The Taste of Regret

Sitting on the dining table, Alvin stared at the dish before him, the very same dish he died trying to eat—the stuffed garlic bread!

"Although it was covered in mud and wood, I used magic to restore it to how it was before… everything happened." Vanessa spoke softly when she saw him staring at the tray without responding.

When he first saw the dish, Alvin felt his mind going blank. 'Was this some kind of cruel joke?' He wondered if Vanessa was mocking him.

But when he heard her words, Alvin felt his heart clenching tightly.

"Thank you." He expressed his sincerity and gratitude; her small action meant the world to him. That was the last dish Rin made for him, and he regretted not being able to enjoy it.

Alvin believed her words without hesitation because the image of that last dish had burned in his head. And now seeing it before him, Alvin could finally feel the warmth of Rin's care and love for him.

Elara watched their interaction with narrowed eyes but chose not to say anything.

Vanessa served Alvin a portion of the garlic bread before turning to remove the cover from Elara's dish.

Looking at the well-done steak, Elara smiled in satisfaction. She could faintly hear the sizzling of the oil on the steak along with the wild fragrance of the meat that filled the room, which even made Alvin turn to look at the dish.

"Is there something wrong, my lady?" Vanessa felt Elara's stare and asked with an innocent look on her face.

"...Nothing." Elara squinted and looked away; she focused on the food that was now placed on her dish and picked up the cutlery.

"Where is your food, Vanessa?" Alvin was about to bite into his dish when he noticed something.

Vanessa looked at him and shook her head with a smile. "I will be eating later after all the—"

"We've had a rough day, Vanessa." Elara's voice was firm, brooking no argument. "Eat with us."

A flicker of something passed over Vanessa's face before she sighed softly. "Very well, young miss." She disappeared into the kitchen to retrieve a plate for herself.

The peaceful moment was fleeting.

Alvin's expression twisted in pure disgust as his eyes landed on a crime against humanity.

"Is that… pineapple pizza?"

Alvin recoiled back in his seat, unknowingly straightening his back. His hand, holding a piece of the bread, lowered once more before it could even reach his mouth.

Elara also frowned hearing his words; she paused mid-chewing before continuing. Swallowing the food, she said, "I told you not to eat weird things, right?"

"The more you say, the more I want to try such things for the first time." Vanessa shot back defensively, "Such is the temptation of the forbidden fruit."

"Not to mention, you need to have a lot of courage to try new things in life."

"I can proudly say I am not as courageous as you." Alvin rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on the piece of bread in his hand.

The hot cheese flowed through his finger as he bit through the soft and crunchy bread. The taste of sweetness and mellowness instantly filled his mouth.

It was like a small liquid bomb of cheese and garlic had exploded in his mouth.

Alvin closed his eyes and savored the taste in his mouth: the jalapeño, the sweet corn inside the bread, the garlic—everything tasted extra to Alvin.

They felt more intense than they used to.

But Alvin did not even realize when he had finished the first slice of his bread.

"Wh—Cough!" His eyes suddenly snapped open when he heard Vanessa coughing.

Seeing the slice of pizza in her hand with a piece missing, Alvin suddenly felt the taste of the food in his mouth becoming sour when he saw the contorted look of disgust on her face.

Vanessa stood up from the table and rushed back to the kitchen with her hand covering her mouth, not forgetting to bring the rest of the pizza along with her.

"What do you think she will do? Continue eating it?" Alvin looked at Elara; the curiosity in his voice was evident.

"No way, she should have thrown that pizza in the trash by now." Elara's eyes gleamed a bit as she finished the bite of the steak in her mouth and wiped her lips with a white cloth.

Suddenly thinking of something, Alvin's hand paused in the middle of picking up the next slice. "What if she really liked that pizza and did not want to show it in front of us, so she went inside to secretly eat it?"

Elara hummed with narrowed eyes only to shake her head in the end. "You have quite the imagination, but there is no way that proud maid of mine would do something like that."

Alvin hummed along with her words; after all, it was simply a wild guess, and he did not know Vanessa enough to be certain.

"How is it? Turning into a vampire—how is it different from being a human?" Elara asked, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"It's like drugs, maybe. I have never done any myself." Alvin tried his best to describe the feeling: "I am always on hyperactive mode; all of my senses, feelings, and emotions are heightened all the time."

He looked down at his plate and frowned, "My taste buds are also not the same as before; the food tastes more intense, and everything tastes… more. My hunger has also changed."

"That is to be expected; for us vampires, food is merely a side dish." She looked at the steak before her. "We eat to savor the taste; it will never fill your stomach like blood will. After all, it's the life energy in the blood that fills us."

"Vampires are only powerful and immortal as long as they are supplied with the blood. Even if it's a single drop, the older you get, the longer you can live on it." She used her powers to pull a bottle of blood and two glasses from a glass cabinet opposite her.

The cabinet was full of all kinds of rare wines, sitting there on display.

Pouring the drink in two glasses, she passed one to Alvin and leaned back into the chair, letting her hair cascade down the shoulders, reaching her thighs.

"It's either drinking blood or dying." Alvin shook his head and took the floating glass in his hands.