Chapter 68: Theatre...?

"You okay?"

Aqua sat on the arena’s side benches, shoulders slumped, breathing still uneven. The others had already moved on with the plot, Lucius included.

He would have lost without my intervention. The academy noticed. They offered to train him, and just like that, they were gone.

Aqua, however, had stayed behind. The artifact’s magic had burned through nearly everything she had, leaving her mana reserves close to empty. She’d told the Headmistress she’d catch up after recovering.

The Headmistress had offered to help. But Aqua refused, vehemently.

I didn’t need to ask why. Her hand kept drifting toward the necklace at her throat, fingers brushing the ice-and-flame pendant before she caught herself and pulled away. She was afraid someone might notice it.

Not that it mattered. The necklace had bound itself to her the moment she wore it. No one could take it from her now, and no one could use it against her.

But I’d let her discover that on her own. Ruining the surprise would be a shame.

"Okay would be too strong a word..."

She said, flexing her fingers as if testing whether they still worked.

"But I don’t exactly feel bad either. Not after feeling how powerful this thing is."

I crouched to meet her at eye level, converging mana into a small, concentrated sphere at my fingertip. It glowed a soft blue, low-level light magic, aptly named Mana Share.

"Take it and get some rest."

"Thanks."

Aqua plucked the orb from my hand and pressed it to her lips, swallowing it in one motion. The effect was immediate. Her mana reserves began refilling, the visible cuts and bruises along her arms knitting shut as the extra energy accelerated her body’s natural healing.

I didn’t leave.

She noticed, one brow lifting slightly.

"Need anything else?"

"Want me to carry you to your room? I asked the Headmistress about your room number, just in case your condition got worse."

Surprise flickered across her face, brief but genuine. Then it softened. She was definitely starting to get used to my presence, and my sudden bouts of gentlemanliness.

"I’d appreciate that."

✧ ✦ ✧

After delivering Aqua to her dorm, I noticed Lucius and Rhaegar getting along in the hallways during our break. Whatever was happening in their special training, it looked like it was already starting to work.

Celeste, however, looked less than impressed. She stayed beside Lucius, smiling, but her eyes kept drifting toward the Citadel students with thinly veiled suspicion.

Everything was going just as read.

"Hey, did you hear about the first year?"

"You mean the one that disappeared?"

"Yeah, it happened just after the Leonis students arrived. Do you think...?"

I overheard a group of students trading conspiracy theories. But like I said, I already knew what was going on in this academy. A disappearance here and there wasn’t that big a problem.

The Citadel didn’t have every student in on the plan, after all. They were likely purging "unsatisfactory" students to plug any potential information leaks.

As for where I was heading...

This place really had everything. They even had a section on monsters and humanoid-adjacent creatures. Not even Leonis had this stuff; the academy had dubbed it fairly useless when I’d asked weeks ago in a bout of curiosity.

"Let’s see, vampires..."

I found the book I needed and flipped to the pages the table of contents had conveniently labeled as "night creatures."

Most of it was information I already knew. Weakness to sunlight, garlic, complete invisibility in mirrors. Including how half-vampires lacked almost all of those weaknesses in exchange for weaker powers than their pure-bred cousins.

But there was nothing about vampiric evolution.

Whatever evolution the novel had in store for Lillith’s arc, and what I’d accidentally triggered, it looked like it wasn’t common knowledge.

And the novel didn’t really explain much about it as well. So right now, I was stuck.

"You look disappointed..."

Seraph appeared beside me, sliding a book about wraiths back onto the shelf.

"More or less. The section on vampires is quite lacking."

"Vampires? I think I have a more advanced book back in my dorm room."

I shut the book and returned it to the shelf. So she had what I needed?

"I think you already know what I’m about to ask then..."

"Yes, pretty much. And I already have something in mind."

Even now, talking to her, I could tell how she’d earned her reputation as a ghost in human skin. She was as emotionless as a rock. If not for her strange beauty and serene voice, I might have mistaken her for a golem.

"Make sure it’s something I can do. I need that book, but I won’t do anything absurd. Killing is obviously off limits, but something like washing your entire estate’s laundry is fair game."

"Be assured. I won’t ask for anything that serious. Or anything that... underwhelming."

Well, would you look at that. She actually showed the slightest bit of emotion at my joke about laundry.

"Come with me."

She turned and began walking toward the library’s exit, her footsteps silent despite the stone floor. She didn’t even look back to see if I was following.

"So what’s the price?"

"You’ll know when I ask."

"That’s not how negotiations work."

"It is when I’m the one holding the book."

Fair enough. She had me there.

We stepped out of the library and into the Citadel’s main courtyard. The late morning sun cast long shadows across the weathered stone, and a handful of students lingered near the fountain at the center.

None of them paid us any attention.

Seraph led me toward where the special dormitories were. Unlike the older sections of the Citadel, this part had been renovated recently. Fresh paint, polished floors, and windows that actually let in light.

Her room was at the end of the hall. She unlocked it with a small silver key and gestured for me to enter.

The interior was sparse. A bed, a desk, a bookshelf. No decorations, no personal effects. It looked more like a guest room than a place someone actually lived.

"Spacious."

"I see no point in clutter."

She moved to the bookshelf and ran her fingers along the spines, searching. After a moment, she pulled out a thin, leather-bound volume and handed it to me.

"Vampiric Evolution: A Study of Bloodline Ascension. It’s a bit niche, but for anyone studying more about vampires, I think it’ll be a good read."

I took the book, turning it over in my hands. The cover was worn, the pages yellowed with age, but the text was still legible.

"Why do you even have this?"

"My family collects rare texts. This one was acquired before I was born."

I opened the book and skimmed the first few pages. The language was archaic, but readable. Terms like "blood ascension" and "binding pact" jumped out at me.

It was the root language from which the current language of humanity originated.

This was exactly what I needed.

"Now, what’s your price?"

She settled onto the edge of her bed, folding her hands in her lap. For the first time since I’d met her, something like amusement crossed her features.

"You’re arrogant, shameless, and utterly powerful. I think you’d make a perfect fit for the villain in the theatre production we’re holding for the two academies."

What...?