Upon returning home, Phaga began cooking.
Soon after, the evening meal ended quietly amid proper table manners.
After that, Phaga vanished.
One o'clock in the morning.
"Phaga, are you here?"
Ellen slowly made her way to the basement. She had already searched every corner of the entire Victoria Housekeeping building—especially Phaga's room. She even hugged his clothes from the wardrobe, sniffing them just to make sure he hadn't somehow shrunk and hidden inside them.
With nowhere else to look, she could only come to the basement.
Fortunately, the faint light seeping from beneath the door ahead told her someone was inside. She leaned close and whispered softly through the door.
But there was no reply from the other side.
Seeing this, Ellen prepared to knock.
Yet, just as her small fist was about to land on the door, she froze mid-motion, her hand hanging in the air.
No, what if Phaga's doing something serious? What if I disturb him?
The thought made her hesitate. But then she realized—it was already one in the morning. The basement light was still on. What if Phaga had collapsed from exhaustion?
No, she had to bring him back!
In the haze of first love, Ellen seemed to forget that Phaga, being a vampire, was naturally nocturnal. At night, he was probably more energetic than in the daytime.
Still, her only concern was for his well-being.
She carefully pushed the door open. The creak of the hinges broke the silence, opening just wide enough for her to slip through.
She'd already made noise—she couldn't risk any more. Otherwise, she really might disturb Phaga.
Ellen squeezed through, careful not to brush against the doorframe and make a sound.
Tiptoeing forward, she spotted him under the bright light—Phaga, completely absorbed in examining a corpse, studying the exposed organs with focused precision.
Ellen cautiously approached from behind. Phaga suddenly turned around and called, "Ellen?"
Startled by his sudden movement, Ellen flinched, her heart skipping a beat. Once she regained her composure, she patted her chest, raised a soft little fist, and lightly punched Phaga's back, grumbling,
"Why'd you turn around like that? You scared me!"
Phaga chuckled and shook his head. "If you hadn't snuck up behind me, I wouldn't have scared you. Anyway, what are you doing here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"I... I came for a walk. What, did you think I came looking for you?"
The moment she said it, Ellen realized how ridiculous that excuse sounded. Phaga's amused look made her cheeks turn scarlet.
But she wasn't the type to back down. She quickly changed tactics and retorted,
"Fine! I came looking for you! It's the middle of the night and you're not asleep, so I came to catch you doing something bad again!"
"What do you mean 'again'? Have I ever done anything bad before?"
Phaga shook his head, letting her deflection slide. She was thin-skinned—better to humor her. Otherwise, she might get flustered, lash out, and bite him for real.
"But it's already midnight? Time really flies."
Phaga pulled out his phone to check the time. It was indeed 1:00 a.m.—definitely time for bed.
He stretched lazily and said, "Let's go back to sleep. I've been researching half the night and still haven't found anything useful."
Ellen tilted her head curiously. "What were you studying that had you so focused?"
"The corpse of Sacrifice No. 2 that I brought back."
Phaga shifted to the side so Ellen could see more clearly, explaining,
"From what I've observed so far, its Ether technology is incredibly advanced—highly aggressive and extremely adaptable."
"Anything with technological sophistication—from Belobog Heavy Industries' intelligent machinery down to the W-Engines embedded in our weapons—it can invade, integrate perfectly, and ultimately seize control."
Ellen frowned, lowering her head in thought. After a moment, she murmured, "Sounds like it can grow stronger."
"Exactly."
Phaga nodded. "But with so little observable data, I still don't know where its limits lie."
"This thing's that powerful?"
Ellen was genuinely surprised. To her, Phaga was already extremely capable—yet even he didn't know the boundaries of Sacrifice No. 2's potential.
That meant it was incredibly valuable.
"The opponent you fought that day—he just left something this precious behind?"
She looked at Phaga in disbelief, eyebrows raised.
Phaga had told her before that it was his first time meeting another vampire—one named [Bern Kunmutu]. But that vampire had fled after barely a few exchanges.
"How should I know? He ran off yesterday, leaving Sacrifice No. 2 behind like it was nothing."
Phaga still found it strange. He had inspected Sacrifice No. 2 top to bottom and found no traps.
Logically speaking, other than self-destruction, there shouldn't have been any traps at all.
Using something like Cordyceps as bait? That's way too extravagant.
Forget it—no point thinking about it now.
Phaga gently took Ellen's hand. While she stiffened slightly, he led her forward and said softly, "Come on, let's go back to sleep. We've got school tomorrow."
"Mm."
Ellen nodded quietly but glanced back at Sacrifice No. 2. "What about it?"
"What else? Leave it for now."
Phaga sighed. "I was planning to transfer its technology onto Kunmutu, but it turns out Sacrifice No. 2's programming is encrypted."
"I wonder if I can find a skilled hacker on the Inter-Knot to break through its firewall."
"Oh, right."
Phaga suddenly remembered something, a rare look of anticipation flashing across his face. "Come to think of it, it won't be long before we'll all be working together."
"What? You're this happy because your first mission isn't with me but with everyone else? Am I really that bad?"
Ellen puffed her cheeks, pretending to sulk.
In truth, no matter how Phaga replied, she had already planned to act stubborn, find an excuse to bite him, and run away before he could react.
The thought made her heartbeat quicken. A faint blush crept across her cheeks as she licked her lips unconsciously, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
Phaga noticed it all, nodding slightly in thought.
After a brief silence, he suddenly stopped, turned to face her, bent down, and looked deeply into her eyes.
Then, softly, he said, "Ellen..."
"Mm."
The moment he said her name, Ellen instinctively let out a faint hum. Her eyes went hazy, and the mischievous plan she'd been forming vanished from her mind.
Phaga leaned closer, his warmth enveloping her as his breath brushed against the side of her neck.
Ellen felt dizzy, biting her lip to steady herself, refusing to completely give in to the heat of the moment.
Then, in a tender murmur, Phaga said, "Next time you try to fool someone, remember—your heartbeat will give you away long before your words do."
Before Ellen could respond, Phaga suddenly bit down—four sharp fangs sinking into the soft skin of her neck.
Her knees gave out instantly, her body melting into his arms as soft sighs escaped her lips.
When the cool air brushed against her skin and the warmth of the moment faded, Ellen's mind finally cleared.
And that's when she suddenly realized—
"Huh? What was I trying to do just now?"
"Where's Phaga?"