Author's note: this is from Aldus's point of view

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I observed keenly as Vesper gave Serina instructions on what to do. It was a set of breathing techniques, similar to meditation while she had to focus on specific areas of her body.

When Serina confirmed that she understood what to do, Vesper ushered me out of the room.

"The best outcome will occur if she does the exercise without any distractions. We should give her at least half an hour to practice before I check on her and see if she is ready to proceed forward. Should I make arrangements for dinner?"

I ignored her dinner comment. Is she kidding me? I would be out of my mind to consume any food or beverage in her presence.

I visually inspected the room one more time, to ensure it's safe before walking out. Vesper was always scheming and full of tricks, and I was not comfortable leaving Serina out of my sight, but Serina gave me a confident nod and I knew that I can feel her presence as long as we are not far apart.

"What is she, Aldus?", Vesper asked when she took a seat on the sofa chair opposite from me.

"I told you. My daughter."

"Hmm…", Vesper hummed while pursing her lips and her expression told me that she does not believe me. "She looks like a human and thinks like one. I'm not able to detect anything unusual, other than her pheromone production. So, she is either very good at concealing herself, or she is not aware of what she is."

"It seems that you already know everything. She is a human with increased pheromone production. There is nothing more to her."

Vesper shook her head lightly while narrowing her eyes at me. "But she is not human."

I believe that Vesper picked up from my talk with Seraphina that she might be an immortal, but she is not sure. However, her last statement came with a dose of confidence that made me uneasy. "What makes you think so?"

"Any human would be knocked out after one minute of inhaling that incense…"

"Vesper!", I snapped. "How dare you test her like that? I told you that if anything happens to her, you will regret it!"

Vesper waved her hand casually. "Nothing would happen other than her losing consciousness for a few hours."

I didn't see the point in Vesper only knocking out Serina for a few hours, especially because I can tear her apart without much effort. "Why would you do that?"

Vesper grinned. "It would give us some privacy."

Her casual-flirty attitude irritated me. After what she did to me, she should be lucky that I didn't kill her.

"If I don't fear that your blood is toxic, I would suck you dry a long time ago.", I said menacingly.

Vesper's eyes flashed in excitement and she re-crossed her legs slowly.

"Oh, how I wish that you suck me dry, my dear Aldus…", she drawled seductively, making my skin crawl as images from a few centuries ago flashed in my mind.

'Oh, how I wish for a spell to forget what happened then!', I screamed internally.

She stifled a laugh. My discomfort was obvious.

"We will talk about sucking and much more after I finish the first part of the deal and we discuss payments.", she laughed, and I could feel my face turning into a scowl.

"Now, back to the topic.", Vesper said. "Other than Serina not being human, I don't believe that she is your daughter."

I could not believe that she was not willing to drop it. "I treat her as my daughter. Anything beyond that is not your concern."

Vesper cackled and leaned into the sofa chair. "Don't tell me that you need a virgin sacrifice."

My stomach churned. Only witches care about such things. "Why would I need a sacrifice?"

"Who knows? It's rare to see such a pure body, untouched."

I snorted. "What do you know about her body?"

Vesper looked at me like I said something silly. "Did you forget the spell I cast when you arrived? It checked her whole abdomen, and I can guarantee that all her organs are tight. Of course, I started with the last few weeks and then months with a goal to confirm if she had intercourse, but even after looking years back, there was no activity…"

With Vesper's explanation, I remembered the spell. It allows the caster to visualize organs through time like rewinding a movie. The spell is usually used by healers to confirm when a certain injury happened or disease started, but it seems that Vesper found an alternate application. Of course, Vesper had no way to check if Serina was my lover, so she just checked if Serina had a lover.

I recollected the scene of Serina in the alley when I found her. Her clothes were torn and there were obvious signs of struggle, so I assumed that she was assaulted, but it is possible that the assault didn't actually happen.

I was not sure if it was a good or a bad thing that Serina died before the attacker had a chance to violate her. At that time, I didn't check her insides because it was not important. Well, it's not important now either, especially because she does not remember how she died, but in case she remembers the incident, there will be one gruesome thing less to remember.

Now that my mind was back on the topic of Serina's death, I wished to know who murdered her. Was it one person or more? Was it planned or random? Whoever was involved knows that she died in that alley and that the body vanished. I was confident that no one saw me taking her away, but her murderer was probably watching the news in the next few days while expecting to see that her corpse was found. However, no one reported her missing, so the police didn't investigate and it didn't reach the media. That means how other than her family and her co-vacationers, there was also her murderer who didn't care that she disappeared without a trace. The more I thought about this, the more it got strange.

"Aldus?"

Vesper's call pulled me out of my thoughts, and what surprised me was that she was sitting on the sofa, by my side. When did that happen? She was on the sofa chair with the table in-between us.

Vesper snickered. "It's not like you to be distracted to the point of not paying attention to your surroundings. Are you concerned that something is going on with your daughter?" She sang the last word.

I could smell Vesper's perfume. It was sweet and flowery. "You are too close."

"And what are you going to do about it?", she asked smugly and inched closer.

Vesper froze in shock when my hand flew toward her neck. A second later, she grinned when she realized that I'm holding her without causing her harm.

"Didn't you learn from past experiences? Getting into the touching distance with me can be… mind changing." She glanced toward my hand and I understood she is insinuating that she can control me.

Rage swelled inside me and a beastly snarl escaped my throat as my mouth opened wide enough to show my elongated fangs. It's been a long time since I lost my temper to this point.

"Try, witch! Let's see if you can do anything.", I spoke with difficulty while fighting the urge to tear Vesper's head away from her body.

Her eyes narrowed and then I saw the panic on her face. My palm which was touching her skin prickled, but it didn't go beyond that. Finally, I enjoyed what I saw while looking at her: fear.

"Did you really think I would come here unprepared?", I asked.

I tightened my grip on her neck, clutching her just enough so that she can't breathe without breaking anything vital. I could see my fingernails elongating and piercing her skin, but I didn't care.

"Don't test me, Vesper.", I squeezed through my teeth. "I hope you understand that you are still alive only because you are useful. However, my tolerance is running thin, and if you are not careful, who knows what I might do? Do you understand?"

She nodded with a few quick movements while struggling to inhale.

"Good." I let go of her neck by pushing her back, without trying to be gentle. She nearly fell off the sofa.

I watched her clamber to sit on the sofa chair. That's better.

I took a deep breath to adjust my mood before asking casually like the last two minutes didn't happen: "Since we have some time to kill, why don't you tell me what you've been up to lately?"

Vesper rubbed her neck and frowned at me when she realized that the wetness she felt was her blood. I knew that it's not a good idea to provoke her in her own house, but she was pushing my limits and she reached too far. I could only hope that this episode was enough for her to stay in her lane because if she tries something like that again, I will snap her in two like a twig.

I glanced at the time and confirmed that the potion which renders me immune to mental manipulation will wear off in about one hour. By then, Serina should finish and we will be out of here. Over the centuries, I practiced strengthening my defenses, and I am confident that I can block mental intrusions. However, considering that this is Vesper, one can't be too careful, so as soon as we entered Paris, I took a potion I personally made. Just in case.

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