"Eat slowly, greedy human."
Iselen nods, mumbling something unintelligible in response to my soft growl while the melted cheese hangs from the slice of pizza she's holding in her hand to her mouth. The girl chews enthusiastically and licks her lips before biting another piece not caring if the pizza is so hot that she could burnt her tongue. I shake my head, sighing exasperated, although I'm laughing in my mind. I can't help it, the human is really funny when she behaves like a child, although sometimes she gets on my nerves.
"Here's your pasta with Pecorino cheese au gratin, Your Majesty, and a glass of blood. Be careful, it's really hot. Enjoy it."
"Thank you," I whisper absentmindedly not looking at the waitress, taking my glass closer to my lips to drink a sip before grabbing my fork.
"Is that mine?" Iselen asks dropping the napkin on the table and pointing at the glass with her chin.
"Not exactly," I admit dropping my fork too when I realize that the pasta is too hot to eat it. "Our scientists have created artificial blood from your human blood, the result is synthetic blood that can be replicated an infinite number of times, but is very concentrated, too rich for our taste and our digestive system can't assimilate it. This blood must be diluted to be fit for vampire consumption. So the blood in this glass comes from artificial blood that was created from your natural blood... and watered down."
"I understand. But is it good?" the human grabs another slice of pizza but she waits for my answer before biting it.
"Yes," I admit smiling. "It tastes delicious."
"Wow, my blood has a nice bouquet, like a fine wine. I feel oddly flattered." The girl frowns and heaves a sigh before eating again, hungrily. I take my fork and remain silent while blowing on a bite of pasta to cool it down. The truth is that the good taste of my drink has more to do with my scientists' talent than with her, any other human blood would've worked the same, but Iselen looks happy thinking that she's special and I don't want to disappoint her. Besides, it's true that she tastes delicious when I drink from her vein, but I can't tell her that.
It's been a week since the party and I haven't decided about Henrietta's punishment yet although I'm not worried about that because she'll get more anxious due to the suspense. I know his father has called Lord Kenneth asking for a meeting with me to be able to apologize but I refuse to see him. They've gone too far this time and I'm fed up with this family and their dramas. Also, the human has had some nightmares, she remained unusually silent for two or three days and she looked tired, which means that the incident affected her more than I thought initially. I won't easily forgive them for this.
I had to delegate some of my work to my council to be able to have more free time to be with her. I tried to cheer her up taking her out for a walk, we went shopping, to the cinema and to have dinner to fancy restaurants, even if she seems to enjoy more a simple slice of pizza. I found out that I like spoiling her, showing her things that that she doesn't know thanks to the vampires' state-of-the-art technology and giving her other stuff that she knew but it was decades since the last time she tried them. I had a good time taking her to a candy store and watching her smiling like a toddler, crying when she found candies that she remembered she used to buy 25 years ago.
And she loved the dresses with LED lights but didn't let me buy her one. They're not as comfortable as the clothes that Michelle picks out for her and wouldn't dare to wear it to go to a party, wearing it for hours because they're too heavy. She's right, a ball gown doesn't suit her at all. Luckily, we found clothes she loved like seam-free activewear made with soft fabric that fits her curves perfectly. And, also, sneakers, coats for the winter that's coming soon, fluffy and warm pyjamas and bags made of leather that was created in a lab and haven't required the death of an animal. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to persuade her to try a shirt made with extra strong spider silk, one of the last innovations in the textile market along with 3D printed fabrics.
