Chapter 1

My husband, Albert Ravenshade, had loved me for a century. Yet for the sake of a human girl, Lilia Whitfield, whom he had only known for a few days, he threw me from a hundred-foot tower.

He was sure I would shatter beyond recovery.

But he overlooked one crucial detail. I was an ancient pureblood of noble lineage.

Without my essence to hold him steady, the blood pact would collapse, and he would not survive for long.

*****

When I came to, I was lying in the grand bed at Castle Evernight.

Albert stood beside me, holding Lilia's hand. The moment I opened my eyes, she let out a sharp gasp and darted behind him.

She made a show of trembling. "Albert, she's awake... She will kill me. You must protect me."

Albert's brow furrowed. A flicker of guilt crossed his face, but it vanished swiftly, replaced by irritation.

He looked at me as though I were a troublesome prisoner. "Selene, stop pretending. I know a fall like that would not kill you. It was an urgent situation. I had to save her.

"If you swear you will not seek revenge against Lilia, I will overlook everything that happened, and you may continue as the lady of Castle Evernight."

Listening to his humiliating charity, I felt my shattered bones slowly pulling themselves back together.

What rose in my chest was not rage. It was a vast, freezing emptiness.

This was the man I had loved for a hundred years.

To help this puppet of mine secure a place among the Elders, I had poured all my energy into shaping him, sacrificing most of my pureblood essence along the way.

But he did not realize that the moment he hurled me from that tower and broke his oath, the blood pact bond had already begun to splinter.

My power, no longer held captive by him, was stirring to life again in the cold grip of despair.

He had discovered his grand heroism in playing protector to the weak, all for a human girl who would be dust in a hundred years.

I stared at their intertwined hands.

Then I blinked. The sharp edge in my crimson eyes softened, giving way to confusion and helplessness.

I shrank back weakly, pulling the blanket tighter around myself.

I stared at Albert with wide-eyed terror. "Wh-who are you? Where am I?"

Albert froze, his expression caught somewhere between accusation and pride.

A heavy silence filled the room.

Lilia peered out from behind Albert, a spark of hidden delight flickering in her eyes.

But she quickly arranged her face into a mask of panic. "My lady, what is wrong? Please do not frighten Albert like this."

Albert shook off Lilia's hand and crossed to the bed in a few quick strides, reaching out to touch me.

I let out a scream and scrambled to the far edge of the mattress, trembling from head to toe.

My voice shook with raw fear. "Do not touch me! Get out. Who are you?"

I was a pureblood vampire. My healing abilities were far beyond ordinary measure.

But I deliberately held back my power, leaving myself so pale I looked like a walking corpse.

My lips had lost all their color, like a wilted white rose.

Albert's hand stopped in midair.

For the first time, a flash of genuine panic crossed his face. "Selene, you do not recognize me? It is Albert, your husband! We have shared a blood pact for over a century." His voice climbed.

I pressed both hands to my head as though my skull might splinter. Tears slipped down my cheeks before I could stop them. "I know nothing... I remember nothing. The pain is blinding.

"When I try to reach for a memory, it feels like silver burrowing into my mind. Please, leave me. You terrify me..."

At the mention of "silver," Albert completely lost his composure.

He spun around and shouted at the servants by the door, "Fetch the Shadow Healer from the Monastery. Now!"

After a short, tense wait, the Shadow Healer examined my injuries with trembling hands. "Lord Ravenshade, Lady Selene's body is already mending itself, sustained by her pureblood essence.

"However, the back of her head struck the sealing stone at the tower's base. That stone still carries remnants of ancient demon hunter magic.

"The lingering force has disturbed Lady Selene's soul imprint, which is why she has lost her memory."

"How long until she recovers?" Albert demanded, his jaw tight.

"I cannot say. It may be a month, a hundred years... or she may never remember at all."

After the Shadow Healer departed, only the three of us remained in the room.

Albert looked at me, his eyes a storm of shock, guilt, and something unmistakable: relief.

If I had lost my memory, he would not have to face my fury.

He would not have to answer for the scandal of throwing his wife from a tower for the sake of a human girl, nor confront the Elders about what he had done to my family.

Lilia sensed the shift in Albert's mood at once.

Her gaze flickered, and she swiftly slid her arm through his, pressing close to his side.

She gave me a smile dripping with honey. "My lady, there is no need to be frightened. I am Lilia, your cousin. You have always been so fond of me.

"This is Albert, your husband. We are your family. Since you are not yourself, why don't you let me look after you from now on?"