Annie eyed Luo Wei with a hint of distrust.
When she first heard that the young lady was bringing a man home, she had been quite pleased. Back when Evelyn was still with the family, her parents had meticulously selected several promising young men from the City of Cain for her, but Evelyn had rejected them all.
This had caused her father no small amount of distress. After Evelyn stubbornly left the family, the matter was eventually dropped.
But Evelyn would have to return eventually. Moreover, for vampires, the further they were from the Progenitor, the more their bloodline power would dilute. Therefore, choosing a suitable, pure-blooded partner was of utmost importance for the family's growth and continuity.
So when she discovered that the man Evelyn was bringing home was Luo Wei, Annie couldn't help but show a rather peculiar expression.
Luo Wei—she knew him. He was a student in Evelyn's class, and the one who had uncovered *that incident* of hers. Heaven knows how much effort she had spent smoothing over the aftermath for Evelyn.
And more importantly, ever since then, the two of them had been inseparable! Evelyn seemed like a completely different person!
"Young lady..." Annie looked at her with a complicated gaze. "Are you... serious about this?"
"Serious about what?"
Evelyn glanced at her in confusion, and when Annie didn't continue, she simply ignored her and pulled Luo Wei over to the bookshelf.
Facing Luo Wei, her tone turned troubled. "Xiao Wei, help me decide!"
"What should I give him? A 900th birthday is a major occasion, and it wouldn't be good if my gift was overshadowed by others..."
Luo Wei looked at the options on the bookshelf: a fragment of an ancient tome, the heart of an extremely rare species, and an elegant, slender sword said to have been forged by a master before his death.
"All of them are great. I think as long as he feels your sincerity, it'll be fine," Luo Wei said with a smile.
"No, no! You have to pick one for me!" Evelyn tugged at Luo Wei's hand, her expression threatening.
Luo Wei thought for a moment. The Duke had lived for so long; he probably lacked nothing. The heart of the rare species was the first to be ruled out. The master's sword... well, his armory might already be filled with masterpieces from every era.
So the fragment of the ancient tome was the most valuable. Such things were one-of-a-kind, containing lost magic from the ancient empire of sorcery. A power-hungry man like the Duke would surely treasure it.
"Are you sure about this one?" Evelyn pondered for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I thought it was good too. Let's go with this one."
As the two whispered by the bookshelf, Annie watched their intimate interaction with growing shock.
Was Evelyn actually serious? Not just playing around?
She couldn't hold back anymore. "Young lady, have you lost your mind? If the master finds out you've brought home a... human, he'll be furious! The family might even drain his blood and turn it into food!"
Before Luo Wei could respond, Evelyn was the first to take offense. "Annie, are you threatening me?"
"No, young lady, that's not it," Annie said with a bitter smile. "I just don't understand what's come over you. You've changed so much. Are you really planning to defy the family for a human?"
Evelyn tightened her grip on Luo Wei's hand and scoffed, "I don't care what you all think. If I can't bring Luo Wei, then I won't go back either. Hmph! Saves me the trouble of picking out a gift for that guy..."
Annie's brows furrowed deeply, her gaze fixed on Luo Wei with a hint of anger.
"You human, what kind of spell have you cast on our young lady? Could it be..."
She gave Evelyn a strange look. "Young lady, do you have some kind of leverage over him?"
Otherwise, she couldn't comprehend why Evelyn had undergone such a drastic change. The once proud and independent vampire princess had turned into this... lovestruck girl.
"Miss Annie, it's a long story, but if you're concerned about my identity..." Luo Wei stepped forward. If the Abraham family was really so particular about this, he already had a plan, though it would require a bit of cooperation from Annie.
"Enough of your nonsense!" Annie's gaze turned icy.
In the next moment, a flash of crimson light appeared, and she instantly materialized behind Luo Wei.
Luo Wei immediately sensed an unmistakable killing intent—this woman truly intended to kill him.
"Xiao Wei!" Evelyn turned in panic, trying to shield him.
In that instant, a blue light flashed in the office, and Annie was forcefully repelled by a surge of powerful magic.
The failed assassination attempt left Annie even more astonished.
"Circle Magic?"
Luo Wei looked at the thwarted Annie and sneered. "The Abraham family's steward dares to kill her master's partner in front of her? Is this the kind of discipline the Abraham family prides itself on?"
He turned to Evelyn, exasperated. "Is she this disrespectful because your family spoiled her too much?"
"Not exactly..." Evelyn breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon seeing that Luo Wei was unharmed.
She knew Annie's capabilities well. Not only was she a seasoned steward who had watched Evelyn grow up, but she was also highly skilled in assassination, as many of the family's unsavory tasks fell to her.
So in that moment, her heart had pounded like a drum—she had truly feared Luo Wei might die.
But after the relief...
Almost as if possessed, Evelyn suddenly recalled what Luo Wei had just said.
He said... partner?
Partner??
Although the two of them had grown as close as any of the young couples at school, neither had explicitly defined their relationship, let alone used that word...
It was a bit embarrassing...
Luo Wei glanced at Evelyn's slightly flushed cheeks, utterly confused.
They were in the middle of a fight—why was she blushing?
Annie, unaware of their internal turmoil, cautiously drew her concealed weapon—a sharp wrist blade—and faced Luo Wei.
"I underestimated you..." she narrowed her eyes. "So you're a spellcaster, and a proper mage with ancient lineage at that..."
Luo Wei gave a faint smile, putting on an air of mystery, though inwardly he knew he had only recently mastered this technique.
This was thanks to the rewards from a task he had completed not long ago.
[1. +20 to any attribute point]
He had allocated all of it to his magic power.
[2. Random low-level talent reward: Eltuga School Meditation Technique]
This was for restoring magic power—about 5 points per hour of rest.
[3. Random mid-level talent reward: Sigil Shield]
This skill consumes a certain amount of mana to construct a magical aura, which can be cast instantly. Under the cover of the aura, the user is immune to a certain degree of enemy attacks. The move Luo Wei had just used to block Annie's surprise attack was this skill.
[4. Random Advanced Item Reward: The Shimmering Eccentric Trisoctahedron]
Well, this is a bit complicated...
Luo Wei didn't expect the advanced reward to be this item. After all, he really didn’t want to get involved with Nyarlathotep again, but...
[This item can be used to summon a servant or follower of the Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep. Light can suppress the activation of this item, so please use it in a dark environment (Warning: Highly dangerous, use with caution!)]
Summoning that guy's minions to fight in a team? Did he really become an ally now?
Since this thing could easily activate and cause a lot of trouble once it did, Luo Wei treated it like a sacred relic and stored it in his old house...
Just thinking about that malicious entity made Luo Wei inexplicably upset, and his gaze toward Annie grew increasingly irritated.
He still remembered how, during one of his previous "reloads," Annie's terrifying strength had left a deep impression on him. That agent who called himself a "wizard" had been instantly killed by this woman.
He never expected that, after some time had passed, he would now be able to hold his own against her.
As he pondered this, Annie's next attack came swiftly, her sharp sleeve blade aimed directly at Luo Wei's throat.
Annie's fighting style was different from Evelyn's. Evelyn liked to use blood to create all sorts of dazzling scenes, making every battle seem like a performance. In contrast, Annie's attacks were straightforward—pure strength and speed pushed to the extreme, as any unnecessary movements would only waste time in killing.
As a result, the crimson blade that had just materialized in Luo Wei's hand was instantly shattered by an overwhelming force, dissolving into scattered droplets of blood. Luo Wei himself was thrown backward by the impact, crashing into the wall behind him.
Seeing her killing intent flare up again, Luo Wei pushed off the wall with his foot, a flash of blood light streaking through the air as he narrowly dodged her fatal strike.
The office wall let out a loud *bang*.
"Annie! Are you trying to get me fired?!" Evelyn couldn't hold back her anger.
Annie turned around and saw Luo Wei and Evelyn standing side by side, each holding an identical crimson blade.
Under the cold stares of her mistress and Luo Wei, Annie suddenly stopped attacking. Instead, she muttered in astonishment.
"Blood magic... blood magic..."
"So you're a vampire too?" Annie looked at Luo Wei in confusion.
"But how can you be a vampire? You're clearly human... Are you a hybrid? No... Vampires can only reproduce through siring or the Embrace. There are only higher and lower vampires, no hybrids..."
Annie, the butler, was utterly perplexed.
"This is what I wanted to tell you from the beginning," Luo Wei said calmly. "My identity is... special. I can be a vampire, or I can be human."
"For the sake of your mistress not being treated with disdain, I was willing to discuss this with you. I could pretend to be a vampire for a few days, but you?" Luo Wei sneered. "You immediately tried to kill me. Now I think the Abraham family's upbringing is seriously lacking."
Annie fell silent for a moment, then turned her gaze to Evelyn, who was too angry to even look at her.
"My apologies, Miss..."
"And to you, Mr. Luo Wei..."
She sighed, retracting her sleeve blade and letting go of her earlier hostility.
"I didn’t know about Mr. Luo Wei’s... unique identity before."
If before she couldn’t understand why her mistress seemed so infatuated with this man, after the fight just now, she had to acknowledge Luo Wei's strength. He wasn’t some weak, ordinary human. In fact, his identity was shrouded in mystery...
"So... can you explain it to me now?"