! ! !
The nausea and disgust that Sairi had anticipated never came. Instead, the liquid felt icy cold as it entered her mouth, its texture silky smooth.
The next moment, an indescribable, rich, and intense savory flavor suddenly exploded inside her mouth.
It was as if the essence of countless top-tier ingredients had been concentrated, carrying with it a peculiar energy that made every cell in her body cheer with joy.
There was no overwhelming sour or fishy taste; rather, it felt more like drinking some kind of beverage.
“Wow!”
Sairi’s eyes instantly brightened, her golden-yellow pupils dilating.
She no longer cared about restraint (though she hadn’t really tried to be reserved to begin with), and lifting the cup, she gulped down the remaining blood in several quick swallows.
Not only that, she even stuck out her small tongue, licking the rim of the cup clean.
After all, it was the blood of a dragonkin friend; Liliath had said she’d been saving it for a long time. It should be quite precious, so wasting it was out of the question.
“How does it taste?”
Liliath watched expectantly as Sairi finished drinking the treasured blood little by little, eager to hear her thoughts.
“Uh… it tastes way better than I imagined. It’s like tasting some kind of dessert or drink, and I didn’t feel the rejection I expected at all.”
Sairi held up the empty cup, her eyes sparkling brightly as she looked at Liliath. The faint resistance she’d had earlier instantly vanished in the face of such exquisite flavor.
Liliath, however, was a little disappointed watching Sairi accept the blood without any barriers, even seeming delighted.
This reaction… wasn’t what she had expected.
Normally, those who were forcibly given their First Embrace—whether heroes or knights—were all defiant to the death, struggling in agony, and regarded the act of bloodsucking as a lifelong humiliation.
When the Blood Clan’s nobles and princes had talked to her about First Embrace, they always spoke of this princess or that lady who had claimed some knight as their first, how those men resisted fiercely at first, only to be “corrected” by the nobles’ various methods until both body and soul were completely lost.
Liliath had even consulted with some comrades who had been subjected to First Embrace before, fantasizing about how to “train” her own descendants into being utterly dependent on her.
Yet she never expected that this little one she embraced would completely break the mold!
Looking at this little creature before her… Sairi’s eyes were shining because the blood tasted good? Comparing it to dessert?
“You…” Liliath was momentarily at a loss for how to react. “Don’t you feel… disgusted? Or resistant?”
“Resistant? Hmm… there was a tiny bit at first.”
Sairi tilted her head, rubbing her chin with her finger. “Although it felt a little strange at the beginning, it really tastes good.
Plus, after drinking it, my stomach feels warm, and my whole body is much more comfortable. And since this is your treasured stock, I have to savor it carefully.”
Sairi touched her belly, which was free of discomfort. After all, when the Divine Creation had made her body, it seemed it hadn’t followed the usual rules.
She could eat and drink without needing to excrete. Now that she could even enjoy delicious blood, maybe it wasn’t so hard to accept after all?
As long as she controlled her desires, she was somewhat confident in doing so. After all, back when she was blind, life was monotonous and she was generally disinterested in many things, so her desire to live was low.
But Sairi seemed to have forgotten that she was no longer blind, and her curiosity about this world was huge.
Just walking through the food street in Milu Town with Hilvia, she had failed to control herself and ended up causing Hilvia some trouble.
But that was a matter for another time; the future would take care of itself. Right now, the moment at her lips was what truly mattered.
Liliath, on the other hand, had a very different reaction.
Watching Sairi’s pure joy as if she had discovered a new delicacy, Liliath felt, for the first time, as if she had the wrong script—that the event was unfolding far beyond her expectations.
Was there something wrong with this little one’s brain circuitry? But… somehow it made things more interesting!
Because Sairi’s reaction was so unusual, Liliath thought she might later bring her to those comrades to boast a bit and expand their horizons. Even her own mother had never seen this kind of reaction.
“Hmph, you’ve got taste,” Liliath suppressed her surprise and lifted her chin arrogantly.
“This is the princess’s treasured stock. But different blood tastes wildly different, you know~” She added with a mischievous grin, trying to see if Sairi would get some psychological impression from that.
“Eh? Is that really different?” Sairi’s curiosity was indeed piqued. “Like how different fruit juices taste different?”
“Pretty much.”
Liliath laughed at her analogy, then on a sudden whim, extended her pale wrist and lightly scratched it with a sharp nail from the other hand.
A crimson, ruby-like Blood Jewel instantly seeped out, releasing an even richer, purer, and unspeakably alluring fragrance that filled the air.
Of course, this was highly tempting to the Blood Clan, though probably meaningless to other races.
“Here, taste this.” Liliath brought her wrist to Sairi’s lips, her red eyes shimmering with temptation and a hint of anticipation.
“This is the most primal blood of your ‘Creator.’ Taste it—what do you think it will be like?”
Sairi stared at the slender wrist, so close now, blood pearl seeping out and emitting a strange scent that seemed to make her soul tremble. Her big pink eyes were full of curiosity and a bit of hesitation.
Sairi no longer feared bleeding. When Liliath first cut her wrist to feed her blood for the First Embrace, Sairi had been a little scared.
But later she found the Blood Clan had healing abilities; Liliath’s wrist healed quickly, and the blood loss didn’t affect them as severely as humans.
The Blood Jewel.
Still, Sairi hesitated a little—was she really going to drink… someone else’s blood? And it was Liliath’s…
Liliath was family now, and seemed to play the role of “mom.” Would drinking a family member’s blood be ethically wrong?
But the aroma was too tempting. For Sairi as a bloodkin, the allure was strong, and some instinct inside her was fully awakened.
So cautiously, like a grazing calf on the prairie, Sairi gently stuck out her tender little tongue and lightly licked the tiny Blood Jewel.
Boom—!!!
It was as if fireworks exploded inside her mind; an exquisite flavor instantly swept through her taste buds.
This flavor left Sairi at a loss for words—sweet, rich, powerful, intimate… it seemed to contain the power of the sun, moon, and stars, making her whole body shiver while feeling utterly satisfied.
“Amazing… so amazing…”
Sairi murmured dizzily, instinctively licking again, even unconsciously using her newly grown little fangs to gently brush the tiny wound, hoping to draw more.
Liliath shuddered slightly at the faint sucking and the friction of the sharp fangs, her crimson eyes deepening in color.
Sairi’s little tongue—probably without even realizing it—was tickling the wound on Liliath’s wrist.
She watched Sairi’s eyes, completely immersed in the deliciousness, with no trace of gloom. That strange feeling in her heart surfaced again, then she withdrew her wrist.
The small wound vanished instantly under her powerful healing.
“Now do you understand the difference?”
Sairi nodded vigorously, her golden-white hair swinging, eyes shining remarkably bright. “Liliath’s blood is definitely delicious, different from that cup of blood just now.”
This pleased Liliath greatly. In a good mood, she looked at Sairi’s small face, now more flushed (for a bloodkin) and radiant after drinking her blood twice, and at the somewhat messy long hair, and suddenly had the urge to “dress her up.”
After all, this was her descendant. It was perfectly reasonable for an elder to comb and dress up a younger family member!
“Sit properly, your hair’s a mess. You look like a lunatic who ran away from the mental asylum.”
Liliath held Sairi gently against her chest, spreading her legs and letting Sairi nestle in her arms.
Then, from somewhere, she pulled out a delicate silver comb and began clumsily (obviously inexperienced at tending others) brushing Sairi’s hair.
The cool teeth of the comb passed over her scalp, bringing a strange sense of comfort.
Liliath seemed very interested in Sairi’s different inner and outer hair colors, fiddling for a long time before managing to smooth it out and pinning a dark red butterfly-shaped ribbon (matching her dress) into it—though it didn’t quite suit Sairi’s look.
“Hmm, much better.”
Liliath admired her “masterpiece,” then tidied up the wrinkled black silk nightgown. The close contact and grooming let her clearly sense the changes in Sairi’s body.
Her body temperature was low but stable, her pulse slow but strong.
She had indeed acquired some Blood Clan traits, but her life force was unusually vigorous and strange, lacking the weakness typical of newborn bloodkin.
The “only intake, no output” physique seemed to completely absorb and lock in the energy from blood without waste.
“What a strange little one…” Liliath muttered softly, her crimson eyes filled with curiosity. It seemed this little one named Sairi still held many secrets unknown to her, waiting to be slowly explored.
Once finished with the grooming, looking at Sairi’s now tiny and adorable appearance, Liliath felt her heart melt.
Such a petite and cute little girl sat obediently in her arms, nestled between her legs, wrapped in her embrace.
Sairi turned her head and met Liliath’s gaze. The two exchanged looks, the moment’s awkwardness making Sairi shyly lower her head to avoid Liliath’s eyes.
To Liliath, it was like looking at a timid kitten—utterly adorable.
Suddenly, Liliath’s playful mood flared up. She spun around and pounced on Sairi, pinning her to the soft bed, then began tickling her mercilessly.
“Wahaha, stop, stop… let me go!”
Sairi was very ticklish, and soon she was laughing until tears came, struggling with all limbs as they tumbled across the large bed.
Sairi’s newly awakened bloodkin strength still couldn’t compare to Liliath’s, but it was much stronger than when she was human, able to fight back a bit.
The room echoed with Sairi’s crisp (and unladylike) laughter and Liliath’s delighted chuckles at her successful prank.
After a while, both were panting (mostly Sairi).
Liliath lay atop Sairi, her silver-white hair cascading down and intertwining with Sairi’s golden-white streaked locks.
Liliath’s crimson eyes fixed closely on Sairi’s flushed (slightly) cheeks and moist golden-yellow eyes, made bright by laughter.
Suddenly, Liliath’s gaze fell on Sairi’s pale, delicate neck.
There, under the cold white skin, Sairi’s pulse beat steadily, exuding a scent that was— for Liliath—extremely alluring, a mixture of Sairi’s unique aura and the blood Liliath had just fed her.
For Liliath, this blood was a delicacy on earth, albeit tinged with a hint of guilt.
A strong desire surged in Liliath’s heart—not hunger, but more like an impulse to mark what was hers and savor a unique flavor.
Right now, Liliath wanted nothing more than to pin Sairi beneath her, sink her sharp fangs slowly into the slender neck, and carefully taste this little one’s delicious blood (though she was already beneath her).
To see Sairi weakly lying on the bed afterward, trembling as she recalled the sensation of being fed upon.
“Little Sairi…”
Liliath’s voice deepened, laced with temptation and a hint of conspiracy, “Does my blood taste good?”
“Good…”
Sairi nodded obediently, still not fully recovered from their laughter and play.
“Then… let sister taste your blood too, okay?”
Liliath leaned in, her cold breath brushing Sairi’s earlobe, making her instinctively shrink her neck.
“Because… sister really wants to know what her little descendant tastes like…”
Liliath’s tone was sweet like melting honey, yet her eyes glimmered with an irresistible dominance.
Those words entered Sairi’s mind, causing her thoughts to freeze for a few seconds.