Chapter 61: A Crying Vampire

"Put him here."

Lillith directed her men to place the bound student in a chair at the center of an abandoned campus building.

His official charge? Treason against another noble house. His actual crime? Holding a somewhat reasonable grudge against me for everything the old Reyn had done.

"You may go. I’ll handle him myself."

The men filed out without a word. The student couldn’t plead his case anyway; tape sealed his mouth, reducing his protests to muffled nonsense.

A minute later, Anna arrived, hands clasped behind her back, an ominous smile playing on her lips.

"Shall we, Lady Rose?"

Anna nodded and produced a small hammer from behind her back. With a quick THWACK, she knocked him out in one blow, leaving a visible dent in his skull where she’d struck.

"Drink to your heart’s content. When you’re done, I’ll heal him, and we’ll decide if he lives or dies."

Lillith bowed, her fangs extending as she opened her mouth. Their agreement was mutually beneficial: Anna used Lillith’s position on the council to dispose of her enemies, and Lillith fed on those same enemies without attracting the attention of vampire hunters.

Anna’s healing magic erased the punctures and any other traces the moment Lillith finished.

✧ ✦ ✧

"That’s the gist of it..."

Anna finished explaining in the carriage. By the time she was done, Lillith was fidgeting with her fingers, uncertain how I would react.

It wasn’t as if she could attack me and run. I was still the top-ranked student, and my magic directly countered hers. And the woman beside me would likely help capture her if I gave the word.

"That’s... definitely an interesting agreement."

Lillith’s shoulders dropped a fraction, the tension bleeding out of her frame. She’d been bracing for disgust, maybe even a threat. Instead, I was still seated across from her, arms relaxed, expression unchanged.

"You’re... not bothered by it?"

"That you drink blood? No."

I tilted my head, considering how much to reveal.

"On the contrary, I find it incredibly attractive," I said bluntly.

The carriage lurched gently as it hit another rut in the road. Both were staring at me, one with amusement, the other with something closer to disbelief.

"You... what?" Lillith’s voice came out thin, almost strangled.

"I said I find it attractive. Is that so surprising?"

"You can’t just say something like that so casually!"

"I just did."

Anna, for her part, had shifted from surprise to a knowing smirk. She leaned back against the cushioned seat, crossing one leg over the other as she watched the exchange with open amusement.

She was accepted by me despite being a murderer, after all. She sure as hell knows my preference by now.

"Reyn has always had particular tastes, Lady Crimson. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now."

"Particular tastes?" Lillith repeated, still recovering.

"He likes dangerous women. The more morally ambiguous, the better."

Anna said it with the casual confidence of someone who’d long since accepted this reality.

"Isn’t that right, Reyn?"

"Guilty."

✧ ✦ ✧

In the end, I told Lillith I’d keep her and Anna’s agreement a secret, on one condition. She wasn’t allowed to ignore me when I wanted to talk to her.

The deal made her immediately suspicious. I could see it in the way her crimson eyes narrowed, the way her fingers tightened around the edge of her seat. But she couldn’t refuse.

Not really.

What surprised me was what happened after.

The moment the conversation ended, Lillith burst into tears.

Relief, mostly. The kind that crashes over you after you’ve been bracing for the worst and it never comes. But beneath that relief was also the sheer fear she’d felt when I revealed I knew about her nature.

Not quiet, dignified tears either. Full sobbing, shoulders shaking, the kind of crying that comes after holding everything in for far too long.

She latched onto Anna like a drowning woman grabbing a lifeline, burying her face in Anna’s shoulder while Anna patted her back with gentle, soothing motions.

I’d honestly be surprised if the carriage driver didn’t hear all of this.

"I wasn’t planning to do anything, Lady Lillith—"

I tried to comfort her, but my words had the opposite effect. She just cried harder, her fingers curling into Anna’s sleeve as if letting go would mean falling.

Well. I guess I didn’t really mind.

She was cute this way.

A cold vampire on the surface, an emotional wreck underneath. She was already starting to stand out, even beside Anna, Trish, and Aqua.

And yes, I’m fully self-aware about how weird that sounds.

The carriage rolled on through the countryside, the rhythmic clatter of wheels over stone filling the silence that had settled after Lillith’s tears finally subsided. She pulled back from Anna with a wet laugh, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief Anna had produced from somewhere.

"I apologize. That was... unbecoming."

"Considering you thought I was going to expose you as a half-vampire and have you executed, I think you’re allowed a few tears."

Lillith winced at how casually I said it.

"You really don’t have any filter, do you?"

"None whatsoever. Anna can attest to that."

"He’s terrible."

Anna agreed, but her tone was warm. She was still absently stroking Lillith’s back, the same soothing rhythm she used on me after a long day.

"But he’s honest. That’s part of what makes him worth keeping around."

Honest, sure, let’s call it that.

Lillith looked between us, her crimson eyes still red-rimmed. Whatever she saw on our faces seemed to reassure her, because she finally let out a shaky breath and settled back against the carriage seat.

"Thank you, truly. The mercy you’ve given me is more than I ever deserve."

"Don’t worry about it, Lady Crimson, in fact..."

Anna leaned close to Lillith’s ear, and I instinctively sharpened my hearing. What I caught made me glad I did.

She was explaining the murders. The five students who’d ambushed me. The cover-up. The reason she was still here, still breathing, still allowed to stand beside me after everything.

"T-That was you? The rumors were real?"

"Yes. So don’t worry about Reyn betraying you. My childhood friend wouldn’t do that."

Lillith frowned.

"Wasn’t your childhood friend Lord Lucius?"

Silence.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, isn’t Lord Lucius—"

"What do you mean?" Anna repeated, her voice pitched a shade higher.

"...Never mind."

Lillith wisely let it drop.