“Your heart is beating so fast~”
Sylvie subconsciously held her breath. She thought she had disguised herself well, but in front of Utia’s intuition, sharp as a predator’s, it seemed so laughable.
After all, it was with this terrifying intuition that she selected her favored targets to strike.
“What’s wrong? Can’t sleep? Or are you afraid?” Utia’s voice drew closer, her icy breath almost brushing against Sylvie’s nape.
After a moment of silence, Sylvie struggled to maintain calm in her voice and replied.
“To share a bed with a noble vampire aristocrat, Sylvie is just too overwhelmed.”
“Hum hum hum… You always manage to give such obedient, satisfying answers.”
Utia’s sticky, sweet laughter came from behind, her tone gradually slowing, carrying a hint of danger.
“Satisfying to the point… of being boring and annoying. You know Sister doesn’t want to hear that kind of answer.”
“Now, turn around.” Her command rang out again, this time with an undeniable pressure.
“Look at me.”
Sylvie’s heart skipped a beat.
…What is this? Teasing her like this—might as well just get it over with directly.
She knew she couldn’t disobey, so she slowly, with great difficulty, began to turn her stiff body.
The silky bedding rustled with faint sounds, especially noticeable in the quiet room.
When she finally turned over, facing Utia’s beautiful face, their distance was so close she could almost feel each other’s breaths.
In the dim light, Utia’s blood-red eyes gleamed with an eerie dark glow, like a predator’s pupils in the darkness, appraising the changes in her facial expressions with keen interest, unblinking.
Sylvie forced herself to meet that gaze, her emerald-green eyes striving to remain calm.
“That’s better.” Utia seemed pleased, the corners of her mouth curling into a playful smirk.
“Let me get a good look at you… this little face trying so hard to act nonchalant, yet unable to control the fear.”
Her greedy gaze slowly licked over Sylvie’s face, from her furrowed brows to her pursed lips, then to her slightly trembling emerald pupils.
“Look, how vivid.” She murmured in admiration.
“Much more delicious than that lifeless, ready-to-sacrifice appearance from earlier.”
She reached out, her cold fingertips slowly brushing over Sylvie’s features, sliding down her cheek.
“Your blood flows here, with warmth, with the flavor of fear—this is the proof of life, and… the delicacy that pleases Sister the most.”
She whispered softly, with a smile.
“Remember this feeling, little one. Remember the sensation of trembling and fearing uncontrollably on my bed, under my gaze. I want you to remember that you’re a living thing that can fear, suffer, and struggle—not a doll that can be disposed of at will.”
“Your price, from the moment you start feeling these emotions again, is already being paid. And this ‘service’…”
She paused, the light in her blood-red eyes growing deeper.
“…will last a long, long time, until I… am thoroughly bored.”
“…”
Sylvie didn’t respond, nor did she know how to. She merely lowered her gaze, no longer daring to meet those scorching blood-red eyes appraising her.
Though their distance was close, there was ultimately not even the slightest skin contact. After a moment of quiet, just as Sylvie thought the night would pass like this, Utia’s wicked nature finally flared up again.
“Won’t you lean into Sister’s embrace a bit? Hum hum hum… Sister’s body is very soft, oh so soft~”
That sweet, almost syrupy voice came.
Sylvie’s body tensed for an instant. She heard the undisguised malice and teasing in that tone—this wasn’t an invitation, but a way to appreciate her embarrassment.
Next, Utia reached out and lifted the bedding, revealing her pale skin beneath, vaguely visible, along with some alluring curves.
Wait?
She wasn’t wearing clothes?!
Utia deliberately twisted her body, speaking again in a seductive tone.
“It’s very comfortable, oh~”
“N-no… Sylvie wouldn’t dare overstep.”
Sylvie said, her eyes unconsciously glancing away.
“You can overstep even with the Queen—why not with Sister?” Utia asked playfully.
She knew that if she pulled Sylvie directly into her arms right now, this impeccably obedient girl would absolutely not struggle or express any dissatisfaction.
But Utia deliberately didn’t.
She wanted Sylvie to take the initiative to embrace her cold yet “scorching” body—because that would be entertaining enough.
If it were before, Utia might not have known how to make her approach willingly, but now.
She knew exactly how to “move” this calm girl.
“The darkness of Eternal Night City is quite cold…” she suddenly sighed.
“Sylvie knows.”
“Then… do you think this bedding is warm?” Utia’s voice suddenly shifted direction, her fingertips idly twisting the smooth silk bedding beneath her.
Sylvie was stunned, not understanding why she suddenly asked this, but she subconsciously nodded.
“…Very warm.”
It was the truth—this quality of bedding, soft, thick, and incredibly warm, was a luxury that blood livestock like them could never possess.
In their past homes, having a few relatively clean white sheets for warmth was already a rare fortune.
“Yes, very warm.”
Utia sighed softly, her blood-red eyes fixed tightly on Sylvie’s profile expression.
“The nights in Eternal Night City are always so bone-chillingly cold… especially for those… little ones who have nothing.”
Sylvie’s heart skipped a beat, as if guessing something.
“Your children… right now, in that new home, they must be very cold too, right? Perhaps they can only huddle together, relying on each other’s faint body heat for warmth?”
“Uh…”
This sentence precisely struck Sylvie’s soft spot.
“Poor little things…” Utia shook her head in feigned sympathy.
“Sister has many such beddings here, thick and soft—they’d surely be warm when covered, maybe even allow for sweet dreams…”
She paused, watching Sylvie’s suddenly tightened lips and conflicted gaze.
“…If they could have such bedding too, how nice that would be, don’t you think, Sylvie?”
“Uh…”
Sylvie was tempted—or rather, she couldn’t not be. A warm bedding… for them, it might truly be a paradise in their dreams. If she could get one for Nia and the others, they’d surely be happy, right? No need to worry about the invading cold winds.
“…Lady Utia.”
“Hm? What’s the matter?” Utia asked in feigned confusion, but the playful malice in her eyes already revealed her inner delight at the moment.
“Could… you give Nia and the others one such bedding?” Sylvie requested humbly in a low voice.
“Of course.” Utia’s smile was sweet and cruel.
“Sister is always very soft-hearted… However, as you just said, everything requires a ‘price.’ But Sister doesn’t want to give a requirement that’s too difficult~”
“How about this…”
She said with a smile, slightly opening her arms—that pale, cold body, vaguely visible in the dim light, like an invitation full of temptation and traps.
“You ‘come closer’ to Sister, and Sister won’t make them pay the price. How about it? A very good deal, right? Hum hum hum…”