Chapter 90 Grassland Graces

"I thought you weren't interested… in it." Lukas said once they walked further away from the van. He was talking about the dagger!

There was much protest from Theodore and especially Alexei of the two leaving together earlier, but compared to the desert, Theodore admitted that it was much safer.

"I'm not…" Stacy said again and folded her hands together. "But I… I don't know. Maybe I just wanted some time away from those two. And maybe I am a tiny bit curious about the voice that just spoke to me–that isn't normal, is it?"

"Uh, no. Not at all. Completely abnormal if you ask me." Lukas said as they waded through the grasslands.

The two of them were not going extremely far away–that was asking for more danger than necessary, but it was enough for them to have some space and distance from the prying eyes and ears.

"Yeah…" Stacy kicked at some small pebble in front of her and then suddenly collapsed into the ground.

It was so sudden and out of character for her that Lukas failed to react until she was already kneeling on the soft patch of grass. "U-uh, you okay?"

"No. Not really–I thought I was going insane. That something was wrong with me and I was a second or minute away from losing it and then I'd snap or something. Do you know how scary it was to hear someone speak and say that they know where you are? I thought it was my mind conjuring up things and hah. I should just shut up."

"That's…" Lukas stared at her in amazement. Now, maybe this was actually the longest thing he'd heard from Stacy.

And not only that, but it was at her most honest and vulnerable state too.

She had spoken to him at a considerable length when it came to resolving his situation with Chaerin and Lily back then. It was serious, collected and yet also something that was carefully thought out.

This one was just her blabbering almost incoherently.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Stacy's gaze was on him, but then she averted her gaze and placed her hands on the ground. "Let me just get up and then we'll–"

"No no, that's unnecessary. Let's just stay here like this for a moment." Lukas said.

"Are you patronizing me?" Stacy asked.

"No–not at all. I just thought that this place is the perfect spot to lie down and relax. We don't necessarily have to go anywhere and get ourselves into some sort of danger right?" Lukas said as he carefully leaned back on the grass.

It was no soft bed, but it was good enough.

Lukas could even smell the faint scent of grass that was natural and soothing. It was a calm scent that was nice and as he looked up into the night sky and saw the stars–the real stars–he couldn't help but let out a breath.

"This is… thanks." Stacy rested beside him, close enough that their elbows were almost touching. Her dark hair that was usually in a ponytail? She removed it from its ponytail and allowed her hair to spread across her shoulders.

Lukas tried not to stare too much, but he couldn't help it.

It was a rather intimate moment now that he thought about it, but he chose to direct his gaze back at the stars. He tried to ignore the fact that his heart was beating a bit in his chest and refocused his attention to the stars.

And what he ought to say Stacy.

"I'm sorry." Lukas decided to say.

"For what?"

"For not telling you right away about the dagger. I can see that it scared you a lot… I should have explained it to you but I didn't."

"We were running out of time weren't we?" Stacy folded her hand across her chest. "It's not your fault."

"I mean, I could have easily said: Hey, Stacy–here's my dagger. There's an ancient being inside of it, but she's nice. Relatively nice."

"W-what?" Stacy glanced at him, wide-eyed as her mouth fell open. "Did you just say… of course, I heard you correctly. I'm not deaf but did you just say… ancient being?"

"I mean, I don't know exactly how old she is." Lukas managed a grin. "You never ask a woman for their age, right?"

"Aha." Stacy weakly laughed and then started coughing.

"Are you okay?" Lukas worriedly sat up and glanced down at her. "You need some water or something? I mean, er blood? Want me to run back to the van and get some for you, Stacy?"

"I-I'm good." Stacy waved him off as she continued to cough a little. "Just surprised. I mean–Blood Works. Dagger. Ancient being. Does uh, Miss Weisse know? Did she lend it to you with this knowledge beforehand?"

"No. Not really." Lukas shook his head. "I doubt that she'd give up something so precious if she knew. Something like this would change everything within the Vampire society, wouldn't it?"

"Please do not discuss me as if I'm someone who'll willingly impart my knowledge and wisdom to everyone." Drusilla suddenly spoke. "I am not some lost master that's searching for his apprentice."

Stacy blinked and Lukas glanced down at the dagger that was now in his hand. She chose to appear right now and interrupt the conversation.

"Ack, there's something like privacy too, you know." Lukas groaned and was half-tempted to throw the dagger away, but knew that if Drusilla could, she'd just stab him in the eye for such an act.

"T-that's her… isn't she?" Stacy stood up and bowed her head towards the dagger, much to the surprise of Lukas. "My apologies for failing to realize who you were from earlier and thank you for helping me earlier."

"Hey, don't do that! Theodore and Alexei might think that I'm making you do something weird." Lukas hissed quietly at her.

"At least someone is far more sincere in their attitude." Drusilla said as the dagger itself hummed. "But this is below your station, Vardoken's blood."