"When's the soonest we can leave?" Vanora got straight back to the topic at hand.

"Let's depart tomorrow morning. Have a proper rest now. It's getting late and you probably had it rough for a long time, didn't you?"

Vanora held his gaze that was of sincere concern. One moment he's all playful and the next he can be so serious. It's kind of amazing how his emotions can swing from one to the next so quickly.

She looked down at her tea and took a sip of it before talking. "... You probably had it rough till now too, didn't you?"

Vlad caught on that she subtly confirmed his question. He smiled bitterly when answering her question. "Yeah, it wasn't easy but I don't matter. What happened to you? How and why did you change into a demon?" He asked her softly while his fingers gently touched her hand that was still holding onto her cup.

She very calmly withdrew her hand and placed it on her lap before replying. "I was collateral damage of a fierce battle between an angel and a demon. That demon's consciousness was still intact and it communicated with me to eat his meat and drink his blood, and I did."

He felt anger towards the demon that told her to go through the change because it risked her losing her life but at the same time, he knew that it gave her a chance to survive when she would otherwise die. If that demon's alive and threatens her life again now that she has me, he's a goner.

"So here I am learning to be a demon. Talking about that, how exactly do I start seeing the colours of a person's emotions? All I see now are still transparent smoke-like wisps."

Vlad's shoulders sagged imperceptibly. He knew that was not all there is to her story. I'll just wait for her to be ready to open up. 

"Just think of wanting to know how I feel. Colours should appear after that thought."

"What about absorbing it?"

"Just think of wanting to consume it too. It's really simple, right?"

"It indeed is." So it's all about diligence and time now huh...

Vanora immediately got to work and wondered about Vlad's emotions. However, as easy as it sounded, the colours did not appear just like that. She felt a little strain in her eyes as if it was adjusting itself to be able to see something that was supposedly imperceptible to the eyes.

Her brows gradually knitted together and her eyes turned redder by the second without her awareness. Vlad could easily tell what she was doing.

After around a minute passed, she felt intense pain in her eyes but she could finally see the smoke like wisps around his body become tinted ever so slightly. It was still too faint for her identify what the colour exactly was.

Before she could react, Vlad suddenly reached over and covered her eyes with one hand. "Don't rush yourself. Don't push yourself so hard. Otherwise you'd only hurt yourself. You have time so go at your own pace."

She could hear the concern evident in his voice.

Unfortunately, I do not have the time like you think. Vanora thought to herself but nodded anyway.

Vlad removed his hand slowly and Vanora blinked away the sudden brightness that filled her vision. When he noticed her feeling fine again, he asked, "Ready to turn in for the night yet?"

Vanora did not reply him but he noticed how she looked uncomfortable with the idea. He sighed helplessly with a wry smile, "How about I tell you about the colour of emotions that you could absorb?"

"Sure." Vanora listened in rapt attention.

"You can absorb almost any shade of red. From an orange-red like shade to the darkest shade of red. The only shade that does not belong to you is crimson red which represents sexual desire. That's for demons of lust to feast on."

"Considering that you're a demon of no particular sin, do you not feed on any or do you feed on all kinds?"

"I feed on all kinds."

"How exactly did you become such a demon?" Vanora was curious about how such an overpowered character came into existence.

His smile turned dark and bitter as he seemed to recall a painful past. "Due to certain circumstances, I ate strong demons of each sin."

Vanora's eyes lit up like she got a brilliant idea.

Vlad's smile dropped and he told her sternly, "Don't be getting any funny ideas now. It's honestly a wonder how I survived it. Any normal demon would have died from the pain and suffering you'd have to go through, much less a normal person."

"Oh..." The book did not cover this far back in his backstory. I wonder if this is part of how the world filled in the missing details of the book.

"Don't worry about not being strong enough. I promise to protect you always. No matter who or what threatens you." He smiled gently while he tousled her hair.

Vanora rubbed her nose lightly while she retorted in a soft voice, "I don't need to be protected."

He grinned in satisfaction. "Of course, I know you'll keep working your ass off and that you'll only grow stronger over time. Now, you've just become a demon, learnt a lot, fought with me, and then learnt some more. You've done plenty for today. Can you please sleep now?"

"... Yeah..." Vanora somehow felt like she did not feel good at all nor embarrassed despite his recognition and compliments, it sounded more like he was placating a small child. ... How irritating.

When they went the the bedroom that was on the left side of the room, Vanora stopped at the doorway. She scanned the room to find that there was only one bed big enough to fit 5 people on a very low bed frame, a large wardrobe, and a large desk with a comfy looking maroon arm chair. 

Vlad was in front of her and noticed that she did not have the intention to take a step in. "What's wrong?"

"You take the bed, I'll take the floor."

"You really think I'll let you do that? We'll sleep on the bed together."

He didn't even have the decency to offer to take the floor?! BaoBao exclaimed.

He's a demon. And the strongest Lord here. What'd you expect? He can and will do whatever he wants as long as he feels like it even if there is no rhyme or reason for it, and no one will have an issue with it. There would be no other reason why he'd hound Angela like he did in the book.

Vanora ignored him and turned back to the main room with the intention to sleep on the cushions they were sitting on earlier. However, Vlad held onto her wrist firmly. "Please! I- I..." He then continued in a whisper. "I can't even remember when was the last time I had a good sleep. But earlier in the day when I was with you... I fell so soundly asleep that I didn't even notice you leaving my side. I feel like it may have to do with you. So... Please."

Since he asked nicely this time, she decided to consider acceding to his request.

He felt her gaze burrow into him once again and began to fidget uncomfortably. "I promise not to do anything to you."

If I go along with this, I won't feel indebted to yet another person. At least I can do something for him, unlike how it was for LongFei. "Fine."

His face brightened and he ran to the left side of the bed to fluff the pillow and pulled aside the blanket for her. Vanora raised an eyebrow then walked to the right side of the bed to do everything by herself. She got into bed and closed her eyes. BaoBao, wake me up if he tries anything funny.

I will!

Vlad's shoulders sagged when she cold-heartedly rejected his intentions but his spirits quickly rose again after she laid on the bed. He got on the bed the same time as her and laid on his left side so that he would be facing her even though she had her back towards him.

Vlad stared at her for a long while, deep into thought. He recalled the scene when he saw her eyes turning red from the strain she was putting it through. 

When he realised that she was not letting up despite the strain on her eyes, he decided to check in with her emotions. What he saw confounded him. Her aura was still red with black swirls in it but it was now so faint and dim. This told him that it was controlled and suppressed. Even so, she did not stop trying. He knew then that it was not a desperate or emotional attempt at becoming stronger, but she was mindlessly pushing herself beyond her limit. 

He felt an inexplicable sadness. If this was the way she had been living her life, she had been living life very recklessly. Her body could have given up on her and broken down anytime. Does she not care about herself? Why do you treat yourself so carelessly?

On the other hand, Vanora was still wide awake and aware that he was still staring hard at her back. What's he doing staring at me? Wasn't his purpose to sleep? She decided not to care about him any longer and have an earlier night so that she could have an earlier day to start her training.

When Vlad saw that her breathing became slow and steady, he inched closer to her, careful not to shake the bed too much. When he was about an arm's length away from her, he grabbed onto the hem of her top and sighed in relief. A black rose appeared on the back of his palm and he fell asleep soon after.

While the two slept peacefully, BaoBao was left confused and puzzled by Vlad's actions. He had been alarmed when Vlad moved closer to Vanora and was ready to wake her up before Vlad could touch her. That was why he was completely stumped when Vlad fell asleep after holding onto the hem of her shirt. What just happened?

Unfortunately, BaoBao could only wait till the next morning before he could get any answers.

 

Vanora yawned and opened her eyes to find the sky still as dark as ever. Besides the small windows close to the ceiling and a simple abstract picture hanging on the wall, there was nothing else. There was nothing in the room that helped to keep track of time so she had no idea how long she has slept for. How do demons live with no sense of time?

You've slept for around 8 hours. BaoBao diligently relayed to her.

... That's quite long.

Perhaps your body was indeed worn out after everything that happened.

She pushed her body up to get off the bed but felt her shirt being tugged back. She looked back to find the source of her inconvenience and found Vlad holding onto the hem of her shirt. Her heart did a little somersault to find him much closer to her than she last remembered. 

The sight of him holding onto her like this while he peacefully slept also cause her to experience a small flashback. When they were younger, Erica would often hold onto the hem of her shirt wherever they went. Whenever Erica slept together with her because she was scared of the dark, this was exactly how Erica would hold onto her too.

Vanora stared at him helplessly. Just like a scared child...

Scared? What does being scared have to do with this?

I suppose it gives people some sense of security that there's someone there, that they're not alone.

I see... Seemingly meaningless actions do have some purpose after all.