Sofia

The sounds of papers rubbing against each other were the only thing that could be heard. Helena entered the room unnoticed, stopped next to the table and finally drew her attention to herself.

Sighing tiredly, a beautiful... No, a stunning young woman, with long, intense red hair, wavy, looked up. Under the red layer that resembled waves of crystallized blood, there was a natural black dye on the back of her neck that highlighted the red and shadowed her face, giving an elegant, gentle and dangerous appearance to her gaze.

Her lips, nose and eyes were like pure porcelain, but it was Helena who felt as if she would break if they fought.

"Calm down, princess... Huh, that's good news."

The sharp gaze did not soften, but waited with a dose of curiosity.

'The same eyes, huh...' Helena saw that as a refreshing sign.

Beneath that facade, the child she used to serve was still there.

'I just hope she doesn't go completely crazy,' Helena approached, handing a tablet to the scoundrel.

"If it's more trouble, take it with you," a pale smile formed.

"He showed up two weeks ago."

Her expression froze a little. Her thoughts and routine problems lost as she processed this turn of events, and just for confirmation, her mouth moved almost expectantly.

"... Him who?", her eyes trembled, her voice didn't.

"Your bond appeared."

As the young woman processed those words, Helena looked at the tablet. That should reveal many more promises.

Perhaps of misfortune for whoever the other person in the video was.

Anxiously her fingers touched the screen. Her expression changed as soon as his pictures must have appeared. The air seemed to have suddenly become a few degrees warmer, sensitivity and passion almost evaporating.

It didn't last long. Her finger stopped in midair, the young woman recoiled as if she were being threatened by something invisible. The gray eyes could have been blood red and the intensity and anger would have been the same.

Helena knew where they were coming from, but she realized that the answer was just to camouflage something that predators shouldn't feel.

Fear. The kind of existential fear that you only feel once, and that few knew.

The fear of losing everything.

The air was charged with tension, Aila, the colleague who had been in the room since the beginning, seemed uncomfortable, caught between the lost fire.

While the tension and expectation of an emotional explosion was palpable. As soon as her fingers scrolled the images once more, almost affectionately, the tablet exploded into pieces under her force.

The heavy silence hung between them, broken only by the young woman's panting breath turning into a deep sigh.

Helena smiled, relieved that the young woman's expression was replaced by one of confidence.

Exactly what she wanted.

That was the best part of being an Ofiel, dragon blood ran through those veins. They wouldn't dream of being intimidated by a human opponent.

The problem was...

"Helena?..."

Helena suddenly noticed an intriguing stain on that ceiling, she would have to have it cleaned later.

Now, scratching the back of her neck, she had to face the real problem.

A dragon always looked for someone to blame.

"You said two weeks, didn't you?"

She slowly banged the gavel, just as Aila slowly stepped aside.

Helena saw it as an affront, so she bravely approached the table, next to Aila. The closer the better.

The young woman's eyes screamed a ridiculous amount of curses. Helena wanted to cry, being so intimidated like that. The young lady's gaze was too intense and...

'We are a team, aren't we?', in her telepathy, the little witch smiled at Aila, but what she received was a blank expression.

'Fuck you and your team.'

"You two... What I said about taking the job seriously.", each syllable seemed to be spelled out, and a healthy dose of power rose from the floor, raising all the hairs on both of their faces.

Like cats ready to attack, or rather, run away with their tails between their legs, the two lowered their heads.

Helena even prepared to kneel.

"Sorry, Sofia, it was my fault. We haven't heard from you for a long time...", she swallowed hard.

"Then I must have given the impression that I was relaxing. The girls ended up prioritizing other missions."

The young woman had a thoughtful expression as she read Helena like a book.

Her gaze still questioned, not swallowing a drop of that excuse she had made up in a hurry.

'You were just lazy, weren't you?'

'Yes, I was lazy', she couldn't lie in her false telepathy.

As friends, before being boss and subordinate, there were many pros, but also several cons.

One of them was to give herself up to the snake's mouth.

"Right!"

Helena didn't raise her head, but her tone was magnanimous.

She never disbelieved in her girl's kindness.

Helena was the one who raised her, after all. So good... The problem was that she smiled.

A wide smile that mixed the taste of meeting the love of her life again with the accumulated stress of at least two weeks.

"I need some fresh air. To stretch a little."

They both felt cold, in contrast, Sofia looked like summer itself.

Meanwhile, with a pile of papers, and in the corner of the room, Aila looked like a faithful knight decorating the place.

'When did she get there?'

Taking the pile of papers from her hands and gently placing it on the table, she dragged the two out the door.

"Let's train today, so much work has left me out of shape."

'But miss, vampires don't get fat.'

The faces of both seemed to scream it.

On the way, receiving several looks, vicious smiles, and even some prayers, Helena felt like she was really going to die this time.

The Ofiel had a reputation for never controlling their strength, but it was even worse when they were angry.

Her gifted and brilliant brain was searching for a way to escape, but it remained as dry as ever.

It was Aila, instead, who opened her mouth in search of salvation.

"Ah. Miss, didn't you want to know his name?..."

Arms linked, the three stood side by side. They would have seemed like friends, if they hadn't been sweating like pigs going to the slaughter.

"I don't want it anymore... I'm going to hear it from his mouth."

And so her fate was set in stone.

The beautiful young woman seemed bitter when she realized that she was too far away to hear it from him, and that there was someone who knew a lot about that mouth.

In truth, she wanted someone's name...