“...This is me.”

  “Fuck, remind me to hire a carriage next time.”

  “I don’t know, I enjoyed walking with you... I hadn’t ughed as hard as I did today in a long time.”

  Sincir rises an eyebrow. “You barely cracked a smile... I thought I might be losing my touch for a moment there.”

  Adrienne snorts. “If you knew how rare my smiles were before I...”

  Seeming to catch herself, Adrienne sighs.

  “What mean is, thanks for the date... It was a really good time.”

  “I also had fun, so don’t worry... Now, I know you’ve been putting this off for as long as possible, but I think I spot Collin waiting by that white gate... It wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?”

  Adrienne closes her eyes, her expression pained. “...Shit. I was doing my best to not think on it.”

  Sincir chuckles. “You’ll be fine... But you need to make your decision now. Should I go home? Or should I interfere?”

  Adrienne bites her lip. “I keep telling myself that maybe it’ll be different this time... But I know that it won’t. Would you...?”

  Sincir smiles. “I’ll see what I can do. Can I think with my cock?”

  Adrienne grimaces. “You know what? Maybe a good fucking will finally open her eyes to reality a little... Go for it.”

  ...Sorry, Esme. He’ll bring a gift on his way back, so please forgive him for arriving home te on his first night out.

  Collin watches their approach with a frown on his face. “Why am I not surprised?”

  He’s clearly grumpy, and if his slightly reddened eyes are anything to go by, about to bite someone’s head off...

  Sincir smiles at him. “You look ready to go to war, Collin. Are you starving yourself again?”

  He growls, gring at him. “Unlike a certain someone, I know how to control my urges.”

  Oh, right... He can probably smell what they did earlier.

  “Sorry about this, we didn’t mean to keep you waiting, Collin,” Adrienne intervenes, “Something happened, and our dinner took longer than pnned.”

  Collin’s expression darkens; Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say. “And let me guess... This something involved you having his cock inside of you a day after you’ve met for the first,” he says, drily enough to have her flinch.

  Sincir groans. “Hold it, Collin; C’mon, she is not the one you’re mad at, and you know it... Love, why don’t you go in first and tell Gracelyn we’re here to see her while I talk with Collin for a minute?”

  Adrienne nods. “I’ll... I’ll tell her.”

  As Adrienne walks by him and heads inside, Collin crosses his arms.

  “Why the fuck are you here?”

  Sincir rises his palms at him. “I wasn’t trying to step over your toes... I had a date pnned with Adrienne before you decided to punish Gracelyn, and since she was nervous about this, she asked for my help; Or rather, I offered it.”

  Collin grimaces. “I can’t have you overstepping my authority at every opportunity! Things are already tense as it is, with us having attacked the duke’s son and this whole cultist busyness... The others are starting to question why do I listen to you when it has only led us to more problems so far!”

  Sincir sighs. “You know neither of those things are my fault, right? In fact, I’m the one helping you guys solve potentially city-destroying problems you didn’t realize existed before I showed up... But I understand why they might not see it that way, since I’m an outsider.”

  Collin groans, his jaw tensing as he averts his eyes from him. “This is so fucking infuriating...”

  “Listen, I’m sorry about Adrienne... Did you have your eyes on her?”

  Collin recoils, then gres at him.

  Smiling at him apologetically, Sincir shakes his head. “Was I wrong? Look, you need to tell me in advance if you want me to keep my hands away from some-”

  His expression pained-looking, Collin closes his eyes. “I’m begging you, shut your mouth for a second.”

  Sincir does so, staring in silence at the vampire who seems to be doing his best to control himself and think rational... Or at least to pretend this talk is not happening.

  After a moment, Collin finally takes a deep breath, opening his now gray eyes once more as he meets Sincir’s gaze seriously.

  “...My master. Do not; I think I might really kill you.”

  Sincir nods. “I’ll treat her as I’d my own mother. Is she the only one?”

  Collin grimaces. “...Yes, she is the only one.”

  Sincir chuckles. “See? I’m not trying to make you miserable, bud... Now, I can tell something happened in between yesterday and now, or you wouldn’t be walking around with fire burning behind those pretty vampire eyes. What did Leon do on your first night together?”

  And just like this, Collin’s control evaporates, his eyes burning crimson as he clenches his jaw and gres toward the ground.

  “...Ah. That bad, huh? I’m sorry.”

  After another moment used to control himself, Collin sighs, averting his gaze as he does so. “No, you’re right... None of this is your fault. I thought about finding Victoria a couple of times already, and I still might, before the night is over... Destroying one of her stupid shows might make me feel better, or beating one of her beloved boyfriends half to death...”

  Approaching the vampire and tapping his shoulder comfortingly, Sincir meets his gaze and smiles at him with sympathy. “C’mon, let’s not do anything you might regret, come next sundown... Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

  Collin narrows his eyes at him.

  Sincir rolls his eyes exasperatedly. “Have a little faith, would you? I’m not trying to make fun of you.”

  Collin sighs, shifting his gaze away once more as he murmurs, “He arrived an hour te to our meeting... And he used a silver knife to attack me.”

  Sincir cringes. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

  Collin clenches his teeth. “...Normally, a servant attacking their master vampire would be a crime punishable by death. But since I forced myself on him, I can’t even bme him for reacting this way...”

  “What did you do?”

  “I disarmed him, forced myself to remain calm, and told him the things you told me... That I wasn’t his enemy, and that we’d both have to make the best out of this going forward. I also told him that killing me would almost certainly kill him as well... He stormed off at this point.”

  Stepping away from Collin, Sincir nods. “You did good... He is in shock at the moment, but he’ll calm himself given some time. Attacking you with a knife is not like him... If he really wanted to kill you, he’d have pnned something more complicated... He must’ve been too out of it to think properly.”

  Collin throws him a sidelong gnce. “Should I’ve stopped him from leaving?”

  “It’d have probably done more harm than good if you had.”

  Collin sighs. “I’ll become a ughingstock again.”

  “You’re fine... Listen, even if they’re too stupid to see it, you’re making a sacrifice for the greater good of vampirekind... Though I don’t bme you for being upset about what happened. I’m sure Leon will come around sooner or ter, so rex a little, okay?”

  Collin snorts. “Gods, I can see how they all end up lowering their panties for you, and I hate myself for it.”

  Sincir smiles. “See? You’re feeling better already...”

  Collin sighs again. “Let’s just get this over with. I assume you’re here to make sure I don’t go too far with Gracelyn?”

  “Maybe... Adrienne told me you punished her before, and things became even worse for her after it happened. What did you do?”

  Collin grimaces. “She killed a human without permission from the group... I ordered her to not feed for a month. It is the common punishment, not something I came up with myself.”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow.

  “Apparently, he mistook her for a whore, and when she refused him, he tried to rape her... She says she didn’t intend on killing him, just on giving a good beating, but he had already stopped breathing before she realized it... Not knowing their own strength is common enough for newborns, so it is likely she was telling the truth.”

  Sincir nods. “What were you pnning on doing this time?”

  “That would’ve depended on what Adrienne was going to tell me... Servants are necessary for our continued existence, and although some may cim otherwise, they’re not sves; We have rules about how they should be treated.”

  “I hear you... But I think the problem here is that your system is a bit too rigid. Look, I know a thing or two about people, and I can tell you punishment is pointless if the other party learns nothing from it; In fact, it might have the opposite of the intended effect. Rather than simply making Gracelyn suffer, you want her to become better, yes?”

  Collin narrows his eyes at him. “What are you suggesting?”

  Sincir smiles. “If I thought being nice to her would fix her shitty behaviour, then I’d say to skip the punishment altogether... But unfortunately, in this case, we’ll to break past her barriers before she’ll listen to anything we have to say. Really, it isn’t much different than what I did with Leon, if on a smaller scale.”

  Collin frowns. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

  “Oh, Gracelyn would almost certainly prefer whatever punishment you had in mind over what I’m about to do to her... But we’re not trying to match her punishment to her crimes, we’re doing what is necessary to get her to put her shit together.”

  Collin sighs. “I’ve seen you in action enough times now to know you can do it, if you say you can... And if Adrienne herself asked to interfere, then I can’t just ignore you. Fine, we’ll do things your way... Again.”

  Sincir smiles. “Thank you... And I’m sorry for overstepping your authority again. There are some things I need talk about with you ter, so walk me home after this, all right? Oh, and there is a rule I need you to follow while we’re in there.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask, but... If we’re going to do it, might as well do it right. What is it?”

  “You know, I love that in somebody.”

  “What?”

  “You shouldn’t do things halfheartedly; If you’re going in, do it all the way.”

  Collin grimaces. “Are you hitting on me again?”

  Sincir smiles. “No cumming until the end for us boys; That’s the rule. Can you do it?”

  He blinks.

  “I’ll take that as a yes... Let’s go, the girls will grow cold waiting for us.”

  Adrienne’s house - or perhaps this would be Gracelyn’s? - is more or less what Sincir would expect to find around most of Elderspire. There is nothing particurly fancy about the pce, but it is well cared for... He bets Adrienne is the one who cleans.

  Entering with Collin, Sincir finds that the door has been left open for them, allowing the voices of its occupants to leak through.

  “You’re my servant! How can I not know where you went two nights in a row?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”

  “I left you a note-”

  “Today! What about yesterday?! I arrived near sunup and you weren’t here yet! I thought you might’ve been kidnapped on your way back by some stupid cultist, but there was nothing I could do without being turned to ashes by the stupid sun!”

  “I was gang-banged in front an entire tavern because you could do your part of the job properly, Gracelyn; I needed some time off.”

  “Wha- That was not my fault and you know it!”

  “Some of those people were my friends, and now I’ll never be able to look at any of them in the eye ever again!”

  “I was going to apologize, but you never showed up, so I’m sorry if-!”

  “...That’s enough, the both of you. You’re embarrassing yourselves,” a third voice cuts in, surprising Sincir.

  As he and Collin enter a surprisingly spacious living room, Sincir finds Gracelyn and Adrienne gring at each other, but also a third occupant, a tall woman of long bck hair and stern expression leaning against the furthermost wall with her arms crossed.

  Since Collin doesn’t seem surprised to see her, they must’ve come together.

  “Hello, hello... Excuse us,” Sincir says, smiling as the room’s attention is attracted by their entrance, “Should we wait until you’re done...? Lovely house, by the way.”

  Gracelyn grimaces. “Who the fuck invited you in?”

  “Adrienne did... This is also her house, is it not?”

  Gracelyn gres at him, but she doesn’t rebut.

  “Collin, what is the meaning of this?” the bck-haired woman asks.

  Collin sighs. “Just go along with it... Please. I’ve given him permission to administer Gracelyn’s punishment in my stead.”

  The woman shakes her head, snorting incredulously.

  “You what?!” Gracelyn excims, “I thought we were still going to decide if I was going to be punished or not! And now you’re letting an outsider handle it?!”

  Sincir makes a show of staring her up and down, then clicks his tongue. “I hereby decre the defendant guilty. Any objections?”

  Gracelyn opens her mouth, then closes it again. Nobody else speaks up in her defence.

  Sincir shrugs. “I guess that settles it. First lesson of the night, love: It might be fun to act like a bitch, but don’t be surprised when you find that all of your friends have turned their backs on you because of your shit.”

  Gracelyn pales slightly, and, having said his piece, Sincir walks by her to sit at the couch, crossing his legs and sighing as he does so.

  “Jokes aside... For starters, I suppose we should hear what our defendant has to say for herself... Gracelyn, that would be you.”

  She grimaces. Collin crosses his arms as he leans against the living room’s entrance, and Adrienne averts her gaze... The bck haired woman simply watches in silence, her gaze mocking.

  “I... Collin, are you really letting him do this?!”

  “It was Adrienne’s request,” Collin says, causing Gracelyn’s eyes to snap toward the other woman, who avoids meeting her gaze.

  Sincir clicks his tongue. “Last chance, love; Give me a good reason to go easy on you, or I’ll be forced to assume you’re guilty of all charges... Trust me, you don’t want that to happen.”

  Shifting her eyes toward him once more, Gracelyn frowns. “May I at least know what I’m being accused of?”

  “Abuse of authority, among other things... We should also address what happened st night, since we’re already at it.”

  “You’re going to need to be more specif than that if you want me to defend myself,” Gracelyn growls through clenched teeth.

  Sincir nods. “Very well, then; Is it true you’ve denied your servant the ability to pursue romantic retionships, actively going after her romantic interests out of jealousy?”

  Gracelyn’s jaw falls. “No!”

  “...Adrienne?”

  “I lost count of how many times it happened,” Adrienne murmurs.

  Gracelyn stares at Adrienne incredulously for a second, then tightens her jaw. “Hold it! I might’ve... I might’ve occasionally had sex with someone she was interested in, and I admit it was a shitty thing to do, but saying I was going out of my way to s-seduce them...”

  Under his cold as ice look, Gracelyn’s voice slowly dies in her throat.

  “...Do you deny the accusation? Yes or no?”

  Gracelyn swallows. “I... I protest over the assumption I had malicious intentions.”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow.

  “I fucked her boyfriends... So what of it? If they were good boyfriends, they’d have refused me... I did it to protect her.”

  Sincir ughs. “Gracelyn, if Adrienne wanted you to test them out for her, she’d have asked... Do you not see how what you did put her in a horrible position, as your servant?”

  Gracelyn grimaces, seemingly struggling to come up with some sort of argument in her defence, yet arriving at nothing.

  “I see you have nothing else to say on this, so we shall move on, for now... Gracelyn, why did you forbid Adrienne from having friends, other than you?”

  Gracelyn’s eyes widen. “Wait! Isn’t that the norm for servants?! Like us, they don’t grow old, so avoiding too much contact with outsiders is-”

  “We suggest they avoid it, for their own good, as well as ours,” Collin interrupts, “But it is still their choice, so long as they understand the possible consequences. Forbidding them directly is highly unusual... Though I have to admit, it is not against our ws.”

  Sincir hums. “If it wasn’t for the fact she was also stopping Adrienne from finding romantic partners, I might’ve have accepted her excuse on this... However, let me phrase this in a different way; Gracelyn, why did you try to isote Adrienne from all contact with outsiders?”

  Now furious-looking, Gracelyn growls. “I did not! I allowed her to work, didn’t I?!”

  Sincir blinks, and out of the corner of his vision, he sees Collin becoming stiff... Seeming to realize she has said too much, Gracelyn pales.

  “Oh, love... You really should’ve kept that one to yourself. I will, however, allow you one more chance to redeem yourself... I suggest you consider your next words carefully.”

  “She... She is mine. What is wrong with me telling her what to do?” Gracelyn murmurs, “She knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to become my servant.”

  Sincir turns toward Adrienne, meeting her dark gaze. “Love, did you agree to something of the sort? An exclusivity contract which doesn't allow you to have romantic partners, or friends, for the rest of eternity?”

  “I knew she would have power over me... But I agreed to nothing of the sort. And Gracelyn, you knew I wasn’t gay from the beginning... I don’t mind the sex, but I thought you knew it was never going to be anything more than that.”

  Gracelyn swallows, her irises trembling as the blood drains from her face completely.

  Sincir sighs. “Ah... And at st, we arrive at the heart of the matter. Collin, what do you say? Are Gracelyn’s actions toward her servant enough to arrant punishment so far?”

  “They are... Normally, I’d have her drink animal blood for the next three months for this, and remove her right to tell Adrienne who she is or isn’t allow to speak with.”

  Sincir clicks his tongue. “I’m afraid that would’ve done little to solve the problem, my friend... And worse, they’d have been still living in the same house, with Adrienne being at Gracelyn’s mercy... Which takes us to our third, and most grave, accusation. Gracelyn, is it true you’ve forced yourself on Adrienne, as a form of punishment?”

  Collin’s eyes glow red, and the dark-haired woman loses her expression of mockery. If Sincir thought Gracelyn was pale before, now her face is paper white.

  “...I’ll take that as a yes. I was going to ask Adrienne if she had anything to add to the list, but in view of everything we’ve already discussed so far, I believe there is no need to go any further... Though it is worth mentioning your recent mistake also cost your servant a good deal, while putting all of us at risk of exposure, or worse... Any st words before I deliver your sentence?”

  Gracelyn steps back, searching the room for a friendly gaze, and realizing there are none, before shifting her eyes back to him with obvious fear in her expression. “You... You can’t do this. You’re not one of us...”

  Sincir smiles humorlessly. “I think we’re a bit past that point, love...”

  Seeing the way she is looking at him and shaking slightly, Sincir grimaces.

  “Stop that, or people will think I am the monster in the room! I’m not doing to you what I did to Leon, or in fact, anything to you without your consent... Those were extreme circumstances. Now, I did tell my girlfriend I’d arrive home early, so I think we should wrap things here. Collin, may I?”

  “...Go for it.”

  Sincir clears his throat. “Given the ck of arguments or proof of the contrary, I hereby decre Gracelyn the vampire guilty of abusing her servant and neglecting to uphold her end of the contracted they share; Therefore, effective immediately, she is to lose access to Adrienne, who’ll move out of the city, as well as her right to produce further servants until she has proven herself capable of caring for the same... Damn it, I wish I had a hammer right now. Collin, is that alright with you?”

  “...With you having a hammer?”

  Once Sincir throws the vampire an exasperated look, he smiles.

  “I’m joking; Yes, it is a fitting punishment, if somewhat harsh. We’ll help Adrienne settle in a new pce and put her life together again. She’ll come to no further harm.”

  Nodding, Sincir rises.

  “W-wait.”

  He doesn’t.

  “Wait I said!”

  Sincir stops. Being next to Gracelyn on his way to the door, he throws her a sidelong look. “Yes?”

  “P-prove myself... What does that even mean? And A-Adrienne... Will I e-ever...?”

  Sincir shrugs. “That is up to her... Once you’ve regained your right to create servants, she might return to you if she so wishes... However, with how you’ve treated her so far, I wouldn’t count on it.”

  Gracelyn looks toward Adrienne, her expression shocked and desperate, but the other girl avoids her gaze by staring at the ground, as she has through most of their improvised tribune so far.

  “B-Babe... Y-you aren’t going to l-let them do this me, r-right? O-or at l-least, you’ll come b-back?”

  Adrienne swallow, averting her face away. “...I’m sorry.”

  Gracelyn ughs, her expression incredulous and hurt. “N-no... Wait, I can do it. I can prove myself...”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow.

  “If that piece of shit psychopath can have a second chance, than so can I!”

  She has a point... But since getting her to arrive here was what he wanted from the beginning, Sincir isn’t exactly phased by her argument.

  “That’s enough, we’re done here,” the bck-haired woman says, having spoken for the first since Collin told her Sincir would be the one handling things.

  Expression cold, she straightens herself, but Collin raises his palm in her direction before she can move forward, causing a glimmer of hope to shine in Gracelyn’s eyes.

  “Gracelyn is right in that Sincir is an outsider, and this punishment is rather harsh, considering her age... We should at least hear what she has to say.”

  Making a show of looking unhappy, Sincir grimaces and crosses his arms, turning toward Gracelyn. “Fine... Since Collin is too nice for his own good, we shall give you one st chance to convince us you deserve Adrienne.”

  Gracelyn licks her lips nervously, quickly shifting her gaze from face to face before meeting Sincir’s gaze again. “I... I can do better... I will do better... T-tell me what to do, but p-please don’t take her away from me... Anything but that.”

  Sincir sighs. “I see you’ve missed the point completely, so I shall reiterate; Gracelyn, you can’t force her to be with you. She is the one you have to convince, not me. However, if Adrienne says she wants to stay, then I’ll reconsider your punishment.”

  Adrienne, who is now finally staring at Gracelyn, shakes her head. “At this point, I don’t think there is anything... This might be for the better, Gracelyn.”

  Gracelyn grimaces. “You ungrateful...! Fine, I get it. You don’t love me... You never did. I was just a convenient way for you to leave the slums...”

  Adrienne’s eyes widen. “That’s not-”

  “Shut up!” Gracelyn suddenly screams, pointing a finger toward Adrienne as she does so, “Tell me, you fucking whore, did you ever enjoy it?! Is there a single time you enjoyed having sex with me?!”

  Adrienne steps back, her face having lost it’s color.

  Lowering her hand, Gracelyn shakes her head incredulously, tears now streaming down her cheeks freely. “I can’t believe you’ve told them I was raping you... Did you really... Did you really felt that way...? Gods... Go. Go and never show your face in front of me again!”

  As Gracelyn turns away from her, body shaking in its entirety, Adrienne stares at her with a shocked look on her face, before turning her gaze toward Sincir.

  Well, isn’t this quite the development...? It seems they won’t get to have a fun night after all. Shame.

  ‘Sorry, love, but not even I can predict everything. I intended to have her repent and beg you to stay...’ Sincir sends Adrienne telepathically, casting a quick mind spell to do so, ‘But I think the idea she might’ve raped you this whole time pushed her too far... What happens now is up to you. You know her better than me.’

  Adrienne blinks.

  Then, she seems to come to some sort of decision, taking a deep breath.