The pager rang, and my colleague was looking for me, so I nodded hurriedly to say goodbye.
They quickly boarded the night train to the human world and vanished before my eyes.
The routine inspection went smoothly. The station clock ticked on, and the number of vampires coming and going first decreased, then increased, then decreased again.
By the time the last train arrived, I still hadn't seen Saul.
I went back to the duty room, too tired to do anything but slump in the chair, and fell asleep gradually and soundly.
I stopped waiting for those who wouldn't come. Why did I take promises without results seriously?
When I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar ceiling.
Saul was sitting by my bed.
There was also a sweet smell. I sniffed and turned my head to see a half box of popcorn on the bedside table. There was no my favourite vanilla ice cream.
"For you."
In the dim light, our eyes met.
The next second I looked away, saying "thanks" in a flat voice.
My reaction was clearly not what he expected. He frowned, explaining somewhat irritably:
"I had an emergency last night. I didn't mean to make you wait, Jacinda..."
"It's fine." I cut him off, not wanting to hear more.
He'd abandoned me too many times to count this as a new offense.
Having not eaten for a long time, I felt dizzy and reached for the popcorn.
Saul, who'd looked annoyed after being interrupted, spoke again:
"It turns out Jacinda was right: women all love sweet popcorn. What else do you humans like to eat? Tell me quickly!"
My hand froze.
So the popcorn was an afterthought after buying it for Jacinda. That's what he meant. He totally forgot the vanilla ice cream he promised me.
I pulled my hand back, lay down again despite the discomfort, and said listlessly: "Just ask Miss Jacinda."
"What's the hell..." He was at a loss for words, frowning at me.
Ding...
A message came in and he stood up with his expression changed in a hurry and left without a word.
I tore off the second page from the calendar.
I gave the popcorn to the old butler to thank him for bandaging my wounds.
After grabbing some food and changing my bandages, I went to the border platform.
My fellow bloodslave colleague was surprised to see me so early, then told me she'd just seen my lord Saul.
"A beautiful human somehow ended up here alone. The platform was full of vampires—almost caused a commotion.
Your master arrived just in time, or she might've been in danger.
I saw them hugging. What's their relationship?"
A surge of bitterness rose in my chest. I lowered my eyes and shook my head, saying I didn't know.
Then I handed her baked cookies and asked about the conditions for breaking the blood pact, as it was the real reason I'd come early.
She'd broken a pact before and now served a second lord.
When I suddenly brought up breaking the pact, my bloodslave colleague wanted to ask more, but seeing the wounds on my arms, she held back.
Finally, she just rubbed my shoulder knowingly and told me everything she knew.
After saying goodbye, I quit my platform duty job and returned to the castle in the thick night.
As I pushed open the door, something felt wrong.
Clothes littered the floor, and there were suppressed gasps.
Following the light, I found a door wide open. Saul's pupils were deep red, and his fangs sunk into Jacinda's neck as he drank her blood. She didn't struggle—instead, her hands circled his waist, trusting him completely.
The sound of my backpack falling alerted them. Saul's eyes snapped to me, sharp as daggers. With a sweep of his hand, he threw the picture frame on his nightstand at me.
The picture frame held a photo of us. The frame hit my shoulder hard, then fell to the floor with a loud crash, shattering.
"Get out!"
I snapped back to reality, realizing what they were doing.
The First Embrace: a vampire bit a human on the neck and drained a human's blood to mark ownership, then fed them vampire blood, turning them into a vampire.
Under Saul's enraged shout, I was silent for two seconds, then I figured out what happened and left the room quickly.
