Chapter 8: A Contract, a Home, and a New Friend

This was hell. This situation was about as bad as David feared it would be. Truly he could not have imagined this being any worse. David was currently sitting at a nice wooden table, on his left sat the crown princess Alice with a quill pen and paper in hand. Sitting across from him was the object of his hate, Fredrick Velma. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Alice just sat there, smiling nervously as she watched the two men stare each other down.

"Why do I have to talk with that bastard!" David said to Alice as he recalled the conversation from earlier. 

"I know you don't want to see him, but you can't just cut off contact with House Velma." Alice said with a sigh as she watched David angrily storm around the room. It had not been long since David had woken up, but since David had decided to accept her offer there were several things she had to get done quickly, this was at the top of the list. 

"As I'm sure you are aware, Maria Velma, the natural born daughter of Frederick Velma, is currently suffering under the effects of a blood curse. Only with your blood is she able to continue living." Alice said as David stops stomping around but stares at her in an angry huff. 

"So, in order for both parties to come to an agreement they are comfortable with, you need to sit down to meet. I could go by myself, but I'd need confirmation from both parties and you probably have demands of your own, and honestly it just seems like I will end up playing messenger between you two as you have me relay threats to one another." Alice said with a sigh as she just imagined the headache that would be. She was right of course, if the two did not sit down with each other, nothing would ever get done and all the while it would be Maria who suffered the most. 

"I get that but..." David said as he struggles to find a reasonable excuse to not have to see the one man, he hates the most. 

"There's a meeting set for this afternoon in one of the Palace's planning rooms." Alice said, completely ignoring David's cries of protest. 

"If you manage to play along everything will be done in less than 10 minutes. So, suck it up." Alice said as she stared at David with a serious expression. 

"If you succeed, I promise you will never have to see him again."

With his head out of the clouds David returned to staring daggers at the man across the table. 

"Are we to begin or is this pissing contest going to last longer?" Alice said with contempt as the two men acted like children. 

"I came here to forge a contract to ensure my daughter's safety!" Frederick said with anger in his voice. 

"So, I do not see what this lowly human is doing at this table!" He yells, the word "Human" oozing with disgust. 

"Both parties are needed to create the contract so..." Alice begins before David cuts her off. 

"You know what, no." David said finally. This whole thing had been a strain on David even before he set foot in this room. And the first thing that comes out of this guy's mouth is an insult. He wasn't having it, if this was how he wanted to play this David wasn't going to stoop to his level, he was just going to leave. And that is exactly what David planned on doing. As he got up, he spoke.

"I don't even care about this contract. I'm only doing it for the princess." He said as he started heading for the exit nonchalantly. 

"You can keep sending assassins after me all you want, and I'll keep killing them, and while you are chasing a Ghost, your daughter will die of her curse. So good luck!" David said as he opened the door with one hand and gave Frederick the middle finger with the other.

It had been a long time since Frederick was insulted like this. Not in his entire life though had he been humiliated to this extent by a mere human. Just the thought of his existence was offensive to him, so sitting at a negotiation table with him was nearly too much for him. However, as he watched David take the first step through the door to leave he relented. 

"For the sake of my daughter." He thought to himself as he opened his mouth. 

"Wait!" He said as he gritted his teeth, "Please sit down so we can continue our discussions." The "please" he added was painful for him to say, but he needed this contract for his daughter's survival. David sighs. 

"Alright." He said as he turned around and sat back down, closing the door behind him. David had a feeling this would happen, to call this "his plan" would be giving him far too much credit, but he wasn't walking out the door without thinking things through. From the beginning he knew that this contract solely benefited the Duke but putting it another way, David had nothing to gain from signing it. While the Duke was insulting him, rather than playing his game he decided to leave. Doing so would get under his skin far worse than he would have by throwing insults. Plus, Alice didn't seem to be stopping him, so it appears she was serious about this being "his" contract. So, when he walked out the door he knew the Duke would give in. That all being said, had the Duke not caved, David would have kept walking out the door without looking back, be damned the consequences.

But the biggest benefit of doing things this way was that now David owned the playing field. 

"I'm going to make this simple, I have three demands. First Maria will get access to me and my blood once a month at..." David is then cut off by the Duke shouting. 

"No! One month is far too long!" He had seen what the curse had done to his daughter, it nearly tore him apart, while one month was not enough to kill her, what if the curse got worse in the future. The only way to ensure that her health would be fine is to ensure the time frame is shorter. The Duke begins to open his mouth to speak when David talks over him. 

"One month is more than enough to ensure that Maria is healthy, anything less than that then you will be cutting into the life that you stole me from." David said not hiding his ire. 

"But." He continued as he calmed down. "I'll let there be an addendum that if she is found to be seriously ill due to the effects of the curse then the time frame can be subject to change." David knew that such a clause could be used against him, but as angry as he was at the Duke, he still couldn't bring himself to completely hate Maria. She didn't deserve to suffer due to her father's idiocy.

"Second," David continues, not giving the Duke time to interject. "The event itself, which is to say, her drinking my blood, will not occur in your manor or anywhere affiliated with your estate, it will be done on neutral ground." The Duke is about to jump in but holds his tongue, he didn't want his daughter leaving the manor if he could help it, especially going to a place he didn't have control over just meant she could be put in harm's way. But as long as he gave her ample protection to and from the venue it shouldn't cause too much concern overall. He just didn't like the idea purely because this brat had suggested it.

"And third," David said, trying to finish this whole thing up as soon as possible. "I want you to publicly and privately denounce that I had anything to do with the murders of the 12 vampires in the forest, in addition to refuting that I have any connection to the so-called "Ghost of the Woods." When David specified the number of vampires he had slain, even Alice raised an eyebrow, she had been marginally aware of the numerous deaths in the forest, but she never had an exact number. 12 Vampires killed by a single human, no wonder the Duke got so humiliated by the whole situation. 

"Furthermore," David adds quickly. "All the documents and evidence you have linking me to the event, I want destroyed." David paused for a moment as he thought something over. 

"On second thought I want all of that evidence brought to me so I can watch it burn personally." David said thinking better of his first idea. 

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't trust you." David said in a mocking manner. 

"I'll leave this third item off the contract okay?" Alice said as she looked at David. David nods to her in agreement. There was an advantage to claiming the infamy of the "Ghost of the Forest." Having the fear attributed to that attached to him could have its benefits, but if he was ever to live a normal life in this world, he would need to get rid of that stigma. He especially didn't want some crazed widow coming to kill him for revenge or something, his decision to hide the evidence made more sense.

The arrangements for the contract seemed reasonable enough for the Duke, despite his displeasure towards bits of the specifics overall it seemed not totally unreasonable. However, he burned with hatred inside because the entire negotiation was dominated by this scum. It didn't even feel like a negotiation, it felt more like he was signing a treaty of surrender to a conquering power, he thought his humiliation could not get any worse, but it just had. 

"You got everything?" David asked Alice as he stood up ready to leave. 

"Yup, you just need to sign here." Alice said as she hands the pen and paper to David to sign, which he does immediately. He then handed it over to the Duke, who, after several moments of angry hesitation, signed it as well. As soon as David sees the duke sign it, he heads toward the door. 

"You can pick the time and place for when I meet your daughter, just make sure it's somewhere inside the capital city, I don't really feel like going anywhere." David said casually just to antagonize the Duke. 

"Well Duke Velma, I hope you have a splendid day." Alice said with a curtsy, acting as if she couldn't see the tension this meeting had. She then followed David out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the Duke alone in the room, stewing in his own anger.

"Hahaha!" David laughs as soon as he is reasonably clear of the room. "I was dreading going in there but seeing the look on his face definitely made it worth it!" David said as he put both arms behind his head. 

"Easy for you to say." Alice said with a serious tone. "I thought both me and the Duke were going to have a heart attack when you were about to walk out of the room at the beginning." Alice said with a sigh as she matched her pace to David's. 

"It was a negotiation tactic." David half-lies. "I was sure the Duke was going to back down anyway. Anyway, what's the next thing you wanted to do?" David said changing the subject so he couldn't be scolded by Alice. Alice sighed to herself at David's obvious bait switching. 

"Next we are going to your house." Alice said as she picked up the pace to take the lead. That caught David off guard.

"My house?" David questions as he follows behind Alice. 

"Yeah don't you remember, I told you, if you decided to work for me, I would give you lodgings." Alice said matter-of-factly. 

"Well I know what you said," David said, still a little taken aback. "But I just kinda figured you'd give me a room somewhere or something." 

"I am the crown princess." Alice said indignantly. "How could I show my face if I let my direct subordinate live in a tavern room?" 

"Well it's just that I've never had my own house before." David said sheepishly. It was true, before he had arrived in this world he had only semi-recently started going to college, during which he shared a room with a single roommate in a dorm building, before that he lived with his parents in their house. 

"I mean even if you give me a small shack with two rooms out in the woods or something, it will be my first time with my own place." 

"Don't worry." Alice said casually. 

"It won't be anything too overwhelming for you."

20 minutes later they had arrived outside David's new "house." 

"So, Alice…" David asked with a nervous tinge to his voice. "Is this really the place you are giving me?" 

"Yeah, it may not be as grand as living in Duke Velma's Manor, but I certainly think it'll grow on you!" Alice said happily as she clearly doesn't understand what exactly she has done. Before David laid a massive house, that he had a hard time even calling a "house." It has its own stone wall surrounding the property as well as a wrought iron gate at the entrance. The house itself is beige in color with 3 floors. As David's eyes slowly went up the double-sided entrance staircase all the way to the top of the house, he counted 35 windows facing the front. And while he was unable to see the side of the house from his current angle, he knew that there was no way this house was one room thick. David could only begin to guess how many rooms this house has. The house itself however seemed to be in disrepair, not in an absolute terrible state but it needed some work, the paint was chipping, the garden in the front was unkempt, the handrails on the stair to the entrance were well worn. Even the fountain that sat at the entrance seemed to be cracked.. However, the disrepair of the building was not on his mind at all.

"Um, princess..." David said hesitantly. "Don't you think this is a bit much?" 

"Bah! It's fine." Alice said casually. "It might need a little work but I'm sure with time you can make this a home." She said, clearly missing David's point. 

"No, what I mean is, isn't giving me an entire mansion overkill!" David said with desperation. 

"What don't you like it?" Alice said, "If a direct subordinate of mine isn't living in a place like this then I'll be a laughingstock of noble society!" Alice said with a grin still not really understanding David's plight. 

"In the first place how am I supposed to clean and manage this huge house by myself?" David said, trying to look for a way out of the situation. 

"Oh, Is that your worry?" Alice said with a cheeky grin. "Let's head on inside then." She pushes open the gate leading the way to the house and David follows slowly after. When she gets to the door, she waits for David to get closer and then opens the door while gesturing him inside.

As soon as David takes a step into the house, a loud "Welcome home, master." Sounds from the main room, David nearly stumbles over in surprise as he sees a total of 10 people standing there bowing. There are 2 chefs, 5 maids, and 3 butlers all standing there bowing to him. 

"Um, Alice, is this all..." David begins tentatively not even sure what he wants to ask. 

"Yup!" Alice said cheerfully. "If it's not enough we can always get more." Alice said with a smile. It was clear to David what the problem was, it wasn't that she didn't get the point, it was that she couldn't get the point. 

"I guess rich kids really do think differently." David said exasperated, his hand rubbing his forehead. 

"I made sure to only get human servants since I assumed that you would feel more comfortable this way. There are a lot less humans that work at noble estates, so it was a bit harder to find them, but I think I managed to find enough to make sure this house is kept properly." Alice said, completely ignoring David's comment. 

"So, you had this all planned from the beginning." David said realizing that getting all these people together in one afternoon is impossible. 

"What would you have done if I had told you no?" Alice shrugs. 

"I would have sent these people home and the house would have remained in the hands of the state. To begin with the estate used to belong to a now fallen baron so it was not being used anyway."

David was still a bit taken aback by the sudden gift he had received. 

"So that's about it." Alice said as she turned to face David. "So just make sure you come to the west wing of the Palace tomorrow at 8 o'clock for work. I'll have you run ragged starting then!" Alice said, smiling to herself. Her expression then softened, and she looked down as she began to speak more sheepishly. 

"Look I..." she paused. "With all that has happened, now that you know everything, and now that you are working for me, I don't want you to think of me differently." She pauses again. 

"I just don't want our relationship to change, so if it's alright with you can we... are we still friends?" Alice said, now looking David in the eyes, her ears burning red. Oh, so that was what she was worried about. He had noticed that she seemed to be a bit off since before they came here. She was worried from the beginning that he would no longer be her friend. Perhaps it was his fault for saying that "he doubts he could ever be friends with a vampire," he thought he made it clear to her when she had revealed her true form to him, but she must have been holding in this worry for a while now. His answer was simple.

"Of course!" He said to her while ruffling her hair, ruining her hair.

"Hey!" She yells as she swats his hand away from her head. 

"It would be too stifling to be all formal and call you "your highness" after all this time." David said with a small chuckle. Alice turns around, still annoyed that David ruined her hair, but then smiles to herself now that she knows she has a new friend.