1288 Dreaming Of The Surface World
p-a-n-d-a-n-0-v-e-l、(c)om
“What does blood taste like?” Erinys asked as she looked at William who was chugging a blood pack that had just arrived in their home from Ama-Soon.
“This blood tastes so bland that if not for the fact that I need to drink blood on a regular basis, I would have already thrown it in the trash,” William replied as soon as he emptied the blood pack he was holding.
There was a small bloodstain at the corner of his lips, but he wiped it away using the back of his hand.
“I know that vampires drink blood on a regular basis, and I’ve long been curious on what blood tastes like,” Erinys commented. “It’s just that, when I plan to actually drink blood, I feel nauseous and stop my attempt halfway.”
The corner of William’s lips curled up because the little Half-ling was making a disgusted expression on her face.
“Trust me, you don’t want to drink anyone’s blood,” William stated.
Erinys smirked as she looked up at William in a mischievous manner. “Mmm, but I’m curious about what your blood tastes like.”
“My blood?” William blinked in confusion. “I don’t think my blood tastes good.”
“But didn’t your wives or lovers ever think of biting you back? I mean, you’ve been biting them a lot. If that was me, I would have bitten you back as payback.”
“… well, three of them did try to bite me and drink my blood out of curiosity.”
“Oh? What happened next?”
Erinys’ was like an Auntie who was looking for juicy gossip as she focused her attention on the Half-Elf who had sat beside her.
“Well, my wife, Princess Sidonie is a succubus,” William replied. “So she can extend her fangs and draw blood from my body. When she drank my blood, she only commented that it was delicious.”
“Really?” Erinys arched an eyebrow. “Maybe she’s just paying lip service since you are her husband.”
William nodded. “I think so too as well. Then the next one that tried to bite me was my wife Chiffon. It was a subconscious act on her part. We were sleeping together, and she was resting her head on my chest. Suddenly, my sixth sense woke me up because it sensed a great danger was about to befall me. Fortunately, I woke up just in time and managed to stop her from literally biting a chunk out of my chest.
“She was dreaming of eating a cake, so her body moved subconsciously to take a bite. In truth, sleeping with her so close to me is always a gamble because when she dreams of eating something, it is a life and death situation for me.”
Erinys giggled after hearing William’s story. She thought that the Half-Elf was just exaggerating his claim that his wife’s sleep-biting was a matter of life and death. How could someone possibly die if they were bitten by a Dwarf who was only a head taller than she was?
“And, who was the last one?” Erinys asked.
“The last one was a young Nymph,” William replied as he thought of Loxos, who was currently guarding his Empire for him. “She had been so drunk by pleasure that she bit me without intending to.
“Naturally, she managed to draw blood and my blood entered her lips. When she regained her senses, she said that my blood tasted bitter, and she didn’t want to taste it ever again.”
Erinys giggled again after hearing the Young Nymphs complaint about William’s blood.
“So, one said it tastes delicious, and the other says it’s bitter,” the Half-ling muttered as she nonchalantly sat on William’s lap as she used the remote control to open the T.V to watch Squirt Games in Methflix.
She then grabbed the bag of potato chips she had prepared beforehand and started munching on chips.
Wiliam had already gotten used to Erinys’ antics, so he just leaned back against the couch, and held her in place to prevent her from slipping off his lap.
The black-haired teenager had taken the day off because of his unstable urge to drink blood. He didn’t want to start biting his customers due to bloodthirst and simply waited for the delivery of Ama-Soon to arrive.
Now that he had drunk some blood, he felt a lot better, but still unsatisfied with its taste. Drinking blood from a blood pack and drinking it directly from the source were two different things.
It was like eating from a fastfood restaurant and comparing it to a Michelin Star restaurant. The difference was that great, and William, who had been spoiled by the blood of his wives and lovers, had higher standards compared to an ordinary vampire.
“Erinys, what is your father like?” William asked. He had been living with the Half-ling for quite some time now and he wanted to know more about her.
“My father is quite busy, so he has no time to look after me,” Erinys replied as she continued to eat potato chips on William’s lap. “I often visit my grandma during my free time, but I don’t want to bother her too much, so I haven’t seen her in more than a year.”
William listened to Erinys speak about the moments when she went to visit her father, and her grandma, and he could genuinely tell that she loved and respected both of them.
There was also a trace of loneliness mixed between her words, which meant that she really missed seeing them. Perhaps, becoming a Ferryman of the Underworld was just her way of trying to find some form of enjoyment in her mundane, everyday life.
Being able to talk to and meet other souls was like meeting tourists who hailed from distant lands and worlds.
Perhaps it was due to fate that allowed Erinys to meet William the moment he arrived in the Underworld, which allowed her to take him under her wing, while he came to understand the rules that governed the place where the dead go after their lives have ended.
Through his interaction with Erinys, he noticed that the Half-ling would ask a lot of questions about the World of Hestia where William had come from.
The Half-Elf had already felt it, but Erinys really longed to see the surface world. She was like the little mermaid in the fairy tale who wanted to go onto the land in order to experience what it was like to be a Human, but the price she had to pay for it was very steep.
“Will, you’re planning to take your wives back to the Surface World, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you… nevermind.”
Erinys stopped whatever she was planning to say, and William didn’t urge her to say what she wanted in her heart.
He already knew what she wanted, but he didn’t know if he could make it happen. After what had happened with Acedia, he didn’t want to make any promise that he couldn’t keep, so he kept his silence.
Even so, he wished that the little girl in his embrace would be able to find the happiness that she was looking for. For now, he did what he could and accompanied her while she watched her favorite show, and sat on his lap while she ate potato chips one after the other.