A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Not much later, Seraphina walked out of the room she now shared with Nora and Anne, after having put on the blue and gold outfit that her fellow servants wore as well. She inspected her body with a miserable scowl. "I feel like I'm on display," she muttered resentfully.

"That's because you are," Elora smirked while her eyes travelled across Seraphina's slim and beautiful body, which now showed far more skin than before. "Our servants should portray both beauty and power. And, of course, their master should enjoy watching them."

And unsurprisingly, Erik was doing just that. His hungry eyes travelled across the vampire's body, which instantly caused her to glare at him. But that only made Erik grin wider. The Bond of Service should be making her feel more reverence for him, yet the fact she could still glare at him so convincingly proved her willpower.

"Ugh, whatever. It's just not my style," Seraphina groaned and rolled her eyes. Then, she raised a questioning eyebrow, "What about my weakness to sunlight, though? An outfit like this will reduce my fighting strength."

But Elora waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, don't worry about that. I designed these things with the assumption they'd be worn by humans and shapeshifters, as well as vampires. The sigils inside will protect you from sunlight."

Instantly, Seraphina's eyes widened. "You can do that?!" she exclaimed in shock and awe. "The Council has been working on that problem for years!" She suddenly looked at Elora with a slightly different gaze. There was more respect there.

A sigil to protect a vampire against the sun's radiation was surprisingly difficult to make. After all, it had to be an extremely thin energy barrier with a precisely measured form capable of remoulding itself while the vampire moved, all while using little to no energy, and stopping only the sun's radiation, nothing else.

Elora smirked smugly and shrugged, "Really? It was a few hours work for me. Don't worry, though. Perhaps I'll share the method with them after they've accepted me and my husband's rule."

Actually, even Elora had spent much of the travel from Alta to England on designing this sigil, she just couldn't resist the chance to brag.

Seraphina's eyelids quickly began to twitch, yet, she said nothing. Somehow, she could imagine the pairing of Erik and Elora someday taking over. She just didn't know if that was good or bad.

* * *

Sometime later, they'd also talked about next steps, and then everyone dispersed to do their own things, like training or crafting. As for Erik, he went to have that talk with Alice. 'It's time we figured what we actually are to each other,' he thought with determination.

His mind made up, he moved over to the training room, where he found the young girl who ended up in his care. As always, she was training hard, with an expression full of determination and drive.

Just like half of the others living in this dimension, Alice desired revenge. But, unlike them, she wasn't already in the second stage.

In fact, she wasn't even close. She'd need to become a lot stronger, and fast, if she wanted to use her own claws to tear into the hunters who killed her mother—and into Aria, the Councillor whose orders led to the deaths of her father and adopted parents.

But, if anyone could do it, she could. She was talented, had the support of both Erik and Elora, and worked harder than anyone else. She certainly wasn't wasting as much time as Erik and the others did during what Alice understood to be their 'adult time' in Erik's bedroom… Stay updated through empire

Still, right now, Erik would have to tear her away from her training for a moment.

So, he walked up to the Alice, who was currently exercising with push-ups, allowing the aetherium to strengthen her Runebound body. She seemed particularly focused today, as if afraid her thoughts might wander.

Erik crouched next to her with a small, mischievous grin. Deciding to bully her a little, he pushed down on her back with one finger, instantly causing Alice to groan. Yet, she remained silent, focused her intense, brown eyes, and continued her push-ups with gritted teeth.

Slowly, Erik increased the pressure on her back, but Alice didn't stop. Even as her arms trembled and growls started coming out of her throat, she continued to move. With the increase in pressure, Erik's mischievous grin also slowly turned into a proud one.

Finally, when he thought Alice was nearing her breaking point, he suddenly removed the finger, and Alice instantly sagged down to the floor with a groan.

"T— Teacher… Hey…" she panted with a proud grin matching Erik's, as if only just seeing him. "What can…I do for…you."

With that question, Erik's smirk turned into a soft smile. "I wanted to have that talk I mentioned earlier…"

Instantly, Alice's face fell, and she pursed her lips wryly. "Do we need to…? I— I'm not sure I should interrupt my routine…"

Clearly, she had some idea what Erik wanted to talk about, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to have that conversation, simply because it felt far too awkward to the poor, socially inept wereverine.

Unfortunately for her, Erik knew that conversation would simply never happen if he left it all up to Alice. So, he chuckled and raised a curious eyebrow, "Really? I wonder what your teacher would say about that…"

Before Alice could respond, he snapped his fingers, grinned, and widened his eyes, as if he'd just gotten a revelation. "Ah! I believe he's fine with it!" Then, he picked Alice of the floor and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Let's go, little Alice!"

"Uuuugh," Alice groaned as she was carried back to the living room. She'd made her body go completely limp while hanging from his shoulder with an aggrieved expression. "I want it on the record that I'm going in protest!" she grumbled resentfully.

"So noted," Erik grinned and nodded.

"Kidnapping is illegal, you know?" she continued with a pout, despite knowing it was pointless.

"Okay, well warn me if you see any police, alright?" Erik quipped laconically without stopping his stride.

Finally, Alice simply sighed and groaned at the same time while preparing herself for the worst: a frank conversation about emotions.