A week passed by smoothly with occasional visits paid to their house, of which all their visitors were women, young and old. They came with small gifts of food, giving the excuse that they were for welcoming them into the village and helping them to tide over tough times for now. Vanora felt that even a brainless person could see through those superficial lies since they always blatantly asked to see Vlad so that they could pass him the gifts even though it was always Vanora who went to receive them.

Vlad had always not paid attention to anyone else besides Vanora once they got the house done. He believed that there was never a need to have good relations with the villagers since they could survive well on their own. He only talked to the villagers really nicely at the beginning to carry out the act that Vanora had planned.

Vanora believed otherwise. She did not want trouble to come knocking on the door just from being disliked. She chose to be impassive, not friendly nor unfriendly. Ideally, they would begin to forget about her existence. However, that was near to impossible since the person she was living with would never be forgotten.

Each time she would obediently call for Vlad. Each time Vlad would obediently listen to Vanora and receive the presents. In the corner of his eye, he would notice Vanora nonchalantly returning back to the field to work on their crops and that would put him in a sour mood. She really did not give a hoot that there were women clearly hitting on him.

After receiving the gifts then leaving the women without so much as a word of thanks, he returned to working in the field with Vanora. He would do so with so much fervour and energy to vent his frustration.

Wow, does the attention he gets from the women energise him that much? Or is he sexually frustrated?

Feeling Vanora's eyes on him and liking it, Vlad began misunderstanding her stare as she liking it whenever he worked doubly hard. So he began to do so more consistently.

Vlad's actions in turn made Vanora lean her guess towards sexual frustrations.

It was another day of being forced to rest in the house while she watched Vlad work hard in the field. I wonder if I should ask him about it...

Suddenly she heard the sounds that had earned her concern over the week. It sounded like someone was being bullied and she located it to be in the center of the village. It was nothing new and had even happened to the original soul before, but it piqued her interest because she still remembered the two children she met on the first day she converted. She inevitably wondered about their well being and if the boy's injury ever did heal properly somehow.

When BaoBao knew of her thoughts, he had immediately let her know that the victims were indeed those children. This was part of the reason why she was willing to let Vlad do most of the work. She was slightly distracted from monitoring the children's situation. She could not help but feel responsible for their current plight. However, she had not intervened at all, unsure if she would help or worsen their situation. It was after all the universal law of the jungle. She also felt too ashamed and guilty to see the children.

"Just go and die already, you one-armed freak! You've been useless for the past two years. Why haven't you given up yet? Can't work properly, resorting to stealing food. Like I said, just let your sister work and put the food on the table for the both of you! I know she'll grow into a wonderful woman... Fuck! You dare to try and bite me?!" Sounds of a harsh beating and a young girl's sob and pleas followed.

Vanora's expression turned darker and darker as she listened on. She finally could take it no longer and left the house in haste, not forgetting to inform Vlad. "I'm going to the village center to get something! You can wait for me here!"

She ran as fast as humanly possible and reached the scene of the bullying. The victims looked a little older and much shabbier than she remembered them to be. Everyone else stared on with disdain or nonchalance, only the children around looked a little disturbed. The same kind of eyes that looked at the original soul when she needed help the most. She clenched her fists hard and walked with a strong purpose behind each step. Just as the man raised his leg to kick the boy who was already lying crumpled down on the ground, Vanora met his kick with a kick of her own. It was of equal strength so it perfectly cancelled the impact behind their kicks, leaving no injury on either person. Everyone was shocked at her intervention.

"What- What are you doing? Since when did the well-off care about the ones in the dirt?" The man could only think of asking after a short moment of being stunned that a woman had just easily blocked his kick.

"I just found them cute. To think they were actually being bullied."

"Bullied? That's too strong a word to use, isn't it, miss?" A woman spoke up.

"You don't know these children but they're only a burden. They've been leeching off others' hard work." The man added on.

"You know... Instead of caring so much for others, I'd advise you to care more about yourself." The same woman spoke.

"Or about your husband." Another woman suddenly stepped forward to target her as well.

"You don't seem capable of taking care of his needs very well..." Another woman joined in the fray. She openly scrutinized her from head to toe. "Unimpressive indeed."

More and more woman joined in the chance to drive a wedge between the husband and wife.

"I'll gladly help."

"I think he'll really enjoy it, don't you think? After all, he keeps coming to receive us and accept our gifts."

"Yes, he shouldn't be averse to the idea."

Vanora's expression remained slack. She was not surprised that they believed her to be a pushover from the way she gave them easy access to her 'husband'. The women that had all spoken up were women that came to their house before. Moreover, she could hear everything they talked about her behind her back.

Just as she intended to whisk the children away now that the attention was diverted onto her and not on the children, she heard a very familiar voice. "So this is where you were my darling wife, my love."

Vlad appeared from a dark alley. Even without BaoBao's information, Vanora could infer that he had secretly teleported here.

He very clearly avoided touching the women that had stepped forward to gang up against Vanora by going a clear circle around them, indirectly dissing them, then grabbed Vanora by her waist to pull her body flushed against his. "You're naughty. You made me very worried, you know? Being away from me for so long."

Vanora frowned and retorted in honesty. "Long? It was barely 5 minu-"

Vlad sealed her lips with a deep and passionate kiss.

Vanora's eyes grew wide open and stared his nonchalantly closed ones. Aware that everyone was probably staring at them now, she blushed a bright red and started pushing against his chest.

Their lips separated but Vlad kept her within his arms. He chuckled deeply with sexual desire burning in his eyes. "5 minutes is also far too long. Forgive me, my love, I was too excited upon seeing you that I forgot you like to keep things private. Now, we should hurry back home so that we can get busy."

The people around blushed at Vlad's thick-skinned and suggestive words, especially the women who had verbally attacked Vanora earlier. They were burning with embarrassment, jealousy, and anger.

Vlad then looked at the children behind Vanora. "So these are the little cuties you were talking about? Have you checked if they have parents yet? Actually, that doesn't matter, I'll take them for you as long as you want them, my love."

Everyone's eyes bulged incredulously at his words, except Vanora's. Old habits die hard, huh?

At this moment, she already begun feeling sorry for the man as she instinctively knew what would follow.

"Ah, seeing my stunningly beautiful love almost made me forgot one more thing I wanted to do." With an incredibly sweet smile, he spun around on one leg, simultaneously kicking and breaking the leg of the man still standing behind him. 

A loud and crisp snap was clearly heard before a belated wail-like scream filled the air. He looked down at the man with sadistic eyes and a sickeningly sweet smile still on his face. "That was the leg that touched my wife, right? Henceforth, you shall be a one legged freak. Don't forget, we said we were well-to-do in our previous village, right? Ever wondered why? Get that in your numb skulls."

Everyone paled as they knew that Vlad was sending a warning to everyone there. They collectively shared the same thought. They're not to be messed with.

No one dared to lift their heads while the newly formed family walked off. If not for the tense atmosphere, the scene would look a little heartwarming and comedic. Vlad had the boy carelessly slung over one shoulder and possessively held onto Vanora's shoulders with his other arm, while Vanora held onto the girl's hand.

 

The sun began to set and Vlad returned from hunting to see the cleaned up children still sitting stiffly and awkwardly at the table, staring at Vanora who was sitting opposite of them in an equally stiff manner.

They each entertained different thoughts in their heads.

Vanora was now having an internal debate if she had made the wrong move. She was currently living on tenterhooks, unsure when something might happen to her just because she was meant to die. Now she recklessly placed more on her plate. Moreover, she was not trained nor ready to play the role of a mother. She had acted in the spur of a moment as she somehow had a soft spot for this siblings who cared so much for each other.

On the other hand, the children were simply unsure of what to do. They only knew that Vanora seemed awfully similar to the one who attacked the brother 2 years ago. Although their guts told them that she was likely a good person with a good heart since she saved them earlier, the similarity made them involuntarily wary of her.

"How long do all of you intend to stare at each other like this?" Vlad said dryly. He then ruffled Vanora's hair as he said to her in a light hearted tone, "Don't keep talking inside your head. Speak out what you think."

Vanora's eyes widened then she lowered her head in embarrassment. She had just made a fool of herself in front of little children. She was really too nervous. She sighed then looked at the children apologetically. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking about how I acted before I thought through things. I didn't end up kidnapping you, did I?"

The children shook their heads. The brother tried to speak but he flinched when he moved his jaw, so his sister immediately spoke up instead, "Our parents died to demons a long time ago. We've been surviving on our own ever since. No, it was all thanks to brother. I didn't really do anything."

Listening to her words, her brother frowned and made a grunt of disapproval. Seeing the way the siblings continue to bicker with each other, each holding good intentions for the other, reminded Vanora of her close relationship with her siblings as well. This made her reveal her thousand watt smile that showed her dimples. Not only was Vlad stunned by its brilliance, the children noticed it too so were equally stunned. However, her smile vanished as quickly and suddenly as it had appeared once she noticed them staring at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Damn... Maybe I should consider ripping out the eyes of everyone. No one else but me shall get to admire your beauty." The awe in his voice slowly changed to show how disgruntled he also felt.

"Talking like a demon aga-" Vanora then snapped her head to look at the children frozen stiff and staring at Vlad in fear. They were afraid that their lives were endangered for having already witnessed Vanora's smile.

"Don't worry about him, he won't lay a hand on the both of you because I wouldn't want that to happen. Right, Vlad?" She then looked pointedly at him.

Vlad obviously looked displeased but he nodded and promised not to harm them.

"You really need to stop talking and behaving like a demon or people would mistake you as one." Her tone was slightly reproaching. 

Vlad shrugged carelessly.

The brother shook his head violently, wanting to reassure Vanora. His sister, understanding his intention, spoke in his stead. "Don't worry, we're sure everyone can tell that he is simply highly possessive of you. We've seen two demons before. One looked like a gigantic hideous monster. Although the other did look like you, except scrawnier with short hair and yellow eyes, she felt very different in the way she carried herself."

Vanora felt very apologetic once more and it was reflected on her face. The children felt puzzled while Vlad did not like Vanora feeling bad so he ordered them to head to bed.

"But they haven't eaten yet." Vanora interjected.

"I'll wake them when it's time to eat."

The children obediently listened to Vlad and followed him to find out where they would be sleeping at. Conveniently, there was an extra room that had been constructed when they built their house. Vlad had made sure of this while Vanora remained oblivious to its purpose.