Before he could speak, Sophie snatched the portrait from Kai's hands and glared at the woman in the frame. Jealousy twisted her features.
"So you're still in love with her?" Sophie hissed. "Don't tell me you dragged me here only to hunt down another woman. I forced you to take me — I risked everything — and you go chasing a mistress? I thought we could be close, you know, as a couple."
"Couples?" Kai snapped, frustration searing his tone. "Drop the act. We both know you want to be queen mother. I won't be planting my seed in you — and Lucas certainly wasn't interested. Stop pretending. Be yourself: bitter, obsessed with power, and full of hate. I have other things to do."
He spat the words like poison. He didn't even flinch when he insulted Sophie in front of a stranger he assumed was Jasmine. He walked out of the shop without another word, casting a last glance in my direction before leaving.
Sophie let out a strangled hiss. ''That seductress — she won't spare Kai. She clutched at Lucas like a lifeline, I endured it.''
Sophie's eyes flashed. "She's come for my Kai. If she's found—if she dares show her face again—I'll make her life a living hell."
"Oh, please," anna said in her mind "You already tried that."
Jasmine lip curled. "Who exactly are you referring to?" I asked, keeping my voice as innocent and polite as I could.
She tilted her head, venomous. "Just a nobody — a maid who thinks she has a right to take what an elite princess was meant to have. Imagine: a lowborn girl winning the heart of the king and the crown prince. I failed to capture that honour. If I couldn't do it, what right does she have?"
My skin prickled. Sophie's entitlement went deeper than I'd ever imagined. And the way she spoke about the king — Lucas — made no sense. Lucas had always been cold toward me, mocking and distant. If he truly loved this maid, then either Sophie was lying, or I had missed something crucial.
I forced a smile. I couldn't become Sophie's enemy — not while I was still weak, still in disguise. Ivan had promised me training; he hadn't found the time yet, tangled in one meeting after another. For now, survival meant playing the role, soothing the princess, and waiting for strength.
Anna, sensing the unease, tried to steer the conversation. "Did you teach this seductress a lesson? Did you make sure she knows to leave what's ours alone?"
Sophie smirked. "Of course. I sent assassins. But she survived and simply vanished. I dug deeper: the king assigned someone from the Dragon Shadow Guard to protect her. Can you imagine? Guards from the palace to shield a lowborn maid. And Lucas — he couldn't stop searching for her. He behaved like a man possessed."
"Wow," Anna whispered. "She must be something special."
Sophie snapped her head toward Anna. "Special? Don't be ridiculous. She's a seductress, a good-for-nothing. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blind."
---
Kai's POV
Outside, the air felt thin. I couldn't breathe properly. The woman I'd been hunting — the one who had slipped into the palace and unsettled me — she was the same girl I'd fallen for, the one I'd wanted to destroy and protect at the same time. Had she come to me intentionally? Or had fate been cruelly playing puppetmaster?
Memories hit me like jagged glass.
"I don't want to die," she had whispered to me once.
"I'll protect you," I had said.
At the time, protecting her had felt like a lie. I had planned to use, control, maybe even end her. But the truth was muddier. When the subordinate left the room that night, she had walked in — not earlier, not staged. She came in like she didn't hear the conversation between my surbodinate and I .
Pieces began to fit together. Had she known of my plan? Had she come to kill me first? The thought sickened me. It would explain why she had left the way she did: terrified, honest, maybe even wounded.
I tightened my fists. I would find her. I needed answers.
---
The Dynamic Citizens of Vampire Originator — Council of Ten
A hundred paces from the busy streets, in a dim chamber lit by candlelight and centuries of dust, ten ancient vampires gathered. Their robes whispered over marble. Their faces, carved with age and ritual, were masks of worry.
"Winston," an elder hissed, tapping a pale knuckled finger on a scroll, "it's commendable you stole the scroll from the vampire king. But what if the humans spiral into chaos? If Rydne is ruined, who will we rule then? Ash is no kingdom."
Winston, dark eyes sharp, folded his hands. "We took a risk. Secrets were hoarded by the crown. That scroll contains truths we need. If we control its power, we secure our future."
Another voice, colder yet, cut in. "You forget the practical truth: humans are our food. If you incite a war that destroys cities, it destroys our victual. You speak of dominion, Winston, but you also speak of starvation. Consider balance."
Winston's jaw tightened. "If we keep the scroll hidden, the crown will never know whether to trust it. They'll suspect trickery. We must strike before they recover."
A whisper spread among the elders: Winston also had the map to the werewolf refuge — the hidden realm the werewolves had used to shelter themselves. His audacity impressed and alarmed them in equal measure.
A deep voice — older than the hall itself — silenced them. "With all due respect, we cannot act on impulsive counsel. We must awaken the other Vampire Originators. Their slumber was by design. They are our legacy and our shield. We shall wait. We will not yet be rash."
Nods circled the table. The argument ended not for lack of will, but for the weight of caution. There was too much at stake: a kingdom, the human veil, and the fragile web that held predator and prey in balance.
"Then we wait," the eldest concluded. "But prepare the wards. Wake the others when the time is right."
They dispersed into the shadows, each carrying the heavy knowledge that one wrong move could topple empires — and yet, all agreed on one truth: power demanded patience, and patience was a scalding kind of hunger.
---
Sophie's plotting, Kai's confusion, and the council's slow-brewing storm — all of them were threads in the same tapestry. Somewhere, the maid who had vanished was moving through those threads, changing the pattern without knowing the weight of her steps.
And I, still pretending to be someone else, had to learn how to dance without revealing the steps.