~Chapter 109~
“Come on, it’s fine.”
I held out my arm closer to Damien.
“Drink a little.”
Damien’s red eyes trembled. He shook his head and pushed my arm away.
“No, Ruby. This isn’t right.”
“Damien.”
I rose slightly on my toes and cupped his cheeks with both hands. Then I turned his face toward me so he could look at me directly.
“You look like you’re struggling a lot right now.”
I’d heard that a vampire’s instinct to drink blood was far stronger than a human’s appetite. And that they couldn’t eat ordinary human food at all, only blood.
Since Damien had changed into a vampire, he hadn’t eaten anything. And since he hadn’t drunk blood either, that meant he’d been starving all this time.
“What’s wrong with giving a little blood? You’re my husband.”
“Ruby…”
I smiled gently at Damien.
“If it’s for you, Damien, I don’t mind giving my blood at all.”
I held my arm out again.
“I just want you to drink, and feel even a little better.”
I spoke honestly, showing him my heart.
“Watching you suffer is much harder for me.”
He might think I was being clever with words, but Damien always softened only in front of me. So I knew this would reach him.
Sure enough, he wavered, looking conflicted, then lowered his head.
After a long silence, he finally decided.
“…All right.”
When he carefully held my arm, I felt relieved.
I’d worried that he might stubbornly refuse until the end.
‘Anyone could see his condition is terrible…’
He hadn’t contacted me all day. I was already worried. And if he still hadn’t drunk blood… even worse.
Thankfully, Damien leaned down and brought his lips to the wound.
His cold lips touched my skin, and then he began to drink the blood that flowed out.
“You can drink more.”
I said it because I feared guilt would stop him from drinking enough.
But even so, Damien stayed careful.
He didn’t bite deeper or force the wound—he only drank the blood that flowed naturally.
I wondered if it would be enough, but slowly, color returned to his face.
After a while, when his complexion had improved, Damien pulled his mouth away from my wound.
“You could drink a little more.”
“No, that’s enough.”
He wiped the red from his lips with his sleeve.
“But it’s still flowing…”
I picked up a small vial nearby and held it to my wound. I let the remaining blood drip into the bottle.
“Ruby, you should stop the bleeding first.”
Damien quickly stopped me.
“No, since you need to last three days, it’s better to collect more while the wound is open.”
“That’s enough now. Here.”
He had already brought bandages and ointment.
I reluctantly lowered the vial and gave him my arm. Luckily, I’d already collected quite a bit of blood.
Now that he had drunk, Damien’s eyes were steadier, his voice clearer. He looked far healthier than before.
He didn’t even glance at the leftover blood. Instead, he carefully applied ointment to the wound and wrapped it in bandages.
“Apply the ointment every day so it won’t scar. Understand?”
“Yes, I will.”
He earnestly reminded me to take good care of the wound so no scar would remain.
I promised I’d do so, so he could feel reassured.
“So, do you feel a little better now?”
“Yes. You don’t need to worry anymore.”
“But did you sleep? I heard you didn’t go to the bedroom.”
His eyes shone more brightly now, but the dark shadows under them had grown deeper. He must not have slept at all, shut away in that room.
“Do you want to sleep for a while? You look tired.”
I pulled back the blanket, making space for him.
Damien stared at me silently, then finally nodded.
“Excuse me, then.”
He quietly lay down where I’d prepared.
I tucked the blanket snugly up to his neck, then picked up my pillow to leave the bed.
‘It’ll be easier for him if I sleep somewhere else.’
There were plenty of beds in this mansion. I could use another.
But then—
“Ruby, where are you going?”
Though I thought he was already asleep, Damien suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Oh, I thought you’d be uncomfortable, so I was going to another room.”
His sleepy red eyes narrowed, clearly displeased.
“Stay here. Please.”
“Uh…”
I could feel his sincerity in the grip of his hand. If I left now, it would feel like I was abandoning him.
“…All right.”
Only then did Damien release my hand.
I slipped into the bed beside him, and immediately, he wrapped both arms tightly around me.
‘A-Are we sleeping like this?’
It wasn’t a night of ritual, nor a day for sharing cursed energy.
“D-Damien, are we really sleeping like this?”
“…”
Only steady breathing answered me.
‘He’s asleep.’
Well, then there was no choice.
‘I probably won’t be able to sleep…’
I lay awake, tense, tossing for nearly an hour before I finally drifted off.
At least Damien slept soundly. That was what mattered.
The next day.
“Please, not the garlic spray!”
Inside the cage, the bat knelt like a beggar, flapping its wings desperately.
“I’ll do the lifespan reading you wanted, just spare me that!”
Damien stood there, garlic spray in hand, staring at the pitiful creature.
‘I wasn’t even going to use it. I was just refilling the vial.’
Well, no matter. If this made the bat cooperate, so much the better.
“Fine. These are the two samples you have to measure. You know them, right?”
“Yes, yes! Just put that spray down first!”
Unexpected.
He’d thought silver would be the vampire’s greatest fear, not garlic. But apparently, it was the opposite.
Damien handed over two vials: one with his blood, and one with Rubiana’s.
The bat grimaced even more when it saw Damien’s.
“What kind of awful blood is this? Smells like rancid shoe polish!”
Hearing such insults about his own blood, Damien felt oddly conflicted.
“Fine, give me that shoe polish blood first. If I taste the good stuff first, the bad one will ruin it.”
Damien uncorked the vial and handed it over.
The bat lapped at it, grimaced horribly, then spat it out.
“Disgusting.”
So bad? Damien stayed quiet, waiting.
“This blood is yours, right? You’ll live forever. At least ninety years.”
“Ninety…”
“Actually, more than that. Easily a hundred.”
That was far longer than Damien had expected.
The Maledictus line was known for their short lifespans, so he had never thought his would be so long.
‘If Ruby’s is around seventy or eighty…’
Even so, if they bound themselves in a soul contract, her life would be extended by at least ten years.
“Now, the other one, right?”
“Yeah.”
The vampire bat’s eyes gleamed with delight as it licked Rubiana’s blood.
“Mmm~”
It savored it like a connoisseur, rolling it around as if tasting fine wine. Then it tilted its head.
“Huh? Let me taste again.”
“Don’t play games.”
Damien scowled.
The bat flapped its wings in protest.
“No, it’s not that I want more because it’s delicious. I just can’t figure it out.”
Suspicious, Damien still handed over a little more.
The bat tasted again, eyes closed, tongue rolling thoughtfully. Then it suddenly spoke.
“This one… it’s as if she has no time left. Practically terminal.”
Damien’s expression froze.
