Of Dinner, Magic and Blood

Dinner was simple but well-appreciated, the aroma of grilled rabbit wafted in the dining room as we all sat down together. Naturally, I took place at the forefront of the table, the two maids on my right side and the left being completely empty.

Princess Eleanor was much more than capable of eating all by herself, but Rose insisted on helping the princess and the woman didn't stop her.

Meanwhile, I simply dipped the roasted shadow rabbit meat into the bowl of blood and ate quietly.

I didn't exactly have the mood to converse, and instead, I paid much more attention to how the two fussed about—or Rose fussed over the princess.

There was something to be known about immortality, nigh immortality—the ability to live for a long period of time and that was the growing sense of weariness when you were surrounded by the limited and mundane.

Humans lived such short lives and mingling with them was said to be poisonous. You needed a level of aloofness, of distance as to not be afflicted by their sense of time.

If you lived in a Vampire Society as I once did in my earlier years, then you could spend twenty years, two decades playing hide and seek with a fellow Vampire and not feel like it was a waste of time.

You could train your ability to control blood for one century and consider it as a short training. Time was something that just happened in the background, but it didn't quite touch or affect you—it was insubstantial.

They once said that the older Vampires were so old that they didn't even record their age.

For example, I once asked Lady Reinhart about her age and she simply wrinkled her nose and said it didn't matter, until... Camille explained that Lady Reinhart probably didn't know what her true age was.

My old rival, from the House Rune, tended to go for the appearance around the same age of me, early twenties and yet I knew that he was probably older by me for centuries or even more—that was how unimportant age was if you were truly immersed in the life of immortals.

I suppose that was why you could have a thousand year old dragon who still acted like he was newly hatched from his dragon's egg—because to that bastardized egg, a thousand years didn't seem like anything at all.

Age and Time only caught up to you when you saw humans frailty, when you saw how short a goblin lived and died—hunted down within a year or two.

Or when you saw someone who you thought couldn't die—wasn't allowed to die... and she still did.

"What do you think of the grilled rabbit?"

I glanced up and found the gaze of Rose upon me, she didn't seem like she quite cared about my answer... but who was I to judge?

A shrug was my reply as I noticed the blood had dripped on the pristine white table cloth, and I casually tossed the piece of meat into my mouth and chewed. "Adequate... well, below average, but you're no cook."

"A palate even more discriminating than any King's," Eleanor said as she dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "It was delicious, Rose."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

I rolled my eyes and removed the bloodstain on the table with a wave of a hand. "I believe she was asking me and not you."

"...It's just because you weren't eating," Rose said.

A-ah, another one of those instances where my thoughts pulled me away from reality—if given a chance, perhaps I could have sat here for a century without moving. Would that have been boring? No doubt, but I could entertain myself with thoughts.

But an answer, yes.

This was what humans did—they reminded you of time and returned you to the present.

"I was simply a bit lost in thought of better days," I explained and took another piece of meat into my mouth. "At another time, this table would have needed to be extended and for dimension magic to be applied in order to accommodate the number of guests that would dine here. And I simply do not mean Vampires, even those beyond my race would come here to talk and eat, perhaps barter or to strike a contract. The world was so much bigger back then and now..."

Rose and Eleanor both looked at me.

I fell silent at their gazes directed at me, feeling a bit more diminished as if I had caught their human-ness.

"...I suppose this has become more cozy and intimate with just the three of us," I said. "Though I do have every intention to expand."

"There will always be room for that." Princess Eleanor remarked with a tiny smile. "Especially if you are as well-versed in dimensional magic as you claim, Lord Blackwell."

I coughed and nearly choked on the rabbit meat—before I gestured and a bottle of wine flew out of the pantry and poured me a goblet—until I sipped.

"Dimension magic is quite tricky, it takes a certain amount of study in order to grasp it well or else you might accidentally tear a rift through space... though, does your kingdom make use of such things?"

The princess shook her head. "It's more dangerous than what you make it out to be."

"I presumed that was the case, your kingdom seems like it lacks higher tiers of magic—your friend here being a prime example."

Rose narrowed her gaze on me, but didn't say anything, because she knew I was right.

"Elemental magic is fine and well, especially when the wind seems to have a penchant for you." I added and placed my goblet down. "However, other forms of magic are quite good too. It merely depends on the user."

"Like Necromancy?" Rose asked.

"Magic is merely a tool used to serve its user," I said. "If the Mage decides to turn an entire kingdom all into undead, then the blame lies on the Mage and not the school of magic. Though I admit, reputation-wise, darker forms of magic have taken a hit. Albeit, what exactly is wrong with the use of dead bodies? They can be incredibly useful and if anything—blood magic has more issues and is less known."

"... do you also use this blood magic?"

"Master." I added.

Rose's gaze turned serious, but she spoke slowly. "Do you also wield blood magic, Master?"

"Yes. And do you have any qualms about it, servant?" My gaze flickered to the princess as well. "Does it make you second-guess your claims?"