Chapter 496: Chapter 498: Make Sure, They Lose Sleep Damon sighed, it was quite obvious with this little stunt he was now in the shit list of the Moonveil royal family. Still, that was a good thing — he certainly hoped they find a way to kill him. Preferably after the whole world dungeon incident. But he wasn’t getting his hopes up — nothing short of a miracle. Could overcome deathless. Now that he had played a small prank on the queen, might as well call Sylvia and let her know. Damon took out his pager from his shadow storage. He still only had a single arm left since he had cut off his own arm. But that was a small price for victory. He was a little woozy from blood loss, but it wasn’t enough to hinder him... for now. His pager had a few missed calls — a lot from Leona, some from Sylvia, Evangeline called too, and surprisingly Xander as well. He had two from Lilith. She was probably calling to check up on him. He smiled, but he didn’t move to call her. Instead, he moved his thumb to Sylvia and tapped on her name. Almost as soon as it rang, it connected. Damon expected to hear her voice — instead... There was only silence. He was somewhat worried — what if her parents had gotten to her pager first? Still, he already spoke to her mother. He had nothing to fear. "Hello... ermh... Sylvia." Her voice came soon after — cold and distant. "Who is this... do I know you?" Damon lifted his pager from his ear and looked at it. This was Sylvia, right? He was sure that was her voice, but he’d never heard her speak so coldly. "Please don’t tell me you lost your memory... or you are suffering under some strange curse." There was a brief pause. "You... you... you’re the worst... you just left me... you didn’t even bother glancing at me when Lilith Astranova showed up..." Damon felt his ears ring. She wasn’t done. "Now you call after I left a gazillion calls... don’t act like everything is okay after ghosting me." He suddenly felt bad. He had sort of ignored her. Even when she called, he had seen her calls when he was in the capital... but ignored them. He had been busy wiping names from his personal hit list. He could understand her indignation. "Sylvia, come on... don’t be like that... I had my reasons... I was thinking of you every moment..." There was a pause. "Why did you even think that would work? You’re lying out of your teeth. I know you better than that... it’s obvious you called because you want something from me..." Damon looked around awkwardly. He sighed. "Alright... I’ll hang up..." "No!!!" she yelled, stopping him. Then she spoke softly. "Ermh... I don’t mind... so ermh... don’t hang up." Damon smiled. Hook, line, and sinker. He got her. He sighed. "I... you can’t handle this... it’s fine... I’ll ask someone else." "No. I insist. You already called... might as well help." She replied quickly. He smiled. "You can’t... I mean, if I told you, I know you wouldn’t be able to do it... it’s fine... I bet Lilith can help me figure something out." Sylvia’s voice turned stern — he could hear a cold edge in her tone. "I will do whatever it takes... tell me now!!" Damon sighed, shaking his head. "I can’t tell you... at least until you promise you will." Sylvia’s tone was unchanged. "I swear I will..." Damon smiled. This was easier than he thought. "Well, it’s not that big of a deal... I’m just going to need you to do some acting for me..." Sylvia scoffed, then giggled. "Is that all? You should have just said so... I can do it. No need to involve that woman." Damon smirked. He knew Sylvia didn’t like Lilith from the moment she mentioned the name earlier. "Well, it’s your funeral... but fine. Do I take this as having your word you won’t back out?" "Yes!" she replied without hesitation. Damon chuckled evilly. Sylvia had grown, but she was still susceptible to his manipulations — but that was fine. "Hmmm... you see, the role I want you to play is kind of simple." She was getting impatient. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me." Damon sighed, looking up at the sky. "Sylvia... I’m going to need you to tell your parents you are pregnant with my child." There was a long silence. Then... "Huh... what?" Damon cleared his throat. "I’m going to need you to tell your parents you are pregnant with my child..." Sylvia was quiet... then whispered. "I... I am pregnant with your child." Damon heard her mutter softly. "So kissing can actually get someone pregnant... my father was actually telling the truth... the books were wrong." He raised an eyebrow. Did she think she got pregnant from kissing him? "That’s not possible... and you aren’t actually pregnant. The books were right." Sylvia paused, her voice going quiet again. Then... as if taking the time to register his words... "Wh... what? Are you crazy? Why do you want me to tell them such a blatant lie... except... ermh... if you want to actually have a baby... I heard childbirth can be painful... bu... but I’ll try my best." Damon wore a deadpan expression as she continued to mumble. "Sylvia... you’re only acting..." She suddenly regained herself after he screamed into his pager. Damon sighed, feeling a little bad for driving a wedge between Sylvia and her parents. "Your mother and I sort of had a conversation... and I may have led her to believe I got you pregnant and refused to take responsibility..." "I want you to play the role of the young girl who got pregnant... but the guy — which is me — doesn’t want to take responsibility for his actions. You are three months in, and you have a lot of symptoms... more than that, you are depressed... and might take your own life... figure the rest out..." Sylvia was quiet. Damon was unsure if she was shocked... or scared. Then she spoke again. "Well, that explains why my mother and father have been blowing up my pager all this time." She chuckled. "You do realize they will kill you." Damon glanced at the blood-soaked forest. "A little too late for that." Sylvia paused, understanding his words. "I see... I’m sorry... I—" "Don’t apologize. This is my payback. Be sure to make it hurt for me... that way we’ll be even." Sylvia chuckled coldly. "I’ll make sure they lose sleep."