Chapter 269 Blood Moon TreesRudy spread all the dirty plates and pots in the air and used the mixture of hydrokinesis to wash the dishes.

  When Niti returned with a glass filled with a milkshake, she was left speechless to see all the plates were washed and cleaned. Not only that, but Rudy had also cleaned the table.

  ”Why… would you do all that? It was my job…” she muttered in confusion.

  ”Don’t get the wrong idea. I only did that because I was bored. I do it at home, and this is the best way to learn to control my powers precisely. They help me get a better judgment,” he stated.

  Niti nervously glanced at Jane from the corner of her eyes and saw she didn’t look happy about it. Of course, she was glad that Niti’s work was done by Rudy, but she was displeased that Rudy did it for Niti’s sake.

  It was but a simple feeling of every girl in love; jealousy.

  ”Here…” Niti handed a glass filled with a milkshake to Rudy.

  ”Red… or is it pink…?” The color was lighter than red but darker than pink.

  ”Uhh…” Rudy turned to Jane and asked, “Please tell me it’s not the blood mixed with milk.”
”It’s not,” Niti answered instead of Jane. “It’s pure milk and a blood moon fruit.”
”And… what is that fruit made of?”
”It’s a natural fruit from a tree.”
”Why is it called the blood moon fruit?”
”Ahem!” Jane cleared her throat to bring Rudy’s attention to her. Then she haughtily flicked her hair and uttered with a proud face:

  ”They are called the blood moon fruit because they only grow once a year under the full red moon, which is the blood moon week for us vampires, which is the current week. It is said that the blood moon tree was the first thing to be created in this vampire world. Of course, the Lord created it for us vampires, and it was also a substitute for blood.

  However, the vampires didn’t like it. They wanted the real world, which angered the Lord. In the end, Lord created a few animals which milked blood instead of milk. That was to decrease the bloodshed in this world and maintain the ecosystem. If the vampires started hunting the animals for food, they would go extinct. Unlike the human world, where there are animals dangerous to humans, in this world, vampires are the most dangerous.

  Yet, there were a few rebellious vampires who wanted to drink human blood. So they sneaked out and began hunting the humans until the Lord found out about them and crucified them.

  Some say that it was the reason why the Lord had forbidden making contact with the humans. But I believe that wasn’t the whole story.”
’Yeah, that’s not the full story. Nyxia told me the other reasons as well,’ Rudy uttered inwardly.

  Jane smiled innocently and waited for Rudy to praise her. But Rudy did something else.

  He turned to Niti and said, “So in the end, it’s blood and milk.”
”You can say that, but it’s not the real world. The fruit is a delicacy to the vampires, and they are rare and expensive since there are only a few trees shared between the kingdoms,” she responded calmly.

  ”You can grow more trees, right? I am not a botanist, but I know many things about how plants and trees work. In fact, that was one of the first things I learned in biology.”
”Mitochondria is a powerhouse of the cell…” he muttered.

  ”We can’t grow the blood moon trees,” Jane interjected. She frowned her face at Rudy and continued, “Many tried but failed. It’s nearly impossible to grow it.”
”Nearly impossible is not impossible.”
Jane frowned her face even more, but Rudy ignored her and drank a sip from the glass. His eyes widened as he gulped down the entire glass in the second sip.

  ”Damn, that was awesome!”
”I am glad you liked it.”
”Can I get one more glass?” he asked with a resolute expression.

  ”Ummm… we are out of blood moon fruits. Today is the second night, and more fruits should arrive soon,” Niti responded.

  ”I see. Please make me a few glasses when they arrive.”
After that, Rudy tapped on Jane’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”
He walked a few steps towards the door but stopped and turned around when he didn’t hear Jane’s footsteps.

  She was still sitting on the chair with puffed cheeks and a glare in her eyes.

  SIGH!

  Rudy used telekinesis and carried Jane into his arms. Then, he walked out of the dining hall while carrying Jane like a princess.

  ”Would you stop pouting and glaring at me at the same time? It doesn’t make you look scary. I find it rather cute.”
”You have to pay attention to me when I am around. Why were you flirting with Niti in front of me?” she asked in a gloomy voice.

  ”How was that flirting? I was asking her genuine questions.”
”You could have asked me.”
”You know nothing about food, so I didn’t ask you. And you did answer my question about the blood moon tree history. So what’s this drama about?” he asked with a curious and confused look on his face.

  ”You didn’t praise me for my answer.”
”I was thinking of rewarding you on the bed instead,” he uttered casually.

  ”Oh.” Jane’s anger vanished within a second.

  Rudy carried Jane to her room, but he stopped halfway and decided to enjoy the cold breeze and the night scenery from the balcony.

  ”It’s truly so beautiful. I was so angry last night that I didn’t pay attention to anything.”
”Are we going to sleep or have ‘fun’ all night?” Jane asked with an excited face.

  ”Neither…”
”Huh?”
”Let’s go back.”
”Back where…? Do you want to visit Rias?” she asked curiously.

  ”No, I will do that in the morning. Right now, I want to go back to the labyrinth.”
===

  Mitochondria is a powerhouse of a cell!

  Chapter 270 Returning to the Labyrinth”Labyrinth? Why do you want to go there at this time?” Jane asked with a conflicted look on her face.

  ”Before you jump to a weird conclusion like an insecure girlfriend, we just had sex for hours. Otherwise, I would still prefer to spend the night and have fun,” Rudy asserted in a neutral tone.

  ”Oh? So you are saying that you are tired of my body now?”
”I did not say that.” Rudy turned to look at Jane, only to find her grinning at him.

  Rudy pinched and pulled Jane’s cheek as she said, “Stop pretending. I can’t tell when you are joking and when you are not.”
Rudy climbed the ledge and shot a glance at Jane before jumping down. Jane watched Rudy land with a smile on her face before spreading her wings and flying away.

  Rudy jumped again and flew beside Jane while practicing his new flying technique. He was keeping the movements of his hands and legs still to avoid the friction in the air. However, the change in his speed wasn’t much, so he stopped doing that.

  ”So? You didn’t answer my question. Why do you suddenly want to go there?”
”Just curious and bored… I guess?” Rudy shrugged.

  ’After my chat with Nyxia, I am more curious about everything. And the only place I can find answers is the labyrinth. Maybe I should have stayed there and seen who it was.

  Whoever it was, they surely knew the passage. Even Jane got lost, but I don’t blame her since she went there after a long time.’
Rudy began guessing the person, but he didn’t know many vampires to begin with, so the only people he could suspect were Nyxia or Virgil.

  Rudy suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance that was being carried by the cold breeze. He instantly recognized the smell and turned to Jane.

  ”Is that smell from the blood moon fruit?” he asked to confirm.

  ”Yes,” she nodded in response.

  ”Can you take me there? I want to see what the tree looks like.”
”Sure. It’s not far away, but I can’t take you close. You will have to see them from afar.”
Rudy followed Jane and stopped when she stopped.

  ”There it is.”
He followed Jane’s gaze and saw a garden full of Blood Moon Tree. The fruits were shining red while beating as though they were alive, and they looked even more imposing under the red moon.

  ”Hmm? There are so many fruits already. Why wasn’t there any available in the palace? Don’t the royals get prioritized about all this stuff?” Rudy asked without moving his gaze from the garden.

  ”You are not wrong about that. But there are many rules to harvesting the fruits from the tree. There is a certain time between the night and the morning that separates the day from night. And only then are they only allowed to harvest the blood moon fruits,” Jane explained calmly.

  SIGH!

  ”I honestly don’t know what to say about these rules. But they must exist for a reason, so I think I should say something inappropriate.” Rudy hugged Jane from behind and uttered, “Can we go there?”
Jane leaned back and enjoyed Rudy’s embrace before asking, “What do you want to do by going there?”
”I want to burn the trees,” he snickered. “I am joking. I want to see the trees. Maybe I can grow them?”
”How? It’s not an ordinary plant. And earlier, you said you were a botanist- which I assume is something related to the science behind the plants. But don’t forget this world works on magic, not science. And so does that tree.”
”That’s not what I meant.” Rudy squeezed Jane’s breasts and said, “My powers technically allow me to do anything I wish for. Directly or indirectly, my wish gets fulfilled.”
”That sounds like you are blessed.” Jane smiled with a soft chuckle and muttered, “A love between a cursed and a blessed. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”
”Hmm. More like poetic, but I don’t and can’t argue with that.” Rudy activated his see-through ability and scanned the area around the garden.

  ”It’s full of guards hiding perfectly in their spots. If we approach carelessly, they might get in trouble,” he muttered.

  ”Shouldn’t it be ‘we’ might get in trouble?”
”Of course not. Why should we get in trouble?”
”Anyway, we are getting late. Let’s go to the academy and return before the morning. There is a function at the royal palace, and I must attend it.”
”How can you tell when it’s morning and when it’s night? There is… or are, no suns here. And everything looks the same to me. I haven’t seen a clock either,” Rudy asked curiously.

  ”It’s the sky. It changes, and an invisible layer is formed between the moons and the sky.” Jane groaned and muttered, “It’s hard to explain. But there is an entire chapter about it in the books if you want to read.”
Rudy hugged Jane tightly and teleported to the labyrinth, or so he wanted to, but they teleported to the statue in the vampire academy.

  ”Hmm…” Rudy hummed in amusement and uttered, “That’s strange. This has never happened before. Was that yet another teleport malfunction?”
He wondered.

  ”What?” Jane asked with a puzzled look on her face. “Did you not intend to teleport us here?”
”I tried to teleport us to the labyrinth. But…”
”Maybe it’s because of the phenomena I told you about?”
”Or perhaps that place doesn’t exist in the current time and has changed into something else.”
”That’s what I said…”
Jane quickly triggered the secret passage and jumped before Rudy.

  ”Someone’s in a hurry.” Rudy jumped right after Jane, and they landed within a minute.

  ”Are you okay?” they asked each other.

  ”Is it just me, or did we land a lot sooner this time?” Rudy asked.

  ”You are not alone.”
They both glanced around and were left astonished after realizing it was an entirely different place. Sure, they had already expected that. But it wasn’t a labyrinth anymore. Rather, they were in an open desert that had its own moon and stars in the sky.

  ****

  What secrets will they unravel together, or will they just find yet another mystery?

  ===

  Thanks, @Knickknack, and @IcewaterKat, for the gift!

  Chapter 271 Stranded”Where are we?” Jane muttered as she glanced around. “I have never used the secret passage at night, so this is my first time here. But rather than a labyrinth or an underground, this looks like an entirely different world.”
”It’s another dimension. Most likely, the secret passage activated a portal, and we ended up here.”
”What should we do?” she asked in an anxious voice. She spread her wings and flew in the air to see the vast area.

  Rudy did the same, but he flew higher than her since he could see farther than her.

  ”There is nothing but sand everywhere. What type of world is this?” Jane hugged herself and muttered, “I don’t like this place. It’s making me nauseous, for some reason.”
Rudy lowered his gaze and uttered, “I don’t feel anything. Is it because you are a vampire, and the desert represents the sun? I mean, deserts are hot because of the sun, and the vampires are weak against the sun.”
”That could be it. It’s my first time in such a place. But there are deserts in the vampire world too. Although they are cold.”
”Yeah, it’s night here, so you are safe. And actually, this is my first time in a desert too. I have been to the sea beach, forest camping and hiking, and recently to the mountains and snowy mountains too.”
Jane looked up at the sky and saw a full white moon. But suddenly, it turned blue, and she felt as though her powers were being sucked.

  Rudy noticed Jane shivering, so he followed her gaze and looked up, but he couldn’t find anything strange. For him, the moon was still white.

  ”Jane?” Rudy tapped on Jane’s shoulder to get her attention.

  ”Huh?” Jane blinked and turned to Rudy with a pale face. She tried to tell him about the blue moon, but when she looked at the moon again, it was white.

  ”Hmm? What’s wrong? If you don’t like this place. Then I can teleport us back to the palace. There is no need to worry,” he said in a calm voice.

  ”No, I am fine. Just feeling a little dizzy, I guess.”
”Are you thirsty or hungry? I just ate and drank the best milkshake of my life, but I suddenly feel hungry and thirsty as though I have been starving for days.”
A brief pause later, he said, “This place is under a magic spell. Or it might just be because of the desert, but I am leaning more on my former reason.”
Jane gulped down and placed her hand below her neck before nodding.

  ”Yeah. I feel thirsty…”
Rudy pulled his collar down his shoulder and said, “Go ahead and drink my blood.”
”Are you sure? Aren’t you thirsty too?”
”Well, I can’t drink your blood, so I will create some water with my powers,” he replied with a soft scoff.

  ”Okay.”
Without wasting any time, Jane hugged Rudy and buried her fangs in his neck. She closed her eyes and began drinking his blood while savoring every sip of it before swallowing it.

  She opened her eyes slowly because she felt as though someone or something was watching her, and sure enough, she saw someone.

  A black cloaked figure was standing far away on the sand with a staff in its hand. There was a shining blue orb on top of the staff and a few small blue orbs circling around the figure.

  Suddenly, its eyes glowed blue, and so did Jane’s, even though her eyes were red.

  Rudy lost his balance and fell to the ground with Jane on top of him.

  THUD!

  ”Are you okay?!” Jane asked with an anxious look on her face before looking in the direction she saw the figure, but it was nowhere to be seen. Just to confirm, she glanced around everywhere, but it wasn’t there.

  ”Yeah, I am fine…” Rudy sat up and placed his hand on his neck to feel something wet.

  Even without looking, Rudy was sure that it was his blood. His wound didn’t heal.

  ’What just happened? I suddenly felt dizzy after Jane sucked my blood and fell down. This has never happened before. I always feel weak but not dizzy, and I never lose control of my powers.’
Rudy tried to stand up, but he was too weak to do that.

  Jane, on the other hand, had started quivering in fear after what she had just seen. Out of all the colors she could have seen, she saw the blue color that she hated the most.

  Jane hated herself for being a cursed child more than anyone else, but she never blamed herself or her mother for it. It was fate’s fault.

  Rudy tried to use hydrokinesis to drink water as he was feeling more thirsty after Jane sucked his blood. However, the water didn’t appear.

  He tried to use his other abilities and came to the conclusion that he had lost his powers for some reason.

  ’Should I tell Jane about this?’ Rudy glanced at Jane and noticed she was already scared. ‘Let’s not worry her more.’
Rudy removed his hand from his neck, grabbed a sand fist, and rubbed his neck with it.

  ’The bleeding had slowed down, but it still stings. I feel weak too. As I had expected, there is magic cast on this place.’
’But I was able to fly before…’ Rudy somehow managed to stand up and tried to fly, and sure enough, he was able to fly.

  ’So I haven’t lost my powers fully. This place is weakening my powers, not sealing them. But if I spend more time in this place, who knows what might happen.’
Rudy could use his basic powers that didn’t require mental stress, such as flying, super strength, super speed, and super senses, but he was unable to use telekinesis, healing, and the rest of his powers.

  However, he was worried about only one thing that mattered the most in their current situation.

  ’Can I teleport back or not?’