Chapter 8 : Ya Ya, you didn’t want this either, did you?

No matter what, back when Qianya wanted to enslave all four of them, she had done her homework thoroughly.

Iris liked fine wine, Zero liked fast food, Vivian liked Qianya’s blood (？).

Ahem, got off track. Anyway, what Luko loved most was sweets.

So Qianya specially made a cup of milk tea at the counter and grabbed a few small cakes before heading to Luko’s room.

She took a deep breath at the door, then knocked lightly.

“Luko-chan, you free~?”

A super-soft voice immediately answered from inside. “Oh oh, I’m here!”

Qianya pushed the door open and walked in.

Luko’s room had been decorated by Qianya according to her tastes: pale-pink wallpaper, bed piled high with plushies (dragons, bunnies, and a few dolls that looked suspiciously like Qianya’s current appearance (？)).

…Probably just her imagination.

Right now the little dragon girl was sitting at the desk writing in her diary. She quickly closed it when she saw Qianya.

“Luko, busy?” Qianya carried the milk tea over, trying to sound as gentle as possible.

“Nope nope… eh? What’s this?”

Luko spotted the milk tea and cakes on the tray. Her golden eyes instantly sparkled, and her little tail started wagging.

“Specially made for you~” Qianya smiled, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

“Oh oh! Thank you Xiao-Ya ≧▽≦”

Seeing Luko happily accept the treats, Qianya let out a silent sigh of relief.

Luko really was pure and easy.

“Xiao-Ya eat too~!” Luko scooted over on the bed and patted the spot beside her.

“Okay…”

Qianya sat down next to her and they chatted while sharing the sweets.

A few minutes of casual talk later,

Seeing Luko looking completely content, Qianya decided the timing was perfect.

Time to get to the point (￣～￣).

“Luko, you know…”

Qianya let out a soft sigh, deliberately rubbing the dragon-tail mark on her waist with a pitiful expression.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Luko had just stuffed a mini-cake into her mouth and looked at her curiously.

“Yesterday… Iris used the electric shock punishment on me. It still hurts…” Qianya put on the verge-of-tears face.

“Eh?!”

The cake in Luko’s mouth instantly lost all flavor.

She anxiously grabbed Qianya’s hand. “Was Iris-nee that mean…?”

“It’s okay, no big damage, but I was really scared.” Qianya leaned closer as she spoke.

Qianya: “Luko-chan, out of the four of you, you’ve always been my favorite.”

Luko: “Eh? Why suddenly (〃﹏〃)”

Qianya: Perfect, that’s the expression (ˊ˘ˋ*)

The plan was proceeding smoothly…

Qianya: “Luko-chan, even though I’m not your master anymore… you never bully me like Iris and the others. It makes me really happy…”

Luko held Qianya’s hand tightly. “Of course! I would never hurt Xiao-Ya!”

Qianya: “Thank you… Luko-chan.”

Then she paused and looked straight into Luko’s eyes. “Um, Luko-chan… could you… remove the dragon-tail mark on my waist?”

“…Huh?”

The moment the words left her mouth, Luko’s expression changed completely.

She let go of Qianya’s hand, golden eyes filled with unease. “Xiao-Ya… why do you suddenly want to remove the mark?”

Qianya: “Because having the mark makes me feel anxious all the time…”

“But…” Luko fidgeted with her skirt, “if we remove the mark, we’ll be separated.”

“That won’t happen! I’ll never leave you!” Qianya hurriedly explained, heart sinking.

Damn it… she really shouldn’t have brainwashed Luko with all that “slave marks are super important” stuff back then QAQ.

“I’m just scared of the electric shocks, not trying to leave Luko-chan.”

“I’ll never shock Xiao-Ya ≧﹏≦”

“Uh, that’s not what I meant… What I’m saying is, even without the mark, I’ll always stay with you. We can still eat together like this, okay?”

Luko lowered her head and mumbled, “But… you’re the one who said before that the slave mark is the bond connecting us… If we remove it, we won’t ‘belong’ to each other anymore…”

“I don’t want to be apart from Xiao-Ya… I want to be together forever…”

Qianya: I told you not to think like that QAQ

Seeing Luko’s sad face, Qianya started to panic a little.

She reached out and gently patted Luko’s head. “Ahem, actually I was wrong back then. Even without the mark, we can still be together forever. The mark is just a symbol; what matters is that we have each other in our hearts, right~”

Qianya forced a smile while sweating bullets.

Luko stayed silent for a while before whispering, “Then… can I think about it?”

“Yes!” Qianya nodded instantly, relieved.

At least she was willing to consider it. That was way better than an outright no.

“Take your time. No rush. I’ll come chat with you again tonight, and you can give me your answer then~”

“Xiao-Ya’s coming again tonight?!”

Luko’s eyes lit up at that.

“Of course, I’ll always be with Luko-chan!” Qianya promised.

“Mm mm! I’ll wait for Xiao-Ya~”

“Then I’ll head down for now. Call me if you want more milk tea.”

“Okay~ Bye-bye Xiao-Ya~” Luko waved happily.

After Qianya left, Luko hugged a dragon plushie and rolled around on the bed, the corners of her mouth curling up uncontrollably.

♡♡♡

“Phew… the plan’s going smoothly (-ω-)”

Qianya stepped out of the room, fully satisfied.

Luko hadn’t agreed immediately, but there was progress. If she worked on her again tonight, she might actually remove the first mark!

“What a wonderful day meow (ฅ´ω`ฅ)”

Qianya hummed as she walked down the hallway toward the stairs.

But just as she reached the staircase, she suddenly felt someone staring at her from behind.

“How interesting~”

A teasing laugh came from behind.

“!”

Qianya whipped around and saw Vivian leaning against the wall, arms crossed, a half-smile on her lips, red eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Vivian…?” Qianya’s heart jumped. She instinctively took a step back.

“You know Luko’s room isn’t soundproof, right, Yaya~?” Vivian said with a smile.

“!”

Oh no ∑(°口°๑)

The hidden meaning was crystal clear: I heard everything…

“Eavesdropping is bad, Vivian! You’ve learned bad things!” Qianya accused, but she was panicking inside.

She knew Vivian was the sharpest of them all ( ).

And sure enough…

“Aww, poor me X﹏X”

Crimson magical ropes shot out, instantly binding Qianya and dragging her over.

“Yaya’s the one who learned bad things. Even after becoming a girl, you’re still using sweet talk to trick innocent little Luko… Hehe, you can only bully her because she doesn’t know what you’re really thinking. You actually want to run away, right? And that’s exactly what scares Luko the most.”

“L-Let me go… ueh (〃﹏〃)”

Qianya suddenly found herself pinned against the wall by Vivian.

“If little Luko ever finds out what you really want… your slave mark will never be removed~” The vampire girl smiled playfully.

“W-What do you want ( ๑ŏ ﹏ ŏ๑ )” Bound and trembling, Qianya asked.

Vivian gently lifted Qianya’s chin and slowly said,

“Yaya~ You wouldn’t want little Luko to know your true thoughts, right~?”