Chapter 8
Before the banquet began, Lucien leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.
“Celeste, tonight’s an important evening. The manor will be full of nobles. Stay here and be good. Don’t wander.”
But the moment he stepped out, the door creaked open once again.
Harrow entered, eyes dull and glassy, like a puppet being controlled by invisible strings.
He ignored my retreat, my struggle, even the low snarl rising from my throat.
Without a word, he dragged me straight to the grand banquet hall, where nobles filled the room and soft piano music
drifted through the air.
At the center of the room, basking in praise and admiration, stood Lilith Davenport.
“I never imagined a vampire hunter’s daughter could gain such powerful abilities and bloodline after turning. Your were
born human, but you’re already stronger-purer-than most vampires born into the bloodline.”
“It must be because of the prince. A human turned by a pureblood prince is naturally far superior to an ordinary
high-ranking vampire.”
Lilith gave a modest smile, then let her voice drop in mock carelessness. “Well…I wasn’t the only one. Someone else also
received the prince’s Embrace. Today marks her seventh day as well. I wonder what… kind she’s become and what ablility
she awakened.”
At these words, murmurs of curiosity swept through the room.
“Is she talking about that human songbird the prince brought back?”
“Celeste Winslow, right? Her scent was unique. Her blood didn’t smell like a normal human’s at all. I’m dying to know
which of the prince’s abilities she might have inherited.”
As the whispers around me grew louder, Lucien’s expression darkened, his voice sharp with tension. “What nonsense are
you spouting? Celeste never received my Embrace.”
Startled by his anger and the pressure he released, Lilith flinched for a brief moment.
But she recovered quickly, dropping her voice as if afraid to be overheard.
“My lord… I only assumed. You’ve been feeding her your blood for seven nights. It seemed like she must’ve… inherited
something. Maybe more than one of your abilities.”
Gasps rippled through the room.
“The prince’s pureblood is precious beyond measure, yet he gave her his blood for seven days?!”
“If she’s consumed that much pureblood… gods, how many powers has she awakened?”
A flurry of voices joined in, urging Lucien to bring me forward, begging to see what I had become.
Chapter 8
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His hands curled into fists at his sides, then loosened. Then clenched again.
“Celeste hasn’t completed her transformation,” he said through gritted teeth. “She’s not ready to be seen-”
But before he could finish, Harrow shoved me into the room.
“She’s completed the transformation, my lord. I’ve brought her as requested.”
The crowd swarmed toward me, their eyes full of curiosity and excitement, eager to get close.
But I recoiled in fear and suspicion, curling against the nearest wall, snarling with warning low in my throat.
A noble gasped and took a step back. “Good God… she’s a stray.”
In vampire courts, stray dog was a slur reserved for Ferals, used only to elevate the nobility’s own sense of purity.
The room erupted in shocked whispers.
“She is! I’ve seen her before-she used to be normal. Now she’s completely lost her mind. A true stray.”
“She drank the prince’s blood for seven nights… and still turned into that? This is unheard of! What kind of wretched filth runs through her veins?”
“This is disgraceful – to the prince And to all of us! She should be executed at once-before she stains the court any
further.”
