Chapter 205: These Women Are Going to Kill Me
Mark opened his eyes slowly with a groan and the first thing he felt was dizziness. It took him a couple of seconds to figure out where he was.
He was still in the meeting room, sitting in the same chair as before, though at some point he had fallen asleep with his arms crossed on the table and his head resting on them.
"What the hell happened..." he murmured in a hoarse voice, trying to remember how he had ended up like that.
The room spun slowly around him every time he tried to focus on something. His body felt heavy, his head light, and there was a kind of deep exhaustion that had settled into his bones.
And then he remembered everything all at once.
’...How much blood did she actually take?’ he thought, blinking to try to clear his vision.
But then Rose’s voice came from behind him and pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, I see you’re awake, Master."
With some difficulty, Mark turned his head. A few meters away, Rose was finishing straightening her clothes as if nothing had happened.
She was adjusting the collar of her dress with one hand while smoothing her skirt with the other, with an expression considerably more relaxed and satisfied than the one she had before the whole situation.
However, when she looked at her Master’s dazed face, her expression shifted slightly to one of guilt.
"I think I... got a little carried away when drinking your blood, Master."
"A little?"
"Well... maybe more than a little," Rose admitted with a small smile. "I had been holding back for so long that when I finally could do it I let myself go."
"Yeah... I noticed."
"You should take things easy today, Master," she said, approaching the table. "You lost quite a bit of blood and you’re going to be dizzy for a good while."
Mark let out a sigh and put his head back down on the table.
"I will..." he replied with his cheek resting on his arm. "I can barely keep my eyes open without everything starting to spin."
"I’m sorry again."
"Don’t apologize for that..." Mark said, closing his eyes. "Though I suppose I should apologize too... I still had a whole list of pending matters to take care of today, and at this rate I don’t think I’ll get to any of them."
Rose walked around until she was behind him.
And she hugged him from the back.
Her arms closed around Mark’s chest as she rested her chin on his shoulder, and then she turned her head slightly to give him a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Don’t worry about those things, Master," she said in a much warmer tone than usual. "Now that I’ve solved my ’little’ blood problem, I feel more than energized enough. So I’ll take care of your duties for today."
"...Really?"
"Really," Rose confirmed, holding him a little tighter. "You just rest and recover. That’s what you have us for, isn’t it?"
Mark let out a short, tired laugh.
"Thank you, Rose... truly."
"Don’t thank me," she replied, giving him another kiss, this time on the temple. "After all, I’m the one who left you like this."
Rose straightened up and started walking toward the door, but she had barely taken a step when Mark reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.
She stopped immediately and turned her head to look at him, unable to hide her surprise.
"What is it?" she asked, confused.
Mark lifted his head from the table just enough to look her in the eyes, though the effort cost him another wave of dizziness.
"Don’t ever hide something like that from me again," he said in a tone that, despite the exhaustion, was completely serious. "If you’d needed blood for that long, you should have told me... You don’t have to endure things alone."
"..."
"Is there anything else I should know?" Mark continued, not releasing her wrist. "Anything you’re keeping to yourself... I’d rather find out now than later when it’s already a problem."
Rose stayed quiet for several moments.
Her red eyes looked at him steadily, and for an instant Mark noticed something crossing her expression. A small doubt. A hesitation. As if she were considering whether to say something or not.
"Actually..." she said finally. "Yes, there is one more thing I want to tell you."
Mark waited for her to continue, but seeing that she only shook her head gently, he understood she wasn’t going to say anything more.
"But I’d rather leave it for later... when this mess that suddenly landed on us is over, I’ll tell you."
"Is it something serious?" Mark asked.
"It’s nothing bad," Rose replied with a small smile. "It’s just something I’d prefer to tell you when things are calmer and I can do it properly... Right now isn’t the moment."
Mark looked at her for a couple more seconds, tempted to press further.
There was something in the way Rose had said it that made him think that "one more thing" carried far more weight than she was letting on.
But he was too dizzy and exhausted to push, and he trusted Rose enough to give her the space she was asking for.
So he let go.
"Alright..." he said, dropping back onto the table.
Then Rose came close one last time and brushed a strand of hair off his face.
"Don’t get up from here," she said, giving him another kiss on the cheek. "I’m going to ask one of the servants to bring you something to eat. You need to replenish your strength after what just happened."
"...Thanks," Mark murmured, eyes already half closed.
"Rest."
Rose walked to the door, opened it, and left the meeting room, closing it softly behind her.
Mark was left alone, slumped over the table with his head resting on his arms and his body heavy from the blood loss.
The room was still spinning slowly every time he opened his eyes, so he decided to keep them closed.
’First Emilia’s breakdown, and now Rose draining me dry like a raisin,’ he thought, his mind growing increasingly foggy with exhaustion. ’And that’s without counting whatever it is Rose is saving for later.’
Mark let out one last sigh against his arm.
"These women are going to kill me someday..." he murmured quietly.
And before he could think about anything else, the exhaustion finally won out and he fell into a deep sleep on top of the table.
