It was insane.
His expectations had felt right and logical for the situation.
A successful Angel, Toriy Mundus.
Old, and definitely with good enough connections.
His mansion was stolen from him, his guards beaten to a pulp, and he himself thrown out.
The only logical reaction to that was to use his connections to forward a mission amongst the strongest of the Archguards, have them return to the mansion, capture Odette with force, and regain control of what was rightfully his.
But this?
"Keep my house, but at least talk to me once!?"
This felt pathetic and cowardly.
’Or wait, is this really a weakness?’
’He mentioned Odette seeing him in a place, and also added that he has a job that needs to be done.’
’Why does it seem like a recruitment letter instead?’
’Could an old Angel like that really be so cowardly?’
’Was he really begging, or did he instead realize he could build enough buildings if he wanted, but couldn’t get someone like Odette to work for him, no matter how he tried?’
’Did he give up the mansion, recognizing its worth as lower compared to having Odette work for him?’
’But isn’t trying to recruit someone like Odette a bit too risky a game?’
’She has no reason to be loyal, nor would she care about his kindness in letting her take the building.’
’Or is this all not a game of kindness at all?’
’Wait, a game?’ he asked, hundreds of thoughts and conclusions navigated through his ultra-high Intelligence.
Yet they were being brushed off just as fast, each conclusion leaving him even more confused.
"You know," Odette suddenly called out, dragging him out of his thoughts.
Her hand moved to her hair, one of her fingers coiling it.
"I still remember your words, that day."
"I believe it went something like:
"Give it an hour, and this mansion will be surrounded."
"A man like that wouldn’t just give up his hard-earned mansion to a thief, or shrink back from a threat."
"I believe your words were something like that," Odette said, using his exact tone of words while flashing him a grin of mockery.
"I’m just wondering what you think now?" she said, as Ryuk picked up the letter, going through it three more times with a blink, before the letter itself was reduced to ashes.
"It doesn’t make sense," he replied, as she giggled.
"Who said it has to be?" she asked in return, leaving him speechless.
"Your understanding of the world is very simple, Ryuk. Too simple."
"You may think to yourself that maybe that Angel is a spineless coward trying to avoid confrontation, but when you think back to how shrewd he was, and the fact he was an old man and so successful, you know that conclusion is unreasonable."
"So you eventually put it as, ’I’m sure it’s all just a ploy, or a trap,’ right?" she said, the exact conclusion Ryuk thought of.
The old Angel couldn’t be naive or cowardly. So indeed, all of this must be a ploy of his.
"But ploy or not, I got what I want, didn’t I?" she said, with a grin, as Ryuk’s eyebrow furrowed once more in thought.
But then—
VROOOOOOOOOM
The air flapped as he suddenly felt his hands being grabbed and then pulled forward.
A split second later, he found himself pushed onto the sofa, and a full second later, she was on top of him, sitting on his thigh while her purple eyes shone into his.
The golden light in the room seemed to suddenly dim, eventually leaving the room dark, with only tiny motes of golden light criss-crossing around.
"You see, Ryuk."
Her words were seductive, brimming with both danger and...lust.
It sent his heart beating faster within his chest as her breath trailed down his neck, her face hovering so close.
"There are some things that you don’t say please to get..."
She whispered, and those words were like an electric current that made his heart, for one second, stop its beat.
And when it did—
PSSSSSCHHH.
The sound of flesh gently being pierced rang out, followed by that of something being sucked.
The golden motes around the room brought some faint light to the view.
Two figures.
A young man sitting on the sofa, and on top of him, a woman in a crown, her lips on the left side of his neck, gently sucking his blood.
Thirty seconds passed in this state before she broke off the contact.
A shock pulsed through Odette’s body right after, her hands gripping the sofa by the side of Ryuk’s head.
Her hands quickly shifted into claws as her body arched like a bow, eyes rolling to the back of her head.
It was so sweet and fulfilling.
Almost as fulfilling as a deserter who had finally found water after months of thirst.
The feeling was intoxicating but also fleeting.
In just ten seconds, she regained her reason, leaning closer to Ryuk beneath her, his shoulders buried beneath her luscious dark hair.
He could see the smile on her face.
An oddly satisfied smile whose reason he couldn’t quite understand.
’To think, five days without his blood would leave me so desperate," she thought silently to herself before voicing out her confusion.
"When I suck your blood, you’re oddly subservient, more than one might expect, Ryuk," Odette whispered, while looking at the tattoos on his neck, watching her dark abyssal energy melt into those purple lights.
She had seen him copy her abyssal energy once and had seen how his purple tattoos had adapted.
But now, she could see it.
When she sucks his blood, some part of her abyssal energy drains into his bloodstream, and the tattoo around his neck changes, but not to copy her power.
No, it was something different.
Something she couldn’t quite lay her hands on.
"You’re keeping secrets from me, aren’t you?" she said, giggling.
And Ryuk responded,
"Can you get off me now?"