Thankful for what they had done, the art shop owner gave the Scouts a generous amount of canvasses, paint, and brushes. The items were not in top condition but the soldiers received them gratefully.

Andromeda's command as the winner of the chase was that the losers let her take the art supplies all to herself. The Scouts agreed as they weren't fond of painting anyway.

As soon as she reached her room, Andromeda set the canvas and sat before it with her brush and the paint. For starters, she painted the view from her window. Bits of trees, green grass, bushes, a fence, and a clearing. It turned out quite nice. She replaced the canvas and started drawing her room.

So focused was Andromeda on her painting that she didn't hear the series of knocks on her wooden door. It creaked open and Petra went inside. "Oh, Andy. That looks so nice." The vampiress turned to the female soldier. "Sorry," Petra apologized. "I came here to tell you that supper's ready. You didn't answer so I got worried and entered." She placed herself in front of Andromeda's work. "You are seriously skilled. Can I take this to the dining hall?"

Andromeda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind. Do as you please."

The soldier noticed her other painting. "That, too? You drew that?"

"Yes."

Excitedly, Petra took the drawings and followed Andromeda to where they would eat.

The other soldiers were ecstatic to see the vampiress' wonderful works. Instead of eating, they crowded her and Petra as the paintings lay on the table in front of them.

"You should paint me next," Oluo said with a grin.

"I don't paint dung," she simply said.

The soldier got pissed and the others needed to grab him to stop him from striking the vampiress. "What do you mean by that, huh, Andy? Dung?!"

Andromeda flipped her hair and ignored him.

"Hey, Andy." It was Barbara. "Can you, maybe, paint Captain Levi?" A group of female soldiers were with her.

The vampiress looked at them. "Him? But, why?"

"We just like to have his picture." Barbara spared a quick glance in the Captain's direction. "We like him. We know he can be rude and grumpy. A clean-freak, too. But he's super strong and cool." She gushed. "He's kind in his own way. He rarely smiles, but when he does, doesn't it weaken your knees?"

Another female soldier commented, "He's so hot."

"Did you hear?" One chimed in. "A noblewoman tried to pay an insane amount of gold just to bed him for a night. Of course, Captain declined."

"He's unattainable." Then the soldier looked at the person beside Andromeda. "But Petra seems close to him."

Petra snorted out her soup.

Andromeda looked at her and then at Levi who was sitting in the front of the room with the squad leaders. Were the two lovers?

A curious pair.

Then, Levi's eyes met hers. A quiet jolt of electricity seemed to travel from his stare to hers. Damn. It wasn't the first time that happened. Lately, she noticed, their eyes were meeting quite a lot. And, every time, she felt electrified and hurriedly looked away. It was uncomfortable, but, she must admit, not unwelcome. She just hoped the man wouldn't gaze at her too much.

After supper, Andromeda ended up saying yes to the female soldiers' request. She sat on her chair and started painting Levi. His hair was black, eyes gray, lips... shit. She didn't have a clear picture of him in her mind. Her hands paused in front of the canvas. She needed to look at her subject more, memorize his features.

So she tried.

Tried stealing glances at the Captain during their training. But, she couldn't stare at him for too long. She would always look away. Though their eyes haven't met yet.

Damn.

Why?

As her eyes saw the man, she felt a certain intensity coming from him. Something she hasn't felt before.

She finally tried painting Levi's face again. After some time, she finished and looked at it. No. It was wrong. The face had the same hair color and same features but it wasn't the same. It wasn't as... beautiful.

What in Aurum's name?

Levi?

Beautiful?

He wasn't even handsome... right?

She felt her cheeks grow hot as she stared at the picture before her. Yes, she realized now. The reason why she couldn't stare at the man for too long was because she couldn't handle his beauty.

What was this?

It was the first time she felt attraction to the opposite sex. And he was a human. A mere human. And yet, Andromeda would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit interested in him. He was fascinating and, as the other soldiers said, hot.

Reserved and yet bubbling with intensity. Crass and forward but logical. Sensible and strong. Levi was a great soldier and a very interesting man.

The vampiress looked in the mirror with her hands on her blushing cheeks. She never knew someone of her kind could turn so red without drinking blood. Suddenly, she needed air. She went by her window and closed her eyes.

"Hoi."

That voice... She opened her eyes and saw Levi, himself, right outside her room. Losing her cool, she panicked and automatically closed her window.

"What the fuck?" The Captain angrily tapped on the wood. "I need to tell you something!"

Andromeda bit her lower lip and then decided to open the window again. "It's rude to suddenly appear outside someone else's window." She gathered the courage to look at Levi. His hair was swept by the wind and his dull gray orbs seemed to sparkle as they met hers. He was so attractive. Suddenly, the air seemed to be sucked out of her lungs. It was hard to breathe.

This time, the man was the one who looked away. "Everybody's gathering at the lake to bathe. Wear your swimming clothes and catch up with the others."

"O-okay." Her voice was tiny so she coughed and said again, "Okay. I'll be there."

Immediately, she changed clothes and exited her room. Right outside, Nifa and Petra waited for her. Together, they walked to the lake.

It was close to the barracks, located just by the entrance of the forest. Trees covered one of its sides and the rest was open with a few rocks. The female soldiers were in white t-shirts and short shorts while the male soldiers were topless. They frolicked by the side of the lake as the others swam into its depths.

Andromeda tested the water. It was not too cold and felt nice on her skin, so she submerged almost all of her body into it. She should eliminate all distractions inside her head. Wash away all of the unwanted thoughts. She dipped her head and swam for a bit.

She suddenly remembered the first time she had been romantically involved with someone. More than a hundred years ago, maybe. She had erased it from her mind but she finally recalled it now. There was this Duke who'd been courting her for decades. Andromeda got curious about love so she finally agreed to be the Duke's lover. One night, they shared a drink before they went to one of the guest rooms of Cruor Castle. That same night, the King discovered the Duke's fifty-year-old plot to kill Princess Andromeda. Immediately, he sent knights to save his daughter. Proteus took his sword and swung the guest room's door. Inside it was Andromeda, indeed. But she wasn't in grave danger. The opposite, in fact. She sat by the end of the bed, wiping her beautiful hands with a handkerchief.

"Good, you're here. I need someone to dispose this pig's body," she calmly said.

The body of the Duke, her former lover, was headless. Vampire blood gushed from the ripped neck. His head lay on the floor, right under Andromeda's foot and heels.

"Are you fine?" Proteus asked a stupid question.

Andromeda looked down at the Duke's gaping head. "I am. The idiot tried to drug and then rape me. Probably wanted to kill me after." She huffed. "Someone as weak as he? He deserved to die." She kicked the head toward the knights. "Take care of this. I want to take a bath."

What was love anyway? She remembered looking back at the Duke's dead face and remembering his fake words of love.

"He's here!"

Andromeda went back up from the waters. Some of the female soldiers were huddled together. She went closer to them and asked, "Who's here?"

"Captain Levi." One of them answered. "He's going to take his shirt off!" The females quietly squealed.

The vampiress looked at the male soldier. Levi slowly pulled his shirt away from his body, revealing well-honed muscles and the scars on his skin. A different kind of hunger sizzled at the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, the water felt hot.

She shook her head, she must be losing her mind. Splashing water on her pretty face, she told the soldiers she needed to go somewhere. Dripping wet, she put on her shoes and went deeper inside the forest. She needed some time alone. Maybe she could find something better to draw. After walking and walking, she reached a meadow of wildflowers. It was beautiful. Perfect.

For a long while, she stayed there, watching the flowers sway with the wind.

"You should get back. It'll be dark soon." Levi's voice startled her. He was still topless and water clung to his wet hair.

"Must you startle me always?" she asked him, pissed. "And what the heck are you doing here?" It was hard looking at him so she focused on the flowers.

"I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because someone has to."

Irritated, Andromeda randomly plucked flowers and straightened up. "You go back first, soldier. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine walking back alone."

"I'll wait for you. Let's go back together."

"No!" She'd hate that. She didn't want to be close to him any longer. Should she walk away and find another beautiful scenery? Maybe that'd do.

But she didn't move.

Silence enveloped them. And then, Levi finally spoke. "I see you. Looking at me," the man said out of the blue and Andromeda caught her breath. "You stare at me and then look away. Then look back again." He lessened the gap between them. "Why don't you face me and stare into my eyes right now?"

As if she would do that. "I have no idea what you are saying."

"Liar." Another two steps.

"And you're out of your mind."

Three steps. He was close. "Why do you--"

"Fine. Let's go back." She cut him off before the conversation steered in a direction she'd rather not go to. Harshly, she handed him the wildflowers.

Levi caught them with his hands but didn't notice the thorns they had. One thorn sliced the tip of his middle finger. Blood oozed from his little wound. The breeze carried its scent straight to Andromeda's nostrils. The vampiress groaned. Unable to stop herself, she took Levi's hand and sucked the wound on his middle finger.

Delicious.

Andromeda missed the taste of blood, much so the taste of Levi's.

The man visibly froze and it took quite a while before he was able to move and take his hand away from Andromeda. "What the fuck are you doing to me?" he asked her, beet red.

The vampiress realized what she had done. She licked her lips and walked away.

In the days after that, she completely ignored Levi. During training, she wouldn't even look at him. He tried approaching her a few times but she found excuses to escape him. When they cleaned, she busied herself while talking with the other squad members.

One day, during sunset, Andromeda got tired of painting. She went to the stables to get her mare and ride through the forest. Nox had recovered well since its injuries the rainy night sometime before. She opened the stable doors and paused when she saw Levi petting his black stallion.

She was about to exit when she heard him speak, "Don't go. I was hoping I'll see you here."

Frowning, she crossed her arms near her chest. "I just realized I don't want to ride anymore."

"You've been ignoring me for a while."

Geez. Stating the obvious. Andromeda wanted to get away from him. Near him, it was like the vampiress was losing her calm. Unnamed feelings swam inside her and she found herself not getting enough of him.

She wanted him.

In a very maddening way.

"You're ignoring me now," he said as he looked at her.

"I-I'm not ignoring you, soldier," she lied.

"Levi."

"What?"

"You don't call me by my name. You always call me "soldier". You don't do that to others. So call me by my name."

All eloquence left Andromeda's brain and she stuttered. "D-do I? I mean, don't I? B-but we-- I mean-- You-- W-we're not that close." They stared at each other and the vampiress swore she could see Levi's eyes sparkle.

"An," he called her dearly.

Andromeda's soul soared. How could a nickname make her feel so elated? Happy, even. And what about Levi? Why was his cheeks tinted with the most beautiful shade of red?

He left the stables saying, "I'll leave you with your horse."