Chapter 54: I want you.
The smile that had appeared on Rakshasa’s lips lingered for a few more seconds, as if she were savoring not only the food before her, but also the response she had elicited from him.
The tension between them hadn’t lessened; it had merely transformed into something more refined, denser, like a game that had ceased to be impulsive and become deliberate.
Victor, for his part, didn’t hold the moment for long. He looked away from her for an instant, not in retreat, but in choice, like someone consciously deciding to end one move to begin another.
He took another piece of fish into his mouth, chewing calmly, allowing the silence to settle between them just long enough not to become empty.
"I’ve talked too much about myself," he said finally, lightly wiping his fingers with the cloth beside the table, his tone now more neutral, but still firm. His eyes returned to her with the same attentive gleam as before. "Now I want to know about you."
Rakshasa arched an eyebrow almost lazily, but the slight lift of the corner of her lips indicated that she had been expecting it. Her fingers swirled the utensil between them before capturing another piece of the dark fish, bringing it to her mouth with the same controlled elegance that marked everything about her.
"About me...?" she repeated, chewing slowly before swallowing, as if giving the question time to mature in the air. "What exactly do you want to know?"
Victor didn’t hesitate. He leaned slightly forward, resting his forearm near the table, his fingers relaxed, but his posture indicated total attention.
"First..." he began, with almost surgical calm, "...why you called me here."
She didn’t look away. She didn’t blink. She just observed him for a second, as if assessing whether that answer was still necessary.
"I already answered that," she said finally, naturally. "I wanted to get to know you."
Victor chuckled softly through his nose, almost inaudible, shaking his head slightly.
"So?" he insisted, a slight smile returning. "Was it impressive?"
There was a brief pause.
Not of doubt.
But of choice.
"I already answered that too," said Rakshasa, tilting her head slightly as she observed him more closely. "And yes..." her eyes narrowed slightly, not in judgment, but in confirmation, "...you are impressive."
Victor nodded slightly, as if accepting it without truly clinging to the compliment. He seemed more interested in what came next than in the validation itself.
"Right..." he murmured, taking another piece of fish into his mouth, chewing calmly before continuing. "So what do you want now?"
The question hung in the air directly, without embellishment, without beating around the bush. And, for the first time in that conversation, Rakshasa didn’t answer immediately.
She simply shrugged.
A simple gesture.
Almost too human for someone like her.
"I didn’t think that far ahead," she said, with an honesty that contrasted slightly with everything else she had shown until then.
Victor paused for a second.
Long enough to process.
And then... he smiled.
"So you’re impulsive," he commented, tilting his head slightly, his tone light, but not without meaning. "You made me come all the way here... for basically nothing."
Rakshasa didn’t seem offended.
On the contrary.
A wider smile appeared on her lips, and she rested her face slightly on her hand, observing him with an almost amused interest.
"I’m having the first date of my life, I think it was worth it," she replied, as if that, in itself, justified everything.
Victor blinked once.
And then let out a low laugh.
"Interesting..." he murmured, leaning back a little further. "So I’m the third ’first time’ in your life, in just one hour."
She gave a small laugh at his comment, a genuine and beautiful laugh, the kind only a woman like her would let out.
"Yes," she confirmed without hesitation. "Apparently... you like occupying this kind of position." She flashed a smile that made Victor’s little heart truly take a hit. Perhaps an arrow from Cupid?
After that, a silence hung in the air, broken only by the sounds of cutlery. But it was filled with a strange familiarity that shouldn’t exist between two people who had known each other for such a short time.
They both continued to eat, each at their own pace, but with their attention always partially turned towards each other, like predators who had decided to share the same territory... for now.
It was Rakshasa who broke the silence again.
"I’ll support you," she said suddenly, as if she were just commenting on something trivial.
Victor stopped the movement of the utensil for a second, his eyes turning to her with immediate curiosity.
"...Support?" he repeated, slightly raising an eyebrow. "Where did that come from, all of a sudden?"
She shrugged again, but this time there was something more behind the gesture.
"I’m interested," she replied simply.
"Interested in what?" Victor tilted his head slightly, feigning confusion; after all, it was a certain charm he had developed, but it didn’t get to her at all, as she didn’t even hesitate in her answer.
"In you, of course." She replied firmly, smiling.
Victor stared at her for a second. And then... he smiled. "I already have someone~" he said, in an almost casual tone, but with a slight provocative hint that didn’t disappear.
"That doesn’t matter," she replied, with the same calm as before, but now with something more... possessive hidden beneath the surface. Her fingers slid lightly along the edge of the table, almost distracted, but her eyes remained fixed on him. "An interesting man should be appreciated. And of course, I understand perfectly that a man like that won’t belong to just one woman."
She paused briefly. Enough to make the next words land with more weight.
"But even if you insist on refusing, maybe I’ll need to kidnap you... and use you as a toy until I’m satisfied. There’s always that option, right?"
Victor laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA–" It wasn’t like her laugh that exuded a demonic aura, but it was certainly catchy and with a touch of amusement.
She literally just assumed that she would simply rape him if he didn’t want to, and that’s actually fun to hear~ At least, for him it is.
"That’s definitely not going to happen," he replied, shaking his head slightly, still with a smile on his lips. "I’m not the kind of person who becomes someone’s toy."
Rakshasa watched silently.
And then... she smiled again.
But this time, there was something deeper in that smile.
Something more dangerous.
"We’ll see," she murmured, before finally returning her attention to the plate for a brief moment. But it didn’t take long. Her eyes returned to him, more focused now, more... directed.
"During the bloodline ascension ritual," she began, her voice lower, more serious, as if she were finally touching on something truly important, "when you obtain a drop of the ancestor’s blood..."
"...choose me," she concluded, holding his gaze with an intensity that left no room for interpretation. "As your tutor."
The silence that followed was unlike any before.
Victor didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes remained on her, analyzing, weighing each word, each hidden intention behind that proposal. It wasn’t just an invitation. It wasn’t just interest.
"...Tutor, huh," he murmured finally, tilting his head slightly, a small smile returning to his lips. "Is this a request... or a disguised order?"
She looked at him—Rakshasa didn’t answer immediately.
Rakshasa held his gaze for a few seconds after the question, as if evaluating not only the words, but the weight behind them. The silence that formed wasn’t empty; it was dense, laden with intention, like everything between them from the beginning. Her fingers rested lightly on the edge of the table, the pipe forgotten for a moment, while her attention was completely fixed on him.
"Neither one... nor the other," she finally answered, her voice low, controlled, but with a firmness that left no room for triviality. Her red eyes remained fixed on his, unblinking, as if wanting to pierce through any superficial reading. "Consider... a proposal."
Victor tilted his head slightly, the smile still there, but now more restrained, more attentive. He didn’t interrupt. He didn’t provoke. He simply waited.
Rakshasa then leaned back slightly, assuming a more comfortable, yet no less dominant, posture. There was something deliberate in every movement, as if even the way she breathed was part of a greater control.
"Within the Valentine lineage..." she began, her tone acquiring a different weight, more laden with historical than personal significance, "...I am, at the same time, one of the highest... and one of the most rejected."
Victor showed no surprise.
But his gaze subtly shifted.
More interest.
Less playfulness.
"My position grants me access to things that few even know exist," she continued, her fingers slowly gliding across the fabric of her own clothing, as if tracing an invisible line. "Knowledge. Techniques. Paths that are not offered... are taken." Her eyes narrowed slightly, a more intense glint emerging from the depths of that deep red. "And I know how to nurture strength. Not superficial strength... but the kind you said you wanted."
Victor let out a soft "hm" through his nose, absorbing each word without interruption. He rested his chin on his hand, analyzing it more carefully now.
"In exchange..." she continued, without breaking the rhythm, "...I want you."
The sentence was spoken naturally.
Without exaggerated emphasis.
Without dramatization.
And, precisely for that reason, it carried even more weight.
Victor didn’t react immediately.
He just stared at her for a few seconds.
And then... he shrugged.
"It’s a high price," she replied, with the same irritating lightness as always, as if she were negotiating something trivial.
Rakshasa wasn’t bothered.
Her lips curved slightly.
"Of course it is," she said, without denying it. "You don’t seem like the type of man who would accept something cheap."
There was a brief pause.
But this time... she moved forward.
"Including my techniques."
The air seemed to subtly change with that addition.
It wasn’t dramatic.
It wasn’t explosive.
But it was enough.
Victor noticed.
And, for the first time since the conversation had taken that turn, his smile truly changed.
It didn’t disappear.
But it gained something more.
Genuine interest.
"Now you’re starting to negotiate for real..." he murmured, his eyes fixed on her, analyzing every detail, every nuance hidden behind that offer.
That... hahaha! That was what he wanted from the beginning. That which he had only heard from his mother while she told the stories of the clan...
The clan’s best technique wasn’t performed by a Valentine... It was performed by Yu Seol-Ha, the daughter of the Celestial Demon, in fact, not one, but two techniques that she had perfected.
Daughter of one of humanity’s most powerful Celestial Demons, as soon as she became a vampire, these techniques became supreme. The Demonic Sword Dance and the Divine Blood Body Enhancement Method.
A sword technique that can cut through anything and a body that can withstand any blow... A combination made for a martial artist wielding swords... Which, of course, meant that Yu Seol-Ha was one of the greatest swordswomen in the world... and she herself was offering herself to him...
"And with that, I achieved another first time." He said, smiling at her.
She looked at him confused. "What?"
"Your first disciple, right?" He questioned, and her gaze darkened...
’Damn it... he’s going to say it again~’
"This is your fourth first time, master~"