The ride back home was dead silent. Even the walk into the kitchen was the same. Rachel had been meaning to try and speak up, maybe cheer him up a little... but his gloomy attitude and expression that screamed 'do not bother me' prevented her from doing anything.
But at the very least, once they entered the kitchen, the mood was way different.
"Kyaaaaaa! Look at this!" a vampire screamed. The tips of her hair had turned to lightning, and with every step she took, she left behind a lightning afterimage.
"Hum! Yep, that's not how it should look at all!" Letty exclaimed in panic. "Y-Your feet should electric, not your hair! Quick, drink some milk, otherwise you might go bald!"
"...Pardon?"
In the next instant, the ends of the vampire's hair began to fall off, causing her to pick up a knife and start chopping the ends of her hair reluctantly.
All the while, Letty just facepalmed and leaned against the table. "I told you it's not ready... Just because it looks rainbow and edible, doesn't mean it's complete. Savanna, please don't tell the sir and madam about this..."
"Tell us what?" Gabriel chimed in, acting as though he hadn't heard the whole conversation.
Letty froze, her future flashing before her eyes. Had there even been a vampire that was fired after less than a day? No? Well... it looked like she'd be the first.
But as she was in the midst of accepting that, Rachel chimed in:
"Well, unfinished potions or faulty potions. They're still potions, which means you actually know how to brew them. I'm convinced. What about you, Gabriel?"
"I'm also convinced," he replied with a smile. "She needs practice, and a much better work station. Though we can take care of that. Right, Rachel?"
"Yep. Leave it to us." Rachel avoided Gabriel's eyes and shamelessly added, "Now as for the libido potions?"
Letty's expression became even more pale. She pointed at the side, and to both Gabriel's and Rachel's surprise, they saw Melania. She was leaning against the cabinet and raiding the drawer filled with alcohol. There were at least ten empty bottles. Why did no one stop her?
"Ahem... Because the heater is too low and uneven, instead of increasing sex drive, the potion increases your need for alcohol," Letty admitted, then bowed deeply. "I'm sorry! I'm a failure."
Gabriel and Rachel exchanged a quick look. Letty might've thought of herself as a failure, but the two of them didn't agree. As rich as they may be, what if she reversed the effect and began selling it to humans?
It'd be a permanent alcoholism fix.
Still, Rachel was also curious about something else. "Have you tested the potion on a vampire?"
Letty shook her head. "Melania's the only test subject. But I do have another potion. It's just that, it's the same as the one Melania drank, so I don't think you'd see much of a difference..."
Rachel scoffed. "We're vampires, of course there'll be a difference. Now give it here."
Before Letty could say a word, Rachel used her Blood Manipulation to scout out the kitchen, and after finding a light red potion with some impurities, she went ahead and downed it all. Gabriel couldn't even snatch the potion in time because of how fast she drank it.
In the end, Rachel burped and then set the empty potion aside.
"Mmm... This one's on a scale of around five on the taste scale. It tastes like burnt toast. I don't like it very much. As for the effects... How long do they take to kick in?"
Letty gulped. "Madam, you've just overdosed. U-Um... Maids, could you please lock the madam away in her room and take away anything sharp in the vicinity? O-Oh, alcohol bottles too. Only paper water cups."
Rachel tilted her head. "Overdosed? What are you talking about."
"There are ten servings in that potion bottle, and four would make anyone an alcoholic. Six might increase your sex drive, but all ten... Madam, please be safe." Letty began praying.
But as if Rachel just wanted to have a laugh, she suddenly burped. A bubble of light red emerged from her mouth, and then landed in the bottle she had set aside. Obviously, it wasn't drinkable anymore, but still...
"It has a certain kick to it, I'll give you that much. Good work. Keep it up." Rachel gave her a thumbs up, then fell into thought for a moment. "I suppose I'll have to ask Mel to buy some more alchemy equipment from the black market."
She snapped her fingers, and then finally left alongside Gabriel. Although not much had happened just now, from the faint smile on his face, it was obvious he had been cheered up, even if only a little.
"Anything else you have planned for now, or do you just want to relax?" Rachel asked.
Gabriel paused. "Since your mother's coming next friday, I'm going to put my all into training. I'll be training by myself for now."
"By yourself? You don't want my help?" Rachel was a little puzzled. "Do you feel ashamed to ask for help, since I'm your wife?"
He shook his head. Of course that wasn't it. He would never shy away from asking for help, since the only reason he had become the top trainee back at the Vampire Hunter academy was because he kept bothering the instructors and his seniors.
One of his seniors had also become a Van recently, and while Gabriel couldn't go down that path any longer, he did want to continue growing stronger, and maybe, if possible, become one of the strongest vampires out there.
Now as for the reason why he didn't want her help...
"I might just be a newbie, but I feel like Blood Manipulation heavy relies on your imagination and control. Ice Manipulation too. If you help me, I feel like you'd influence my imagination. It'd be like... I'm copying you rather than I try to come up with something original, if that makes sense."
After all, her version of something might be a bit different than his. Their versions would clash, and the result would probably bottleneck him.
Surprisingly, she understood exactly what he meant.
"My mother said the exact same thing when I first started. I didn't understand it back then, but I can see what she meant now."
She smiled. "Whenever you feel like your heart's pumping faster and louder than usual, run to me immediately. When your maturity starts, you're probably going to go on a rampage, except you'll be in less control than before."
As someone who could easily detain him, she took her role seriously.
"You can use my personal training room in the eastern end of our home. It's fitted with noise-cancelling, high density walls. There are even several tanks of blood, from which you can choose whichever blood type you want to try using."
She coughed as a slight redness appeared on her cheeks.
"You have an O blood type, which means you can control every single blood type without trouble. You might be better at controlling the A blood type though. Since that's my blood type, and you seem to love my blood the most~"
'Seriously...'
"I'll keep that in mind. Oh, one more thing. Do you see that?" Gabriel pointed at the window.
Rachel raised a brow and turned her head. She would've felt it had someone was actually been by the window. As she thought, there really was no one there. She turned back, prepared to scold Gabriel.
Yet her mood to scold him suddenly vanished as his lips pressed against hers. His eyes widened, as did hers. He had only been trying to give her a kiss on the cheek as payback, but she turned around at the worst possible moment.
Why couldn't his reaction time be faster!?
Feeling like this couldn't get any more awkward, Gabriel backed off. Rachel stared at him, her eyes shimmering and her lips glistening.
Yet he couldn't muster up any words to say to her. Likewise, she wasn't able to say anything either. They were just two vampires who teased each other more than either of them could handle.
Gabriel took a deep breath and smiled at her. His thoughts were scattered over something as simple as a peck on the lips... No. He needed to focus. Now was not the time to get flustered and overwhelmed.
"I'll see you in a few days, Rachel," he said blankly. With that, he walked past her, and with his heart beating louder than normal, Gabriel went straight to the training room she mentioned.
Unbeknownst to him, that kiss had stirred up an even more possessive side in Rachel as she rubbed her lips and then watched his back with a wide smile.