Chapter 2

I turned around and saw a man clad in black armor, kneeling with one knee on the ground.

He had long silver hair, and his eyes, cast downward, were an unusual violet.

His humility was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed.

"Who are you? Where am I?" My voice was hoarse, yet it carried an unfamiliar, commanding authority.

The man lifted his head, violet eyes blazing with fervent loyalty. "I am Kael, your loyal oathkeeper. This is the resting place of the Ancient, the Eclipse Hall."

"The Ancient?" I echoed, feeling a wave of confusion.

Kael rose to his full height, his imposing figure looming over me. He gestured toward a massive crystal wall behind me.

The wall was polished like glass, perfectly reflecting my appearance.

My black hair flowed down like a waterfall, and my skin was as pale as snow. The meekness and fear that once lingered in my eyes had vanished, leaving only a cold, untouchable divinity.

What truly stunned me was the side of my flawless neck.

There, a complex mark woven from countless golden threads was burning and pulsing with life, as if it were alive.

"What is this?" I reached out, and my fingertips tingled with warmth as I brushed against the mark.

"It is the sole mark of the Ancient's bloodline, the Eternal Corona," Kael said, his voice trembling with excitement. "After a thousand years, Your Highness, you've finally shattered that wretched seal."

A seal?

Countless shattered memories, ones that weren't Elena's, came rushing into my mind.

I saw wars, betrayal, a dying woman forcing something into my body, and a chilling curse.

It said, "You will forget everything, become the lowest blood thrall, and only when the one you love destroys you themselves will you be reborn."

I remembered.

I was the very Ancient of the vampires, the one and only pureblood in existence.

And the one who sealed and cursed me was none other than my very first progeny—the child I created with my own hands, who dared to betray me and seize my throne.

Victor's act of destroying me himself ended up being the key that unlocked my seal.

A chill of hatred rose from deep within me.

"Victor..." I murmured, my voice flat and stripped of all emotion.

"Your Highness, it has been a hundred years since the day of your 'death'," Kael said respectfully.

A hundred years... So I'd been "dead" for such a long time.

I gradually curled my fingers into a fist. My nails dug into my palm, the sharp pain grounding me. "Kael."

"Yes, Your Highness," he answered.

"When is the Supreme Council of the Night Union?"

Kael's violet eyes lit up for a moment before he lowered his head. "Three days from now, it'll be hosted by Victor Blackwood in the Blackwood Coven's territory."

Perfect.

I looked at my reflection—the golden mark blazing on my neck, like a hellish flower in full bloom.

Didn't Victor always worship pure bloodlines?

I wondered what his face would look like when he realized that the "mongrel" he destroyed was actually the Ancient he had to kneel to.

*****

Time stood still in the Eclipse Hall.

For three days, sealed away from the outside world, Kael recounted everything that had happened in the vampire world over the past hundred years.

During the thousand years I was sealed away, the thirteen second-generation vampires I created divided the world among themselves, declaring themselves lords and founding the so-called Night Union.

And Victor was the leader of the Blackwood Coven.

They fought each other for power and territory, establishing a set of laughable rules—one of which was the Supreme Council.

"Victor's power has grown rapidly in recent years, and he's on the verge of becoming the leader of the Night Union," Kael said, his voice laced with disdain.

"He's obsessed with bloodline purity—dividing vampires into strict castes and coming down hard on any descendants with diluted blood."

I picked up the crystal glass and gently swirled the crimson liquid inside.

This wasn't ordinary blood. It was the Primal Blood, born from the very heart of the Eclipse Hall, purer than anything even a pureblood's runes could offer.

I sneered, "Victor is just a second-generation himself. Who is he to preach about bloodlines?"

"What Victor is most proud of is the Immortality Spell embedded in his heart," Kael continued. "He claims it's proof that he was blessed by some ancient, and that's his trump card for intimidating the other lords."

Immortality Spell, huh?

I lowered my glass, and a spark of golden light glimmered at my fingertips.

That wasn't any blessing from an ancient. It was the Pureblood Pact I made with my thirteen second-generation progeny.

I gave them immortality; in return, they pledged loyalty and protection. The pact's power came from the Eternal Corona at my neck.

I was the master of the pact.

If I died, the Immortality Spell carved into their hearts would lose its protection, slowly withering away as time ate away at it, until nothing remained but dust.

Victor ended my life with his own hands, so he unknowingly set his own demise in motion.

Over the past hundred years, the Immortality Spell in his heart must have started eating away at him from the inside. The panic of feeling his power abandon him and his life slip away bit by bit must be pretty interesting.

The more he obsessed over bloodline purity, the more terrified he became inside.