I felt killing intent coming from Lady Nova and figured she didn't like the wording of my response. I glanced at her; her eyes were angry and seemed to say she would try to kill me even if she knew she would die. Lady Nyx subtly put her hand in front of Lady Nova before she could do anything. So sad, her face looks so slappable.
I looked back at Lady Nyx and remembered I forgot something. "Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Max Frost. Thanks for inviting me for a meal."
Nova looked like a dog on a leash that was about to snap, I was really wishing it would. It would be a little amusing to have the opportunity to swat her for that killing intent; I could without her doing anything else, but I don't want to cause that much of a scene.
Lady Nyx smiled politely even though I could vaguely feel part of her wanted to teach me a lesson also. She was better at hiding it, and wasn't stupid like Lady Nova. "I will lead the way to the dining room then."
She turned around with her hand on the back of Lady Nova's neck and walked up the stairs, forcing Lady Nova along. I will no longer think of Nova as "Lady Nova" and will instead just think of "Nova" from the stupid thing she was about to do, she doesn't get the title of "Lady". If it were someone who would kill her for attacking, she would die instantly.
I started following and spoke to Zenobia behind me. "Stay."
I followed up the stairs and turned left where there was a magnificent dining room through large double doors. Inside, there was a long walnut table with a high gloss finish, vampire servants standing near the door, and beautiful human females wearing the blood slave stationed around the room. It seems all the servants are vampires, while all the slaves are humans.
Lady Nyx took Nova around one side of the table, and I went around the other. I had no idea of dining etiquette in this world and figured it would be nothing like in mine or the others I had been to. To fix this problem, I pulled everything one of the blood slaves knew about it from her mind when passing by.
It was actually quite comprehensive since they have to know when it is their turn. They are also always around when there is a meal and have learned even more from watching.
Lady Nyx walked to the seat at the head of the table, and a servant pulled out her chair before pushing it in for her. Nova sat to the left of Lady Nyx, and I sat to the right, across from Nova. Nova was still fuming, and I could sense she wanted to beat me to death with the table, but tried to hide it for the sake of her twin.
Three servants entered carrying plates of food. Vampires still liked eating good food, even though it does nothing for them. I guess they are like me in that regard.
The plates were placed neatly in front of each of us, and the lids were taken off. It was some sort of seasoning on a delicious-looking white fish, along with fried asparagus. The servants who brought the food stepped away, and the blood slaves stepped towards our sides.
Lady Nyx spoke, "Mr. Frost, I'd love to learn a bit about you. I have never heard of someone by the name of Frost."
One of the blood slaves appeared beside me, and I picked up the knife next to the glass. The slave held out her wrist above the glass, a quick slice with the knife had dark red blood running out.
I spoke while completing my actions, "Just a whim really. I was bored. I woke the girl with a 'We're leaving right now' sort of deal. Thought this city seemed as good a place as any, being the closest to where I had been, and the girl used to live here so she could show me some of the local sights."
Apparently Nova didn't like my answer and wanted to kill me even more. My divine sense saw Lady Nyx stab her fork into Nova's leg, telling her not to do anything. A vampire getting stabbed with a fork wouldn't cause any real harm, assuming it wasn't silver.
Lady Nyx and Nova began doing the same as me with the girls next to them. "That sounds like quite the impromptu journey. How exciting! It's fortunate you ended up here. I'm sure you'll find our city quite captivating, especially with a local guide. While you're here, may I inquire where you're staying?"
My glass was getting full so I clamped my hand down on the girl's forearm, a few inches above the cut to stop the bleeding. "I have nowhere to stay yet." The blood stopped, and I brought the wrist in front of my mouth. "I just got here to look around, then I will decide what to do."
My tongue ran across the wound, healing it closed again. When a vampire licks a human's wound, their saliva heals it. The blood slaves are trained to stand there with their blood running out even if the glass is overflowing. They will stand there unmoving until the person heals the wound or they pass out from blood loss, so it is important they get stopped.
The fork under the table began twisting in warning, and Lady Nyx smiled politely, completely ignoring how she had a fork stuck in the leg of her twin. "If you're still deciding where to stay, you're more than welcome to stay on the estate here. It's quite spacious, and I have plenty of guest rooms available. It would be my pleasure to host you during your time here."
Nova clenched the side of her plate so hard it shattered, and the fork in her other hand was twisted out of shape. "Nyx, why do we need him here? He's nothing but trouble. We're better off if he leaves the city soon so we don't have to see him."
I don't particularly like them either, but this is the best place to stay, and besides, maybe I'll get to smack her for wasting perfectly good fish now that it has pieces of plate in it. "Whoa, that was a nice plate of fish. Shame to see it go to waste like that. And I'll stay here then, thank you for the hospitality."
Nova's face turned red. "You!" The table flipped over towards me as she shot up, completely ignoring Lady Nyx's warnings. Thankfully, I was fast enough to catch my plate and glass before it spilled a even drop.
A silver-plated sword appeared in Nova's hand, and she lunged towards me, attempting to skewer my heart. Lady Nyx looked very worried about her, but also disappointed in Nova's actions, also holding her meal so it didn't spill.
I let go of the plate and in the air and moved to the side, dodging the sword strike. A dagger appeared in my hand, and some blade aura covered it. I sliced down, severing the blade of her sword at the guard when it passed by me.
The blade kept going, and I followed it up with a hard smack to her cheek. Even if her head gets twisted backwards, and her neck is broken, she'll be fine so long as it's still attached.
Crack!
Boom!
She was sent hurdling towards the wall, crashing through it and destroying the stonework as she flew into the courtyard. I moved back into my seat where the plate and glass were still almost in the same spot even though they were falling since the whole thing took only a fraction of a second.
I took a sip from the glass, as I heard another crash from through the hole coming from there Nova had landed on the wall of the estate, now it was broken down also.
The blood was perfect, like Zenobia's the first time I tried it, which isn't really a surprise. Blood slaves are required to stay intact until they are to old, then they must have daughters for a future generation and are released from service.
Lady Nyx flashed over to the hole in the wall, and I knew she was worried about her twin. "Don't worry, she's fine, just sleeping. I need another fork though."
Lady Nyx looked at the blood slave that was standing behind me. The blade of the sword was impaled through her stomach and into the wall behind her.
Lady Nyx raised her hand and pointed at the wounded blood slave who was still standing calmly against the wall, even with the blade of a sword nailing her to the wall. Even though the blood slaves are of low status and it's not a big deal if they die, good ones are expensive so Lady Nyx wouldn't want to have to replace this one.
The unconscious Nova was being carried back to the mansion by some of the guards.
I kicked the edge of the table that was sticking in the air in front of me, flipping it back upright. I set my plate and glass back on the table to eat. Lady Nyx came and sat back down in her spot with a hint of shame in her eyes.
Apparently, they had the servants trained well because one appeared next to me with another set of utensils then gave another to Lady Nyx.
Lady Nyx stood up and bowed in my direction. "I deeply regret what happened. Perhaps there's something else I can do to make your stay more comfortable or to compensate for the disturbance. Please let me know if there's anything I can assist you with."
It is nobody's guess as to why this twin is the ruling Lady and the other one is not.
I waved my hand. "I must confess, I was taken aback by her aggression. It seemed like she was intent on causing harm. Thank you for your efforts to resolve the situation."
I wasn't taken aback at all; I was eagerly waiting for it. But, what must be said, must be said. No matter how full of bullshit it was. I'm not powerful enough yet to cause too much trouble, like saying her face looks very slappable.
I really want her to get to the point though. "Would you mind telling me what you really want though? You invited me and offered me a place to stay."
She took a sip from her glass before replying, "I was informed of a powerful person entering the city and thought I should invite you for dinner to forge a good relationship.
I was also told you were extraordinarily handsome. I didn't know if it was true until I saw for myself. If it was, I wanted to hire you to use your genetics for the next generation of blood slaves while you stayed. We keep ours from 18-24 and a few are about to turn 24. It is no doubt true, would you consider it?"
Blood slaves are really only good from age 15-35, but are best at age 20. Good ones are too expensive to replace too often since they are bred for their looks; beautiful blood slaves are a sign of status among nobles. Zenobia said even the royal palace keeps them for a year to save money, 6 months on either side of 20. It is no surprise that Lady Nyx keeps hers for 4 years.
Their looks aren't the only thing that matters either. Almost all vampires prefer female blood, so only half of them born are kept, and the males are sent with their mothers who were released from service. Their blood also has to be of the best quality and most humans don't fit the bill to be used by nobles.
All these factors cause new ones to be quite expensive, so they try to keep the same family line for as long as possible, bringing in males with good genetics to use for the next generation. And vampire plus human parent equals a human child, except under very specific circumstances where you can get a Dhampir.
I do need more lesser energy stones, "I have no reason to disagree with your request; you are kind enough to let me stay here after all. As for payment, I collect a type of rock that I can show you later to see if you know it."
I was done eating and wanted to go cultivate. "Where should I go?"
She called the butler over, "Show him to the red moon room."
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