«Drakhul... my beloved Drakhul... three months have passed, and still not a day goes by without thinking about the wonderful monts we shared... Uff... why does life have to be so unfair?!» Velune sobs, clutching a piece of brown fabric to her chest.
It’s a piece of Drakhul’s cloak—the only fragnt left of him.
Velune managed to retrieve it just before she was captured by Shin and the others.
She keeps it like a sacred relic, hidden in secret and guarded with obsessive care.
«Seems like spending so much ti around the living is making you lose your mind.»
A male voice echoes behind her—soone approached without Velune even noticing.
She slowly turns around and shoots him an annoyed glare.
«Didn’t anyone ever teach you that eavesdropping is rude, Shin Tendo?» Velune mutters, visibly irritated.
«I doubt talking to a filthy rag counts as a conversation,» Shin replies with a smirk.
«Anyway... am I wrong, or is that piece of cloth part of Drakhul Volkom’s clothes? You hid it well, but just in case, I’d better confiscate it.»
Shin reaches out to grab the fabric, but Velune quickly pulls it back, stuffing it into the pocket of the HESPARC uniform she’s been forced to wear for months—replacing the far more revealing and flashy outfits of a loli mistress she used to love, just for the organization’s image.
After all, seeing a girl dressed like a dominatrix wandering the halls wasn’t exactly great PR for visitors from other divisions.
«Co on, all this drama for a simple piece of cloth?» Shin mutters.
«It’s not just a piece of cloth! It’s the only mory I have of my beloved Drakhul Volkom!» Velune snaps.
Shin sighs.
«It was supposed to be a surprise to thank you for your cooperation, but I guess I have to spill the truth. Together with Deputy Director Kendrow, we believe that your role—reviving the undead used for HESPARC agents’ combat training—would be far more useful... if you had actual undead worthy of the na.»
«And you figured this out just now?!» Velune grumbles.
«What a temper... anyway, it’s unlikely, but still possible, that genetic fragnts of Drakhul remained on that piece of cloth.
And with current tech, recreating a body from traces of DNA isn’t that hard, you know?»
Velune’s eyes widen.
«Y-You’re telling you can build another Drakhul Volkom?!»
«It obviously won’t be the real Drakhul Volkom. Just a copy of his body, and to the best of our abilities, his powers too. He won’t be nearly as strong as the original, but still way better than the pile of useless corpses they’ve given you so far,» Shin replies.
Velune stares at him with suspicion.
«No offense—or actually, yes, offense—but you don’t seem like soone who knows anything about this kind of stuff...»
«You’re right. I don’t know a thing about genetic engineering or any of that,» Shin admits.
«But, you know... almost twenty years ago, I was married to a woman—a researcher who worked for HESPARC Academy, and she left sothing behind... besides a son to raise...» he murmurs, a trace of regret in his voice.
He reaches out again.
Velune hands over the piece of cloth.
Her eyes sparkle with excitent.
♡♡♡
«Misaki... forgive the question, but... why all this?» Hakuto asks, trying to eat the exquisite dishes with so composure.
Even though, if it were up to him, he’d already have devoured everything in one bite at lightning speed.
«All this... what exactly?» she replies, genuinely confused.
«Everything... the dinner, the spa bath... Maybe I shouldn’t ask and just enjoy your kindness, but I really can’t understand it...»
Misaki gives him a gentle smile.
«You were the one who invited for coffee, weren’t you?
I just took the liberty of adding a few extra details—an appetizer, a first course, a second course, dessert, a relaxing bath at the spa, and a five-star hotel room to sleep in,» she adds, shrugging.
~No, wait... we’re spending the night here...? But now that I think about it, she never said the bath would be in the sa tub. She’ll obviously go to the won’s section, and I’ll go to the n’s. Sa goes for the night—each of us will have our own room. Of course that’s how it’ll be~
Hakuto has a thousand more doubts he could raise.
Like the fact that a coffee downtown isn’t quite the sa as spending the night in a hotel.
And Professor Yuunami can’t possibly believe what she’s saying.
But he gives up—it’s clear she has no intention of talking about the real reason she brought him here, so he resigns himself to waiting.
«See? Here we are, having our coffee, just like I promised,» Misaki says, using the classic tone of soone who’s like, "Told you so."
Hakuto simply smiles at her.
Dinner ends.
To digest, they go for a short walk through the beautiful gardens surrounding the hotel.
They pass by elegant sculptures, fountains with water glowing in the pale moonlight, and exquisitely trimd hedges.
But none of those artistic wonders catch Hakuto’s gaze the way Misaki’s beauty does.
The scenery only enhances her charm.
The silver moonlight outlines her flawless, enviable figure.
She looks almost unreal.
A strange heat starts to burn in Hakuto’s chest.
Her hand, resting on his arm, slowly slides down to et his.
Their fingers intertwine.
Hand in hand, they walk the final stretch of the garden path together.
Once back inside the hotel, Hakuto’s heart takes a final blow.
It nearly bursts in his chest when Misaki tells him that the spa isn’t shared.
Nor is it split by gender.
Every room has its own private spa, complete with sauna and jacuzzi.
The relaxing hot bath won’t be in a classic wellness center.
It’ll be inside their room—the only room Misaki booked.
~Please, Hakuto, keep calm... Say sothing, make sothing up, but keep calm... Think about Akashi. Think about the Cult of the Primordial Shadow. Think about Velshekar. Anything... just stop thinking about Professor Yuunami this way...~
Hakuto does everything he can to pull his thoughts away.
He tries to stop staring at Misaki’s stunning body.
She’s sitting across from him, in a swimsuit, on the edge of the private hot spring bath inside their hotel room.
Which, by the way, has only one bed.
They’re sitting close—too close.
Their legs brush every now and then.
Each ti, Hakuto flinches.
His body tenses up.
As soon as they entered the room, Misaki invited him to change into a swimsuit.
She did the sa.
Out of modesty, Hakuto changed in the bathroom.
When he ca out, he was wearing a simple black swim trunk Misaki had bought for him earlier at one of the hotel’s shops.
«I could’ve told you to bring a swimsuit... but that would’ve ruined the surprise,» she said.
Misaki wears a navy blue two-piece bikini.
Nothing especially provocative.
Just a regular swimsuit.
But it’s what’s under that swimsuit that short-circuits Hakuto’s hormone-fueled teenage brain.
Her body is fully revealed now.
Toned.
Well-defined.
She clearly takes care of herself.
Though there’s the faintest hint of a belly—barely noticeable when clothed.
Still, it isn’t just her seductive figure that catches Hakuto’s eye.
It’s the horizontal scar across her abdon.
One Hakuto instantly recognizes as a C-section scar.
~So... Professor Yuunami has children...?Well, of course. Why am I even surprised?But... does she still have a husband? Nah... no way she’d co here with a forr student if she did. I’ve never seen a wedding ring on her finger either... So, I’m about to spend the night with a single mom? She must’ve been really starved for affection to end up in a luxury hotel with soone who could be her son’s age... Well... not that I mind. Actually, this’ll be the first ti I sleep with a single mom! Oh right, Kagura... Okay, the first ti with a human single mom... Co on, Hakuto! Ti to put all that practice to good use!~
At that very mont, the screen of Hakuto’s phone lights up.
He left it in Misaki’s car.
A ssage from Alexia Kendrow.
[Hey Hakuto, you doing okay?
As promised, I had so research done on your father’s relationships around the ti you were conceived.
Turns out he was married to a researcher who worked at HESPARC Academy back then. Rember the one I told you about?
Apparently, it wasn’t just so office affair—they were officially married and divorced almost seventeen years ago, just months after you were born.
Her na is Misaki Yuunami, and she currently works as a teacher in a private Japanese high school. Hope this helped. I’ll let you know if I find anything else. Good night, Hakuto.]
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