The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

14 | Glut of Goblets

The next morning, dressed in her uniform of white and grey with her black cloak on top and her silver collar on her neck, Dal-ae reported to Taeyong's chamber. Outside, she found the empty goblets of blood neatly lined along the adjacent wall.

'Good morning, Familiar,' said someone from behind her.

'Oh, yes, good morning,' Dal-ae said, spotting the maid coming towards her with a tray in her hands. She watched the maid bend down to collect the goblets onto the tray.

'Isn't there a fresh supply of blood for him?' Dal-ae asked.

'Hm, and he has been drinking it too but you see,' the maid gestured to the goblets on the tray, 'he has been asking for goblets too often these days.'

'Isn't that too much?' Dal-ae said but the maid did not reply. Too much or not, the maid did not dare comment on the Lord's wishes.

'I serve what he requires, Familiar.'

'We all do, don't we?' Dal-ae returned, then, bowed to the maid before knocking on Taeyong's door and entering.

The room was unusually warm with a suffocating metallic smell. The blood, Dal-ae thought and crossed the partition into the main room only to find a woman vampire getting dressed inside.

He brought a new consort last night.

'Oh, hello, good morning,' the woman said, looking rather embarrassed at Dal-ae's arrival. 'You must be the Familiar.'

The woman was shorter than the previous consort, almost matching Dal-ae height and frame. Her hair was black and her face was round. Her dress was white and her shoes were grey.

Dal-ae patiently waited for her to get dressed without uttering a single word nor making a single gesture.

'I'm sorry, I don't usually do this,' the woman said, fixing the straps of her dress on her shoulders. 'This,' she gestured to the disordered bed, thinking she wasn't being clear enough. 'You know what I mean, right?' she added, seeing that Dal-ae still gave her no response. 'By the way, I am–'

'Leaving,' Dal-ae finally spoke.

'Oh? Uh, yes, of course,' the woman said. 'I am leaving.' She put on her coat and took her purse before bowing to Dal-ae, getting a curt nod in return.

'Do you take pleasure in bullying my consorts, Dal-ae?' Taeyong said, stepping out of the shower wrapped in a low hanging towel the moment the consort shut the bedroom door.

'Good morning, Master,' Dal-ae said and Taeyong chuckled.

'My clothes,' he said. Dal-ae shuffled to and from the closet with a suit set and placed it on the chair near him but instead of helping him dress, she walked over to the bed to arrange the messy sheets.

Taeyong smiled, shaking his head. After she was done replacing all the linens and he was done dressing up, Taeyong spoke, 'Have you had your breakfast?'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'It's too early to eat.'

'Why are you irritated?'

'I am not.'

'You are not?' he asked.

She turned to face him and replied, 'I am not.'

'Very well, then. Come here,' he said, sighing.

Dal-ae walked over, knowing what was coming. 'Let me take a look at you,' he said and held her by her shoulders.