"Please, sit down and have breakfast with me," Aron invited gently.
"I'm sorry, I don't eat breakfast," Victoria replied softly.
"Please… at least keep me company while I eat," Aron pleaded with a small smile.
Victoria fell silent for a moment, then finally walked toward the dining table. As a vampire who had lived for over two thousand years, she had never once touched human food.
Aron stood up and pulled out a chair for her, every bit the gentleman.
"This is all I know how to make—eggs and sausages. And this is coffee. Try it."
Victoria stared at the food on the plate. Her brows furrowed. Simple cooking—something she had seen countless times, yet never touched. Her appetite had long since died, just like her tongue, which had lost all sense of taste.
Aron sat back down, lowering his gaze to his phone. His thumb scrolled across the screen, not once looking in Victoria's direction.
In that silence, Victoria finally reached for the fork. Slowly, she speared a piece of sausage and brought it to her lips.
She hesitated… but in the end, she put the sausage into her mouth.
Victoria's eyes suddenly widened. She chewed slowly—and the longer she chewed, the more shock spread across her face.
"Armmm—!"
"What?" Aron jolted when he saw Victoria spring to her feet. She pointed at her mouth, her expression stunned, as if she could not believe what she was experiencing.
Aron stood up at once, his face filled with concern.
"Are you choking?"
Victoria quickly shook her head, gesturing with her hand that that was not the problem.
"Then what is it? What's wrong with you?"
Without answering, Victoria turned away and hurried off—heading straight for the bathroom.
Aron could only scratch his head, even though it didn't itch, his face filled with confusion.
"What's wrong with this woman? Is my sausage really that bad?" he muttered softly.
He picked up a fork, speared a sausage from Victoria's plate, and brought it to his mouth.
"Hmm… it's actually pretty good."
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Victoria stood rigid in front of the mirror. Her brows knitted together—her reflection was nowhere to be seen. That confirmed one thing: she was still a vampire.
Yet something felt different.
Her tongue, numb for thousands of years, could now taste the pleasure of human food. And not only that—her entire body was no longer affected by sunlight.
"What is really happening?" Victoria whispered, her chest feeling tight.
"Why am I like this? If I'm still a vampire… why does it feel as if I've become human again?"
There was no answer to her questions.
Back at the dining table, Aron glanced toward the bathroom door. At that moment, Victoria came out. After closing the door, she walked straight toward him, her head lowered.
"Where's my food?" Victoria asked when she saw her plate was empty.
"I ate all of it."
"What?" Victoria lifted her head. "Why did you eat it?"
"I thought you didn't want it."
"Did you even ask me whether I wanted it or not?"
Aron stared at her blankly. Without saying another word, he immediately stood up.
"Sit down. I'll cook a new one for you."
Victoria snorted before lowering herself into the chair. Her gaze followed Aron as he opened the fridge and took out sausages and eggs.
"Hey, Victoria…" Aron spoke as he turned on the stove. "I've been thinking about that case. What if the man denies that he killed my client's wife? He might fabricate a story—claiming that my client flew into a rage when he found out his wife was having an affair, and then say that my client attacked both of them."
"I'll make him confess," Victoria replied curtly.
Aron paused. "And how are you going to make him confess?"
Victoria didn't answer. Instead, she fixed Aron with a sharp stare.
"Why ask when you already know the answer?"
Aron looked at her, his expression calm. "What do I know?"
Victoria shook her head slowly.
"How long are you going to pretend, Aron? Ever since the first time we met… you've known who I really am. That's why you were never surprised when I suddenly appeared."
Aron continued frying the sausages and eggs, his movements relaxed, as if the conversation had no effect on him at all.
Victoria went on, her voice low but heavy with pressure.
"I drank your blood. Yet you didn't die. You didn't even turn into one of my kind."
She stared at Aron without blinking.
"So… who are you really, Aron?"
Aron straightened up, planted his hands on his hips, and puffed out his chest dramatically.
"I am the superhero of justice!" he declared enthusiastically.
Victoria's face twisted as she tried to hold back her laughter. She failed—the laugh escaped anyway when Aron remained frozen in the same pose, not moving an inch.
"Forget about me for now. That's not important," Aron said as he transferred the food onto a plate and set it in front of Victoria.
He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "I need to go now. Be careful on your way home."
"Wait," Victoria replied, still chewing. "I'm coming with you."
"You want to come with me?"
Victoria nodded without hesitation. Aron said nothing, merely eyeing the clothes Victoria was wearing at the moment.
"Wait here."
Aron rose from his chair and headed straight to his bedroom. As soon as he stepped inside, he opened the wardrobe and flipped through the hanging clothes one by one—until his gaze settled on a particular outfit.
He pulled it out.
But the moment Aron closed the wardrobe door, Victoria was already standing right in front of him. Aron wasn't surprised at all. Calmly, he lifted the outfit and held it up against Victoria, as if checking whether it would fit her.
"I bought this for my former fiancée," Aron said casually. "It was meant for a job interview. But she never wore it."
He then placed the outfit neatly on the bed.
"Just wear it."
Victoria ignored the clothes. Her eyes remained fixed on Aron's face.
"You're not surprised at all," she said softly. "It's like you're already used to living with someone like me."
Aron let out a slow breath.
"Why should I be surprised when I already know that the person who appears out of nowhere is you?"
Victoria grinned.
"You're very good at giving answers."
"Hey… please, don't think too much about me," Aron replied. "Now hurry and change into that outfit. If you can, tidy up your hair too. I'll wait outside."
Before stepping out, Aron glanced at Victoria once more.
The bedroom door closed.
Victoria stood still for a moment, then her gaze shifted to the women's suit—complete with blouse and skirt—lying neatly on the bed.
Aron returned to the kitchen to clear the table. Suddenly, his phone rang on the countertop. He picked it up immediately.
A new email had arrived—from Diana R. Weiss.
Aron broke into a wide smile as he opened it. The authorization letter to conduct an investigation at the crime scene had come through. The request he had emailed to Diana the night before had finally been approved.
"Thank you, Diana," Aron said with relief.
He quickly picked up his plate and glass and placed them in the sink. Then his eyes paused for a moment—Victoria's plate and glass were already empty. A small smile curved across his face.
Not long after Aron finished tidying up, the door to his bedroom opened.
Victoria stepped out. Her outfit was neat, modest, and elegant—like a professional secretary in the corporate world. Aron stared at her, mesmerized.
"Wow… beautiful," Aron said, his voice filled with admiration. "Now you really look like a lawyer's assistant."
Victoria felt her cheeks warm, slightly embarrassed by Aron's honest reaction.
"Where are we going?" Victoria asked.
"That condominium."
"Why there? Don't you need permission to enter?" Victoria asked as she stepped closer to Aron.
"I already got the permission." Aron glanced at the watch on his wrist. "In fifteen minutes, they'll be there."
"Who?"
"The detectives handling the case."
Victoria looked at Aron with clear admiration.
"When did you do all that?"
"Last night," Aron replied as he opened the door to leave. "I have a contact at the DA's office. We're not that close, but she used to lose every time she went up against me in court. Even though she's a senior—she even takes minor cases."
"A woman or a man?" Victoria asked.
"A woman."
Victoria's lips curved slightly. She didn't ask anything more, simply walking behind Aron toward the elevator.
As soon as they stepped out of the apartment building, Victoria narrowed her eyes slightly. Bright sunlight washed over her face—something she had never imagined in her two thousand years of existence as a vampire.
Now, she was truly standing under daylight.
Unconsciously, Victoria slowly turned in place, as if trying to feel every touch of the light. A wide smile bloomed on her lips, filled with excitement and joy, drawing the attention of a few passersby.
Meanwhile, Aron was busy by the roadside, raising his hand to hail a taxi—completely unaware of the small yet meaningful moment Victoria was experiencing.