The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 167: Do you want me to drink your blood instead?

“Mom…” Lucian muttered, a teasing smile slowly spreading across his face.

“What exactly have you been reading during these two months?”

Seraphina, hearing that, immediately felt both embarrassed and mortified, genuinely and repeatedly cursing herself inwardly for making such a stupid blunder.

Unfortunately, no amount of self-reproach could erase what had already happened.

Trying her best, she maintained a neutral expression on the surface.

But Lucian—who had known her for years—could see through her composure almost instantly.

The corners of his lips twitched, and seeing the struggle on her face, he finally couldn’t hold himself back.

“Pft… hahahahaha!”

His amused, genuine laughter echoed throughout the quiet of the massive library—where, unlike an ordinary library, there was nobody to stop them from making noise and no one to scold them for it.

Seraphina could clearly hear his laughter echoing through the long, endless rows of shelves.

At first, her embarrassment deepened, but then…

Slowly… her expression faintly shifted.

Her head lifted, and the moment she saw him laughing so freely, without any restraint, even the lingering fluster within her eased slightly.

A gentle smile unknowingly appeared on her usually cold face, seeing her son smiling, laughing like that—something she hadn’t seen for a long time.

Eventually, his laughter faded, though the lingering smile on his face remained.

“That woman changed you,” she couldn’t help but say aloud, immediately drawing his attention.

“Hm? Who?” Lucian asked softly, tilting his head in confusion.

“The Duchess.”

Seraphina answered, continuing to look at him.

Lucian had never been particularly expressive throughout his life.

He was more constrained, more reserved, and even the smiles he gave often felt controlled.

Not completely fake, but almost as though he was imitating them…

Which wasn’t the case right now.

He smiled more naturally, spoke more honestly… and it seemed he had even gained the ability to tease.

And Lucian… even he somehow understood that fact.

“She did… huh.”

A soft smile appeared on his face as he fell into thought.

Valentina herself was someone who never truly hid her emotions.

She did whatever she liked, laughed whenever she wanted, got angry, killed without carrying any restraint.

Brutally honest.

At least, that was how she appeared to him.

And perhaps… after spending two entire months with someone like that…

Something had inevitably rubbed off on him.

Or maybe…

He had simply stopped trying to hide himself behind the shell he had worn since childhood.

Seraphina, who noticed the softness in his thoughtful gaze whenever he thought about Valentina, didn’t miss that expression.

And suddenly…

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Anyways, forget about that,” she muttered in slight annoyance, a faint edge entering her voice as she looked away.

Lucian blinked.

Then—

He nodded seriously, and a grin slowly spread across his face, the teasing glint in his eyes returning in full force.

“Yes.

Let’s talk about this book for now.”

The moment those words left his mouth, he reached towards the stack of books.

Seraphina’s eyes widened.

Immediately, she tried to snatch the offending book before he could grab it, but…

In terms of speed, her son was far ahead of her.

Before her fingers could even reach it, the book had already vanished.

Now resting comfortably in his hands.

Lucian looked down at the cover for a brief moment, its binding made from some kind of leather.

It appeared ordinary, yet carried a few intricate details that gave it a subtle hint of royalty.

Though there were many small tears along the corners, and it looked very old.

Not paying much attention to the cover, Lucian flipped it open, only to see the same title written on the first page.

Vampire Traditions Throughout Known History

“This looks normal enough…” Lucian muttered as he flipped through the pages, skimming through the letters and sentences at an unnatural speed.

Seraphina silently clenched her fingers into a tight fist.

“Lucian… do you really have to read that…?”

Her voice came out lower than before, carrying a hint of desperation, and Lucian, who heard it, faintly glanced towards her.

Then his smile widened—dangerously.

“It seems so.”

Seraphina immediately regretted asking, since it felt like all her question had done was make him even more interested.

Lucian flipped another page.

And after a few seconds, another.

Even though he wasn’t really reading it, with his heightened perception, he only skimmed a few of the main and important lines on each page.

But there wasn’t really anything he found truly… truly intriguing.

Unlike what he had expected, the beginning was genuinely about vampire traditions.

Several pages were dedicated to rules and values that had become so old they were almost useless in the current era…

And some even described bizarre rituals practiced by the ancient noble vampires… though almost all of them had been abandoned over a millennium ago.

After flipping through dozens of pages, he finally placed the book on the table.

Resting his cheek against his knuckles, he propped his elbow on the table and lazily continued reading.

Meanwhile, Seraphina tried multiple times to get him to stop, but to no avail.

“Lucian, dear, I’ll do anything… but please stop reading that for now.”

Her voice rose by a pitch as she nearly blurted the words out in desperation, barely holding onto her composure.

Lucian’s gaze finally shifted away from the old pages.

“Anything?” he asked quietly.

His crimson eyes lifted toward her, and the moment she saw those blood red eyes, for a second, her entire body tensed.

But after listening to his words—

“Yes, yes, anything.”

Without giving him another opportunity to respond, Seraphina immediately snatched the book from his hands and shut it with a loud clap.

The sound echoed throughout the quiet library.

A moment later, she silently released a breath of relief.

Lucian watched her actions with growing amusement.

Truthfully, he didn’t really care about the book, and although he was curious about what she had read to make her react like this, he didn’t intend to tease her too much.

Besides…

He already knew the title, so he could always come back and read it whenever he wanted.

Seraphina quickly placed it at the very edge of the table, as far away from him as possible.

Only then did she finally relax slightly.

“So…”

She looked at him carefully.

“What do you want?”

Lucian’s lips curled into a slightly devious smile, and the moment she saw it, Seraphina suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.

“Hm…”

His finger tapped lightly against his chin.freewēbnoveℓ.com

“What should I ask for?”

His smile widened, and somehow, that made her even more nervous for some strange reason.

For a moment, her eyes widened faintly.

‘He… he wouldn’t ask for something like—’

But before she could think any further, Lucian voiced his request.

Something that wasn’t even remotely close to what her dirty mind had been imagining.

A couple of moments later—

“You almost scared me.”

Seraphina muttered as she slowly lowered her head, her voice carrying both relief and exasperation.

Lucian currently had his head resting on her lap, while she sat on the floor of the library, lightly leaning against one of the large bookshelves.

“Why?” Lucian looked up at her.

“What did you think I would ask?”

The same smile appeared on his face.

And hearing the almost imperceptible teasing in his voice… Seraphina narrowed her eyes, finally understanding.

He was purposely teasing her, maybe even a little bit too much.

Well, he didn’t really get much time to see his mother flustered to this extent, so he was taking full advantage of that chance.

Seraphina, setting her frustration aside, gently stroked his hair, and feeling her touch, Lucian’s expression immediately softened.

He had really, really missed this feeling.

His eyes remained fixed on his mother, taking in the gentleness on her face and the way those usually cold eyes softened just for him.

She was currently wearing a grey nightgown—similar to the clothes she had been wearing here for months, since there was no need to wear formal attire unless she was training her powers.

And there weren’t even any men here—at least, she hadn’t seen any yet.

Though… despite all of that, the gown had long sleeves, covering her arms along with the scars hidden beneath them.

Seraphina once again looked into his blood-red eyes, the same eyes that had once been black.

“How is your bloodlust?”

The question suddenly left her mouth.

Lucian blinked.

“I had a hard time with it during training, but now I’m fine,” he answered honestly, noticing that she had probably learned a lot about vampires during this time.

Before, his mother had seemed completely clueless about the fantasy world, but now…

He was fairly certain she probably possessed more knowledge about the awakened world than he did.

Seraphina’s brows furrowed faintly as she heard him mention his training, something he still seemed unwilling to talk about.

But instead of asking about that—freёweɓnovel.com

“You got the blood from Lia.”

He nodded without hesitation.

Her fingers curled slightly within his hair.

And Lucian, noticing the conflicted expression on her face, tilted his head slightly.

It almost looked as though she disliked the fact that he had drunk Lia’s blood, and seeing that…

“Mom… do you want me to drink your blood instead?” he asked casually.

But…

The moment those words left his mouth—

Seraphina completely froze.

Her eyes widened even further than before, and almost instantly, a rosy flush spread across her cheeks.

Completely changing the atmosphere around them.