Chapter 1651: FOUR. F**KING. TIMES.
Chapter 1651: FOUR. F**KING. TIMES.
"Lia?"Lia suddenly snapped out of her memories.
Her crimson eyes blinked once before slowly turning toward Aether. A complicated expression lingered across her beautiful face, faintly hidden beneath her usual composure.
Aether noticed it immediately.
The playful atmosphere from earlier quietly faded as silence settled between them. He could almost feel invisible thoughts moving behind her eyes.
Maybe he had pushed too far.
Maybe the topic touched wounds she still refused to open.
Aether didn’t force her.
Instead, he simply smiled faintly and leaned back against the couch. He had more than enough time. There was no need to tear open her heart before she was ready.
And if things truly became complicated... he could always ask her mother directly.
Mary.
"Anyway," Aether said casually, breaking the silence before it became too heavy, "since the deal’s done, you should start sending your soldiers to my Empires."
As he sat upright, Lia slowly slid down from his stomach and settled naturally onto his lap.
Their faces drifted closer for a brief moment.
Warm breath brushed softly against skin.
Yet unlike before, the atmosphere no longer carried dangerous tension.
Lia exhaled quietly and pushed aside whatever thoughts had been troubling her. Then she puffed her cheeks slightly.
"But one time wasn’t enough," she complained softly. "Call me mommy again~"
Her arms wrapped around his neck while she leaned closer with shameless affection, almost like a spoiled child demanding attention she believed she deserved.
Aether nearly choked.
Cold sweat formed behind his neck.
’Absolutely not. Never happening again.’
He screamed internally while maintaining a calm expression outside.
Without wasting another second, he instantly changed the subject.
"Also... I’ll be leaving the Empire in two days."
Lia blinked.
"Leaving?" Her brows furrowed slightly. "Leaving where exactly?"
The man sitting before her literally controlled four Empires.
Aether smirked faintly as he twirled a strand of her silky hair around his fingers.
"To Terra."
"What?"
Lia’s eyes widened.
"How?"
This time, genuine shock appeared on her face.
Even she couldn’t enter Terra because of the restrictions surrounding that Empire. If she had possessed the ability, she would have drowned the entire land in rivers of blood long ago instead of wasting time making contracts and negotiations with them.
Yet Aether was calmly claiming he found a way inside.
Aether leaned slightly closer before giving her a sly grin.
"That," he whispered teasingly, "is a secret~"
Lia narrowed her eyes immediately.
Then she pouted again.
"Bad boy," she muttered while lightly pounding against his chest. "Hiding things from mommy~ You really deserve punishment for this."
Aether laughed helplessly.
Honestly... if she stopped calling herself ’mommy’ every five seconds, he probably would have kissed her already.
Still, Lia’s curiosity completely overwhelmed her annoyance.
She stared directly into his eyes, voice softer this time.
"No, seriously... tell me."
Aether sighed softly. The moment he brought up the topic, he already knew Lia would start nagging him, but he had his reasons for asking.
Still, before approaching the real issue, he decided to test the waters carefully.
"But before that..." Aether’s gaze narrowed slightly as he studied her expression. "Do you know anyone named Amara Rosavere? Or maybe seen any chubby woman staying near your mother?"
Lia tilted her head slightly.
Of course, she knew that woman.
However, her expression remained calm as she answered without hesitation.
"No, I don’t know."
Aether stared at her for a moment before sighing inwardly again. He couldn’t tell whether she was genuinely unaware or simply avoiding the topic altogether.
"Hmm..."
His fingers tapped lightly against his thigh before he asked another question.
"Then... do you know anything about slaves being sold to the Terra Empire?"
This time, Lia genuinely blinked in confusion.
Real confusion.
"No..." she answered slowly while frowning faintly. "Selling slaves? We only trade materials and resources..."
Inside her mind, confusion spread rapidly.
What exactly was he talking about?
Aether carefully observed her expression.
Seeing that genuine confusion, he sighed once more.
Maybe Lia truly wasn’t involved in any of this.
Perhaps Mary or Morgana held the actual answers he was searching for.
"Then..." Aether rubbed his temple lightly before continuing, "Do you know anyone named Epsilon?"
Again, Lia looked completely lost.
"Epsilon?" she repeated slowly before tilting her head. "Is that... food?"
Aether nearly groaned aloud.
’Yeah... she definitely has no idea.’
For a brief second, he wondered how someone this terrifying could also sound this airheaded at random moments.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he decided to move toward another target entirely.
"Do you know where your aunt might be?" he asked curiously. "Can you help me meet her?"
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Lia’s expression froze.
Then her face slowly turned cold.
A dangerous pressure quietly filled the room as her crimson eyes narrowed sharply toward him.
"How dare you speak another woman’s name while sitting with me?"
Her beautiful face twisted with visible fury.
Aether stared blankly for a second before sighing inwardly.
’Yep... definitely a yandere.’
Still, unlike ordinary people, he wasn’t scared in the slightest.
By now, he practically possessed a master’s degree in handling yandere women.
If there were a college for this... he would have been walking with awards!
"Of course not," he replied smoothly before leaning closer. "I only want to meet your aunt so we can figure out a way to calm your mother down..."
A sly smile appeared on his lips.
"So we can get married sooner~"
Before Lia could snap back, he gently kissed her lips.
The soft touch lasted only a moment, yet it successfully weakened her anger.
Lia naturally knew he was lying.
Completely lying!
Still, she merely huffed and looked away with an annoyed pout instead of exploding further.
However, after a few seconds, the annoyance in her eyes slowly faded into worry.
"When are you leaving?" she asked quietly. "And... when are you coming back?"
Aether’s playful expression weakened slightly.
"In two days," he answered honestly. "As for returning..."
He paused briefly.
"I don’t know."
Inwardly, he sighed.
By the time he finished dest-ahem making peace with Terra Empire... who knew how much time would pass?
Hearing his uncertain answer, Lia’s face immediately turned grim.
For the first time since meeting her, genuine unease surfaced across her expression.
"T-Then take me with you."
The request came almost instantly.
Aether gently shook his head.
"I can’t," he said softly.
"I can barely bring myself safely, let alone others."
His hand slowly rose before gently caressing her cheek.
"And honestly..."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"There’s no way I’m bringing my dear darling to the Empire that hurt her."
Then he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently.
Lia’s crimson eyes widened slightly.
For a brief moment... a truly gentle smile bloomed across her face.
A smile so soft and natural that even the candlelight seemed to pause around her.
As if... she was defeated for some reason.
"..."
Aether entered a brief trance.
The smile before him felt completely different from all the previous ones she had shown.
Not seductive.
Not teasing.
A genuine smile rose from the deepest part of her heart.
And honestly... it was devastatingly beautiful.
His heartbeat skipped once.
Then again.
If affection points still existed, he was absolutely certain they would have exploded past three thousand instantly.
Slowly, Aether lowered the collar of his shirt just enough to expose the side of his neck.
"Since I’ll be gone for a long time..." his voice softened slightly, carrying a teasing warmth beneath it, "how about taking a little sip so you won’t forget me?~"
Lia stared silently into his eyes.
Then her gaze slowly drifted downward toward his exposed neck.
Strangely enough, after everything that happened tonight, her earlier appetite for blood had mostly disappeared. Her thoughts were still tangled in confusion, emotions, and the strange warmth he kept forcing into her cold world.
Yet seeing his expression... seeing the way he quietly offered himself to her without hesitation... something inside her softened again.
As if he genuinely wanted her to remember him while he was gone.
Her lips parted slightly.
Then slowly... carefully... she leaned closer.
Her small fangs gently pierced into his neck.
chukk~
Lia closed her eyes softly as she drank his blood in silence while Aether’s fingers lazily brushed through her hair.
"Ahh..."
Aether groaned softly as his crimson eyes flickered beneath lowered eyelids before slowly turning ice blue. His arms tightened instinctively around the woman resting against him, holding her close enough to feel every bit of warmth radiating from her body through the thin layers of clothing separating them.
Her scent surrounded him completely.
Sweet.
Dangerous.
Addictive~
A faint fragrance of blood and roses lingered around Lia’s hair.
Honestly, it made his head feel slightly dizzy, yet strangely calm at the same time.
Ever since that day, he had been wondering how he should approach her again. Part of him had genuinely expected Lia to avoid him entirely after everything that happened between them.
Thankfully... she didn’t.
Even though the sudden development between them caught him completely off guard, things were still moving in the direction he wanted.
Once he fully seduced her... everything would proceed according to plan.
At least, that was what he kept telling himself.
Meanwhile, Lia’s tense body slowly relaxed as she drank his blood.
To Vampires, his blood felt finer than the most precious wine in existence. Warmth spread through her body while the exhaustion buried inside her mind gradually melted away. Even the coldness lingering within her chest eased little by little as if invisible chains wrapped around her heart were loosening.
The taste alone was enough to make her eyelashes tremble faintly.
After taking a long sip, Lia slowly pulled her fangs away from his neck.
Two tiny holes remained visible against his pale skin while a small trail of crimson slid downward across his collarbone.
Without thinking much, she gently licked over the marks once before lifting her face away from his neck.
Aether looked down at her quietly.
Her cheeks were dyed crimson, her lips glistening faintly with blood, and her usually cold eyes looked softer than before.
Vulnerable, almost.
Like a dangerous predator unknowingly lowering its guard.
When his fingers brushed gently against her cheek, Lia unconsciously leaned into his palm like a spoiled cat searching for warmth and affection.
Aether couldn’t help smiling at the sight.
"So cute~" he mumbled softly under his breath.
Then he leaned forward and kissed her lips.
The taste of blood mixed with her sweetness, warm and strangely intoxicating. Their breaths tangled together almost immediately, while the faint metallic scent lingering between them only deepened the strangely intimate atmosphere filling the room.
"Mmh~"
Lia immediately kissed him back without hesitation. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck while she tilted her head again and again, deepening the kiss as if she didn’t want even a single inch of distance left between them.
Her fingers slowly tangled into his hair while their lips moved against each other with growing hunger.
The kiss became slower.
Longer~~
Hot breaths mixed together while faint strands of saliva connected and broke between their lips.
Only after both of them finally felt satisfied did they slowly part from each other.
Yet neither moved away.
They simply remained there quietly, foreheads nearly touching, while warmth and lingering sensual tension filled the room.
After several long seconds, Aether finally spoke.
"So... I’ll be leaving soon."
His voice sounded unusually soft, almost like a man trying to comfort a woman afraid of being abandoned by someone important to her.
"N-No..."
Lia muttered with a pout while tightening her hold around him slightly.
For the first time, genuine reluctance appeared in her expression. It almost looked like she feared she might not see him again for a very long time.
Aether chuckled quietly before patting her back gently in reassurance.
"Come on," he said softly. "I’ll be back before you know it."
Lia sighed dramatically.
"Fine..."
Then suddenly, the gloominess vanished from her face as her crimson eyes narrowed slyly beneath a playful smile.
In less than a second, she returned to her usual troublesome self.
"But..."
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on her lips while she leaned closer toward his ear.
"Call me Mommy one last time~"
"...Hell no!!"
Aether rejected instantly without even a second of hesitation.
The moment he tried pushing her away, Lia immediately tightened her grip around him like a python locking onto prey that had no chance of escaping.
"Call me Mommy, and only then will I let you leave!" she declared stubbornly while puffing her cheeks angrily.
"Nope!"
Aether shook his head firmly.
"Mommy!"
"No!"
"Mommy!"
"No!"
"Mommy!"
"No!"
"Grrh! MOMMY!!"
"NNNNOOOO!!!"
The two of them immediately started arguing back and forth like children fighting over pride.
Neither side backed down.
Especially Lia.
"MOMMY!!"
"NO!"
"MOMMY!!"
"NO!"
"NO!"
"MOMMY-"
Aether suddenly froze.
His face instantly turned bright red after realising he had accidentally fallen into her trap at the very end.
The room became silent for one devastating second.
Then embarrassment exploded across his face.
"FUCK YOU!!!"
"Heheh~"
Lia giggled victoriously while hugging him tightly, looking absurdly pleased with herself.
As if she had just won the greatest battle of her entire life.
Honestly, the satisfaction on her face resembled someone finally taking revenge after suffering a trillion.
Unfortunately for Aether... the nightmare didn’t end there.
Lia continued using every dirty trick possible to force more victories out of him. She acted pitiful, seductive, threatening, clingy, and shamelessly manipulative all at once without even a hint of dignity.
And somehow... every method worked.
Only two whole hours later...
Aether finally stepped out of the mansion looking like a man whose soul had been completely drained away.
His clothes were messy.
His expression looked hollow.
Broken.
Defeated!!
Like a warrior returning from the cruellest battlefield imaginable.
He had called her Mommy four times.
FOUR.
FUCKING.
TIMES.
He already had daddy issues.
Now he was developing mommy issues too?
What kind of cursed life was this?
"My dear son~"
The seductive voice drifting from the mansion instantly snapped Aether back to reality.
His entire body shivered violently.
The image of Lia smiling while forcing him onto her lap flashed through his mind like pure psychological horror.
Without another word, he grabbed what little remained of his dignity and leaking soul from his mouth and immediately bolted away from the mansion gates at full speed.
As if staying there even one second longer would genuinely result in Lia legally adopting him and feeding him with her breast!!
"Haha..."
Standing gracefully on the terrace above, Lia watched him sprinting toward Nyx’s residence like a man escaping death itself.
Grey sky illuminated her golden hair while the wind gently swayed the fabric covering her body.
The amused smile on her face slowly faded.
Then... the atmosphere around her turned cold.
Terrifyingly cold.
Her crimson eyes darkened as killing intent silently spread through the air like invisible frost, swallowing the surroundings.
"Alucard..."
She whispered the name in a deadly tone while clenching her fist tightly enough for blood to drip slowly from her palm onto the marble floor below.
The cheerful atmosphere from moments ago vanished completely.
Only a dangerous Vampire remained standing beneath the sky.
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