42 "Call me by my name, Sigmund"

As the Vampire gazed at his Master, he continued caressing her cheek, which made her blush so much. In her mind, the scene was so romantic, but her thoughts were interrupted when she remembered that Servants could not feel such emotions. Everything she felt would only be one-sided in her whole lifetime.

"But Sigmund… When will you call me Master?" Ivory suddenly said.

"When you're worthy of being called it," The Vampire said as he tucked the loose silver hair behind Ivory's ears.

"Am I still not qualified to be your Master?"

"At least graduate from the academy."

"You mean, you did not call your past master 'Master', until she graduated?"

"I did."

"I see… Then I must still be weak in your eyes," Ivory furrowed her eyebrows, "Even after training a whole year for the basics, I still can't live up to your expectations… I'm disappointed in myself."

Sigmund actually just wanted to tease her, but she got serious. "Tsk, don't be too emotional," he pulled the blanket and tucked her in. "Sleep."

"At least call my name, Sigmund," she grabbed his arm. "From now on, call me by my name… Can you do that? Please?"

Sigmund couldn't predict what was on his Master's mind, but seeing her cute, pleading expression made him say, "Fine, dimwit..." He chuckled, then whispered to her in a deep voice:

"Ivory."

Ivory turned beet red as she felt her heartbeat quicken. Their eyes met, and she turned her back on him, embarrassed about what she requested of him. 'He agreed… He agreed to call me by my name…' He usually called her name whenever he's angry about something. But that night, the way he whispered her name was so seductive that it was hard for her to fall asleep.

…

The day before Lucius' birthday, Arcea and Ivory went again to the dress shops.

"How about this, Ivory?" Arcea pointed to the red, frilly ball gown in the rack.

Ivory shook her head, "It doesn't match the necklace…"

Arcea glanced at the necklace on her friend's neck, "You're right… Let's look for more shops…"

The two of them, together with Sigmund who followed them from behind, strolled the busy city of Alpharion, looking for cheap dress shops. They stood in front of the fifteenth dress shop they visited.

"Ivoryyyy, this is the last shop! I told you not to look at the price labels…" Arcea said. "I'll let you borrow some money, okay? You can choose an expensive one!"

"Don't worry, if I can't find anything, I'll just borrow a dress somewhere…"

"And where will you borrow a formal dress? You seem like you don't have other friends aside from us."

"That's not true! I have another friend in Greensteid. His name is Ken. He knows a lot of shop owners, so maybe I'll ask for his help-"

"Let's get inside," Sigmund suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the shop to cut her off. For some reason, he disliked hearing her talk about her childhood friend. The Vampire hoped that his Master could choose a gown in that shop, so she didn't have to seek Ken's help.

When the three of them went inside, they noticed that even though the shop was big, its interior was shabbier than the other shops. The walls and the floor were colored dark brown, and the windows were a bit dusty. But in contrast to that, it had the most colorful and elegant gowns of all the dress shops in Alpharion.

"Welcome!" the shopkeeper said with a bright smile. "We have a lot of different types of dresses and gowns. What are you looking for?"

"Uhm, I want a cheap formal gown that can match my necklace," Ivory said as she touched her necklace.

The shopkeeper took a look at the necklace. She then said, "Please follow me."

They were brought to the back part of the shop and showed them the racks wherein they could check out the gowns.

Ivory couldn't find anything that interested her, even though Arcea was already helping her choose. They were particularly looking for blue or silver-colored gowns to match the necklace.

"I'll just look at the gowns in the front," Arcea said, then walked away.

Ivory walked around the back part of the shop, and when Ivory panned her sight to a mannequin in the dimmest corner of the shop, she widened her eyes in awe.

Displayed there was an off-the-shoulder, navy-blue ball gown, which featured an embroidered white lace along the bust and sleeves. A knotted ribbon with a faux crystal on the center was placed in the middle part of the chest.

It was like she was drawn to that very gown and imagined herself wearing it. The shopkeeper noticed her intense gaze at the gown and said, "That gown still needs to be repaired."

"Oh… that's too bad…" Ivory sighed. She really liked the gown very much.

Sigmund, who saw how his Master badly wanted the gown, asked the shopkeeper, "What's wrong with the gown? Why do you have to repair it?"

"Ah, it was torn at the side," she showed the wide slit on the right side of the gown.

"Ivory, do you still want it?" The Vampire looked at his Master and when she nodded, he told the shopkeeper, "How about this. We'll buy that dress, but since it is damaged, give us a large discount."

The shopkeeper paused for a while, thinking about the deal. In the end, she agreed to it and even gave her a free blue floral headpiece. After paying seventy silver coins, the three of them went back home.

When the night came, Ivory stitched the torn part of the dress. After that, she stood up and held the dress close in front of her, looking at herself in front of the mirror.

"I'm done! Yay!" Ivory said excitedly. "I want to try wearing it."

She ordered Sigmund to turn his back as she was about to wear the gown. Even though he told her not to be shy, she never got used to his presence whenever she's changing. Maybe it was because she had secret romantic feelings towards him she still wanted her body to be hidden from her Servant.

However, wearing that ball gown was not an easy thing to do. In the end, she sought help from her Servant to zip up the back part of her gown.

Sigmund stood up from the ottoman chair and approached his Master. As ordered, he helped her with it.

The Vampire stared at his Master's moonlit, fair skin.

"Sigmund? Are you done?" Ivory asked because he was not saying anything behind her. But what surprised her was, Sigmund suddenly caressed her skin with the tip of his fingers...

His long fingers caressed her from her nape down to her exposed shoulders.

"Sigmund! What… What are you doing-"

"Ivory."

His low voice sent shivers down her spine, "Uhm… What's wrong?"

"I regret helping you buy this gown."

"But why? Does it look bad?"

The Vampire grabbed both of her arms and locked them from behind.

"What are you doing?" she glanced over her shoulder. "I can't move-"

"I changed my mind. Don't wear this tomorrow," He tilted Ivory's head to the side before grazing his tongue on the side of her neck down to her shoulder.

Ivory shivered as she felt his wet tongue on her bare skin. She turned beet red, and even though she wanted to tell him to stop, a part of her wanted him to continue. After all, it felt really good and satisfying.

"Ivory…" Sigmund whispered. "I will replenish my mana now."

"Sigmund… No… Please, not on my shoulders… It will leave a scar! If I wear this tomorrow, they will see-"

But before she could even finish her sentence, the impatient Vampire's fangs pierced through the flesh of her shoulder.