Leah could not explain why this man caused her a paralyzing body. She felt caught by a stupid beast, but could not justify the sensations in any wise. Usually the mind guided her, not the feelings. It is absurd to experience such a thing next to a stranger. Leah did not know him at all.

Especially since his voice seemed capable of driving her crazy. The fact that she was so glum about the sound of a man's voice made her first impression at the university when she met a not-too-pretty teacher, who, however, had a velvet timbre, forcing Laya to dive into the subject with her head.

There was a little different story with the stranger: he looked pretty, and what was there was beautiful in a man's way. She wanted to remember the ancient gods and compare them and then shook her head again. The man smiled tenderly at her as if he understood what her brain was going through.

– The thing in itself? – She asked the embarrassed girl again, trying to adjust herself to philosophy. – I agree with Kant that experience cannot give us knowledge of what things are in themselves.

– It's amazing. – The man's lips stretched in a light half-smile. – Young, beautiful and smart. Rare combination today.

And Leah was filled with paint, and frowned.

– Did you think I was just holding the book?!

– Everything happens. He once saw her reading an erotic story wrapped in Spengler's cover of "The Rock of Europe". People are such funny creatures. As a result, I couldn't connect two words. And the "Rock of Europe" is more relevant than ever. Can you say something?

– About the cycle of flowering and fading of cultures? – Leah tried to remember the content. – Unfortunately, I no longer remember so well, I read a couple of years ago.

– Do you remember Spengler's suggestion to take history nonlinearly? Do you remember Faustian culture?

– This is Spengler's term," Leah thought deeply, trying hard to extract the necessary information from her memory. – I remember, but superficial.

The man did not look away from the girl's face, slowly sliding and sometimes clinging to the soft features.

– You'd look good in the portrait. I see you as Donna Velata. I wish you hadn't lived in Raphael's time. However… I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. – He blinked his eyes. Leah's heart contracted so much that she felt for a moment that she no longer lived in that reality. She was breathtaking, oxygen was scarce in her chest, and her lips became too dry. Leah touched them with the tip of her tongue, trying to cope with the nervousness, but the stranger's sharp look forced her to shake and feel the knot beneath her stomach. Leah held her breath watching her hematite eyes.

She thought she had done something too wrong.

– Will you have coffee? There is an excellent cafe around the corner – the stranger broke the silence. Leah had a noise in her ears. There were only a couple of people present in the library, and a nearby boy started talking on the phone, but Leah could not hear anything but one voice. At that moment, the whole world contracted to one person, and she could do nothing about it.

The girl was unable to refuse, fascinated by how educated and attractive this man was.

– Then we'll meet there in half an hour. I'll wait.

– Yes…" Leah herself didn't understand why her voice suddenly fell to a whisper. Her fingertips began to follow. – Excuse me…" she hesitated when the man turned. She was afraid he'd leave her now. The feelings were not pleasant. His heart stopped next to him, and it felt painful, but now it seemed that without him the world would lose its last colors. – What's your name?

– He is a.

– Vlad Tsepesh? – Leah laughed loudly, trying to relieve the tension. How not to remember Vlad Tsepesh in Bucharest?

– Hmm. "He raised his eyebrows, surprised. – Here we met, Donna Velata. – The man gave her such a studying look that Leah felt the tips of his fingers on her skin. Her cheeks flared red, and Vlad could see how uncomfortable she was."

– Even then I realized that you were special – the vampire pulled the girl out of painful memories with a taste of naive hopes. Lie then seemed lucky to meet the teacher himself, who would surprise her with her erudition, more experienced than she herself, with a hypnotizing look and such an influential magnetic voice. She was drawn to him by an irresistible force. In her life, Leah always counted everything, even when it came to guys. But here it has lost its ability to reasonably assess the situation.