The image of three newbies, all girls to boot, dragging a bag full of spoils across the ground wasn’t something Bran thought he’d ever see. The fact that two of them were covered head to toe in a greenish liquid didn’t help make the image more real; on the contrary.
Liliene exited the cave first, deployed her parasol, and stood in front of Bran with the confidence of a noble lady and the appearance of a swamp creature.
“Thank you. I’m glad our first time was with experienced delvers by our side,” she said with a refined smile borrowed directly from Sylvia.
“You’re welcome…” he answered through gritted teeth.
A bunch of newbies saved them during an ambush, then pressed on as his group retreated and looted their spoils right in front of them. Worse, he felt like the blond girl was mocking him. Eh. That’s what he’d do in her shoes.
Liliene went straight for Michelle next, their mage.
“Thank you for taking care of my Laura!” she beamed.
“You’re welcome. You love her lots, don’t you?”
“I do! Now. We need to hurry home. My girlfriend won’t let me near her before I take a bath,” Liliene said with a sad smile.
“Oh, poor you. Do you think you’ll manage? Those will be torturously long hours,” Michelle said with a hand over her mouth.
“I don’t know…”
Michelle circled Liliene and held a loose, torn piece of her chemise between her fingers. The fabric was darkened with dried blood. “Yeah. Your top is in a sorry state, Laura. She definitely needs a bath,” Michelle winked at Laura.
“But I’m Liliene,” she said, tilting her head.
“Lili,” Laura interrupted, her face redder than it had been a moment ago. She grabbed Liliene by the arm and dragged her away. “Let-Let’s just go.”
After a very quick exchange with Bran’s group, they parted ways.
“Don’t forget to submit a report to the conservatory, kids!” Bran shouted as they entered the woods.
“Bran, they’re not kids…” Michelle admonished him.
Bran ignored her and turned to her brother.
“Saw anything?”
Michel shook his head.
“No. It was pitch-black inside that ruin. But I examined the corpses they left behind. The troll… No weapons I know of could have made those wounds.”
“Think she’s a hero? They do have weird powers.”
Michel shrugged. “Could be. Or the daughter of one. She looks in the right age range.”
“Drop it, then. Better not piss off anybody in high places.”
***
The journey back from the ruins to their inn wasn’t as quick as Liliene had hoped. Nex was exhausted; they took multiple breaks and swapped who carried the bag containing the artifacts. Or rather, who dragged it.
When the group entered the inn, their appearance stunned every patron into silence. And it wasn’t the flattering kind.
“Now. I’m going to sort our spoils and compile what we learned,” Laura said, appropriating a table sitting near the stairs. “You two will take a bath. And you will keep the window open. I am not sleeping in a room reeking of troll’s blood.”
It was uncanny how much Laura sounded like her mother right now. Liliene tilted her head, pondering a very serious matter. Was that new bossy Laura sexier than the usual maidenly Laura?
“Hm…”
“Lili. Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, stop it.” Laura sighed and sank into her chair. “Now shoo. I… I want to be able to hug my girlfriend soon, so… hurry up,” she confessed in a low voice. This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.
“Yes, Ma’am!” She saluted and ran upstairs.
Both. Both were good. But maidenly Laura was more her Laura. Still, Sylvia’s words echoed in her mind. Theresa’s maidens. Was favoring maidens a vampire thing? It felt like a very peculiar racial trait… She ought to ask Sylvia the next time they met.
She opened the door to their room, and Nex started preparing the wooden bathtub right away.
“I’ll bring you hot water, My Lady.”
“Nope.”
Liliene put her hands on Nex’s shoulders and gently pushed her until she sat on the bed.
“You’re exhausted; we both fought for our lives. Tonight… let’s pay servants to do that for us.”
“But…”
Liliene shut her up with adorable big eyes. They were meant to be intimidating, the kind a mother would give to an unruly child, but the lack of any real heat underneath only made her look ridiculous. Still, Nex relented.
Unfortunately for their finances, it was Liliene who went down to pay a servant girl. After seeing the silver coins, the servant girl worked harder than ever before. And soon, a steamy hot bath was ready in their room.
“You go first, My Lady. I’ll help Miss Laura in the meantime.”
“Nex,” Liliene called her before her maid could reach for the door. “Wait.”
Liliene’s chemise, limp and torn, hung by a single thread at one shoulder, held up by sheer force of will. The spider legs were a good idea, but now… She probably needed a chemise budget now. She removed it and let it fall to the ground.
She didn’t exactly know why she was doing this. Liliene was split in three. A mortified part told her to let Nex go, a mischievous part enjoyed the attention, and the biggest part just loved Nex and wanted her to be happy. It probably wasn’t the same love she felt for Laura, or the love Nex felt for her. But it was love, still.
Liliene crossed her arms in front of her, her hands resting over her breasts. Then she turned to face Nex. Thump. Thump. Her heartbeat was so loud. Her newly exposed skin was covered with goosebumps. She gave her maid a small smile and let her arms fall to her sides.
“Nex… Thank you for… loving me. Protecting me. Fighting for me. For everything.”
Nex kept her eyes on Liliene’s face.
“You can look. Or rather… I want you to look.”
Nex didn’t at first. She fought it. Liliene cataloged every micro-expression on her maid’s face. The small twitches on the corners of her lips, her eyes darting downward for a blink, the way she bit her lower lip. Until the moment her resolve broke, and Nex truly looked.
It didn’t last, as Nex finally regained her wits by looking at the ground.
“You’re beautiful, Lili.”
Liliene took the compliment, but beautiful wasn’t what she wanted to be right now. She wanted to be desired.
The realization, coupled with the focused attention, mortified her further. She quickly turned and hid again.
“Thank you… Hm. I’ll be quick, I promise.”
When she heard the door close, she finally took off the rest of her clothes and sank into the bath, hugging her knees to her chest.
“What am I doing?”
She could only hope it had been a gift for Nex, and not torture. She had truly meant it as a gift.
***
After her bath, and having soaked way too long to clean her mind as much as her body, Liliene gave the room to Nex and headed downstairs. She found Laura at the same table she'd left her earlier, head down, scribbling in concentration.
“Tada!” Liliene said, opening her arms.
“Ah. Welcome back,” Laura answered with a smile. “Did you have a good time?”
“Lili?”
“I… I don’t reek anymore!”
Laura reddened when Liliene’s point finally came across. She looked behind her, at the quiet common room of the inn. A few patrons were giving them curious glances; a few others smirked, but her lover stood unbothered, waiting.
Laura stood, gave the room another glance, then ignored it and walked up to Liliene. She sank against her chest and timidly wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.
“You’re still warm from the bath,” Laura said, happily snuggling closer.
“Do you want to go out tomorrow? Just the two of us?”
“Sure, but why? Is there anything you need to buy?”
Liliene almost burst out, ‘a maid uniform,’ but miraculously restrained herself. Truly, they had skipped a lot of steps in their relationship. That, plus the hurried schedule for the exams and first delves, had left their romance all over the place.
“I want to do couple stuff. Like, I’d like to go on a date.”
“Oh.” Laura looked up to meet Liliene’s eyes. “I… Gladly. Where will you take me?” she asked shyly.
She hadn’t planned that far. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure what shops she could find across the street. But she could use her newfound specialty: offer a plan and get someone to complete it.
“Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”
Laura shook her head against Liliene’s chest. She vividly remembered the bite mark on Nex’s neck, and what her lover looked like after killing the troll. She wanted Liliene for herself, in a place where nothing could happen.
“No. Just… somewhere calm. Where it’s just the two of us. I wouldn’t mind lazing around in bed all day.”
Laura felt Liliene tense a fraction and looked up at her. Truly, Laura had awakened something in Liliene since she started drinking her blood, because Liliene’s eyes were giving it all away: whatever Laura had just said, Liliene had given it a lewd interpretation. Laura sagged a little more against Liliene. She didn’t exactly mind that interpretation either.
“Are you hungry?” Laura asked in a small voice.
“A bit. But that can wait. Did you find anything?” Liliene asked, nodding toward the table.
“I only compiled what I noted. I also wrote the report and sorted out our loot.”
Was her Laura some sort of hyper-competent clerk? Liliene was sure she couldn’t do that much in a full day.
“You did all that? I could have helped!”
Liliene doubted how much help she really would have been, but she didn’t want to let her lover do everything for her. Being served was nice and all, but between Laura and Nex, she feared she would quickly grow fat and lazy.
“It’s my job, Lili. Nex and you… you can fight. That’s all I have.”
“But that’s not true! You helped me dodge during the first fight, you bandaged my foot, you got us inside the conservatory, you noticed that my necklace was broken, you do all the research. I would be useless without you.”
“Lili…” Laura buried her face against Liliene, but her red ears were betraying her state of mind.
“Hm. Let’s go to our room. It looks to me like my lover needs a reminder of how useful she is.”
“Lili. Wait!”
But wait she didn’t. Liliene packed everything that was on the table and pulled Laura upstairs, never letting go of her arm. Her grip was weak enough that Laura could easily fight back if she wanted to.
“I’m going to hug you and whisper all the good things there are about you.”
“That’s… I believe you. Please…”
Liliene was true to her word. Tonight wasn’t about feeding or sex. Laura would go on to have a wonderfully mortifying night, a prisoner in Liliene’s arms, with her lover’s breath against her ear, and endure hours of susurrated compliments.