The Fallen Vampire

Chapter 53: Hypotheticals

After the auctioneer finished picking his jaw up from the ground, he immediately made arrangements for Lucia and Indra to be taken to the best viewing room in the building.

In the blink of an eye, they had gone from standing in the front of the grand hall to being waited on hand and foot within a lavish room.

The pair sat on a comfy leather couch with a tray of food and wine lying in front of them.

In all of her life, Lucia had never been in such high class surroundings before, and she was more than a little thrilled by this turn of events.

"Indra, what exactly did you give that guy to make him react like this?!"

"I merely gave him one of the old cultivation manuals from the vault back home. It was one of the lowest grade I had, but he reacted quite strongly to it. Who knew?"

"And... exactly what grade is it and what kind of technique is inside?" Lucia asked.

"Advanced grade... a fist art I think."

Now even Lucia was looking at Indra like he was a goose that could shit golden eggs.

Advanced grade or higher techniques were usually only passed down to high ranking members of the fallen army, and only rarely fall into the hands of the public.

And yet her friend did not even seem the least bit bothered by the fact that he had given one up, as well as alluding to the fact that there were greater items in his possession.

'Does that mean he has heavenly and transcendent manuals too..?' she wondered curiously.

She opened her mouth to ask him, when Indra suddenly glanced at the door and paused like he was waiting for something.

Almost twenty seconds later, the double doors to their viewing suite opened and five women strode in.

All of them were scantily clad, with various assets spread across different areas but equally beautiful.

"Mr. Varken has requested that we come in and make your stay as welcoming as possible."

"We hope that we are to your liking~"

"I was not expecting him to be so handsome..."

"May I ask exactly what kind of fallen you are? You seem to be very exotic."

"..."

Indra gave the women his usual icey stare as he turned back around in his seat, clearly uninterested.

However, these women were both too prideful to calmly accept rejection and too enthralled by his good looks to slip away.

Ignoring Lucia once again, one of the women unhooked her dress from her shoulders and allowed it to fall to the ground without a sound.

Swaying her hips as she walked, she approached Indra from behind and placed one of her hands on his exposed chest.

"Don't be shy, you'll hurt our feelings. Why don't we-"

"INDRA!"

Whoosh!

Lucia had only barely managed to catch the moment were dark yellow claws burst from his fingertips.

When his companion called him, Indra halted his claws mere inches away from the handsy courtesan's eyes, and she fell to the ground in horror.

"You know how I feel about being touched by women who aren't her, Lucia." He reminded calmly.

"Yes I know, but they are only doing what they were sent to do and what they thought you would like. You cannot kill them for that." She said gently.

"I think Enyo would want me to."

"That doesn't make it right on her part either. " Lucia said with a helpless smile.

Indra took a moment to respond, and his claws remained out and searching for blood.

Lucia thought that she may have won him over and prepared to offer the girls an apology when he asked her a question that she wasn't expecting.

"If I belonged to you, what would you want? Could you stand to see me touched by leeches so casually?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected hypothetical, Lucia blinked her eyes several times as she allowed those words to sink in.

She pictured herself happy with Indra, as his second or even third wife.

Lying in bed with him, Enyo, and Keran, going on dates with him, and even possibly having a child together.

For some reason, it did not bother her when she thought of living as his wife alongside the two of them.

But when she thought of another random woman trying to jump at him from off the street, she had an ugly feeling start to bubble in her chest.

She was not sure why she felt like this all of a sudden, but she knew that she at least had her answer.

"I... would not." She admitted with great difficulty.

Indra stred at her slightly embarrassed face and pink cheeks before retracting his claws back into his fingertips.

Turning his eyes back to the woman who had tried to assault him, he stared at her coldly without uttering a single word more.

With tears in the eyes that she'd almost lost, it seemed like she had taken the hint that she wasn't welcome and she crawled across the floor to retrieve her dress.

She and the other four courtesans quickly left the room not long after, profusely apologizing for the interruption.

Indra finally sat back down and folded his arms, seemingly drained from the ordeal he'd just went through.

"Can I ask you something?"

Indra opened one eye and glanced at the lamia who was staring at him a bit uncomfortably.

"You.. really love Enyo, don't you?"

"I do."

"Do you think you will ever love Keran in that same way or... me?"

Truthfully, this wasn't a question Indra really wanted to answer.

Dealing with Keran always gave him a headache, as he knew that the two of them had loved each other greatly in the past.

And though he was often nice to her, it was a far cry from the devout and passionate lust he once held for her.

He honestly did not know if he could ever proclaim loudly that he loved her as he could with Enyo.

As for Lucia... he had many more questions.

She was pretty and sweet, and he was unbothered by her snake-like lower half.

However, some of her personality traits made him think they may not be good together.

She was bright and sparkly with an outgoing personality and a slightly mischievous side.

She and Enyo were a lot alike in that regard, but Enyo was a lazy soul like Indra, and if he spent a week reading in silence, she would spend it asleep beside him.

However, he knew that Lucia was more adventurous.

He thought that a day might arise when they were together and she would try to force him out of his comfort zone, and he was unsure of how he felt about the prospect.

It could be wonderful, but it could also lead to him fostering resentment against her if he did not truly love her enough to enjoy every day alongside her, no matter what they were doing.

And if such a thing as that were to happen, they would likely both end up hurt.

That wasn't good for either of them.

Besides, Enyo seemed not to want to share him.

And if it was against her wishes, he would never take another wife after her.

The feelings of others be damned.

"Lucia..." He began. "I don't know if-"

"FALLEN, YOUNG AND OLD!! TODAY, YOU ARE IN FOR A VERY SPECIAL AUCTION!"

Indra and Lucia were both jolted from their conversation by the loud voice of the boarkin from below.

Through the window separating them from the audience, they could see him standing on the stage and looking very pleased.

Today, he could just feel that he was going to make a lot of money.

And conversely, so would Indra.