Taeyong and Dal-ae never spoke of that night in the weeks that followed. The two kept to their formal relationship, speaking only what was necessary, and soon found themselves fallen into a routine.
Every morning Dal-ae reported to Taeyong's chamber, escorted his consort out of the bedroom, made the bed, cleared out the goblets of blood (which had been increasing day by day), then lay Taeyong's clothes on a rack and waited by the window. Since that night, not once had Taeyong asked her to wash him, dry him or dress him, and Dal-ae had never asked to do so as well. She would be dismissed almost immediately after Taeyong stepped out of the shower and would not be called to his room until next morning to repeat the same.
In the centuries that he had walked this world, this was the first time that Taeyong had lost control with a human. There had been several moments where he had craved human blood to the point of desperation but it never mattered who the blood came from. But that night, he craved not only Dal-ae's blood but her. Every inch of him yearned for her. He wanted to bathe himself in her essence till all that remained in his world was her.
Before taking Dal-ae as his Familiar, he had resolved to two things. First, that he would never drink from her and second, that he would never take her to bed. Having already broken the first rule, he was afraid that he would not be able to keep the second either.
As for Dal-ae, she never sought the reason behind her Master's arousal that night nor the reason behind his anguished desperation for her blood, and whether the moment when Taeyong moaned her name was real or not, remained a mystery – Taeyong did not say anything and she did not ask.
This morning was no different. Dal-ae woke up in the early morning hours, which had started to remain dark owing to the approaching winter, then dressed herself in her uniform with the addition of a short jacket for the slight chill. She tied her hair in a low ponytail in the same manner that Taeyong had done for her on the day they visited the Court Palace.
As usual, Dal-ae escorted the female consort, covered in red marks all over her neck, out of the room while Taeyong was in the shower. After changing the sheets on the bed, she carefully laid out his clothes and shoes on the rack and took her position beside it. Some moments later, Taeyong walked out of the shower, in a bathrobe wrapped around his body.
'Good morning, Dal-ae,' he said, distracted.
'Good morning, Master,' Dal-ae replied and lowered her gaze away from his naked body.
'Can you receive Jaehyun in the saloon for me, I'll get dressed and join you.'
'Yes, Master.' Dal-ae bowed before walking out.
Upon reaching the entrance of the saloon, Dal-ae found the door already opened and the guest that she was supposed to receive already seated inside. But he was not alone.
'Tch, the Head of Staff doing menial jobs,' Jaehyun remarked. 'Is there nobody else who can place goblets of blood for the guests or do you want to seize this chance to be near me?'
The Head of the Staff of the Mansion was Doyoung and the moment the other person spoke, Dal-ae knew it was him.
'Can you shut your mouth,' Doyoung hissed.
'Why don't you make me? You know very well how to,' Jaehyun said and a silence fell inside.
Dal-ae was still outside with her hand on the doorknob. But hearing this, she stopped and stepped away. Fortunately, she was spared from making a decision when she heard a third voice.
'Good morning Jaehyun.' It was Taeyong who had just descended into the saloon from the other entrance.
'Good morning, my Lord' Jaehyun replied.
'Thank you for setting the table,' Doyoung,' Taeyong said, picking up the blood-filled goblet and gulping it down in one go.
'Where is Dal-ae?' Taeyong asked.
'I am here,' Dal-ae said, pushing the door open to enter the warmly lit saloon.
Doyoung gave Jaehyun a look seeing Dal-ae. But Jaehyun, as it seemed, did not mind the possibility of someone listening to their conversation from earlier.
Jaehyun winked at her and said, 'Good morning, pretty.'
'Jaehyun,' Dal-ae returned with a nod.
'Don't flirt with my Familiar,' Taeyong said.
'Sorry, my Lord.'
'Dal-ae, come here.' Taeyong gestured to his side and Dal-ae assumed her position next to him with Doyoung on his other side.
'Jaehyun, please begin,' Taeyong said and the saloon fell silent, the three waiting for Jaehyun's report on the progress of the investigation.
'The Special Unit has been deployed to three regions near the border where the breach happened. Johnny to the north, Haechan and Jungwoo to the south and on Yuta's insistence, he has been assigned the area near Nakori Village.
'There is no need to be alarmed. I have been accompanying him on all the visits,' Jaehyun added in response to Doyoung's furrowed brows.
'Senior Taeil, I presume is staying indoors,' Taeyong said.
'Yes, he has taken to sorting through cases of past and Mark has been assisting him.'
'Good and what has been found?'
'We have found the guard on duty that night in Nakori,' Jaehyun said. 'On the night of the incident, the villagers on our side reported seeing the guard leave his post hours before the breach occurred and since then he has been missing.
'We had our men deployed near his house to keep an eye and at 2 am today morning, he was captured when he returned to his cottage to steal money. We tried questioning him, asked him about where he went and why he left his post, but he refused to speak anything. Isn't it odd? He was obviously made to leave and had been hiding.'
Taeyong nodded, deliberating Jaehyun's words in his mind. 'Where is he now?'
'At the prison ward outside Nakori.'
'What about Yuta?'
'Yuta has not visited the districts in a week,' Jaehyun said. 'He said he is away on a personal errand but I bet he is away in his mansion slogging.'
'So, it was only you who interrogated the guard then?'
'Yes, me and the three others with me,' Jaehyun replied.
'And he hasn't spoken anything useful?'
'He hasn't spoken anything at all, my Lord. We could not get a single word out of him,' Jaehyun said and the three vampires in the room heard a soft snicker.
Taeyong looked up at his right and asked calmly, 'Is there something you wish to say, Dal-ae?'
Clearing her throat, she said, 'No, my Lord.'
Taeyong glared at her. 'Then watch your tone and do not judge the competency of my men.'
Struck by the sudden change in tone, Dal-ae remained silent for a second before bowing and saying, 'I am sorry, Master.'
Taeyong to Jaehyun, 'Arrange for the guard to be transported here by tomorrow. I will interrogate him myself.'
'Okay, my Lord.'
'If that's all, then I am taking my leave,' Taeyong said, getting up. Jaehyun got up from the sofa too, bowing.
Taeyong seemed to be in a hurry. He looked over at Dal-ae and said, 'You are dismissed for today,' then turned to Doyoung, 'Send three goblets to my study and ask that nobody disturbs me till evening,' before leaving.
The three remained silent for a few seconds before Jaehyun glanced at Dal-ae. She had kept her head bowed since Taeyong had chided her. Sighing, he leaped over the table in between and stopped next to her. Dal-ae wasn't exactly paying attention and noticed him only after he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.
She looked up at him and saw him smiling.
'Hi,' he said.
Dal-ae stared at him, confused.
'I have a question for you.'
Seeing that Dal-ae still chose to remain quiet, he continued, 'Today morning, I heard some human kids play a game and discovered that the human realm has its own version of Coffin Skeleton Stake. What's it called there?'
Dal-ae pressed her lips together.
'It was something like paper, rock or I don't know, I can't remember now,' Jaehyun said.
'She has lost her memory, Jaehyun,' Doyoung reminded him.
'Oh yeah... Sorry.'
'And it's called Rock Paper Scissor in the human realm,' Doyoung added.
'Yes! That's it!' Jaehyun exclaimed then turned to Dal-ae. 'Do you remember it?'
But before Dal-ae could even reply, he said, 'Actually, leave that. I will teach you the vampire version.'
Doyoung rolled his eyes. 'Stop pestering her.'
'He's just mad because he always loses,' Jaehyun whispered to Dal-ae earning a chuckle out of her.
'Huh, as if!' Doyoung returned, turning around, already on his way out of the saloon.
Behind him, he heard Jaehyun explain the rules to Dal-ae: 'This is coffin, it beats skeleton. Yes, like this and skeleton beats stake. Stake is the easiest to make. Just these two fingers. Yes, like that and it beats coffin. Got it? Let's go. Coffin Skeleton Stake!'
Doyoung chuckled, shaking his head at the success of Jaehyun's miserable attempt to cheer Dal-ae up when he heard her laugh as he walked out the door.
'Oye!' Jaehyun called out, stopping Doyoung. 'Where are you going? Let's have a tournament.'
Doyoung considered, sighed then shrugged before finally retracing his steps back into the saloon, ready for the tournament.
Author's Notes:
So, who do y'all think won the Coffin Skeleton Stake tournament?
Did you all like the game? It took me hours to come up with it. I rewrote this segment soooo many times before finalizing this one lol
(I wish I put this much effort towards my future but oh well can't win everywhere in life, can we?)