Chapter 69: The Trial’s Power

Before I knew it, the afternoon had arrived, marking the end of the education trip’s first day. And now I was somewhere inside the Citadel’s gymnasium, dressed in an exaggerated dark cloak and surrounded by props.

She really hadn’t been joking.

I’d half-expected "theatre" to be a metaphor or some kind of code word. Not... literal theatre.

"This is your script. Please memorize it. The first wave of rehearsals begins in ten minutes."

Seraph had changed into a cliché director’s outfit. The hat, the megaphone, the oddly western attire... all of it made her look absurd in contrast to her stone-faced personality.

"I see you got dragged into this as well..."

Anna let out an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of her head. She wore what I could only describe as a classic princess dress, her own script clutched in her hand.

I skimmed the first page of my script. The villain’s dialogue was... surprisingly good. Dramatic, menacing, and just self-aware enough to be entertaining without tipping into parody.

"You wrote this yourself?"

Seraph nodded, adjusting the brim of her director’s hat.

"Three years ago. It was rejected by the Citadel’s theatre committee for being ’too dark.’ I’ve been waiting for the right cast ever since."

"And I’m the right cast?"

"You’re the only person I’ve met who could play this role without it feeling like a performance."

I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult.

Anna leaned over to peek at my script, her princess dress rustling as she moved.

"Wow, you have a lot of lines... meanwhile, I think my character just gets... abused, a lot."

"That’s because your character is the heart of the story. She represents everything the villain destroys."

Seraph said it without a trace of emotion. I couldn’t tell if she actually cared about the script or was simply recycling something she’d already written to lessen her workload.

"Alright, everyone! First scene, first act! Villain’s monologue, then the princess’s capture!"

Seraph raised her megaphone with theatrical precision.

✧ ✦ ✧

The more the rehearsals played on, the stranger everything got. I was playing the part of an absurd, audacious villain who felt more like a stereotype than a human.

Anna was the opposite.

Her character was literally just her. More specifically, her before she’d ever made contact with me. From personality down to mannerisms, it was straight-up her.

It felt like I was the only one acting.

"Alright, cut. We’re done for the day."

Seraph said it with the same emotionless tone as always, stretching her limbs from her cliché director’s chair.

"Why does Anna get to act realistic while I’m stuck being the living embodiment of a cartoonish devil?"

I complained halfheartedly. Seraph barely paid attention, already handing me the second part of my script, a stack twice the size of the last.

"It’s my script. Don’t question it. And in return, I won’t question what you plan to do with the book you want to borrow."

Fair enough.

✧ ✦ ✧

I finally got my first look at the dorm room assigned to me. Compared to my bedroom at the estate, it was a major downgrade. Not terrible, but underwhelming given the luxury I’d grown accustomed to since arriving in this world.

I’d suck it up. We were only staying a week.

I sat on the edge of the bed and opened the book Seraph had given me. The information inside was more than useful.

Vampiric evolution, a rare phenomenon only a handful of vampires ever achieved. There were multiple paths it could take, and one in particular caught my attention. It resembled what had happened to Lillith.

A Vampire Queen. According to the description, the earliest stages involved faint golden traces in the vampire’s eyes and a massive boost in power.

It matched her exact description.

But how it was achieved was even more interesting. Two methods existed: feed and live long enough to evolve naturally, or drink the blood of a powerful individual.

In other words, me.

According to the book, however, the second method carried a risk. Binding yourself to the powerful individual’s blood. Soul and fate, intertwined. That was why most vampire queens who sought that evolution killed the source before drinking.

And if I remembered correctly, the blood Lillith drank in the novel to become a Vampire Queen belonged to someone already dead.

"So me being alive was the major difference."

So that was it. Lillith wasn’t just evolving into a Vampire Queen. She was binding herself to me in the process, soul and fate, according to the book.

The "master" title wasn’t a slip of the tongue or a side effect of blood loss. It was the binding pact manifesting.

I closed the book and set it on the nightstand.

The question now was what to do with that information. Lillith was already loyal, already committed to serving me after I kept her secret.

But this was different.

This was a supernatural bond she hadn’t consciously chosen. She’d fed on me in desperation, not knowing what it would trigger.

Did she know now? Had she figured it out on her own, or was she as confused as I’d been?

The way she’d blushed and stammered after calling me "master" suggested she didn’t fully understand it either. The word had slipped out, instinctive. That was the binding speaking, not her.

And honestly, that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

What a boring way to conquer a villainess. Soul binding and similar tricks could be arousing in their own right, but only after a genuine bond had formed.

Using magic to shortcut my way into a villainess’s heart was completely unsatisfying.

I was here to make them fall madly in love with me naturally. And manipulatively. Not through cheap blood magic and binding pacts.

This wasn’t something I would accept. Besides, did it even count as a happy ending for her if I forced her to be mine through a blood-drinking ritual?

VWOOM!

A sudden pulse rippled through the room the moment I finished the thought. The space between my ribs began to glow, a faint sphere of pure black light shimmering as the furniture around me rattled in response.

Was it finally happening?

Zephra’s pill. It was manifesting.

Talk about taking its time.