Madeline’s POV

I grabbed my scarf from my dress rack and went outside my room while circling the scarf around my neck. I saw Ariana and my stepmother already in front of the dining table with coffee and bread. They glared at me as they watched me approach the cabinet to cook eggs.

I have no time for their obnoxious attitudes. I have a lot in mind, and they are less than important. Tss.

“What frustration,” I heard the sassy Ariana say behind me. “You should be the one waking up first before us. Did you have a date last night for you to sleep beyond the past night’s hour?”

Ugh, this bitch… I rolled my eyes and answered her without looking at her, “Why would I? I am not like you,” I said deadpan.

“What? Ugh, Mom, listen to her!” she rumbled.

“Madeline, remember that you are under my roof. Maintain your respect!” my stepmother said. “Don’t mind her, dear. She is just jealous because you are prettier than her.”

Oh, I don’t respect people when they can’t even give respect to me.

My work was abrupt inside the house. After doing the chores, I briefly bid goodbye to my stepmother, telling her that I was just going to the town to sell fish and help Lady Perry at her store. But I was not gonna go there, of course. It took a shortcut through a mini forest just next to the town. It is known to be haunted by demons and ghosts, but I am not a believer in them, so I am fond of walking through it to sneak into the palace. When I arrived at the huge wall in front of me, I climbed to a tree with ease. I’m used to it already, so it did not take a long time for me to reach the peak of the wall. Without further ado, I continued walking to the roofs of other parts of the palace, climbed walls, and jumped from one hall to another, until I reached the window of the prince from his room.

“Ah! Ah! Faster, Your Highness!”

I almost puked my lungs and liver out when the first thing I saw from the prince’s window was him and a lady. They are fucking each other in front of my eyes! What a disgraceful act! I didn’t want to intrude on their filthy business, so I just sat under the window and leaned against its wall. I could hear their peals of pleasure, which made me promise myself that I would kill the prince after I asked for help from him.

To entertain myself, I watched the whole kingdom in front of my eyes and watched the villagers in the town. It has a good and beautiful view up from here, even though I am at the highest part of the castle. Suddenly, that same long static sound I heard last night went into my mind again. I held the side of my head and gnashed my teeth due to the pain I was feeling. The moans from the princess's chambers became shouts of pain, the village below was now burning with flames, and I could see people running for their lives as wolves chased them down. And in the middle of the chaos, someone was motionless and was looking up at where I was.

It was Uriel. He had angry and evil red eyes… and out of sensation, I was also in rage, looking back at him. Oh, help me, gods. What the bloody hell is really happening?

“Madeline?”

And again, my vision in my head was cut off. I looked up in the window and saw Prince Arthur peeking through it. He was amused by my presence, and I did not have time to explain further why I was there. I stood up and jumped out of his window to get in.

“Did you find anything about the symbol of the creature’s cloak yesterday?” I asked him.

“Wait…can you just explain why you are here?” he asked in confusion.

He was now in his clothes, and it seemed that he had made the lady he was fucking leave his chambers. Which is a very good sight.

"Based on my question,” I said while frowning.

He sighed and pointed at his side table. “I found a book in our royal library. It’s about the vampires,” he said. “I found out that the symbol from the cloak is the symbol of the vampires’ flag before when they are at ceremonies or preparing for a war.”

While he was explaining it to me, I approached his side table. There was a black, old-looking, thick book that, when I touched it, I could almost smell the history. I opened the book, and the prince also joined me as I sensed his presence. I read the definition of vampires, their common abilities and extraordinary senses, and the hierarchy of their kind. What caught my attention was the royalty of vampires.

“They also have royalty?” I asked.

“Yes,” the prince answered. “Just like the mortals, they have a king and a queen, princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses. However, they are called counts and countesses.”

I skipped the other parts of the book until I reached the page where names were input. I carefully read them all. My eyes widened when I saw a familiar name. Count Darius, the only son of Count Reymar and Countess Hera, and known as ‘the conqueror’. He was proclaimed as the next count of the vampires to rule their kind. I might say that this is just purely a coincidence, but... what if it is not?

“His name is Darius,” I mumbled. “I am about the vampire in our organization.”

“Wait, what?” the prince exclaimed. “What do you mean, he is Count Darius? He died a long time ago, and he was also the last count when the vampires went practically extinct.”