Chapter 444: My Lovely Vampire Wife

“Charlie, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Master Luke.”

“Why… did you say you usually call me your husband?”

Her face went crimson, bright enough to rival a ripe tomato. She covered her cheeks with both hands.

“Y-you know, Master Luke.”

Know what?

Charlie lifted one trembling hand, her blush somehow deepening. “Ever since the moment you… asked me to marry you.”

He froze. What?

For a second Luke honestly thought she was joking, but one look at her expression told him she was painfully serious.

Marriage? I asked her to marry me?!

Artemis’s laughter echoed in his mind like an audience waiting for the punchline.

Charlie pointed to the ring on her finger. “I-I accepted your proposal right away, Master Luke.”

She accepted it right away? Wait, but that was just the gear item I gave her. No… she thought it was a marriage proposal.

“Even though you caught me off guard, I said yes. I like you so much, Master Luke.”

The words hit him like a lightning bolt. Oh… this is a catastrophic misunderstanding.

Artemis burst into hysterical laughter, her voice vibrating through the room.

Luke started pacing. Shut up, loudmouth. Stop laughing!

‘At long last! The day has come! The day the hopelessly dense one gets run over by the truck of ignored feelings!’ Artemis didn’t finish because Luke snapped the pendant, silencing her mid mockery.

“Charlie,” he said carefully as he approached her, “what do you mean we’re married? And what do you mean you… like me?”

She covered her face again, mortified. “I… I’m your wife, Master Luke. And I… I care about you. Very much.”

Oh no. It really is what it sounds like. Wait… all those times…

Memory after memory slammed into him. Every moment they spent together the past year, how she looked after him, how she sometimes tried to carry him away from danger, how she’d watch him sleep, how she’d get shy whenever he took his shirt off to check an injury…

“Holy shit, I’ve been married for a year without knowing!” he blurted.

He stared at her.

“Charlie, I…”

“I know, Master Luke,” she whispered. “I realized you didn’t feel quite the same way.” She looked down at the ring. “But I still love you, Master Luke.”

It really was an avalanche crashing down on him. His closest friend this whole time had felt that way about him.

‘Well, well, well, the dense one finally gets it, huh?’ Artemis chimed smugly in his mind.

So that’s why you kept calling me dense?

‘Obviously.’

I’m not dense.

‘Oh, really? Sorry, what do you call being married for a whole year without noticing? Please enlighten me, Mister Totally Not Dense.’

I knew Charlie cared about me. I just didn’t think it was… that kind of thing. I thought it was like siblings, like two best friends.

‘Congratulations. It is sibling love. You know, like in Game of Thrones. So yes, incest.’

Luke dragged a hand down his face. “Charlie, this really caught me off guard.”

‘So off guard it overshadowed the whole “she’s a vampire now” thing. Impressive. Look at you sweating.’

“Ch-Charlie, I don’t know how to answer this. I never… thought about anything like this before,” he admitted. “I always saw you like a sister…”

“I come from Greek culture. All the best stories are incest stor” Artemis began before being silenced instantly.

“It’s all right, Master Luke. I understand,” Charlie said softly. “You have so much on your mind. Going back to your family, finding out what happened to your mother.” Her gaze dropped. “But…”

Her face flushed again. “Even knowing it wasn’t mutual, I always thought of myself as your w-wife, Master Luke.”

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