Chapter 6
“After that first night I saw you, I kept going back to that tavern… even if it was just to catch a glimpse of you. I couldn’t figure it out at first. Why you worked so many shifts. Why you never missed a single day, no matter the storm.”
“And then you told me… You called yourself the world’s abandoned child. That if you didn’t fight, you’d drown. That night… for the first time in centuries, my heart actually ached.”
Hearing Lucien’s words, many scenes flashed through my mind like a movie reel.
I’d been abandoned by my parents at birth. Raised in anorphanage.
But when I turned eighteen, the woman I called “Mother,” the headmistress, threw me out
My entire life was like a lone boat, drifting alone in the boundless sea.
Until I met Lucien, who invited me back to his manor. “Celeste, from now on… you’ll have a home.”
Ravencourt Manor was feared by every living soul outside its gates. A prison of stone and silence. But to me, it was
warmth. Belonging. For the first time in my life, I felt… safe.
I thought it was ours-mine and his.
I lit the fireplaces, scattered flowers in the sunless corners of the manor.
And for a little while, it bloomed. Because of me.
However, all this came to an abrupt end with Lilith’s arrival.
And Lucien’s heart-though I never saw when it happened-drifted quietly toward her.
He once told me I was the mistress of Ravencourt, while Lilith was daughter of elite vampire hunters, the same kind who
had slaughtered his loyal guards.
But Lucien brought her back and dropped her at my feet. “From now on,” he said, “you’re in charge of her training. She’ll be
the lowest servant in this manor.”
And when the time came, he stripped me of the Gilded Key. I learned that the whole time, he’d been watching and
recording every task I’d assigned her.
My mind drifted in and out of the shadows, spiraling.
If Lucien had truly given up on me-if he’d chosen Lilith and turned his back on what we once had-then why?
Why was he still desperately clinging to who I used to be, calling me back to reclaim my body and mind?”
Just as my consciousness drifted, I was suddenly awakened by a rich, sweet bloody scent.
My nose twitched, keenly sensing this blood fragrance came not from Lucien, but from a human.
My eyes snapped open instinctively, glowing red flooding my vision.
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Lilith stood across the room, clutching a bleeding arm with smug triumph. “Oh? Awake from your little thirst nap?”
“I brought a mirror. Take a good look at yourself, Celeste. You’re nothing now. A filthy beast. A rabid mongrel.”
But I barely heard her. My throat burned, rolling uncontrollably.
So hungry… so thirsty…
I shifted toward her instinctively-only for my limp body to fall from the bed with a heavy thud.
Lilith looked down at pathetic me, amused.
“You want my blood, don’t you? Crawl for it. Like the animal you are. I might be generous enough to give you a taste.”
I had no strength left. But I crawled, tilting me head.
Lilith backed away step by step, taunting.
But kept guiding. “Come on, good pet… that’s it. Crawl a little more.”
Finally, she hit the red-painted wall. Nowhere left to go.
I inched closer, drawn in by the scent on her arm. Just as I leaned in, she suddenly smiled triumphantly and let out a piercing scream.
And when Lucien burst through the door, there she was, all tears and trembling lips, like a flower battered by the wind.
“I just… I was just worried about and came to check. But she snapped. She chased me into a corner and-she bit me!”
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