampires, all cowards?
"This duchess, with human sensations, fears death even more," she said in a chilling tone, giving Isaac goosebumps.
"But don't worry, Little Zack, I won't die."
"Little Zack, don't repeat what I'm about to say," she warned, her eyes turning blood-red, locking onto his. Isaac, sweating, could barely stand under her gaze.
She leaned back to his ear. "Did you know, a vampire's still heart stores our soul? Skilled witch hunters stake it, shattering the soul if pierced."
"For noble blood like mine, even beheading doesn't kill us—our heart's soul keeps us alive."
"If only the heart is destroyed, royals like me can still think with our brains, carrying the soul like humans."
"But if both brain and heart are destroyed, we die."
Isaac's mouth hung open, silent. The world's apex predator had revealed her weakness.
"Ever heard of liches? They store their soul in a phylactery, undying unless it's destroyed."
"But the cost is becoming undead, losing human emotions and joys."
"I'm already undead, though."
"Normal undead can't become liches—only living beings can."
"But I was born alive."
"You didn't know?" Sophia grinned wickedly. "I'm the only creature born a vampire, from a human mother and vampire father, with both undead and human traits. That's why I get hungry and tired like a human."
"So, I stored my soul in our family's heirloom sword, kept in my castle, unbreakable."
"Even if damaged, I've enchanted it to self-repair."
"As long as it's not sealed, I'll always revive. So, alone, I don't fear death. But if you got killed, that'd ruin the fun."
"Only my sister, brother, and I know this. Now you do too." Her red eyes bored into him, signaling a grave secret.
"If a third person learns this, I'd have to flay you alive, tear your soul apart, and trap it in a vessel for centuries of torment."
Silence.
Isaac held his breath, soaked in sweat, realizing the adage: the more you know, the faster you die.
"You won't betray me, right, Little Zack?" Sophia whispered coldly.
She pulled back, her red eyes reverting to pale blue, smiling sweetly as if the threat never happened. "Now you know so many of my secrets."
"Y-Yes… Domi—"
"Since you know so much, don't call me Dominatrix. Call me Sophia!"
"Okay… Sophia."
"No 'lady'!"
"Okay, Sophia, no lady…"
"Hahaha, Little Zack, don't be so stiff! Smile! Or call me Fifi, my mom's pet name for me!"
Isaac couldn't match Sophia's quick mood shifts, still too shaken to move.
"Tell me one of your secrets, Little Zack!"
He met her eyes, about to speak, but hesitated. "Not now."
"Tch, I can read minds!"
"If you could, you'd already know." Isaac, calming down, turned the tables.
"You! Outsmarted by a puny human!" Sophia pouted. "Can't you pretend I can still read minds? I'm done with you!" She stomped off in her shackled heels.
"What a troublesome woman," Isaac muttered, chasing after her.
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"How's it going, little bitch?" Back at their new inn (the old one, attacked by unknown forces with a crossbow, had closed), Sophia had Isaac remove her blood wings. In her queenly leather outfit, she was now comfortable indoors without strangers, revealing her bound, beautiful body. They headed to the storage room to check their "treasure"—eager to see Anna humiliated. Anna remained tightly hogtied, her breasts, thanks to the aphrodisiac, having grown past a 34D, straining her corset. A puddle glistened on the floor.
"Mmph!" Hearing Sophia's steps, Anna stifled her tears—she couldn't let the vampire see her cry. Despite the aphrodisiac's torment and the ropes' pain, she glared fiercely, though her blindfold hid her expression and tear stains. Sophia "saw" it via echolocation.
"Still tough, little bitch? Doesn't feel good being toyed with by your prey, huh?" Sophia turned, patting Anna's head like a pet with her elbow-bound hands. The motion tugged Anna's rope collar, causing choking, and sent vibrations to the ropes at her chest and crotch, triggering more fluid. Yet Anna endured, refusing to show weakness.
"Sophia, stop bullying her," Isaac interjected.
"Tch, who tied her up so tight and copped a feel?" Sophia, though bound, acted like the master.
"I was afraid she'd hack us up again," lecherous Isaac explained.
"No need to worry. If she tries, we'll sell her to slavers."
"Mmph!" Anna protested, choking on the collar but defiantly signaling her unyielding spirit.
"Look, little bitch is mad," Sophia laughed.
"Mmph!"
"Lady Belmont, if you cooperate, we can treat you better," Isaac said, seeing Anna's angry writhing stimulate her body, hoping to gain her compliance.
"Tch, who almost killed you yesterday? If not for my elixir, you'd be dead. Why so gentlemanly to this little bitch?" Sophia fumed at Isaac's kindness. Though she'd read his mind early on, knowing he was a gentlemanly lecher who wouldn't force himself on women—why she trusted him to bind her—she was now irritated by his behavior.
"She's bound and at our mercy. Lady Belmont, I can ungag you and feed you, but no shouting to draw attention. Agree?"
Starving for a day, Anna hated the idea of Sophia seeing her humiliated. "Mmph!" She shook her head violently, tugging the whip at her crotch, sparking a chain of struggles. "Mmph—mmph—mmph!"
"Heh, little bitch has pride. I've been fed twice by this blockhead and said nothing!" Sophia scoffed.
"Sophia, can you leave?"
"What? Got a new love and ditch the old?" Sophia pouted, fuming.
"What are you on about? She clearly doesn't want you seeing her eat!"
"Hmph! You males, always chasing new toys. I'm staying!"
"Sorry then, Toad Hop." Emboldened, perhaps by Anna's presence, Isaac, no longer the coward, dared challenge Sophia.
Snap! Sophia's feet locked together. "Isaac, you bastard—" Before she finished, Isaac scooped her up in a princess carry. She raged, "You jerk! I'll kill you! Daring to defy this duchess for a little butcher—" As she cursed, Isaac, struggling to hold her, gagged her with a vampire-specific ball gag. "Mmph!"
The gag, reacting to her blood, turned red and no longer sealed her lips as before. Struggling, Sophia drooled, soaking Isaac's clothes.
"Just for a bit, don't fuss." Isaac set the wet, squirming Sophia on the bed.
She fought, kicking with her bound legs, unable to speak. "Mmph!" Furious, she tried to kick Isaac, who grabbed leftover ropes from Anna's binding. "Sophia, keep this up, and I won't be polite."
Unafraid, Sophia kept kicking. Isaac climbed onto the bed, pinned her legs, and tightly bound them below her knees and thighs, knotting them securely. Knowing her vampire physiology wouldn't bruise, he tightened them, avenging her kicks. He removed her knee-high boots to lessen the pain of her kicks.
"Mmph!" Sophia, never so humiliated, thrashed furiously.
Though accustomed to crotch ropes, struggling made her lower body burn with unwanted pleasure. Realizing resistance was futile, she leaned into it, expressing her rage while enjoying the sensation. Trusting Isaac, she felt no shame struggling before him. "Mmph—mmph!"
Isaac returned to the storage room. "Sorry, Lady Belmont." He removed her blindfold. "She's gone. Will you stay quiet?"
Hearing Sophia's muffled protests, Anna, guessing her feet were shackled and mouth gagged, felt vindicated. Starving, she couldn't bear the rag soaked with Sophia's blood (oddly less acidic, a sacrifice for her human servant?) and bodily waste from her attack-induced accident. She nodded, grunting, "Mmph."
Isaac removed the gag and the underwear, bought from goblin merchant Asi for Sophia.
"Ahh!" Anna gasped, gulping fresh air.
"Why aid evil as a human?" she glared at Isaac.
"Sophia's not the evil vampire you think," Isaac said. Though tempted to take advantage, he hoped Anna would spare Sophia, staying gentlemanly.
"Hmph, you're bewitched by her charm magic."
"Mmph!" Sophia's protests echoed from outside, objecting.
"Lady Belmont, keep up this nonsense, and I'll regag you. Your tear stains show you're scared."
"Hmph, so what? I, Anna Belmont, fear no vile human!" Anna's words were bold, but she stopped. Her crying had been seen, but thankfully by a human, not the vampire. She hadn't cried since her family's manor was destroyed by a mob seven years ago, her parents dying to protect her at 14.
Seeing Anna's bravado but compliance, Isaac chuckled. "Open your mouth. I brought Lionnis's finest Gulens cuisine." He forked a piece of meat to her lips. Anna, with Sophia absent, ate.
Never fed before, combined with the aphrodisiac, Anna blushed as Isaac fed her. Bound like a pet, helplessly fed bite by bite? Since her family's fall, she'd fended for herself from 14, never cared for. Unlike a child reaching for food, she was utterly passive, suspended. Worse, starving, she couldn't chew fast—quick movements vibrated the ropes, tugging the whip at her crotch, pushing her aphrodisiac-ravaged body to ecstasy.
Unlike Sophia's hand-bound feedings, Anna, fully restrained and drugged, had no choice but to submit to Isaac's feeding.
On the bed, Sophia laughed, her gagged smile hidden. The storage room's poor soundproofing let her echolocate the scene. Haha, little bitch, you say no but love it! Fed like a dog! I wasn't hogtied for feeding. Not a hypocrite like you! Dominatrix one, Belmont zero—no, two-zero!
Isaac soon fed Anna full. She said, "Um… can you not gag me? I won't make noise, I swear on Belmont honor!" She dreaded the rag's vile contents.
"Sorry, she insists. You hurt her bad—pierced her body, broke her spine. She wanted worse punishment. This was my compromise, or she'd drink your blood. Besides, you caused the mess on that rag," Isaac said truthfully. Among punishment options, he'd chosen the least harsh: endurance elixir, suspension, aphrodisiac, and the filthy rag.
"Also," Isaac added, "you nearly killed me. I'm being kind by not crossing lines."
He picked up the underwear to regag her.
"Wait! One thing!" Anna said, panicked.
"What?"
"My horse, Swiftshadow. He's a good horse. Without me—"
"We found him. He's in the inn's stable."
"How—"
"Sophia's not that bad. She cared about your horse and found him."
"What? Impossible."
"Hope you'll rethink her." Isaac stuffed the underwear in her mouth, sealing it with the filthy rag.
"Mmph!" Anna struggled, fluid flowing under the aphrodisiac's relentless effect. To punish her for crippling her, Sophia, barely recovered, used liters of her blood—nearly collapsing again—to craft an aphrodisiac lasting over a month, ensuring Anna's days of leaking and nights of lustful dreams.
"Mmph!" Sophia's muffled protests outside signaled it was her turn.
"Goodnight, Lady Belmont." Isaac reblindfolded Anna, leaving her struggling in the storage room.
Seeing Isaac emerge, Sophia wailed, "Mmph, mmph!"
He unlocked her gag with the master key. She erupted, "You fickle stallion! Binding my feet and mouth for a little butcher, using her ropes on my noble legs!"
"Before her bolts hit, you were happy to be gagged," Isaac said, prepared.
"You! That was different! I chose that sacrifice. Today, you vile human forced these evil shackles on this sacred duchess!"
"Alright, my lady, you're always right."
"Who's prettier, me or that little bitch?" Sophia glared.
"Uh…"
"You hesitated! It's obviously me!" Sophia fumed.
"Of course, Sophia's a million times prettier than Lady Belmont."
"How many times?"
"Ten thousand!"
Isaac's wild flattery hit the mark. He'd learned Sophia was a spoiled noble craving praise. Unaware of her full history, he knew she'd been without family for 700 years, the only Dominatrix vampire, and despite her brilliance, lacked admirers. Her love for flaunting her powers and magic stemmed from this. Praise made her giddy.
"That's more like it!" Sophia beamed, satisfied.
"Dominatrix three, Belmont zero!" she added, laughing.
Isaac stared at her smile, but a loud "Mmph!" from the storage room—Anna protesting—broke the moment.
"Ugh, women," Isaac sighed.
"Hey, Little Zack, you haven't freed my legs!" Sophia hopped off the bed, showing her "Toad Hop" shackled feet.
"Alright, Good Slave." The shackles became plain anklets.
"And the ropes?"
"I'll untie them."
"No need! This duchess doesn't beg! You, puny human, bound my legs, so I'll keep them bound—no need for your pity!"
Isaac, amused, watched Sophia, determined to prove she was fine bound, shuffle back to bed. Lying down, she said, "Little Zack, these bindings seem to weaken my physical defenses too."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been shot by that crossbow before."
"And?"
"It's powerful, but never pierced me clean through."
"Oh…"
"So," Sophia hopped off the bed, shuffled to Isaac, and smiled radiantly, "Little Zack, you must protect me well."
Isaac blushed. "I, Lionnis's vampire slayer Isaac, will do my duty!"
"Mmph!" A protest from the storage room seemed to say, "Filthy couple."
Looking at the storage room, Sophia, thinking of Anna's gag, smirked mysteriously at Isaac. "Little Zack, I've got an idea."