591: Dormitory Assistant

Dormitory Assistant

That night, I slept with one eye open.1

Of course, that wasn't literal. It only meant I was purposely sleeping very lightly, able to be woken at anytime in case Claire tried anything. In fact, I had set up a barrier around my room beforehand that would automatically jolt my nerves and rouse me from my sleep the instant someone broke through it, and triggered the invisible sequence of events, but as it would seem, my actions were unnecessary.

That was half of what I expected, in honesty. I had already deduced beforehand that although Claire was somewhat of a troublesome girl to interact and communicate with, she wasn't stupid. She was spoiled, sure, but not an idiot. As far as her arrogance went, she still knew that right now, she was dependent on me. Regardless of whether she thought of me as a tool, an enemy, or simply a nuisance, she needed me as her bloody supply for the time being, and so she knew doing anything to hurt me would only backfire on her in the end.

After all, just like her butler said, even after countless searching both here at the academy and on their journey here to the exam center all the way from Vampire Territory, they have not found a single person with blood who met the requirements of the 'premium' type. I was fairly certain Mei Gui would have it, but the fluids inside her could hardly be called blood. She was an Elemental at her core, so it would be more accurate to say they were raw energy rather than blood.

In any case, the gist of it is that Claire wouldn't try anything to hurt me too much, and I was aware of that. Hence, I wasn't actually too worried that night, but being the careful person I was, I still ended up setting a trap just in case. With this, though, I was now certain she would not hurt me, no matter how annoyed she was. That said, women could do some pretty scary and unreasonable things that defied all logic and common sense when they were pissed off, so I didn't want to push the line too much here.

All in all, the night went by without a hitch. I slept in my room peacefully, and Claire slept in hers, much more similar to a royal chamber. I had given this room to her particularly because it probably would feel more familiar to her private chambers in the royal castle she once lived in as the princess of the Vampire race, but it's not like I was expecting gratitude or anything.

Okay, that's a lie. I was.

But that would come later—in the state Claire was currently in, she definitely would not be saying the words 'thank you' to me any time soon.

The words 'shut up', however, she was perfectly fine with.

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness," I said in a mocking tone, knocking on her room's door. "It is time to attend school, you see. If you do not wake up, you may end up late. I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that, given how it is your first day and all, am I rig-"

"Shut up. I'm already awake."

There it was—and I was being genuine about waking her up too… oh well. Perhaps I need to tone down the mockery a bit.

"I see. Well, I'll be ordering room service for breakfast. I take it you won't be making your own?"

"…"

Silence. 

"Okay, that's a yes in my book," I said, chuckling. "Anything in particular you want?"

A brief period of silence again. Then, a single short phrase.

"… Chocolate pudding."

I blinked. Was this girl serious? Chocolate pudding and nothing else for breakfast of all things? Uh…

"Er… I'll see if they have that. But no guarantees."

With that, I backed away from her door and into the living room, where I walked over to a small display embedded within the wall. As soon as I approached, a virtual assistant appeared in the air, taking the shape of a young woman in holographic form and startling me a bit.

"Good morning, Xuan Kai. This is Dormitory Assistant number 71—you may simply call me D.A. How can I help you?"

"W-Woah…" I instinctively backed away a bit, caught off-guard by having the virtual assistant say my name, but quickly realized that was no big deal. The database had info on which student was in which room, so it was only natural the assistant would be using our real names to give a more cohesive experience.

"Uh… I'd like to order room service food for breakfast," I said, being strangely polite for no reason. "What's on the menu?"

"Anything," the assistant replied with a beaming smile. "We have the best chefs from all around the world working here. Anything your digestive system desires, they can make it."

"Oh… I see… well, in that case, just give me whatever you recommend for me, and a chocolate pudding for my roommate here."

"Understood. One 'surprise meal' and one chocolate pudding, coming right up. Feel free to do other things while you are waiting—I will alert you when the food is ready."

"Sounds good," I said, flashing the assistant a thumbs-up and a grin. "Thanks, D.A."

With that, I turned around and went to go take a shower and brush my teeth, also wondering why the hell I was getting so friendly with an AI for in the process.

When I came out, I saw Claire standing in front of the door once again, staring at me with a deadpan expression. I paused my movements momentarily, wary of what she was going to do next and fearing another repetition of last night. I instinctively reached into my Space Locket to pull out her panties as my holy talisman, but just as I was about to do that, she brushed past me and entered the bathroom, carrying a towel and her cleaned academy uniform with her.

I blinked.

"Huh… looks like she already knows—trying the same thing again while hoping for different results is the definition of insanity. Quote by some smart guy, probably."

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