Where am I?
So cold... I feel cold. Is it snowing? How can that be?
My baby... Where is my baby?
A sudden jolt of awareness rushed through Ruby's veins like an electric shock. The chilling sensation around her body was nothing like the gentle cold of a snowy morning—it was sharper, crueler, like the breath of death itself lingering against her skin. Her fingers twitched as she tried to move, but her limbs felt stiff, as though they hadn't been used for a long time. Panic surged through her as her mind began to clear, memories clawing their way back into her consciousness. Was this the place where they had killed her?
She gasped, suddenly aware that she was awake.
Am I...not dead?
Her eyes fluttered open, but darkness engulfed her. She was surrounded by a suffocating void, an oppressive blackness that made her heart pound against her ribs. The eerie silence around her sent a shiver down her spine. This wasn't the afterlife she had expected. Her breath hitched as she tried to move, her fingers brushing against something smooth and rigid—wood.
No. Not just wood. A lid. A coffin.
A wave of nausea and horror washed over her. How did she end up here? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? She had felt it—the moment when King Arthro and his lover, Shithal, had plunged their blades into her. She had felt the excruciating pain, the warmth of her own blood spilling from her wounds, the cold embrace of death pulling her away. So how was she still here?
Suddenly, a freezing gust of air seeped into the coffin, chilling her to the bone. The lid of her confinement creaked open on its own, revealing a dimly lit room that bathed everything in a sickly red glow. She forced herself to sit up, her body protesting with stiff, aching muscles. The chamber she found herself in was windowless, the walls made of solid concrete. A heavy, suffocating silence loomed in the air, broken only by the distant echoes of dripping water. The red glow barely illuminated the place, casting ominous shadows that twisted and danced along the walls.
Where is this place?
She frantically tried to piece together the fragments of her last memories. She had been betrayed. She had been killed. And in her final moments, she had poured every last drop of her remaining soul into a curse—one powerful enough to drag Arthro and Shithal to the depths of hell.
Is that where I am now? Hell?
Her breath hitched. No, it couldn't be. This place was too empty, too silent to be the inferno of eternal torment. If she had truly cursed them, shouldn't she have joined them in their suffering?
"Hello?" she called out, her voice cracking against the weight of the stillness.
The only answer was her own voice echoing back at her, fourfold, as though mocking her despair.
The air was thick, heavy, suffocating. It felt ancient, untouched, like the remnants of a long-forgotten tomb. From her experience on the battlefield, she could sense that this chamber wasn't merely a room—it was part of a vast underground structure, a hallway of sorts carved into stone. The realization sent another shudder through her. Was she buried deep beneath the surface, in a place where no one could reach her?
Then, suddenly—
A loud crack shattered the silence.
Ruby's breath caught in her throat. The door across the room groaned as it creaked open. A shadow stretched across the dimly lit floor, elongated and monstrous. The sheer presence of it made the air feel even heavier, pressing against her chest like an invisible force.
A deep, resonant voice sliced through the cold air.
"So, you are awake."
Ruby's heart pounded. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes locking onto the figure that loomed in the doorway. The man was tall—taller than any warrior she had ever encountered. His silhouette was draped in a long cloak, and though she couldn't make out his features, she could feel the intensity of his gaze burning into her from across the room.
"Who are you?" she demanded, forcing steel into her voice despite the tremble in her hands. "Did you kidnap me? If so, let me tell you—you will gain nothing by doing so."
The figure let out a low chuckle, a sound that sent a prickling sensation down her spine.
"Weren't you the one who sacrificed your soul to darkness?"
Ruby froze.
Even though she had no idea how much time had passed, she remembered it vividly. The moment of her death. The curse she had unleashed. Her soul had shattered, scattered like ashes in the wind.
She had not expected to awaken ever again.
"Yes," she admitted, her voice steadier now. "I did that. But who are you?"
The figure stepped forward, the red light casting a haunting glow over his face.
"Well," he said, his lips curling into a smirk. "I am Lord Reevan, the king of this kingdom. A vampire." His tone held an odd amusement, a superiority that made Ruby's blood simmer. "You have quite the voice, by the way. Your soul's wailing nearly shattered my eardrums."
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "My bad."
Reevan let out another chuckle, then leaned against the doorway with an almost lazy grace. "You've been dead for about 120 days," he continued. "Your soul had already left your body. There was no chance of you ever waking up—unless, of course, you were awakened by a curse. An ancient one."
A curse?
Ruby's fists clenched. Had her own curse somehow bound her to this existence? She had been willing to give up everything to ensure Arthro and Shithal's downfall—but she had never anticipated this outcome.
Her breath quickened as a thought struck her.
"What about my baby?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her hands instinctively moved to her stomach, but it was no longer swollen. A sickening dread settled in her gut. "Is my child here too?"
Lord Reevan's gaze darkened. "No," he said simply. "Your fetus had no vital signs."
Ruby felt her world shatter.
"And instead of your soul," Reevan continued, his tone quieter now, "your child's soul was embedded into the curse. To ensure your enemies' fate."
A sharp, agonizing pain stabbed through her chest.
Her baby…
Her breath hitched, and a sob tore from her throat. She stumbled back, her hands gripping her belly as though she could somehow bring her child back through sheer will alone. Tears streamed down her face, hot and unrelenting. The weight of loss crushed her, suffocating her more than the thick air of this wretched place.
She let out a scream—raw, filled with unbearable grief.
"Sorry, my child… I couldn't give you the world. It's all your mother's fault…"
Her sobs echoed through the chamber, but she didn't care. She had lost everything—her kingdom, her life, her child. But one thing still burned in her heart, stronger than ever.
Hatred.
She wiped her tears away, her eyes now glinting with a cold, deadly resolve.
"I will spare no one who killed us," she vowed, her voice like a dagger in the dark. "I will bring death to them myself."
After steadying her mind, Ruby bowed to Lord Reevan, her crimson eyes gleaming under the dim torchlight of the underground chamber. "Thank you… for saving me," she murmured, her voice steady yet laced with an unspoken resolve.
Lord Reevan regarded her with his piercing, inhuman gaze, then turned toward the exit without a word. His long, flowing cloak whispered against the cold stone floor as he led the way.
The stairway ahead was a spiral of endless darkness. Each step echoed ominously, the weight of ages pressing down on them. The stone beneath Ruby's bare feet was rough, ancient, holding the cold of centuries past. Every flickering torch cast long shadows on the curved walls, their shapes resembling clawed hands stretching toward her.
After what felt like an eternity, they emerged into the open. A gust of crisp night air rushed past her, carrying the scent of damp earth and something faintly metallic—blood, old and fresh, woven into the very fabric of this land.
A long corridor stretched before them, framed by towering black marble columns twisted with crimson veins. The floor was polished obsidian, reflecting the moon's pale light like liquid silver. Tall, arching windows lined the hall, revealing the kingdom beyond—a city carved from darkness itself.
The night sky was vast and deep, illuminated by a full moon that bathed the world in an eerie glow. Beneath its watchful eye, the vampire kingdom thrived. Shadowed spires clawed toward the heavens, their jagged peaks silhouetted against the celestial expanse. Bridges of bone and iron linked towering castles, their gothic structures humming with ancient power. Mist curled along the cobbled streets, slithering like living tendrils, weaving through the city like silent ghosts.
Ruby inhaled deeply, the cool air filling her lungs. So fresh… she marveled, closing her eyes for a fleeting moment. She had forgotten what it felt like to breathe freely, unchained by pain and death.
Lord Reevan stood quietly by the window of the northern watchtower, the night outside painted in thick strokes of darkness and mist. The wind carried the scent of ancient wood and distant blood—but his thoughts were far from the usual hunger that plagued his kind.
Why, a few months ago, did the Dark Emperor want to save that girl... Ruby?
The question haunted him like an echo that refused to fade.
She was just a human—a fragile thing who should have died and stayed dead. And yet, Reevan had been forced to carry out the Emperor's orders: that no vampire was to lay eyes on her. No blood was to be drawn. No harm was to come her way. Not even a whisper of her presence was to be shared beyond these walls.
He let out a low, mocking sound, halfway between a scoff and a chuckle. "Ridiculous," he muttered under his breath.
Her blood wouldn't even appeal now—not to anyone of his kind. It had lost its vitality. Vampires could sense it. Unhealthy, tainted blood made their fangs recoil, their instincts sneer. Whatever was left of her after that night, it wasn't something any vampire would crave.
Reevan's eyes narrowed as he recalled the night they found her. She had been lying on the cold forest floor, her lifeless body draped in torn silk and smeared crimson. The dagger still pierced her side. A wound too deep for any mortal to survive. The scent of betrayal had lingered in the air, unmistakable to his senses. Someone close to her had done it. Someone she had trusted.
But even in death, there had been something wrong about her body.
No, not wrong. Different.
An aura had surrounded her—immense, foreign, almost sacred. The kind of energy that made even ancient vampires hesitate before stepping closer. She should have been empty, but she wasn't. Her soul still clung to the flesh, flickering like a dying flame refusing to be snuffed out.
Then the Emperor arrived.
Reevan remembered the moment clearly. The Dark Emperor stood above her body, his face a carved mask of silence, but something had shifted in his eyes. A faint glimmer. Recognition? Memory? Reevan couldn't tell. The Emperor had studied the girl for a long time, unmoving, unreadable.
And then… he knelt.
Against every law of their kind, against every rule carved into the bones of their history, the Emperor did the unthinkable. He extended his power—not to destroy, but to restore. His hands hovered above her chest, and a silent force surged through the ground. Reevan felt it like thunder in his own veins.
He watched, stunned, as the girl's soul was pulled gently—unnaturally—back into her body. Not fully. Not completely. But enough.
She did not awaken, but she breathed. Her heart beat, barely. She remained.
Now, she rested deep within the castle under heavy spells of protection. No one was allowed near her chamber. The Emperor himself had decreed it, and Reevan was tasked with keeping her safe until she awakened. No explanation. No reward. Just orders.
And he hated unanswered questions.
Why her? Why break a sacred law for a girl who offered nothing in return? What secret did she carry? What did her soul whisper that only the Dark Emperor could hear?
"I can't let her know about him," Reevan muttered to himself, fingers tightening around the hilt of his blade. "Not yet. Maybe not ever."
The Emperor had been clear—she was to remain unaware of his involvement. If she remembered anything, she was to keep it to herself. And Reevan? He was to guard her until her fate revealed itself.
He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.
"What a problem," he murmured, eyes closing briefly. "What a damn problem…"
And yet, deep within, a part of him was curious.
What would happen the day Ruby opened her eyes?
"So," Lord Reevan's voice cut through the silennce and to her reverie, "what are you planning to do?"
She snapped back to reality, finding his piercing gaze fixed on her, unreadable yet weighing her every move.
A smirk ghosted across Ruby's lips. "As I promised my enemies, I would return," she murmured, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. Her voice, though soft, carried the chill of vengeance. "I plan to give them a surprise."
Lord Reevan studied her for a moment longer, then chuckled—a low, knowing sound.