CHAPTER 367: 257 WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP? (4K, EXTRA UPDATE 79)_2

There Herbert held a silver-white chain in his hand, shook his head regretfully at her, and sighed, "Indeed, you are still very dangerous."

"I sincerely help you, and you repay me with this? You really disappoint me."

"It seems I can’t let you live too comfortably."

Murmuring regretfully, Herbert knelt on one knee in front of the "big" Eliza, slowly sending the chain towards her neck.

!!!

"No, no, no, I was wrong."

Eliza tried to dodge, but it was completely in vain, as the chains on her limbs tightly bound her to the ground, making it impossible to struggle.

She could only watch wide-eyed as the chain once again firmly locked around her neck.

"No!!!"

Click.

With a clear sound, that familiar feeling returned to her neck, causing all the struggles of Eliza’s limbs to stop.

Struggles are useless.

It’s already useless...

She knows the terror of these shackles better than anyone.

As long as the shackles on her neck can’t be broken, she can never be freed.

Resigned, Eliza lay on the ground like a salted fish, closing her eyes in pain.

No hope anymore.

Click, click, click, click.

Then, the shackles on her limbs loosened simultaneously and merged back into the shadows, leaving only the silver-white chain behind.

One end of the chain was fastened around Eliza’s neck.

And the other end... held in Herbert’s hand.

"Heh."

Holding the chain, Herbert squatted down and lamented to the salted-fish vampire who refused to accept the bleak reality, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"If you weren’t in a hurry, would I have done this to you? Would I have put a chain around your neck again?"

Tsk tsk tsk...

Rushing, letting your rush ruin everything, huh?

If you hadn’t provoked me, would I resort to this desperate measure?

Thinking of this, Herbert couldn’t help but sigh, "Oh, I was forced to do this."

"... Humph."

Eliza, lying on the ground, still had her eyes closed but furrowed her brows, muttering, "You would, definitely."

"You guy, from the beginning, you had it all planned out like this!"

"Even if I hadn’t acted, you’d have forced me to, or found another method, another excuse to put a chain around my neck."

Eliza opened her eyes, glared mockingly at Herbert, then turned her head away, ignoring him.

Ha, treating me like a child to fool?

Who would believe such an excuse?

Though Miss Vampire isn’t good with curse words, she possesses keen sensitivity to intrigue and deceit.

Back then, she was being trained as a successor, receiving proper aristocratic education, learning only the art of intrigue besides cumbersome etiquette.

"Oh?"

Herbert looked at her a bit surprised, then smiled and shook his head.

Forgot.

Habitually treated her as Valentina.

Indeed, this explanation might be something only our family’s Valentina would half believe... As long as the method is mastered, intuition can be deceived.

"Perhaps."

Since Eliza is a smart person, Herbert didn’t try to hide further.

Being stubborn now would make it seem like he can’t handle the situation.

"Anyway, the fact that I once freed you is true, and that you attacked me is also true, do you admit?"

"..." Eliza’s lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately didn’t pester explanations for herself.

Explain what?

Should she say, "I only wanted to grab you to threaten a bit, really wouldn’t kill you, at most take revenge a little"?

Though that’s Eliza’s true thought inwardly, even saying it aloud makes herself feel it’s not very convincing.

Seeing her like this, Herbert also smiled, "Since there’s nothing you want to say, I suppose you tacitly agree then."

"..."

Eliza pursed her lips, didn’t offer further explanation, only stubbornly added, "I really didn’t intend to harm you."

Earlier, I really just wanted some blood...

"Well, let me remind you, forcibly taking blood also counts as intentional harm, you know."

Herbert kindly reminded, educating Miss Vampire a bit about human laws, then asked again, "Now, are you still sure?"

"...Then it’s fine."

Eliza’s eyes became completely devoid of light, mumbling softly words like "stingy person."

"Very good."

Herbert gazed at the vampire lady, whose eyes appeared utterly dead, raised his hand, and patted the top of her head. Seeing she didn’t resist, he proceeded to give her hair a gentle rub.

It felt pretty good.

At the same time, his current actions gave Herbert a peculiar sense of déjà vu.

One hand holding a leash, the other rubbing the head.

"Walking a dog without a leash, it’s like the dog is walking the dog... ahem, don’t mind me, it doesn’t mean anything special."

Herbert muttered unconsciously, then noticed the vampire lady staring at him with cold eyes.

With her gaze, she told Herbert — you better cut it out.

Though I have been shackled by you, I am not your dog!

Herbert’s response to her deadly glare was a slight smile, as he brought his finger to her lips.

"Here."

"Hmm?"

Eliza widened her eyes, looking at the finger so close in front of her, then glancing at Herbert’s smiling eyes.

You!

What do you mean?

Do you really take me for a dog!?

"What’s wrong? Have you changed your nature and stopped sucking blood?" Herbert teased, preparing to withdraw his finger.

!!!

But before he could move, his finger was abruptly bitten by Eliza.

Awoo!

Finally realizing what this action meant, the vampire lady wasn’t about to let this chance slip by.

She sprang up in a sit-up motion, then opened her mouth to engulf Herbert’s finger, her sharp fangs piercing the tip of his finger, sucking eagerly.

"Mmm!!!"

After finally tasting that long-awaited delicious blood, her whole body trembled, and even her pupils seemed to scatter.

What humiliation? What pain? What shame? What embarrassment? All cast aside.

At this moment, Eliza’s eyes beheld only this finger, her mind filled with the sweet flavor.

Ah—

Herbert, watching her like this, couldn’t help but have the corners of his mouth curve up, boastfully communicating with Nenasha in his mind.

"See, I told you she wouldn’t notice."

Miss Xie Shen, witnessing the situation with speechless eyes, feebly commented: ["...Tsk, this embarrassing little bat, truly is a disgrace!"]

["I guessed she would eventually succumb, but I truly didn’t expect it to be so soon, she didn’t even consider trying to struggle!"]

The instant the shackles were placed, Eliza immediately turned into a salted fish without aspirations.

Because she understood, resistance was meaningless.

Rather than hurt herself, it was better to calmly accept this bleak reality.

But the real question is... does struggling even help?

What if that ’shackle’ isn’t the ’shackle’ she imagines in her heart?

Yes.

This time, the ’shackle’ Herbert personally placed on Eliza wasn’t the original black iron chain, but a silver-white ring of altered form.

"Why test it? Once she’s grown accustomed to this shackle, with the indelible impression it imprints in her mind, she’ll stop trying further."

An elephant bound by a slender rope as a baby doesn’t attempt to break it when grown, because it’s been conditioned not to resist since its formative years.

"A shackle around the neck is easy to break, but a shackle around the heart is much harder."

"You divine spirits aren’t strangers to this, are you? After all, you excel at crafting omnipotent images of yourselves within the minds of mortals, preventing them from harboring any thoughts of rebellion."

["Well, perhaps that’s the case."]

Possibly touched by Herbert’s words, Nenasha lapsed into silence after responding.

Herbert continued his domestication, instilling new rules into the heart of the newly captured little creature.

"If you attack me again, I’ll make you understand the power of this shackle. You wouldn’t want to be confined in a coffin again, would you?"

"As long as you behave, I won’t restrict your freedom in this Prison of Darkness."

...

"By the way."

"There’s one last thing."

After speaking for quite a while, Herbert suddenly withdrew his finger and flicked off the sparkling droplets, then gently lifted Eliza’s chin.

He lowered his head, observing Eliza’s somewhat ’intoxicated by blood’, slightly dazed eyes, and asked softly, "Now..."

"What is our relationship?"