8 I'll Buy You Candied Hawthorns, Will You Forgive Me?

"Shit."

"It's been too long since I've sucked blood."

"I can't suppress the urge to suck blood."

Harlen gripped the railing with one hand and touched his throat with the other.

He had an anxious expression on his face, like a ferocious beast that had not eaten for a month.

After a few sips of black tea, Mary got up and walked to the balcony door.

"I have nothing to pack."

"I don't even have any clothes to wear."

"I can no longer wear the long dress that was torn by the branches."

Mary held the door frame and looked at Harlen's back.

Harlen turned back to see Mary standing outside the door, wrapped only in a towel.

He quickly pointed at the house and gestured for her to enter the living room.

This balcony was connected to the street. If others saw it, it would affect their social image.

After seeing Mary enter the living room, Harlen followed her out of the balcony and closed the balcony door.

He didn't want to stand on the balcony for too long and watch those people until he couldn't control himself and sucked all their blood.

After returning to the living room, the two of them sat back down on the couch.

He thought about how he could get Mary some clothes first and deal with going out.

Suddenly, Harlen thought of something.

He took off the ring that was transformed from his cloak.

Harlen placed the ring on the sofa, then willed it.

The ring turned into a set of soft clothes.

There were clothes, pants, shoes, socks, hats, etc.

But they were all black.

After all, Harlen hadn't colored this set of clothes with his will.

Therefore, the cloak automatically chose the default black color.

"Good Lord."

"I just wanted to see if I could complete the transformation."

"I didn't expect it to really work."

"This cloak is truly a divine artifact."

"Sister Bella actually gave it to me."

...

"Call me Your Majesty, Harlen."

"Also, no matter what form this cloak takes, as long as you wear it once, even if you don't wear it afterward, as long as the cloak is within a certain distance from you, it can still suppress your vampire aura."

Queen Bella's voice suddenly sounded in his mind before she disconnected.

"..."

"Then I can give it to Mary without worry."

"Mary, try them all. See if they fit."

Mary was stunned when the ring suddenly turned into clothes.

She stared blankly for a few seconds, then snapped out of it and gave Harlen a thumbs-up.

"Okay!"

Mary carried the pile of clothes into her room and began to try them on excitedly.

About ten minutes later, the door opened.

Standing inside the door was a beautiful girl in black casual clothes.

The contrast between the white of her skin and the black casual wear was stark.

Those who didn't know would think that the pretty girl had leukemia.

"Yeah, it looks good."

"How is it? Does it fit?"

Harlen motioned for Mary to take two steps and do a twirl to see if it fit.

Mary walked over in the living room, jumping up and down from time to time.

"It fits. Thanks, Brother Harlen."

Mary grinned at Harlen.

"Hey, hey, hey ~ ~ ~"

"Don't misunderstand. I'm only giving it to you for emergencies, it's not for you."

"You have to return the clothes after you bought your own."

Harlen said quickly, deeply afraid that Mary would misunderstand him.

Mary stuck her tongue out at Harlen, then put on her hat.

Looking at Mary's back, she really looked like a beautiful Death God preparing to claim some souls.

He believed that the person who was about to die would be happy to follow this beautiful young lady.

"What are you looking at, Brother Harlen? Let's go!"

Mary was already standing in the doorway, waiting for Harlen to join her.

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Harlen, too, hastily gathered his things and went out with Mary.

...

A beautiful scenery appeared on the busy street.

That was the two sore thumbs that stuck out amidst the crowd of uniformly looking people.

Harlen, who was fully dressed in black, led Mary, who was fully dressed in black too.

This pair of black figures gave them a 100% chance to turn heads on the streets.

Among them, there were many beautiful sisters who came to strike up a conversation.

However, they were all here for Mary.

Although Harlen also had people hitting on him, they were all older women.

He appeared to be a reliable friend for the older women.

"Everyone, make way."

"Excuse me. Excuse me."

"Sorry, coming through."

Harlen gripped Mary's hand tightly and squeezed through the crowd that had come to strike up a conversation.

"Wow, so many people, Brother Harlen."

"Why are they all gathered here to talk to me? I don't even know them."

Mary shouted as Harlen pulled her along.

"Because you're cute."

Harlen answered immediately.

Although it was only a short sentence, it still made Mary blush.

"Woo-hoo."

"Alright, we should have gotten rid of them now that we're here."

Harlen simply sighed in relief, even though he did not feel very tired.

But this had been hard on Mary. She was already thin and weak, yet she still got dragged along by Harlen.

He saw Mary break free from Harlen's tight grip, putting her hands on her knees while gasping.

Harlen saw this and quickly crouched down.

He released a small bat and turned it into a fan with illusion magic.

He then hurriedly fanned Mary to cool her down.

As he fanned himself, he said apologetically:

"Sorry, Mary."

"I forgot I was still holding your hand."

"I'm sorry."

Mary had no intention of forgiving Harlen.

She turned around and pouted, "Hmph!"

What should he do? Harlen had never coaxed a girl before.

After living for 16 years, Harlen had only ever coaxed Bella in the Vampire Castle.

However, that shouldn't be considered a 'child'.

Harlen looked around anxiously to see if there was anything that he could do to pacify Mary.

Suddenly, Harlen spotted something in a corner booth that he had long wanted to eat.

Candied hawthorns.

Harlen pursed his lips and swallowed.

Then, without caring if Mary was willing or not, he took her retracted hand and walked towards the candied hawthorns.

"Let's go. I'll buy you something delicious."

Mary wanted to resist, but as soon as she heard something delicious, she followed Harlen obediently.

"Boss, how much are the candied hawthorns?"

"Boss?"

"Yoohoo?"

Seeing no reaction from the boss, Harlen waved his hand in front of him.

"Huh? Wha~?"

The boss finally came back to his senses and saw the two people in front of him.

"How much is the candied hawthorn?"

Harlen asked for the price again.

"Twenty coppers… oh no, ten coppers."

"10 copper coins per stick."

Did the seller just forget their own selling price….?

"I'll take two sticks. Here, 20 coppers."

Harlen reached into his pocket and cast a spatial storage spell. He took out 20 copper coins and handed them to the boss.

"Take care!"

"Candied hawthorns! Delicious, sweet, sweet candied hawthorns! 10 copper coins per stick!"

Just as Harlen and Mary left the stall, the stall owner started yelling.

It was as if he was trying to hide his true purpose of sitting there.

Mary took the candied hawthorn that Harlen handed her, which already had its plastic covering torn open, and ate it.

"Eh…?"

The moment she tasted it…

Mary's eyes lit up.

She broke away from Harlen's hand again and stamped her foot in agitation.

"Brother Harlen, what is this? It's so sweet and delicious."

Mary turned to Harlen with shining eyes.

Her small mouth gradually turned from a flat line to a crescent shape.

"This is called candied hawthorn.

Is it delicious?"

"Will you forgive me if it's delicious?"

Harlen looked at Mary pleadingly for forgiveness.