Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1650: It’s because I’m me... your Aether

”Did... your mother ever give your father’s blood to you?”

!!

Lia visibly flinched.

The hazy madness lingering inside her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by pure shock. Her body stiffened atop him while she stared directly into his face.

”H-How did you know?” she whispered.

Aether hummed quietly before nodding to himself.

”Guess I was right.”

Lia immediately became nervous. Like someone caught hiding a dangerous secret.

”H-How did you know?” she repeated again, biting her lower lip anxiously this time.

Aether leaned back slightly against the bed with a tired sigh.

”Well...” he muttered slowly, ”would you believe me if I said I saw your father inside my domain?”

”WHAT?!!”

Lia’s scream exploded through the mansion loud enough to shake the walls.

The temperature around her instantly plummeted. Her eyes turned cold and murderous.

”That’s impossible,” she snapped immediately. ”I...ahem... My mother killed him.”

”I don’t know,” he replied honestly. ”But when my blood absorbed your Primordial Demonic Vampiric Blood... I noticed your father’s essence was still lingering inside it.”

The room suddenly fell silent afterwards.

Only Lia’s visibly trembling breathing remained.

Aether spoke flatly.

After all, her affection had already risen to such a point that she was even ready to give herself to him completely. At this stage, it felt better to talk honestly with her rather than continue hiding things.

But what he didn’t expect was this.

Two pale hands suddenly surged toward him and grabbed his neck instantly, fingers tightening hard enough to crush bone. Lia coldly glared down at him while pinning him against the bed with terrifying strength.

Aether’s eyes widened slightly in genuine surprise.

When he looked up at her, the woman from a few moments ago was completely gone.

What remained was a figure with emotionless eyes and a heartless expression, staring at him as though he were nothing more than a dangerous existence that needed to disappear.

Her killing intent leaked into the room like freezing mist.

The atmosphere instantly turned suffocating.

Even the walls of the mansion seemed to creak faintly beneath the pressure radiating from her body.

Yet Aether didn’t flinch at all.

His neck strained beneath her grip, veins slowly appearing under his skin as though they were moments away from snapping completely. Even so, he simply tilted his head slightly, calm to an almost eerie degree.

Then he muttered coldly,

”Oi... I do have limits, woman.”

His crimson eyes flickered darkly.

!!!

Lia instantly flinched.

The killing intent around her vanished so abruptly that it almost felt unreal. Fear flashed across her face for the briefest moment, as though some instinct deep inside her blood recognised something terrifying within him.

Then, just as quickly, her entire expression changed again.

Lia blinked innocently before tilting her head cutely.

”What limit?” she asked softly with a teasing smile.

”Are you talking about something naughty~? Such a bad boy... hehe~”

A faint blush spread across her cheeks while she giggled playfully, acting as though the murderous pressure from seconds ago had never existed.

Aether’s lips twitched slightly.

Watching her switch personalities so smoothly felt less like mood swings and more like someone changing masks.

It seems something happened between her and her father... and ready to kill even if it was just his essence?

He wanted to probe, but... it seemed to heavy topic, even Grace didn’t talk with him about it.

Aether sighed tiredly before gently touching her cheek. His fingers softly brushed against her warm skin while he stared deeply into her eyes.

”From your reaction...” he muttered quietly, ”I can guess two possibilities. Either the blood is controlling you...”

His gaze sharpened slightly.

”...or your father’s essence is still alive inside you as well.”

For a second, Lia became completely silent.

Her head slowly lowered while countless thoughts raced behind those crimson eyes. Her mind calculated rapidly, trying to understand the situation and search for a way out of this dangerous conversation.

She truly hadn’t expected this.

All this time, she believed that man had been completely destroyed that day.

Soul erased. Existence perished beneath Grace herself.

Yet somehow... he still survived through the bloodline?

Even she had never realised such a thing was possible.

Aether misunderstood her silence completely.

Seeing her suddenly quiet, his expression gradually softened with concern instead.

”It’s okay, darling...” he whispered gently. ”I don’t know whether your feelings are being influenced by the blood or not...”

His hand carefully lifted her chin again.

”But my love for you is real.”

Lia’s eyes widened faintly.

Aether slowly smiled at her, warmth quietly filling his expression.

”I would do anything to protect you,” he continued honestly.

”I would bring the entire world to its knees for your sake. And no... I’m not just saying that to sound romantic.”

His voice lowered deeply.

”I truly mean every word. No father or anyone great one could hurt you as long as this man, your beloved, is still alive... haha.. even if I am not alive, I will still protect you.”

The crimson glow in his eyes softened while his forehead rested lightly against hers.

”For you, I’m even ready to accept your mother... your past... everything connected to you.”

His fingers gently stroked her cheek.

”That’s how much I love you.”

A soft chuckle escaped him afterwards.

”Haha... Sure... I tried to make you fall for me,” he admitted openly.

”But not because of the blood.”

He slowly rubbed his nose against hers affectionately before whispering warmly,

”It’s because I’m me... your Aether.”

His voice carried a tenderness so genuine that even the heavy atmosphere inside the room slowly weakened.

”I’ll always love you...” he whispered softly. ”Even if you forget me.”

Honestly, if not for both of their chins still covered with saliva from their earlier messy kissing, the scene would have looked perfectly romantic.

But well...

That somehow made it feel even more real instead.

Lia’s eyes slowly widened after hearing his words.

Through their strange blood connection, she could feel the immense emotions pouring from him directly. His love reached her without restraint, warm enough to pierce deeply into her heart.

’T-This feeling...?’

She muttered inwardly in confusion as a strange ache suddenly spread through her chest.

Was it because those feelings were directed toward her?

Or was it because... deep down... she realised those emotions were meant for the real Lia?

’Love... huh...?’

For the very first time in her existence...

Lia doubted her own understanding of love.

***

Vampires were nocturnal beings who ruled beneath the veil of endless night.

Their senses were sharper than those of ordinary bats. They could hear a trembling heartbeat behind thick walls, smell fear hidden beneath perfume, and notice the slightest twitch in a person’s expression before even words escaped their lips.

Their beauty surpassed every other race. Pale skin like sculpted marble, crimson eyes glowing beneath dim candles, and elegant features capable of charming even the strongest minds into surrender.

But beneath that beauty hid monsters.

Their hunger could turn them into ruthless hunters who showed mercy to no one, whether it was a grown warrior begging for life or a newborn child crying inside its cradle.

To Vampires, others were merely food walking on two legs.

Everything stood beneath their status.

And it was all because of the Previous Vampire Lord, the terrifying ruler who had governed the Empire for so long that even history itself became uncertain.

Some claimed he had existed since ancient times, while others whispered he had never truly been born at all.

Nobody knew the truth.

Yet one thing remained certain.

Because of that single existence, Vampires reigned supreme throughout the Empire.

However, despite their overwhelming power... love remained foreign to them.

Love?

What’s that?

That was the question most Vampires asked without even mocking the word.

They genuinely did not understand it.

They had no sense of affection toward anyone.

If sacrificing another person meant saving themselves, they would do it without hesitation.

Their child about to be eaten? Abandon them.

Half-born infant crying for warmth? Leave it behind.

Someone dead on the streets? Ignore the corpse.

Parents? What’s that?

That’s how everyone living in the Void truly feels.

They were born. They lived. They bred. Then they died.

That was all.

Even the Vampire Lord himself was no different.

And so was... an ordinary Vampire woman.

A woman raised in that merciless world knew nothing about love. When her parents sold her away to become a concubine for a powerful Vampire Lord, she never questioned it.

To her, survival mattered more than things.

That was simply how the Umbrionis Void worked.

Until the world placed something fragile into her trembling hands.

”Waa... Waa....”

Inside the dim chamber lit by crimson candles, the exhausted woman stared blankly at the tiny creature resting against her chest. Sweat clung to her pale skin while strands of hair stuck across her face.

The baby possessed pure white skin and tiny golden strands of hair glowing softly beneath the candlelight.

”M-My... baby?”

Her voice trembled.

For the first time in her life, she stared at a living existence born from within her own body.

The child’s tiny fingers weakly curled around hers, soft and warm.

A sensation of being held by that tiny creature...

And suddenly... something inside her shattered.

No!

Something awakened.

An emotion she had never experienced before flooded through her cold heart like burning light, tearing through endless darkness.

A maternal feeling.

A desperate instinct to protect.

A terrifying desire to keep this tiny existence safe from the entire world.

At that moment, she understood one thing with absolute certainty.

She would give her life for this child without hesitation.

At first, she couldn’t understand why.

The feeling confused her.

Frightened her, in fact!

But she loved it.

She loved the warmth spreading inside her chest. Loved the tiny heartbeat against her skin. Loved the feeling of finally being alive instead of merely surviving.

This tiny existence had given her a world she never knew existed.

What more could she possibly ask for?

Nothing... right?

Yet...

And Yet....