Chapter 5

After I returned home, I stopped going out.

I locked myself in my room, playing the piano, reading, and practicing swordsmanship. The broom handle had long since been replaced by a real sword, hidden behind my wardrobe.

I didn't care about all the drama outside. Only occasionally did I hear fragments of news from the maids.

Apparently, my fiancé, the youngest heir of the Vernon family, had gotten involved with that vampire woman again.

They said he had been so desperate for her that he begged her not to leave him in the street, drank himself senseless in taverns, and called her name until he could barely stand.

Every version came with new details, and every new one was more dramatic than the last.

After hearing them, I simply said, "Wow. How touching."

*****

Days went by, and the wedding day kept creeping closer.

One day, my mother knocked on my door and dragged me out to try on wedding dresses.

The shop was filled with white gowns, hanging everywhere like clouds that had been pulled down from the sky.

Mother carefully looked through every option.

I, however, was much less invested. By the third dress, I was already tired of changing. "Mother, this one looks fine. Let's go with it."

"How can you be so casual about this?" She frowned as she walked around me, checking the fit. "You need to try more. A woman's wedding day is supposed to be the most important and happiest moment of her life."

I flopped onto the couch. "It's only a wedding. The whole thing takes a few hours. Why should that be considered the best moment of my life? What about all the years after that? Are they supposed to mean nothing?

"If a wedding is the peak of my life, then everything afterward is a downhill road, isn't it?"

I looked at her and smiled. "What a cruel thing to say, Mother."

"You—" She slapped my shoulder and glared at me. "You always have to argue with me."

After the wedding dress was chosen, the days became quiet again.

The wedding was approaching. I had to move quickly.

According to what I'd heard, Leon had been visiting the red-light district frequently lately.

The future heir of the Sterling family was spending so much time in places like that. I wondered what Father would think if he knew.

Then again, I didn't really care because he wouldn't have to think about it for much longer.

I changed into some ordinary clothes and climbed out the window.

*****

The red-light district hit me with a mix of cheap perfume, cheap liquor, and the damp smell of old cobblestones.

I found Leon quickly.

He stumbled out of a building with pink lights hanging above the entrance, his collar crooked and his steps unsteady, as if he were walking on clouds.

His driver was leaning against the car, half asleep.

I walked around behind him and knocked him out.

I waited by the car for a bit.

As expected, Leon staggered over, humming a tune to himself.

He pulled open the door and flopped into the back seat.

I slid into the driver's seat and locked the doors behind me.

"The heir, huh?" I shot him a look in the rearview mirror. "That's it?"

He didn't hear me. He rested his head against the window as he mumbled something I couldn't make out.

The smell of alcohol drifted forward from the back, thick enough to make me frown. Sharing the same air with him felt disgusting.

I turned the car down a dark alley. It was out of the way, damp, and two blocks from the slums, exactly the kind of place where creatures like that liked to appear.

The car came to a stop.

Leon stirred slightly, barely awake. "We there?"

I got out, swung open the back door, and dragged him out by the collar.

His legs were too weak to support him. His weight fell against me. "What are you... doing?"

I said nothing. I covered his mouth with one hand, and with the other, I drove the blade forward.

At first, he didn't understand what was happening. His eyes were still unfocused.

Then he finally realized. He grabbed my wrist, but his struggle grew weaker and weaker.

By the third stab, his eyes finally locked into focus. He looked agonized and fully conscious.

"Your sister has come to see you off," I whispered in his ear. "Come on, say thank you."

And then I gave him two more stabs.

His eyes went from sharp to glazed over, and then he stopped moving for good.

Blood spilled out from beneath him, soaking the cobblestones and running down the cracks of the alley, slipping away into the darkness.

I let go, and he collapsed to the ground, never getting up again.

I wiped the dagger clean, tucked it away, and slipped into a second-floor room of an abandoned building next to the alley.

I had chosen this place beforehand. From the window, I could see the entire alley below.

I set up the camera, aimed the lens at the body, and waited quietly.

I didn't have to wait long.

About an hour later, a creature appeared at the end of the alley. It wore a dark coat, and its footsteps were so light that it seemed almost to be moving with the wind.

It stopped in front of Leon's body, looked down at him, and then crouched. It began drinking his blood.

I filmed the whole thing.

When it had taken what it wanted, the creature stood up, wiped its mouth, and disappeared into the other end of the alley.

I turned off the camera, packed up my gear, slipped out the window, and made my way back to Sterling Manor the same way I came.

I climbed back in through my window, changed my clothes, and locked the camera inside a hidden compartment of my wardrobe.

It was dead silent, as if nothing had ever taken place.

A few days later, news of Leon's death spread.

The Sterling family was a mess.

The servants whispered among themselves. Mother cried for two days and refused to eat. Father locked himself in his study and didn't come out for an entire day.

Everyone was asking the same question. Who had done it?

At the parties, the ladies held their cups and whispered behind their hands, unable to hide the excitement in their eyes.

Then, one evening when the timing felt right, I anonymously sent the video to my father.

After watching it, he looked as though someone had drained all the strength from him. He seemed to have aged years overnight.

It was said that he took the recording to Simon and sat with him at Earnhardt Manor for an entire afternoon.

After watching it, Simon remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said, "We'll talk about this another time."

The wedding was getting closer.