My Most Precious Human
Chapter 40

I stared at Martha, trying to process everything. I knew well that I would never get the truth by asking Sariel about it. All I could do was pick up the pieces of the story, hoping to put them together. I could only guess that Sariel brought me to his bedroom since he found some sort of guilt within him after his sister's so-called prank on me. He had taken off my dress, but at least he hadn't left me naked. He hadn't bitter me and probably left the room after putting me on his bed. Still, that didn't explain his sudden bloodlust. Did it actually have something to do with me? I knew that people sought sensation where there wasn't any. Perhaps it was all a coincidence. Sariel's revenge was completed. All sorts of emotions must have been crumbling inside him, even though he seemed composed. Maybe drinking all of the blood was his way of rebounding? Nonetheless, as usual, the rumors about what had happened the night before were about to make my life even more complicated than it already was.

Martha stared at me suspiciously, examining my neck from both sides. I bet the rumors got her excited, and she wanted to know for sure if I was bitten or not.

I chuckled, "I wasn't marked. Please, stop staring."

"Then, please tell me what happened yesterday?" She was clearly bursting with curiosity.

"I had dinner with the Duke and his sister, and Dominique spiked my wine, because, as crazy as it sounds, she probably wanted Sariel to make a move on me," I explained, smiling awkwardly.

"Seriously?!" Martha sounded intrigued, "But Lady Calvet always despised humans, and she hated Laura the most. She called her relationship with the Duke a "contamination of vampire rase's purity", although she changed a lot after the whole tragedy..." She mused about it aloud.

"Humans change, vampires might too." I shrugged, reluctant to dwell on the subject.

"However," Martha gasped agitatedly, "the Duke carried you in his arms like his precious princess, lied you down in his own bed, but didn't dare to bite you while you were unconscious. Then he went to the stockroom and drank huge amounts of blood to ease his desire. How romantic!" she sang, rejoicing.

"You cannot be serious, right? Please don't make up such weird stories. I wouldn't want my situation here to get worse." I laughed hysterically.

"Oh, I wasn't the one who came up with this story. The main butler, Mr. Francois, did," she claimed.

"And someone else, except for you, bought his version of the story?" I asked nervously.

"Of course!" Martha claimed confidently, "Everyone did!"

I felt like my headache was getting worse. I sighed heavily while getting more and more irritated with those weird rumors and assumptions.

"Mr. Francois worked in the castle for nearly a century. He is a commoner, and he was turned by the late Duchess herself. He knew the Duke since he was little, so he must have known what he was talking about." She grinned, winking at me.

I gulped and instantly felt how my body became flooded with a sudden thrill. At that moment, I was more eager to understand why people chose to believe that rumor, but the funny thing was, I started to wonder about it as well. The possibility that Sariel had craved my blood so badly that he had drunk every blood bag he had found, was exciting enough to make me shiver. Certainly, my rationality struck fast...

"Lilith, don't you think that you flatter yourself too much? Stick to your version of the story. It is more probable that Sariel's bloodlust was caused by completing his vengeful plan on the Adragnas. It had nothing to do with you!" I scolded myself.

I asked Martha to restrain herself from spreading those rumors because I didn't believe they were true. She wasn't happy about it, but she agreed... reluctantly. She kept her pouting face even when she bough me something to eat along with painkillers for my headache. Then she left without saying another word as if stating her dissatisfaction. I only hoped she would realize that those rumors could jeopardize my safety within the castle.

I sighed and shook off the last ounce of romantic nonsense from my head and started dressing up in clothes that Martha had previously brought. Afterwards, I ate a light breakfast, and as soon as I finished, I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in," I called feebly.

The door opened and I saw a tall, elegant man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a sage green suit with a vest over his white buttoned-up shirt. The color of his suit perfectly matched his amber-golden eyes, which resembled beautiful jewels, giving an irresistible glow, adorning his porcelain complexion. He carried a bulky briefcase made of brown leather. As soon as he walked into the room he tossed the briefcase onto the table by the door and rushed towards the bed where I was sitting.

"Can I take your blood?" he asked, grinning agitatedly.

"E-excuse me?" I found his first words quite peculiar, to say the least.

"Oh, sorry... I am Doctor William Duarte. I came here to examine you. I guess I got a little too excited." He scratched his head, awkwardly chuckling.

I formed my lips into a reluctant smile, "Nice to meet you. I'm Lilith Leber," I said.

"I know," he called out, his eyes devouring each piece of me. "I've been dying to meet you from the moment Leo told me how good you smelled."

The grimace on my face resembled a smile less by the second. I should get used to such weirdly sounding compliments, but Dr. Duarte's perverted stare was really freaking me out. Nonetheless, since he came here, I decided to at least make him treat the patient.

"Um... Doctor Duarte... Can you give me some stronger painkillers? My head throbs like it was about to explode." I tried to point out what was supposed to be the reason for our delightful meeting. "Oh, my... Certainly!" He grinned, then ran towards his briefcase.

He moved amazingly fast. He opened the briefcase and took out a vial with a drug and a syringe. Then he filled the syringe with a drug, and, before I knew it, he was standing by the bed. A split second later, he pierced my skin with a needle, injecting the drug into the vein in my arm. I gasped because his movements surprised me, but the injection itself didn't hurt at all. My only concern was about the drug he injected me with... I truly hoped that he was a real doctor and that he knew what he was doing.

"I gave you one of my inventions. It works wonders." He chuckled, pride and confidence written all over his face.

His words only made me more worried. I hoped that his magical medicine wouldn't cause any weird side effects. I was also wondering if this amazing drug would work, but when I wanted to ask him more abou his invention I realized that the pain stopped. For the first time from the moment I woke up, I could actually open my eyes wide without frowning from pain. My mimic muscles stopped being so tense, and even my heartbeat became more regular.

"Thank you," I muttered, surprised at how good I felt.

"You are so very welcome!" Doctor Duarte sang loudly, grinning. "The Duke would actually kill me if I didn't cure you..." He snickered, waving himself with his hand.

For a few seconds, he almost seemed harmless, but then his expression changed. He became serious and carefully examined the revealed parts of my skin. Since I was wearing a knee-long flared dress with a shallow neckline and short sleeves, he concentrated on my legs, arms, and, of course, my neck. I found it strange. I was told that vampires could sense whether someone had been marked or not, yet he was clearly looking for proof that I had been bitten.

"No one has ever bitten me," I stated awkwardly while instinctively covering my neck with my hands.

"I assumed that much," he smirked as if he had just solved some fascinating puzzle.

I'd seen that kind of smirk before. Dominique had the same expression the night before when she and Sariel talked about something that Sariel did to me...

"What is it?" I asked but didn't hope much for a satisfying answer.

He chuckled, muttering something under his breath. So much for finding anything useful.

"Why does everyone try to stop me from finding out about something that concerns me?! I'm starting to think that I was impregnated by aliens or something!" I was getting more and more annoyed in my mind. I glared at Doctor Duarte and clicked my tongue.

"Is this about something that the Duke did to me? Please, tell me anything you can because it is starting to freak me out!" I burst out.

Doctor Duarte gazed at me, surprised, then started laughing.

"It's not funny," I hissed.

"Ms. Lebel," he started, wiping the tears of laughter. "What I can tell you is that the Duke gave you a gift once and that it is far from anything you can call "bad", and from the medical point of view, it won't cause any damage to your health. If I were you, I would be grateful, and I wouldn't ask any more questions, since it's quite a touchy subject." He put a sly smile on his face.

I took a deep breath. The answer I heard only made me want to find out more, but I also knew I had no one I could force to help me dispel my concerns. For now, it required patience.

"Now... Can I have your blood?" Doctor Duarte suddenly gazed at me with puppy eyes.

I smiled awkwardly, not certain what exactly he wanted from me.

"I just want to examine it... please?" His puppy eyes widened, looking more creepy than cute.

"I'm sure you already know about my past..." I said hesitantly.

"Yes, the Duke told me everything. That is why-"

"That is why you should know that my blood has been drained from me and examined since I was five, and I wasn't really fond of the whole process." I glared at him.

"Oh, but I am sure the one who tested it didn't have three hundred years of medical knowledge and a hundred million dollars' worth of lab." A confident smirk on the doctor's face was now increased by his completely confident gaze. "Oh, come on. Don't you want to know for yourself? Don't you want to know what it is that makes you special to both wolves and vamps?" His words sounded more and more tempting.

I opened my mouth, thinking that I was determined to refuse him, but then I thought that I had never even gotten to see the results of the tests my father did on my blood.

"I will show you everything I'll find out, and I promise that taking your blood won't hurt. Trust me... I've got centuries of experience." He chuckled wickedly.

I clenched my teeth and looked deep into his eyes.

"Fine. You may take my blood." I extended my arm in front of him.

His eyes shined with a golden glow like they were burning. He took out a sterile set to collect my blood.

He said, "You won't regret this decision," and pierced my skin with a needle.

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