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Drat. There went her escape plan.

“Sorry, Madame Lavinia.”

“That’s okay.” Madame Lavinia started walking back to her desk. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s eager to learn about what you have to say as a human pet to Master Alexandru.”

At her words, half of the girls in Zari’s class looked disgruntled while the other half looked envious. Either way, she knew that all of them would kill to swap places with her.

Grabbing her notebook from her desk, Zari reluctantly followed behind her teacher. Since she always sat at the back and classrooms in La Scala Legaturia were all vast and luxurious, she had a lot of distance to cover.

Just as she was about to reach the platform in front, someone suddenly stuck a foot in front of Zari.

“Aaaah!” Zari flailed like a fish out of water to keep herself from falling, balancing herself on her toes before pulling back. The whole class burst into laughter throughout her antics, and when the girl to her right snickered, saying, “Loser,” another round of laughter followed.

Zari was red-faced with embarrassment, but she didn’t bother saying a word despite knowing exactly who had tried to trip her.

A petite brunette with exotic features, Ellen Carne was one of the school’s most popular girls, an unclaimed pet born to a family who had served vampires for centuries. Unclaimed meant she still didn’t have a Master, and if rumors were to be believed, she was dying to steal Alexandru from Zari.

When Zari’s eyes clashed with Ellen’s, the other girl demanded, “What are you looking at?”

Zari bit back a sigh. She had been so silly to think the supernatural world of vampires, trolls, and what-have-yous would be different from the world she came from. Apparently, bullies were bullies, regardless of their form or species.

Ignoring Ellen, Zari proceeded to the front, not wanting to get into an argument. Shehatedarguing. She wasn’t used to it at all since she had spent most of her life in the jungles, and the company she had kept then was only made up of her parents and wild animals.

Madame Lavinia beamed from her seat behind the teacher’s desk. “You can start anytime.”

How about never,Zari thought glumly even as she answered, “Thank you, Madame Lavinia.” She remembered just in time to curtsy after the greeting and was rewarded with an approving nod.

Zari welcomed the teacher’s positive reaction. These days, Madame Lavinia appeared the only one to believe she shouldn’t be kicked out of LSL. Who knew? Maybe this week, she could finally enjoy a higher grade than C for the first time.

Turning to the class, she opened her notebook and began to read. “My name is Zari Baltimore. I’m 18 years old. My dad is a wildlife photographer, my mom a wildlife journalist. My Master’s name is Alexandru.” She waited for the class to laugh, but they didn’t.

Mm...maybe her Master really didn’t have a surname? Maybe he was like the vampire version of...Usher? She thought about it.Nah. Usher was too good a dancer to be like Master Alexandru. Maybe...Bono? Yeah, that sounded about right, age-wise.

She flipped to the next page, coughing, buying herself time because after that little paragraph, she had nothing. Taking a deep breath, Zari decided to fake it. From scratch.

“The bond between Master Alexandru and I is, umm, kinda new.” Like, one-month-new since that was exactly how long she had known her Master. It was the exact opposite of most of the other pets in school, whose relationships with their Masters had either started or had been predestined since the day they were born.

From the first row, Ellen rolled her eyes. “New is such a vague word. Tell it as it is, First Made trash.”

Control, control, Zari reminded herself. If she got into a fight with any of the girls here, that would definitely reach her Master, and she didn’t want to cause him any trouble.

As if sensing a possible argument, Madame Lavinia asked brightly, “What’s Master Alexandru like as a master?”

What was Alexandru as a Master? The word ‘pervert’ immediately came to mind. The first day they had met, he had kept touching and kissing her. The word ‘bully’ also flashedbefore her eyes. He was definitely a bully, the way he liked doing and saying stuff that would make her blush.

Zari inhaled, preparing herself to reveal to the world the truth about her Master.

Yes, go on, pet. I’m interested in hearing what you have to say.

Her head jerked, her eyes landing on the silent figure that had come into the classroom in patent disbelief. The class, picking up on her shock, followed her gaze, and everyone squealed when they saw Alexandru at the back.

It had been one month. One month since she had last seen him, and somehow it felt like one month had wrought such a huge change in him. He was taller than she remembered, his powerful aura more authoritative. Even his sheer gorgeousness came as a shock to her, with his wavy black hair and green eyes. Had he really been this beautiful from the very start?

All in all, Alexandru made a larger than life figure, and the way he took everyone’s dumbstruck attention as nothing out of ordinary just made him more intimidatingly attractive. Zari’s head reeled at the thought that the vampire everyone was staring dreamily at washerMaster. And she – a person as ordinary as her – washishuman pet.

Zari watched her Master’s lips curve in a familiar sly smile. “Go on, pet. I’m eager to hear what you have to say. What do you think of me as a Master?” Before she could answer, he continued in his mind,Because earlier I heard exactly what you thought. Pervert, wasn’t it? And bully, too?

Alexandru almost laughed out loud when he saw the look of horror dawning on his pet’s face just before color spread in her cheeks.