Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 184: Aylin’s quality

”Ha!” Eloise said jubilantly, delighted to have found an ally.

”You think having her agree with you speaks well for your stance?” Kaya asked, looking annoyed.

Aylin paused then with a little smile on her lips.

”Hold on, you chose the Spear?” She asked and then laughed a little with a hand over her mouth,

”Sorry, but I guess it’s not all that surprising. Not everyone can understand and aspire for subtlety instead of the brashness of swinging around the larger tool.”

”Interesting to talk that way about ’larger’ tools while hurling around those things on your chest,” Kaya said with a nonchalant gesture at Aylin’s breasts which were at least double that of any other girl at the table.

”Is that jealousy I hear?” Aylin asked with a smirk.

”Me? Jealous of those things? Please. Moderate is always best,” Kaya said, ”One of these days, you’re going to suffocate.”

”In any case, the conversation wasn’t about how much better my breasts are compared to yours. They were about Arcane Tools.

And the elegance and grace that comes with wielding a Wand? Well, that just can’t be beat. Not by a Staff anyway.”

”That’s what I said,” Eloise said, still looking so happy that the majority side of the debate had been tipped in her favor, that she didn’t even consider Aylin an enemy.

Now, of course, Eloise usually shared Kaya’s sentiment about Aylin. She had also been at the receiving end of hateful looks and icy chills before the peacemaking earlier that week. Alas, she found it so easy to put it aside at the moment. Just for now at least.

Aylin looked at Eloise’s pretty face and nodded,

”The swish and flick action. To move one’s wrist so little and create such powerful effects... Just incredible. It can even feel like you’re not wielding anything...”

”And that’s exactly why it sucks,” Kaya pointed out, ”If I’m going to the extent of wielding an Arcane Tool, you best believe I’ll wield one that makes me actually feel like I’m using something.”

”But think about the optics though...” Aylin said.

”The optics are exactly why Staffs are better. It’s so silly to be flicking wands about. You’d especially look like a douchebag if you did. Though that’s not all that different from how you usually look... ” Kaya said.

”Come on, Kaya,” Eloise said, ”Be nice.”

Kaya opened her mouth looking stunned to hear her best friend side with this annoying icy bitch who just planted herself at their table without invitation.

Before Kaya could even voice out the betrayal she was feeling in the moment, Aylin adopted a somewhat vulnerable expression that somehow still managed to look snobby. The way she struck the balance had to warrant some praise.

”It’s alright dear,” she said to Eloise with quite the dazzling yet simple smile, ”Pass the juice please?”

Eloise blinked, taken by surprise, and, almost subconsciously, she grabbed the jug closer to her to place it where Aylin could reach and fill it for herself.

Except before Aylin even tried to reach for the jug—and it didn’t look like she even planned to—Eloise was already tipping it over and filling a goblet for her.

”Eloise!” Kaya said a bit loudly to snap her friend out of what she assumed was a trance.

Eloise just looked over at Kaya.

”What?” She asked naturally.

”Why are you pouring her a drink?” Kaya asked.

Eloise looked surprised by the question,

”She asked me to,” she said.

”No, she didn’t,” Kaya said, ”She only asked you to pass the jug.”

Eloise shrugged.

”Same difference,” she said and placed the jug down now that the goblet was filled.

”It’s really not,” Kaya said.

”Well, thank you, dear,” Aylin said and touched Eloise gently on the arm causing her to get flushed for about a second under the icy-blue stare.

”You’re welcome,” Eloise said in a voice that was only slightly flustered and then she caught Kaya’s suspicious look and asked,

”What?”

Kaya wasn’t sure what to say. She just didn’t feel quite right. She looked over at Delia and saw that the Kragsten girl’s stormy grey eyes were narrowed as they observed Aylin Khione as well.

It appeared the two were starting to understand why Aylin Khione had amassed herself a respectable group of poseys right from the first day of school and how she maintained a dynamic within her created group to ensure she was the leader.

Aylin had a... quality. She was quite good at making people feel at ease. It helps when they are not overtly antagonistic toward her like Kaya was. She could quite easily acquire allies and impose dynamics upon those allies without it appearing forceful. If she wanted her circle within Lochxen to be larger, she would have surely managed it. However, at the moment, her hold with this natural ability of hers would lose its effect the more people she tried to pull into her dynamic.

This quality is certainly helped along by Aylin’s impossibly perfect beauty but it’s more than that. It’s just an intangible and unquantifiable talent she inherited from her mother and helped to further identify her as just the one to eventually take over the Khione Duchy.

Anyway, this quality of Aylin’s had made it so that her agreeing with Eloise on something made the amber-eyed beauty quite predisposed to welcoming her into this circle.

This was of course, a passive ability. Aylin herself didn’t know quite how to explain it at the moment. She only knew she was good at getting people to become friendly toward her and knew how to use it to her advantage. As she was currently doing.

Kaya somewhat caught on but didn’t understand what was happening any better than Aylin did so she just worked on snapping her friend out of it.

”Eloise, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already what sort of person she is,” she said.

”I’m just being nice...” Eloise started to say, sounding defensive.

”Surely, you can’t have forgotten why she hates us,” Kaya said.

That certainly did it.

The thought of Caius and how Aylin’s goal and motivation to be against her and Kaya was about being with him instead of them, cleared whatever ease was starting to set in. It was almost like someone getting pulled out of a trance with how Eloise’s smile became a frown.

”Oh yeah,” she said in a long drawn-out voice.

”Oh, please. ’Hated’—past tense—is the right word to use. I don’t hate you anymore,” Aylin said.

”But you did hate us before,” Eloise said.

”A little. But I’m working on it,” Aylin said with her palms raised in placation while focusing her attention mostly on Eloise as she said while pointing at Kaya,

”And she’s only trying to turn you away from the actual conversation by the way. She can tell she’s losing ’cause now you have me by your side to supply those points that you just might not be able to think of.”

Eloise’s brows furrowed. Her mind was sharp as she tried to detect any bit of falsehood or trickery in Aylin’s words.

”Oh, come off it,” Kaya said then,” This is NOT about that.”

”Isn’t it?” Aylin asked lightly, glancing back at the half-elf just for a moment before looking back at Eloise to ask,

”How long have you been debating this?”

”The day before yesterday,” she said slowly, ”We were so into it, we barely asked Delia why she came back to the dormitory completely drenched.”

That distracted Aylin for a bit,

”Why was Delia drenched?” She asked, looking over at the Kragsten girl who was not all that involved in the conversation but perked up hearing that notable incident get brought up.

”Something to do with Caius, of course,” Eloise said with a casual wave.

”Oh?” Aylin said with a brow raised and her attention on Delia, ”You and Caius?”

Delia frowned at Eloise who looked slightly sheepish about blabbing and then she looked at Aylin and said in a dry voice.

”It’s none of your business.”

But Kaya saw an opportunity here to hammer in an earlier point she had made.

”Oh, that’s right. Her and Caius. It’s all three of us at this table now. How does that make you feel? How does having to share with three others make you feel?”

As she asked, Kaya’s pretty leaf leaf-green eyes were twinkling at a potentially successful bait to get Aylin to drop the mask of cordiality. She had her chin resting on the back of her interlocked fingers and cocked her head to the side.

Aylin looked like she was straining but she managed a natural enough smile.

”I told you, Kaya,” she said, ”I’m not here for a fight. And certainly not to talk about something as silly as ’man-sharing’.

We’re talking about Staffs versus Wands. And I always say that in all one does, they must look good doing it. Nothing looks better than a Wand. Goes with formal and casual wear. I like the Rod as well but it’s very formal.

Staffs are just too long and ugly for me to even consider any fashion pairings to go with them.”

Eloise nodded slightly in agreement and that seemed to really tick Kaya off as she blew a bit hotter than she had thus far.

”By the gods, why am I even discussing this with you. You shouldn’t even be here.”

Aylin clicked your tongue and shook her head.

”See, we could be having such a nice chat but you insist on souring the moment with your lack of hospitality.

Is that how all you elves behave?”

”Half-elf,” Kaya corrected Aylin as she had done many times and it sparked something in her and fueled the next words she said,

”And that’s my point. You can’t even take care not to be condescending about my race. You are just not the kind of person to be sitting with us.”