The flickering light of the chandelier illuminated the vast dining room, casting light on the dark furniture and velvet curtain. Sat underneath the chandelier were the Sakamaki brothers, Yui and Aku, for their weekly meal.

It hadn't been long since the poisoning incident, a month at most, and in the manor's air wafted the faint but decipherable scent of blood. It was a sweet and enticing fragrance that had each of the Demonic beings around the table on edge, their eyes minutely glinting with something close to thirst every now and then.

Aku raised his golden eyes from his plate to glance at Eve, noting without surprise that Ayato sat beside her. If the redhead gave him a threatening glare when he noticed his line of sight, Aku ignored it, favoring his meal.

The Founder brought another piece of his meal to his mouth. The flavor of the wine sauce permeated his mouth, leaving a slightly sweet aftertaste behind that he did not fail to wash away with a glass of clean water. Aku took hold of his napkin and elegantly dabbed his mouth before sweeping his piercing gaze over his charges and guest.

The First Blood's lips remained a flat, inexpressive line. He mused over how much longer Eve would need to awaken fully and gauged the growing possibility of Ayato becoming Adam.

Would Ayato bend to his will?

Doubtful.

Aku heaved a light sigh, lowered his lashes to cast a sidelong glance at his wine glass, and started to map out his next course of action when his nephew would rebel— if he ever got the chance.

With a renewed sense of boredom and annoyance at the thought of Adam, the Founder cleared his throat. The sound, low and smooth, that came from his throat was enough to have the whole assembly stop in their motion to give him their undivided attention.

"Richter, your Uncle, will be taking up one of the rooms starting next week," he notified, picking up his elongated wineglass and observing the malevolent ruby glow of his beverage under the candlelight.

The liquid languidly twirled around the smooth surface, leaving a light reddish coat behind. Aku lifted his golden eyes from the repetitive spectacle, drinking in the varying reactions of his charges.

"Very well, My Lord," Reiji finally replied, breaking the strange silence as he pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose. The Vampire kept his gaze down, eyes carefully hiding behind the lenses of his spectacles as he made an effort not to offend the Founder. Although it had been a month already since he tried to poison Yui, Reiji had yet to regain his previous confidence.

Shu grunted as a sign of acknowledgment, while Subaru echoed Reji's words in a lower, more subdued, and discrete voice.

Aku hummed. He flicked his gaze to look at the Triplets, lips drawing a ghost of a smile and eyes calculatedly bending as if to encourage children to speak their first words.

"Fufufu, well, if Ji-sama wills it. I guess there's nothing I can do," Laito casually shrugged, playfulness in his lilting voice. He brought his fingers together, lacing them to rest his chin atop of them as he poutily stared at the older Demon. "Still, you could've told me earlier, Aku-jisama~" he fake-whined, a broad grin dawning on his lips.

"Next time, perhaps," the Founder entertained, earning himself a brief chuckle from his youngest nephew.

His gaze drew to his second-oldest, meeting a pair of doll-like lilac eyes. The mere shade of those eyes had Aku narrow his eyes in appreciation, turning the expression on his face more patient and genuine as he urged a response out of Kanato.

"Ugh, I don't wanna, Uncle!" Kanato whined, eyes blinking at the older Demon in a calculated cadence. "Teddy doesn't want to see him!" he added, huffing and puffing but never breaking eye contact.

The smile on Aku's lips grew, as did the appreciation in his eyes. He gently hummed, his voice's soothing and mellow quality calming the purple head's growing nerves. "Then I'll tell Richter not to meet you, Kanato," he granted.

And the younger knew he wouldn't get more out of this exchange. So he childishly huffed and nodded in acceptance, low, evidently subdued thanks going past his lips at the semblance of grace Aku granted him.

Aku did not have the time to switch his attention to his oldest nephew for Ayato to snort and roll his eyes, a gruff 'whatever' sounding in his ears before he even looked at the redhead.

The Founder hummed to himself, satisfied. He brought his wine glass to his lips. "Very good," he whispered, liking his charges' behaviors more than his wine's flavor.

"Uhm, ex-excuse-me?"

Aku blinked, a perfect smile painting his lips as he stared Eve down. "Yes, Eve?"

"Who, who is Richter?" Yui carefully asked, voice strangled by stress but promoted by a weird desire to hear about the man.

Aku smiled.

"A mere Vampire that you shouldn't feel concerned about," he told her. "He is not worth the attention."

Aku looked through his teaching files, fingers absentmindedly going through each page as he prepared for his next class.

Ryoutei remained unchanged from the previous weeks. Students still noisily occupied corridors, teachers mainly remained in their dedicated lounge or office, Laito favored the bathroom, Shu the music room, Reiji the library, Subaru the roof, Kanato the classroom, and Ayato—

Aku minutely frowned. Ayato was not in the kitchen with Eve. How peculiar. He shrugged the oddity off, quickly relocalizing the Vampire in the classroom next to Kanato as he reminded himself that Eve's anemia had become more severe as of late.

She had a leave of absence for the day.

Richter would arrive over the weekend, becoming their new housemate. Aku didn't know if he felt excited at the thought of the man lusting after the power Cordelia must have promised. Or if the notion of his charges fighting against Richter was more entertaining. After all, Richter's only reason to ever come to the Sakamaki estate was Cordelia, there was no reason for it to change.

Part of him wondered if blood, other than Eve's, would be shed and if that would lead to one of his charges' death.

That would indeed be unfortunate, but if push came to shove, Aku would rather the casualty be Shu— that rebellious child.

Offense fully intended.

The Founder hummed a casual tune to himself, an old folk song his Mother and Kagamine used to sing to him whenever they'd lull him to sleep. It was an easy melody with lyrics in ancient Demonic tongue— a dialect formerly used by the High Nobility of Founders and later reduced to those studying magic.

But the Founder digressed.

Aku arranged the few files spread across his desk. As one of the most senior lecturers of the establishment, and with the casual use of his connections, the First Blood benefited from an isolated desk in the teacher lounge. But also, as the headmaster's proxy in times of needs, from a personal office near the headmaster's office, where he kept most of his material.

He currently sat in his personal office, away from the hustle and bustle of the Academy.

"Aha— there you were Aku-sensei!"

The Founder heaved an audible sigh. He made an unusual effort to show his dislike as he flitted his golden eyes to look at the door where the intruder did not stand anymore.

"Over there," the same voice called, this time from behind the strawberry-blond Demon. The male blew into Aku's ear, seemingly finding enjoyment in the teacher's recoiling action.

"How may I help you, Reinhart?" Aku asked, pushing the man's face away with his hand.

"Reinhart-sensei," Reinhart happily corrected as he dodged the First Blood's hand.

Aku clicked his tongue. "What do you want, Reinhart-sensei?"

The school's nurse smiled, mirth and satisfaction seeping through his features as he hummed in approval. He walked around the Founder's desk, leather-brown eyes sweeping over the collection of study books and ornaments before returning to the First Blood himself.

"Nothing," the man finally admitted, a broad grin adorning his handsome visage. He had a perfect face, golden proportion, and no imperfection— there was no way such a beautiful creature could be human. The way his pupils trembled and his irises glinted a golden color was enough proof that he was a Demon. "I only wanted to see your face."

The First Blood looked at him nonplused. Obviously unimpressed by what he judged a fake display of sincerity, he moved his eyes over the man's white coat, remarking how spotless the material was for a school nurse.

"Now that you've seen it, you may excuse yourself. Reinhart-sensei," Aku finally retorted, standing up from his seat and picking up his previously ordered files. He did not bother to acknowledge the other Demon's expression as he continued. "I have classes to teach."

"Aww," the taller man moved to stand in Aku's way, arm positioned to block the man's exit. "Already? And here I was certain you had no class scheduled this morning, Aku-sensei," Reinhart reminded, voice tinged with laziness and amusement.

The First Blood gave the Demon an unimpressed look. "Oh?" he vocalized. "Forgive me. I did not know my schedule was anything for you to worry about."

Reinhart smiled. He leaned down, his figure casting an imposing and threatening shadow over Aku's figure.

"But I care for all that you do, Aku."

The Founder paused, eyes lowering as he pondered over the Demon's words before he snorted. A derisive look dawned on his face. He took a step back, leaning his weight on one foot as he pushed his files back on the desk beside him.

"Pray tell?"

The taller of the two observed the Founder's uncooperative stance, finding both entertainment and annoyance in their exchange and Aku's lack of cooperation.

His mellow voice turned lower and rougher. The hue of his brown leather eyes slowly morphed, dimming under the shadow of his lashes before shining a more familiar golden tint. Simultaneously, his hair, starting from his roots, slowly turned a lighter shade until it was fully discolored and turned the purest shade of white.

"Aku, your distrust wounds me," the Vampire King murmured, taking a step back to have a better overall view of the Founder. "How could you invite my brother into the manor when Eve's awakening is so close?" he lamented.

The First Blood spared the Vampire an incredulous look. "Your hypocrisy knows no bound, Karlheinz," he spat.

"As does yours."

Aku glossed over the King's words and ignored them. "Don't pretend you dislike Richter being so close to Eve. It is far more entertaining to have him struggle before me than to have him prepare whatever idiocy in the four walls of his own property."

Karlheinz stared down at Aku, his golden eyes mirroring the Founder's gaze. He grinned, feelings of unbridled amusement pouring into him: a sadistic glee from his brother's never-ending misfortune blended with the expectations of Eve's awakening.

"You know me so very well, Aku," he reminded. "I suppose that is why you chose my wives with such care and love each of my children so much."

The Founder merely smiled.

"Of course I do, Karlheinz."

He observed his following words with an almost careless form of attention.

"You cannot imagine how much I care for my nephews and step-nephews. Or how much I care for you precisely, Karlheinz."

The weekend quickly came around, and with it, Richter settled inside of the Sakamaki estate.

As Aku had previously predicted, Richter did not act out of line, much to his disappointment. The Vampire remained perfectly polite for someone of his stature. He remained in his quarters most of the time and perfectly acted the part of a saddened lover when he went to Cordelia's grave to lay out flowers.

Sometimes, he would meet Yui, the poor, unfortunate, Sacrificial Bride. Still, their exchanges would remain limited, with Ayato often acting as her shield.

Reading over Glaciel's reports on Richter's latest happenings within the mansion, the Founder admitted he found the whole ordeal more boring than he had thought it'd be.

How to put it. It was underwhelming.

Apart from Eve's awakening, tainted with hallucinations and episodes of insomnia or sleepwalking, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Even Eve's attacks were becoming routine, and Aku became more and more unbothered.

When would she awaken?

Why couldn't she already awake?

What did Richter want, keeping an eye on Eve but never striking?

Aku mused to himself.

Richter's sole helper against Karlheinz had always been Cordelia.

Cordelia was assassinated by her sons, and Richter had dug her heart out.

Yui, as a human vessel, possessed Cordelia's heart. Making her a Human with a Demon Princess' Heart— the perfect Eve.

Was Richter projecting his feelings onto Eve? Hoping she'd become his lover like Cordelia? Did he think he'd be Adam?

Eve was not Cordelia. At most, she was the Human girl Yui. There was no way for her to feel anything for someone like Richter—

Oh?

Aku's golden eyes glinted. He tilted his head to the side, eyes moving to stare out of his office's window. The moon hung high and ominous in the Demon Realm, reflecting the eerie light of the Founder's gleaming gaze.

"Kagamine," he whispered. "I need books on surgery— Demon to Human surgeries," he ordered.

The Shadow Demon, whose form remained hidden in the obscurity of the room, gave a reverent bow. "By your will, My Lord."