Staying Over

Plopping down on an elegant king-sized bed, Lucian fell back and sunk into its soft embrace before peacefully closing his eyes.

However, this brief moment of peace didn't last for long, as a mechanical voice broke the tranquil silence.

"The room is clean."

Hearing Alecia verify that the room wasn't bugged or wiretapped, Lucian lazily opened his eyes and materialized a phone from his pocket.

After he chatted with Bruce in the car, Lucian drove home and finished attending to his immediate matters, such as adequately getting rid of the body and packing his belongings for his stay at Stella's place.

He made sure to rush as fast as he could since he didn't know when exactly Stella would try to appear, so Lucian used his enhanced vampire agility to finish everything on time.

That proved the correct decision because not even 5 minutes after he finished, Stella popped by unannounced and forcefully abducted him.

After greeting her parents, they invited him to dinner with them, but Lucian kindly turned them down after telling them he'd already had dinner.

Anyhow, it wasn't like his body could eat human food anymore.

While Lucian had devised a method to 'eat' in front of others, he didn't like to use it, so instead of going through the hassle, he'd much rather skip any meal he could.

Since his method of 'eating' was far too taxing…

In the past few days, he had experimented with his [blood poison] skill and discovered that it had minor corrosive properties, like acid.

While its corrosive speed was nothing compared to more traditional acid-based abilities, it could still melt human flesh after a couple of minutes of prolonged exposure.

Given, of course, Lucian provided enough blood and energy.

On top of that, Lucian discovered he could apply his [iron skin] skill inside his own body.

While initially confused about how a skill with the name 'skin' could be used inside his body, he tossed those thoughts into the back of his head after deliberating it for a while.

Combining these two skills, he could temporarily strengthen his guts and corrode the food, preventing himself from throwing up on the spot.

The only drawback was that it required too much energy to pull off multiple times a day.

Doing this would severely nerf him when he needed to use his powers in a fight.

Scrolling through his phone, Lucian looked at the live camera feeds of the swarm of nanobots he stealthily released throughout Stella's mansion.

Reaching his bedside, he pulled out his wireless earbuds, put one into his ear, and began listening to the various conversations across the mansion.

"Hey, did you hear? The Sanguinis trash is staying over a few days… Seriously, they should hurry up and annul that stupid engagement… Our young miss deserves someone far more suited for her."

"Idiot! What if someone hears you? Getting fired would be the least of your worries!"

Watching the conversation between two servants cleaning the house, Lucian lightly chuckled.

After all, if Stella or her parents heard that servant's words, they would surely make that unfortunate soul's life hell.

As for his insults? Lucian honestly couldn't care less. After all, he was used to hearing those words his whole life.

However, Lucian still remembered the servant's face for later.

Just because his words didn't affect him didn't mean he forgave him after all.

Lucian was surprisingly spiteful despite his usual carefree nature…

After flipping through the various camera feeds, Lucian heard a knock on his door, causing him to put down his phone and get out of bed.

"Yes?"

The door opened, revealing a young woman with lustrous dark blue hair.

She looked at her fiance with a small smile before approaching him.

"Hey Lucian, did you finish your homework for today?"

Lucian's face froze.

"Ah… right…"

Frankly, given how busy he was with everything that happened today, he still needed to finish tonight's work.

Stella flashed a knowing look before exhaling softly.

"I expected as much…."

To be honest, Lucian could have finished his homework within minutes if he really wanted to, given just how straightforward the content he was learning in school was, but he simply didn't care enough to.

He'd initially planned on revealing his scientific genius after dealing with the rats in his family's company, so he'd chosen to stay reasonably low-key regarding academic abilities.

But even then, he was still one of the most brilliant kids in his class.

Despite knowing this, Stella placed her hand on Lucian's shoulder and flashed him a loving smile.

"Do you want me to help you finish it faster?"

Lucian raised an eyebrow at Stella's words.

"You're offering to do my homework for me? Aren't you one of the people who hate academic dishonesty?"

Stella's eyes dropped slightly as she bowed her head slightly.

"What happened was probably because of me, so it's only right I pay you back somehow. I unknowingly dragged you into something dangerous like this. The least I can do is try to make it up to you."

Bruce and Roseanna must have briefed Stella about the matters regarding her grandfather.

Lucian smiled softly after watching her display.

Walking up, he hugged her lightly, catching her off guard.

"Stella, this isn't your fault, so don't blame yourself." Lucian gently whispered as he slowly stroked her hair.

"I-I only wanted to make sure that you're able to protect yourself and not get hurt, but my actions almost did the exact opposite… Intentional or not, I put both of our lives in danger. What if you'd gotten hurt… or even k-killed?"

Her body shivered slightly in Lucian's embrace as she tried forcefully holding back her tears.

While the thought of being kidnapped by criminals caused her to feel fear, it was nothing compared to the idea of losing Lucian.

Understanding just how much Stella cared for him made Lucian feel warm inside.

Unable to see his precious fiance cry, he pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket and lightly dabbed her eyes.

"Look, nothing happened, right? We both came back in one piece. So don't keep thinking about what could have happened. Instead of that, how about I take you up on that offer? It's already late, so we should finish it up quickly."

Stella paused for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

"...Okay"

With Stella working with him, Lucian managed to wrap up everything within 10 minutes.

While it did take Lucian longer than it usually did, he felt touched that she went out of her way to come 'help' him.

After wrapping up the work, the two chatted briefly before Stella left to sleep.

"I'll see you tomorrow Lucian, good night."

"Same to you, good night Stella."

After bidding farewell, Lucian closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.

Meanwhile, Alecia monitored the video cameras, looking for anything or anyone even remotely suspicious…