“Xavi! The food you’re cooking will burn if you don’t come check on it with me soon!” Shouted Elaine interrupting his thoughts.

Xavier felt a strange sense of nostalgia hearing his mother mention food and cooking.

“I’ll be there soon.” He responded with a sigh before running off, leaving Sophie alone in the room.

Sophie blinked at the door with a surprised look on her face. Right as he left, she could see him smiling.

“Hm… So, he can make an expression like that?”

After the door shut, it opened itself once more with Xavier peeking into the room. “You should come eat as well.”

“Is that really fine?” Sophie asked nervously. “It didn’t seem like I was very welcome here.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You’re my bitch, of course you’re welcome.” Replied Xavier with a confused expression.

“Stop calling me that!” Sophie responded with a flustered expression.

Xavier chuckled at her reaction.

‘Teasing is fun…’

“Xavi!! It’s burning!” Elaine shouted once more.

*Swoosh!*

And just like that he vanished.

–

–

–_.

“…”

“…”

Xavier stood ahead of the cooking pans with his mother. She stared straight at him, whilst he stared at the sight before him.

“You know, I was expecting it to get burnt but it came out surprisingly nice… So why are you staring at me like that, Elaine?” Xavier asked his mother.

“I wonder why it didn’t end up burnt?” She responded sarcastically while staring at him.

Xavier chuckled nervously, meanwhile Elaine sighed.

“Honestly, Xavier… Aren’t you worried about how your wife will find your cooking?”

Elaine’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she recalled some rather pleasant memories of the times she used to cook for his father. The sparkling quickly faded after she came to the reality that his father was gone.

‘Worried about my cooking…? She’s a vampire, they’re mostly numb to the taste of regular food and can’t survive on it, so is there really a reason to try?’

After realising said thought, Xavier’s eyes began to twitch at the sight before him.

“I think we ended up cooking too much…”

Thanks to the fact that the house had a backup generator and a lot of high-tech equipment, Xavier was able to go all out on the kitchen.

*Growl* His stomach began to rumble.

‘Oh well, gluttony doesn’t seem to mind.’

–

–

–

“This is…” Sophie muttered

“Quite the feast, isn’t it?” Sangrea interrupted with an excited expression.

Countless plates of food were laid out beside one another, from fried prawns to grilled chicken along with rice. Xavier had cooked it all.

The food was already laid out on their plates, all that was left was for the Vampires to pour themselves some blood to drink.

Xavier knew they wouldn’t be eating but he laid out the plates so it would all be aesthetically pleasing in the very least.

The whole group was sat by the dining table in the dining room. Seated at the end of the table was Xavier and to his right and left were Sangrea and Viera.

Beside them were Sophie, and lastly Elaine.

Anastasia and the head butler stood behind Sangrea, claiming to have already eaten. They were holding onto bottles of what appeared to be liquor, but Xavier could tell from the smell that it was clearly blood.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like any?” The head butler asked once more.

Sangrea glanced towards Xavier in that instant.

As the two made eye contact her her cheeks reddened.

“If I’m going to have some blood I’d rather have Xavi’s…” She mumbled quietly.

The butler who, other than Xavier, was the only one who’d heard what she said smiled.

“If that’s what the young lady desires… I’ll arrange it so you two can have your alone time after… However, even if you can’t taste it, I’m sure trying some of Xavier’s cooking will make him happy.”

Hearing this, Sangrea quickly turned to the butler and responded. “Of course! I had plans on trying it from the from the very beginning!”

“Is that so… I am pleased to hear that.” The butler replied with a caring smile.

Xavier quietly watched the two of them interact from his seat.

From Xavier’s eyes, the head butler seemed to really care about her.

“Anastasia, and Mr head butler, why are you still standing? Have a seat.” Said Elaine with a smile.

“Madam, while I am grateful for the offer we’ve already-“

The butler was interrupted by Sangrea who kicked at his leg from beneath the table. Sangrea glanced towards Anastasia and the head butler.

“Accept their offer, you can drink all the blood in the bottle.” Sangrea quietly whispered.

“Very well, we will gladly take you up on that offer.” Said the butler before heading over to his seat beside Elaine.

Anastasia who sat beside Sophie stared at her for a few seconds before showing her a forced smile. Sophie on the other hand returned the smile with an even more forced one.

Xavier could barely hold in his laugh as he watched them interact. He proceeded to glance at the Butler, giving him a sign that he was free to pour the blood from the wine bottle for the three of them to drink at any time.

The butler nodded and poured down the blood from the wine bottles into his, Sophie’s and Anastasia’s cups.

Sophie’s eyes sparkled as she watched the glass cups fill up.

“Well, since we’re all sat down. Let’s eat.” Said Xavier with a bright smile.

And with that being said, they all started to eat.

*Munch*

“Hot!” Viera unintentionally called out after having a bite of the rice.

Sangrea on the other hand, took bite after bite with happy expression.

“Amn~ Amn~” She chewed happily with sparkling eyes as if she were having the best time of her life.

“Sangrea..? Does it taste that good? I thought our taste buds numb down the taste mostly…” Sophie asked as she sipped on the blood from her cup.

After finishing the food she had on her mouth, Sangrea quickly turned to Sophie before joyfully responding. “Of course it does! After all this is the first time I’m trying Xavier’s cooking.”

“I-I see…” Sophie responded before looking over at her cup.

‘W-Whoa… This is some high quality blood… The taste is just the right amount of sweet…’ She thought to herself before sipping on it more and more.

She felt like chugging it all down at once but didn’t want to because Xavier’s family were at the table. Since they were human, she assumed the sight of drinking blood would ruin their appetite.

‘That being said, it’s not like they know it’s blood. After all it’s disguised in a wine bottle and looks kind of like it-‘

“So, how’s the blood?” Elaine asked with a smile as she happily took a bite of the grilled chiken wing.

Anastasia and Sophie both twitched at her question. With surprise, the two looked at one another with while quietly sipping on their drinks

‘Eh? She knew?’ They questioned simultaneously.

“It’s delicious, thank you for asking. How is your son’s cooking?” The butler asked with a bright smile after wiping his lips.

“I am very glad to hear that, his cooking is just as good as I taught him. Ah- I just remembered something… I still haven’t properly thanked you for taking care of my son…”

“Please do not worry about such, we too were helped by your son. If anything, I should be the one thanking you… I haven’t seen the young lady this happy in ages… Whenever she hangs out with him, she always has such a bright smile on her face.” The butler quietly muttered as he stared at Sangrea.

Elaine looked over at Sangrea and watched as she happily interacted with Xavier.

“I’m surprised you know how to use cutlery and basic etiquette” Said Xavier.

From the way she ate, to the way she even sat, Xavier could really feel the noble aura coming out of her.

“Wha? That’s a rude thing to say to a noble lady, I’ll have you know I’ve been trained in it since I was younger.” Responded Sangrea, flustered.

Seeing her flustered expression Xavier couldn’t help but smile as he ate.

“My bad, I thought there was no use for it, since all Vampires needed for survival was blood.”

“Well… Humans are very nosy… We Vampires need a way to put up an act… And just because we survive on blood doesn’t mean that’s all we consume…” She muttered.

“Speaking of which, Sangrea, you’re back in your petite form-“

Sangrea’s brow twitched at the word ‘petite’

“Didn’t I unseal you and throw away the key? Why are you back in your sealed state?” Xavier asked.

“Oh.. About that… Shortly after we separated, I just suddenly reverted back into this form… After checking, the seal’s key, the skull was back in it’s place.”

Xavier recalled him throwing away the skull and leaving it in the Vampire Camp, returning to the Camp would have been the only way to get it back, but based on what she’d said, she’d never returned, it just magically appeared back in place.

“That’s quite an annoying seal… Even if I remove it and throw it away somewhere, it’ll just comeback on it’s own…” Muttered Xavier.

“Yeah-“

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Sangrea along with the others who were happily eating and getting along with one another on the table were interrupted by the sound of knocking.

“Who is it?” The butler asked as he got up from his seat.

“Head butler, we have a visitor…” Spoke a feminine voice on the other side of the door. Her voice was shaking from fear.