"Master...?" Maria looked at Victor's face in concern while she didn't even seem affected by the man's smile.
"Hmm?" Victor lifted his gaze and looked at Maria:
"... What are you doing?" he asked in a neutral tone.
"Master looked like he was in pain… So I hugged him to ease his pain!" She spoke with a determined face. It was a face that didn't show that she had ulterior motives.
"..." Victor narrowed his eyes slightly.
"..." Maria stared at Victor with a twinkle in her eye, and it was as if she was looking at an 'idol', precisely speaking, a 'god.'
An uncomfortable silence fell over the place.
"...I see." Then, in an attempt to break out of this uncomfortable silence, he lifts his face and leans back on his ice throne.
"Master, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, My Maid."
Maria's ears twitched a little when she heard 'My Maid':
"...Oh, that's good!" She looked very happy for some reason.
"..." Victor ignored the 'new' Maria's over-enthusiasm and looked at the man lying in front of him.
Victor rests his face in his hand, and as he looks at Carlos, he seems to be thinking about several things.
'Hmm, what am I supposed to do with you?' For some reason, Victor felt dissatisfied, he thinks that this man hasn't suffered much yet, but he also couldn't overdo it anymore now because he no longer had the vampire's regeneration.
Victor 'ate' all the vampire blood that was in Carlos' body.
Which proves a very important point.
'These hybrids are not perfect.'
It's like the Yin Yang symbol, in that they needed to be equal, to be perfectly balanced as all things should be.
But it seems that this did not apply to these artificially created hybrids, the proof of which is that Victor managed to 'tear off' the vampiric part of this man, and all that was left was the human side that could die at any moment now.
Victor thought and considered what he should do to prolong his suffering, but in the end, he was honest with himself. He was bored.
This man gave him no satisfaction.
'But at least...' Victor's smile grew a little; 'I know what my enemy looks like'.
Despite saying, "I found you."
Victor didn't find him literally speaking, he just discovered his enemy's appearance, and if he knows the enemy's appearance, he knows when to attack him at first sight.
Who knows? Maybe that man might be shopping on the street, and Victor sees him. It's always good to have your enemy's appearance in mind.
"Maria, what do you want to do with him?"
"Hmm?" Maria looked at Victor, and then looked at Carlos, and when she looked at Carlos and his pathetic state, her expression turned to disgust:
"This worm should just die. I would even feel disgusted trying to eat him, he'll probably taste like shit." Maria's face turned paler than usual, and it was as if she really was going to throw up at any moment.
"...." Victor's eyes narrowed so much at Maria's comment, he could have sworn he saw Carlos' dying body being hit by invisible arrows.
"Very Well." Victor clapped his hands lightly to change the mood and soon got up from the ice throne:
"He is more useful alive than dead, so I will present him to my wife Ruby as a little lab rat."
Victor turns around, and soon the ice throne begins to crumble.
"Hmm? Why the sudden change, Master?"
"hmm?" Victor stopped walking and looked back:
"!!!" Maria's body shook when she saw Victor's gaze, and she realized she had gone too far! She must not question her master's orders!
"Excuse me!"
"...Eh?"
"Excuse me! I won't do it again."
'...But I literally didn't say anything...' Somehow, Victor felt tired from dealing with Maria since he wasn't used to this kind of treatment.
'Seriously, where is that Maria from before?'
"It's okay, okay?"
"...But-..." Maria was about to say something, but Victor grabbed her shoulder and spoke again, this time with a more intense face.
"Okay?"
"...Yes~..." Her cheeks were a little red.
Victor lets go of Maria's shoulder and says:
"I left him alive for one simple reason."
"He knows a lot of things."
Victor was silent as he looked at Carlos, as he remembered that experience he had of seeing several memories.
'The moment this happened to me, I again heard the sounds of chains...' Victor looked at his hand while remembering that the same thing happened when he first accessed his vampire count form.
And he remembered Vlad's words:
"Don't become a monster like me."
Victor flashed a cold smile; 'Looks like it was too late, old man.'
"I see... In that case, it's a good idea to let him live." Maria nodded, indicating that she understood her master's motivation.
"Yes." Victor turned around and started walking towards the exit, and when he left the room, he suddenly disappeared.
'Carlos, despite being a worm, since he was a commander of the enemy, the most logical thing is to let him live to extract as much information as possible. Then, as soon as we get as much information as we can from the enemy, we will make several traps to kill them slowly and feast on their blood...' Maria opened her eyes wide, and when she noticed something, she looked at where victor had vanished.
'Master was thinking so far ahead? As expected of Lord Victor!'
"..." She looked at Carlos again, while her eyes were full of determination; 'He is useful to my master, I must make him useful as much as possible! I will make you work to death!'
Maria ran towards the exit of the room, she looked around and saw that Victor was no longer around, but she didn't care, she could find Victor at any moment!
How could she do that!?
She could 'feel' Victor and, even if he is in another dimension, she is 100%… wrong. She's 1,000,000% sure she'll find him! There is not any amount of distance that will stop her from finding him! After all, he is her master!
...I call bullshit...
...
"LADY RUBYYYY!"
BOOOOOOM!
A blonde Maid suddenly invaded the place where Ruby was!
"..." Ruby, who was wearing a white doctor's coat, looked at the Maid with an annoyed look, but the moment she saw the Maid's appearance, she opened her mouth in shock.
"Yes, he did it." Lacus, who was nearby, spoke laughing.
"Fueee? Who did what?" She looked at Lacus with an innocent look as her eyes sparkled with curiosity!
"...You are very slow as usual." Lacus felt like sighing.
"Ugh, I'm not slow!"
"Keep believing that, and it will come true one day... I hope."
"UGhyaaaaaaaa!" Pepper got angry and suddenly hugged Lacus.
"Wha-." Lacus was experiencing the famous attack that was called: 'being overwhelmed by a soft body.'
"Hmm...!" She tried to say something, but nothing really relevant was understood since everything was drowned out by the enormous mountains smothering her.
"Lady Ruby, Lady Ruby!"
"Yes, I'm Lady Ruby." Ruby lifted her glasses a little.
"Something has happened that needs attention!"
"What is it?"
"The worm is dying! It needs to live to help my master!"
"If the worm dies, it will be of no use to my master!"
"...." Ruby felt like she lost several neurons listening to what Maria said since she didn't understand anything from the beginning.
Ruby approaches Maria and holds both the woman's shoulders.
"Okay, let's calm down."
"...Yes?" But, she was calm? Maria was going to say that, but she was silent.
"First, you are Maria, right?"
"Yes!" She nodded.
"..." I do not believe it! That's what Ruby wanted to say, but seeing the woman's appearance, she couldn't deny that this was Maria.
"…Second, who is this master you are talking about?" She already had an idea who she was talking about, but she wanted to hear it from the woman's mouth.
Maria stared at Ruby's lifeless face with a slightly strained face, but she spoke with pride!
"Of course, it's Lord Victor."
Crack.
The glass on Ruby's glasses broke.
"Hiii..." Pepper quickly stops hugging Lacus, holds her sister in front of her, and moves away from Ruby a little while carrying Lacus like a giant doll.
"Yep, he really did it, hahaha~." Siena, who had stopped looking at some documents, laughed amusedly.
"…Third, what do you need my help with, stop talking in codes and speak normally."
"..." But I'm speaking normally... She wanted to say this, but just like before, she was silent, as she clearly realized that Ruby's mood was not good at all.
"Carlos is dying, he needs medical attention. Lord Victor did not kill it because he said it contains valuable information."
'Well, that's obvious...' Ruby didn't join in Carlos' 'torture', because she wanted to respect Sasha's moment, but it seems her friend is already completely satisfied.
'That means I can study his body more deeply…' Ruby's smile grew.
"... Siena." Ruby looked at Siena. It was as if she was asking her sister for something with her gaze.
"... Okay." Since she was free anyway, she didn't mind doing it.
"You, Maid. You come with me."
"..." Maria looked at Siena with a neutral gaze, but for a few seconds, her eyes glowed blood red.
"...Oh?"
"I'm sorry, but... You can't order me." She was as kind as possible since she didn't want to offend Siena, who was related to Ruby and consequently related to her Master, but...
'The only one who can ordain me is my master and Lady Sasha.'
"..." Siena was silent and continued to stare at Maria, but it was obvious that she clearly didn't like Maria's attitude.
"Eh..." Maria's smile grew, her hair seemed to defy gravity, and thousands of red strands began to be scattered around the place.
'Does she think I'm afraid? HAHAHAHAHHA~! Never! The only being I fear and respect is my master!'
"Stop." Ruby spoke in a cold tone that sent shivers down both women's spines:
"Don't fight in this place."
"..." The two were silent.
"… Maria, can you help her? This will benefit my Husband as well."
"Oh? Of course! I will, hehehe!" Maria ran out of the room.
"...This Maid is weird! How can she change so suddenly?"
"...." Ruby stared at Siena:
"Sister, stop being mean. You know you can't order the Maids of other Clans."
"I know that, I just didn't like her tone. Just a few hours ago, she was quite submissive, and now she's become this... Does Victor's blood make such a difference to people?"
"You wouldn't believe…" Ruby sighed as she thought of Eve and Bruna's changes.
From what was reported to her by the girls themselves, they were quite different before they became vampires.
'I think Maria's case was more shocking because she went through a lot of experiences that shaped her current personality?' Ruby analyzed the situation calmly.
'But even so...' She looked towards the door:
'Her change is very drastic, she is practically another person now.'
"Anyway, I'm going to get that worm."
"Thank you, sister."
"You welcome."
When Siena left Ruby's lab, the woman took off her glasses, then took off her white coat and laid it on the chair, as she let her long red hair down.
"..." Pepper and Lacus stared at Ruby in silence while they seemed to be waiting for something.
Ruby cracks her neck a little, and soon her face becomes lifeless:
"I'm going to visit my husband. Do you mind taking care of this place for me?"
"Yes, Yes!" The two waved furiously.
"Thanks." She flashed a gentle smile that was at the same time empty, and then she turned and walked towards the exit.
...
"HmmmHmmmHmmm." Violet was walking through the halls with a gentle smile on her face, as she seemed to be in a very good mood.
Today was a beautiful day! The sky was blue! And for the first time in a long time, the group has their peacetime!
No more hunters! No more incidents with wolves!
Now, she could make progress on her plan!
And what was her plan!?
What a stupid question! It was pretty obvious that the plan was to deepen her relationship with Victor~!
She even bought some pretty 'hot' lingerie for this plan!
This week is the week when liquids will fly everywhere, this is the week when the goose will be petted, and her cave will be explored!
A really fun week!
But... Fate sure was a bitch sometimes.
Violet looked out of the corner of her eye and saw a woman with long red hair walking down the hall:
"Hmm? Ruby? Why do you have that face?"
"..." Ruby stops walking and looks at Violet:
"...You came at a good time."
"What happened?"
"Victor got another Maid." She wasn't even calling him Husband or Darling.
"...What did you say..." Violet's eyes darkened completely.
"Darling… One or two is acceptable, three you've crossed the line a bit, but… Four!? Four!?"
"What is this? Is it a pokemon collection? Huuh?" Violet's mood turned completely bad.
She had been holding back for a long time, but that was the last straw. They needed to talk!
"We will." Violet turned around and started walking towards a certain location.
"..." Ruby nodded.
...
.....
