My Blood Legacy: Bloodlines

The hot steam filled the room with an almost unreal softness, rising in slow spirals that slightly blurred the air and made everything around her quieter, more distant. The water fell steadily, a continuous and almost hypnotic sound that helped dilute the weight of what had happened moments before, as if that space had been created only to contain excesses—of emotion, of pain... of everything.

Serafall sat on a small wooden bench, her body relaxed in a way unusual for someone like her. Her shoulders, normally firm, were now slightly slumped, and her posture carried an evident weariness, not physical... but emotional. Her face still bore traces of recent crying, the skin slightly reddened around her eyes, her eyelashes damp, as if still recovering from what they had shed.

She said nothing.

She didn’t complain.

She didn’t provoke.

She just... let it be.

Victor stood behind her, holding the soapy sponge with a care that didn’t match his usual carefree way of moving. His movements were slower, more attentive, gliding the foam over her shoulders, down her arm, tracing each line with a delicacy that wasn’t common for him—but which came naturally in that situation.

He observed.

More than he acted.

Every small reaction of hers... every breath... every slight adjustment of posture.

’At least... she calmed down...’

The thought came silently as he ran the sponge over her upper back, feeling the cold skin contrasting with the warmth of the water. There was something strange about that calmness, something he wasn’t used to seeing in her. Serafall had always been... too intense to seem fragile.

But now—

She seemed so.

And that... affected him more than he cared to admit.

"Unbelievable..." he murmured, almost without realizing he had spoken aloud, a slight sigh escaping along with it. "You crying like that... you looked like a little girl."

There was no provocation in his words.

Not this time.

It was more... an honest comment, still laden with a certain astonishment.

Serafall didn’t respond.

But her shoulders moved slightly.

Not from irritation.

But from something more subtle... perhaps embarrassment, perhaps just recognition.

Victor continued.

The sponge slid down her back more carefully now, as if each touch needed to be measured, as if he were trying to compensate for something without saying it directly. His eyes took in the small details he had previously simply ignored—the way her skin reacted to his touch, the residual tension in her muscles, the way she maintained her silence without fleeing his presence.

And then... he understood.

’I really hurt her...’

The conclusion came simply.

Heavy.

Unlike before. It wasn’t about games, teasing, or challenges anymore.

It was real.

And that made something inside him tighten slightly.

Not enough to break him.

But enough to bother him.

His hand slowed even more, the sponge now passing over her arm with almost exaggerated care, as if he were afraid of pressing too hard.

’...but...’

He looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath.

’At least... she spoke.’

This—

This changed everything.

Serafall, the way she was... never said it directly.

Never exposed herself like that.

Never let it slip. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But today...

She did.

And that, however chaotic it had been... had a weight he couldn’t ignore.

A small smile appeared at the corner of his lips, discreet, almost imperceptible.

’You’re... ridiculously cute...’

The thought came naturally, accompanied by a slight shake of his head, as if he himself couldn’t believe what he was thinking. It was absurd. Incoherent. Totally out of line with what that situation should be.

But still...

That’s what he felt.

He refocused, now wiping with the sponge more firmly—not roughly, but more confidently, as if he had found a balance between care and naturalness. The foam glided over her skin, washed away by the water, while the silence between them ceased to be heavy... and began to become comfortable.

There was no need for words at that moment.

No explanations.

No justifications.

Just presence.

Serafall remained there, quiet, allowing each movement, each touch, without resistance, without tension. And, for the first time since everything had started to go wrong, she didn’t seem like a general, nor a frightening entity, nor an impossible force to deal with.

The water continued to fall at the same steady pace, almost as if marking the time of that strange pause between two chaotic moments. The steam had already become denser, enveloping the two in a kind of silent isolation, as if the world outside had ceased to exist for a few instants.

Victor finished wiping her arm with the sponge and, with a gentle movement, let the water wash away the accumulated foam, watching for a moment the path it made across Serafall’s skin before disappearing down the drain.

The silence between them was no longer uncomfortable.

But it wasn’t entirely light either.

There were unspoken things there... things that, inevitably, would need to be put into words.

Victor let out a small sigh, running a hand over the back of his neck as he thought about how to approach this without... exploding again.

"About... those two..." he began, his tone lower now, more careful, as if testing the waters before truly moving forward. His eyes fixed on her, attentive to any reaction, however small. "The ’random vampires’ you mentioned..."

Serafall remained silent for a second.

Two.

But then her shoulders moved slightly, not in tension... but like someone who was already prepared to hear it.

"Hmm..." she murmured, her voice still a little hoarse from the previous crying, but now more stable. "The one with white hair... is Carmilla." She paused briefly, as if just saying that name carried some weight of its own. "And the one with red hair... Scarlett."

Victor was silent for a moment.

Not out of surprise.

But because now... he needed to explain.

And explaining this... wasn’t exactly simple.

"Okay..." he murmured, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder, more as a point of support for himself than anything else. "So... this is going to sound kind of absurd."

And then—

He began.

The account didn’t come quickly.

Nor was it disorganized.

Victor told everything.

From the moment he found them... to the details that would make anyone question their own sanity. The way he found Carmilla, the moment he was in solitary confinement and found Scarlett, the relationship between the two, the marriage for protection, what happened since then—everything. There were no unnecessary embellishments, but also no important omissions.

Time passed.

The steam subsided a little.

The water continued to run.

And when it ended—

Silence returned.

But this time... laden with something different.

Serafall didn’t react immediately.

She remained motionless, absorbing every part of what had been said, as if mentally reorganizing everything she knew... with everything she had just heard.

And then—

She let out a small sigh.

Slow.

"...I..." she began, bringing one hand to her face, running her fingers across her forehead as if dealing with a headache that wasn’t exactly physical. "I called Carmilla a... random vampire..."

The sentence came out almost as an incredulous whisper.

Victor crossed his arms, observing.

"She called."

She remained silent for another moment.

Then she let out a small laugh... dry, almost humorless.

"Thinking about it..." she continued, turning her face slightly toward him, her eyes now more focused, more aware, "...they really do look alike."

There was something different in her tone now.

Less emotional.

More analytical.

As if the general was slowly resurfacing.

"And the one with red hair..." she murmured, her eyes narrowing slightly, not in distrust, but in recognition. "That was bothering me..."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

Serafall tilted her head slightly, as if pulling something from memory... something old, distant... but still vivid enough to be identified.

And then—

She clicked her tongue slightly.

"...Now it makes sense."

Her eyes snapped straight ahead, but her focus was clearly no longer on her surroundings.

It was on the past.

"Scarlett..." she repeated, more quietly.

And then a small smile appeared.

But it wasn’t a light smile.

It was the kind of smile someone gives when remembering an old problem.

"...The troublemaker."

Victor let out a small "hm" through his nose, as if that confirmed something he already suspected.

Serafall, on the other hand, remained silent for a few seconds after that, fully absorbing the new reality that had been thrown at her.

And, slowly—

Her gaze changed again.

But this time... it wasn’t anger.

Nor pain.

It was something more complex.

Something that mixed curiosity... with a slight trace of dangerous interest.

"You really..." she murmured, almost to herself, "...don’t do anything halfway, do you?"

The silence that followed that realization was no longer as heavy as before, but it wasn’t light enough to be ignored either. It was the kind of silence that forms when something important is assimilated, when the pieces begin to fit together... even if the final picture is far from complete. The water continued to trickle down Serafall’s body, now clean of foam, reflecting the diffuse light of the environment in small, soft glimmers that disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.

Victor observed her for a moment.

He observed her.

The way she was quieter now, more focused... but still carrying remnants of what had happened.

And then, without making a fuss, he moved.

He moved a little closer and, with a natural gesture—yet full of intention—slid his arms around her from behind, enveloping her body in a firm but careful embrace. There was no force, no hesitation. Just... presence.

His chin rested lightly on her shoulder, close enough that his breath could be felt against her skin, still warm from the steam.

"I’m sorry..." he murmured, his voice lower now, without provocation, without that slight arrogance that usually accompanied his words. It was direct. Honest. Rare.

Serafall didn’t pull away.

But she didn’t respond immediately either.

Victor continued, tightening the embrace slightly, as if he wanted to make it clear that this wasn’t something said out of obligation.

"I should have told you sooner..." he admitted, his eyes partially closed as he tried to better organize what he wanted to say. "I just... wasn’t sure yet."

He let out a small sigh, looking away for a moment, even knowing she couldn’t fully see his expression from there.

"There was so much happening at once... and I thought maybe it would be better to wait, to understand everything first, before bringing this to you."

There was a brief pause.

Not long.

But enough.

"But it wasn’t supposed to seem like I was hiding anything..." he finished, looking back at her, even if only sideways. "I don’t want to hide anything from you."

The grip of his arms changed subtly.

Not tighter.

But more... firm.

As if that were the main point of everything.

"You’re my mother..." he continued, lower, but with more weight now. "And... the woman I will love most in this whole world."

The words weren’t exaggerated. They came simply.

Directly.

And, precisely for that reason... too sincere to be ignored.

The atmosphere remained quiet after that.

But not empty.

Because now there was something different there.

Something that didn’t need to be explained.

Just... felt.

"Alright..." Serafall replied almost as a murmur, "But..." she paused briefly and turned, her naked body still soaped, her characteristic red eyes and a slight blush, "You will reward me," she said, looking deep into his eyes, "In every way possible."

Victor saw it again, the black hole of obsession.