Chapter 3

I chuckled softly, my fingertips brushing along Carl's tense jawline. "I'll never do that. From now on, you're the only one I'll look at."

Just then, a knock came from outside the chamber doors.

The other blood thralls had arrived.

"Countess Victoria, something happened to Arthur. Please go see him," one of them called out.

I had no intention of dealing with it, but the endless knocking quickly wore down my patience.

I said, "There isn't even a single inferior magical beast in the Blood Dungeon. What could happen to him?"

The leading blood thrall dropped to his knees, forehead pressed hard against the floor as his voice trembled. "Arthur is hurting himself. He said if you refuse to see him, he'll bleed out every last drop of blood."

The words sounded painfully familiar.

Back when we were children, every argument between us ended with a threat like this.

Because he knew I could never bear to see him hurt.

But now, my heart had already been torn apart by him once before. That threat would never move me anymore.

I replied, "Then let him bleed. If he has that much blood to waste, drain it clean and feed it to the fledglings."

I adjusted my sleeve indifferently and turned to leave.

Suddenly, someone rushed out from behind the blood thralls and threw herself toward me.

Carl reacted instantly. Before she could touch me, he kicked her away.

It was Lillian, Arthur's childhood friend, who was hidden outside the castle.

Blood spilled from the corner of her lips as she struggled back to her feet, tears streaming down her face.

"Countess Victoria, Arthur is only hurting himself because he's resisting your unfair punishment. How could you be so cold-hearted? Are you truly going to force him to his death?" she sobbed.

The approving looks on the other blood thralls' faces made me laugh in anger. "Who allowed her into the castle?"

The blood thralls exchanged nervous glances, still trying to defend Arthur.

"Countess Victoria, Arthur has stayed by your side since childhood. He only acted impulsively for a moment," one of them pleaded.

"Exactly. As the countess of the coven, you should be more forgiving, " another chimed in.

"Arthur only took extra care of Lillian because she's weak and sickly. You're overreacting," someone also added.

I looked at the blood thralls I had raised on my own. Yet every single one of them stood before me defending someone else. The entire thing felt absurd.

Thinking back now, they had always been this way.

They regarded being my blood thralls as humiliation. Again and again, they trampled my dignity while trying to shame me into compromise.

It seemed that protecting the authority of the coven made me heartless, while Arthur's breaking the rules was somehow justified.

None of them ever considered that it was their own parents who sold them to me.

Without me, they would've ended up in the slave markets long ago.

And now they stood there with their heads held high, acting as though they were granting me mercy.

"Victoria, if you sever your blood bond with Carl right now, Arthur will definitely forgive your childish tantrum from yesterday," one of the blood thralls said.

I laughed softly, my voice icy and cold. "Drag anyone involved in sneaking outsiders into the castle all away. Drain half their blood and throw them into the bat pits."

The vampires who had long awaited my command surged forward at once.

In the past, I had trusted these blood thralls too deeply, granting them too many privileges. Many vampires had long grown dissatisfied, though none of them dared voice it before me.

Now, the thralls finally realized the punishment was real. They groveled at my feet, begging for mercy.

But it was already too late.

I tilted my head toward Carl. "They have been your companions for over a decade. Are you going to stop me?"

Carl shook his head. "They crossed the line first."

I scratched his chin in satisfaction, like I was soothing a well-behaved cat.

Then I turned back to Lillian. I wondered what kind of punishment would reduce my grudge against her.

Lillian finally began to panic.

She lay sprawled across the obsidian floor, nails scraping against the stone, hatred burning in her eyes.

She screamed hoarsely, "Victoria, you cold-blooded monster!"

"Arthur gave you the best years of his life, yet you cast him aside over such a little misunderstanding. You know nothing about love. You deserve to rot in this frozen castle forever."

Killing intent flickered through my eyes.

I lifted my hand, prepared to directly crush her throat.

But the moment our gazes met, I caught a strange golden gleam deep in her eyes.

How could a slum girl possibly have something like that in her eyes?

"Interesting." I lowered my hand at once, the smile at the corner of my lips deepening.

"Since you care so deeply for Arthur, then I shall show mercy and allow you to accompany him in the Blood Dungeon," I said.