Daisy made her way through the academy towards the teachers’ offices. It had been nearly a month since she had started her lessons with Alex, and now she felt she could trust him at least enough to ask a question she had been pondering over for a while.

Arriving at his personal office, a room with a steel-reinforced door reminiscent of a prison cell, she knocked on the door, and a very muffled voice said. “enter.”

“Ah, Daisy… how can I help today?” Alex asked as he closed the latch on a crate with a few small holes on the sides.

“I came to ask for some advice,” Daisy admitted as she gestured to a free chair, to which Alex nodded. Sitting down, Daisy took a deep breath as she tried to shore up her will.

“Whenever you are ready,” Alex said, sitting in his own seat.

“It’s just… promise you won’t overreact?” Alex just nodded.

“I’m considering not going through with my coming-of-age ceremony. After meeting you, I was even more sure of it.” Looking up at her teacher, she could see he was just staring at her as if waiting for more.

“That it?” Alex asked, a brow arching higher than usual.

“YES!!” Daisy replied indignantly at his non-reaction to her life-changing statement. It was then that it dawned on her that maybe he didn’t understand the significance.

“Well, sir, I am from a vampire family,” Daisy elaborated.

“Yeah, I know,” Alex said with a nod.

“And children born to vampire couples are…” Daisy's voice trailed off as a good portion of her entire upbringing surrounded her, not admitting it.

“Technically, human right?” Daisy stared, blinking at her teacher, shocked he knew.

“How do you-”

“Know? Well, I’ve done a lot of research into vampires.”

“Of course, you read my student file and looked up how best to help the mix of races in your lesson.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“No,” Alex said with a shake of his head.

“Well, actually, I did for Gnomes and Titans. But I already knew Werebeasts well due to my school years. Vampires, however…” Alex’s trailed off as it was apparent he wasn’t sure how to explain it.

“Don’t tell me your first love was a vampire?” Daisy exclaimed with a gasp as she covered her mouth.

“WHAT?! Gods no, I looked into everything vampire so I would know how to kill them.”

Daisy recoiled in her seat. Her teacher, who seemed rather accepting, had just admitted he had learnt about the clans she was born into solely to kill them.

“Sir, you aren’t planning to kill the Dark Lady Crozonia and seize the Ebony Throne.”

“What?! Obviously no! Have you met her or read the history of this continent? Half the Dark Lords grow so desperate to quit a job that can only be left by dying that they engineer their own rebellions and downfall.”

“The reason I looked into that stuff is that my sister married a vampire after she joined the army. I looked it up to kill him if he ever hurt her.”

“The same sister you seemed… well, you know.”

“Family is family, Daisy. Despite our relationship, I still care about her. We would both do terrible things for those we care about. Especially if someone hurt the other.”

“Anyways, we got off-topic. You are worried because you want to deny ‘The bite of the eternal’ when you come of age?” Daisy just nodded.

“If you are nervous with anticipation, you can have it done early.”

“I can?” Daisy asked, surprised to learn something about the ritual even she didn’t know.

“You can. However, you will forever be stuck as a sixteen-year-old with all those hormones. There's a reason they wait for you to be in your early twenties.”

“If you don’t want it now, you can grow up a bit and then have it done.”

“Well, the alternative is growing old as a human.” She replied, which caused Alex to sigh.

“I don’t have a clear answer for you, Daisy. Living as a human in the upper echelons of this continent is hard. Remember what I said? Every decision has a price. At the moment, you are nervous about your future and wowed by me for some gods forsaken reason.”

“So look into humanity. Look into the prices you will be paying to make that decision. The best decision can only be made when you have informed yourself as fully as is possible.”

“But sir…” Daisy was even more confused as to what her decision should be.

“Regardless of your choice, you will still be one of my students. So don’t worry, whatever happens, you will have someone in your corner.” Alex gave a comforting smile as Daisy rose to leave his office.

Just as she was about to close the door behind her, she turned to give a wave goodbye to Alex only to notice the crate Alex closed shake.