Not hateful

A massive explosion sent dust billowing across the training field.

As the white mist cleared, a deep trench scarred the arena’s center, its edges steaming from the intense heat.

On either side, two strikingly different girls rose slowly.

Avia coughed, wiping blood from her lips. Her crimson eyes, usually vibrant, were dimmer, but the restless bloodlust within her had calmed.

The blood on her thumb, wiped from her mouth, carried the alluring scent of elven royalty—each drop precious to her. Unconcerned with decorum, she licked the remnants from her hand.

Across the trench, Felicia adjusted her disheveled golden hair, her fingers brushing a small puncture wound on her neck.

The elven healing ability closed it rapidly, but a lingering numbness remained—a hallmark of a vampire’s bite.

For ordinary creatures, a vampire’s numbing saliva could cause collapse, but for Felicia, it was merely a mild sensation.

She glanced at the silver-haired vampire girl and sighed. “The fight’s over. You’ve achieved your goal. You can leave.”

Though Felicia had the upper hand, Avia’s aim wasn’t victory.

The brief, intimate moment of feeding left Felicia, a princess, uneasy. Her tone was cold as she issued a dismissal.

This duel had been Avia’s formal challenge, accepted as a test of skill, but both knew the true purpose.

The fight offered Felicia no gain—only blood loss, win or lose.

Yet, despite her elven pride, she never refused Avia’s challenges. “Why? Why not reject me?” Avia’s voice, cool and questioning, held a trace of confusion.

She didn’t see Felicia as foolish. As Tianqi Academy’s top student, Felicia was brilliant.

Why, knowing Avia’s intent, did she step into the trap? “Reject you? Why should I? Elves honor fair challenges.

You broke no rules, so I have no reason to refuse,” Felicia replied, standing still, her answer seemingly logical.

“You know everything, yet you act. I need a reason. I can’t believe someone would grant another’s desires without cause,” Avia pressed, unconvinced.

“Is your bloodlust still raging?” Felicia asked after a pause, her voice softer.

Avia hesitated, surprised by the direct question. “It’s… calmed. Thank you.” For the first time, she spoke candidly about her condition to an outsider, her usual disdain for her cursed blood momentarily set aside.

“Good.” Felicia turned, her emerald eyes meeting Avia’s crimson ones. “I know your purpose. As for why I don’t refuse, it’s simple—I don’t dislike you.”

Avia froze, stunned. In her experience, vampires were reviled as deceitful, bloodthirsty monsters.

Being fed upon was misfortune, yet Felicia claimed otherwise. High-tier vampires secreted numbing agents to ease pain, sometimes inducing pleasure, but that was a trick for weaker prey.

Felicia, with her royal elven blood, shouldn’t be swayed by such tactics. So why?

Avia knew her reputation at the academy—isolated, cold, and unapproachable.

She avoided others, her gloomy aura breeding resentment. Once, she might have dreamed of sunlight, but her forced transformation into a vampire shattered those hopes in endless nightmares.

Under Felicia’s pure gaze, Avia felt exposed, her crimson eyes pulsing with unease.

Noticing her turmoil, Felicia softened. “I’ve met many vampires, including your royal sisters. Their greed is an abyss, their gazes predatory.

Even their beauty can’t mask their repulsive souls.”

“But you’re different. From our first meeting, I sensed it. You carry the same desires, but you restrain them with reason. You don’t harm the innocent to sate yourself. Everyone has secrets, struggles—I won’t pry. But I respect those with principles, and I’m willing to help them.”

“You’re worth helping. That’s the reason, nothing more.”

Felicia pulled a small glass vial from her skirt, its contents exuding a faint, fragrant scent.

She tossed it gently, and it landed in Avia’s hands. Recognizing Felicia’s blood, Avia stared, conflicted. “Based on our past fights, this should sustain you for two months to calm your bloodlust. I’ll be busy and can’t duel you, so use it sparingly until the campus tournament.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Avia said, feeling unworthy of such kindness.

“No need for thanks. I don’t dislike you. During our fights, I sometimes sense a strange harmony in our blood—a familiar resonance. Maybe that’s why I help,” Felicia said, then laughed, catching herself. “Sorry, that sounded nonsensical. Don’t dwell on it. Take care.”

She turned and left, her figure fading into the distance.

Avia stood, clutching the vial, Felicia’s words echoing. “A familiar resonance in our blood? It’s not just my illusion?”

She lingered, silent, until Felicia’s presence vanished.

Closing her eyes, she let the breeze sway her fragile form. “Felicia, your perfection is almost enviable,” she murmured, crouching to place the vial on the ground.

“Thank you, but soon, I won’t need your help.”

“I owe you, Felicia. I’ll repay this debt someday, if that day comes.” Her whisper lingered as her gothic dress fluttered like bat wings in the night breeze.

She vanished into the moonlight’s shadows.