It was nothing like what she had read or heard. Princess Lucianna was a diligent student, no matter the subject or topic. As part of the royal family, she believed it was her duty, obligation, and also her privilege to be well-informed and well-learned in all matters concerning the ruling of a nation. The Sanctuary was one such topic and subject. It didn’t concern the ruling of a nation, at least not directly. The Sanctuary was supposed to be the st stand for the royalties if all else failed. It was often painted as a bleak and desperate pce to be but Lucianna came to realise those descriptions were not to be taken literally.

  The Sanctuary was a parlour, to put it simply. It was even more luxurious or ornate than her own chamber. It wasn’t just the ornaments and decorations. The space itself was vast, nearly twice the size of the grand courtroom. Whoever designed this pce had the royals’ comfort and peace in mind, and was clearly expecting whatever chaos it was to st for a long time. To the princess, she couldn’t help but grimace at this pce. It was disrespectful to all those who were not in the Sanctuary. While they suffer and fight for their lives, the royals would be here, enjoying and relishing in the lengthy respite.

  There was another aspect that just put the Princess off.

  Given how extensive the royal family was, Lucianna expected the Sanctuary to be teeming. However, there was no one else but her. It was a very eerie and unnerving sight. The absence of all the entire royal family in this pce was a very telling notion of the dire state this kingdom was in.

  “No… this can’t be…” Lucianna felt her legs turning soft and weak. They were quivering. Her body felt heavy, too much for her legs to bear. She felt the pull of the earth and the ck of strength to resist it. She tried her damndest to fight it but she ended up succumbing to it. She fell to her knees. Her chest tightened. Her shoulders trembled. She was sweating but she felt cold. “This can’t be…”

  It was more than an omen. If she was truly the st of the royal family, her survival would mean nothing even if all this chaos eventually subsided. There were plenty of opportunists in the court and each had been vying for the throne. If there were only a single royal left, it would be easy for them to usurp the throne and no one would dare oppose them.

  Just as Lucianna was about to let despair swallow her, a tremor spread throughout the Sanctuary. It jolted her to her senses. Strength returned to her legs and she picked herself up from the floor. She gnced around the vast room, looking for the source of the tremor. It felt close, too close. Her observation led her to the grand doors on one far side of the room. The twin doors were nearly as tall the room’s height, around twenty feet. Something heavy and strong was pounding the doors from the other side.

  Lucianna felt another bout of despair washing over her but she didn’t let it conquer this time. “We’re compromised…” she muttered grimly. No one should have known about this pce except for the royals and the royal guards, and they wouldn’t need to pound on the doors to demand entry. The logical conclusion Lucianna could come to was that the secrets of the royal family had been compromised.

  Lucianna didn’t know how long the doors would hold. She imagined they would be quite sturdy but she wasn’t so naive to believe the doors would never be broken. Nothing was perfect. She immediately turned around and began finding the other door. A smaller door that was located on the other side of the main, or so she was told. The other door led to a tunnel which would bring one out of the capital nds. A covert escape route, so to speak.

  She was halfway across the expansive room when the doors were finally destroyed and it was destroyed with such force that the residual shockwave managed to even knock her off her feet. She went tumbling on the floor and crashed into a couch. She was no fighter. Such a fall was enough to render her incapacitated for a short while. The pain was too intense for someone like her who wasn’t accustomed. She could only drag herself behind a column as the intruder made their way into the room.

  Intruders. There were three of them. Two were Syers, coiled in shadows. Another was a knight and not just any knight.

  “Sir Aaron…” Lucianna gasped as she peeked out from the column she was hiding behind. She blinked once. She shook her head. She blinked twice. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She knew the knight. If titles had not been obstacles, they would have been friends. “Why are you doing this…” she muttered to herself, in disbelief over the betrayal of someone she trusted so much.

  The knight was directing the two Syers to search the entire room and the Syers obeyed without question, the same Syers who turned on to the people they were supposed to protect.

  “Why… Why are you with them?” Lucianna found herself asking such a question but she feared she wasn’t ready for the truth.

  “I know you’re in here, Your Highness,” the knight said. “You are the only one who is clever enough to escape this… conundrum here. The others were so slow and so… proud. It’s ughable. Even though they saw the chaos unfolding in front of them, even though they had plenty of time to act, their ignorance and pride prevented them from doing so. Some even out right berate the rebelling Syers as if the royal family are naturally impervious to bdes. I doubt they managed to comprehend the new reality as they were cut down.”

  Lucianna said nothing in response. She kept her silence and focused on getting to the backdoor. Since she was hurt, she could only crawl.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Your Highness. My actions must be inconceivable to you and I don’t bme you. In fact, you’re the only one that I don’t have any grudge against. While everyone else was vying for their own gains and benefits, you were the only one who was fighting for the people, for the kingdom. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. Which is why I made a deal with our new advisor. He would bring an end to all this injustice and tyranny.”

  Lucianna couldn’t believe what she was hearing but she made no effort to retort. She saw his eyes. She knew those eyes. It was the same eyes as her brother’s, the king. The eyes of someone who was drunk with power, corrupted by power.

  “I know this is difficult to understand but it is all in the interest and benefit of the people. Sacrifices must be made for a new era to be born. A person cannot expect to recover from a deeply ingrained illness unless the source of the infection and the infected parts are cut out. I don’t like this any more than you do but it is necessary for the sake of this kingdom.”

  Lucianna could see the door now. She was close, but her knees were sore and her strength was leaving her. She now wished she had put more effort in building her strength instead of simply her wits and connections. Furthermore, there was no cover in the distance between where she was and the door. If she left her cover now, she would be exposed.

  “Come out, Your Highness. I won’t hurt you. You will not be harmed… as long as you swear loyalty to the master. I know how all of this may seem and look, but it is absolutely necessary. No matter how many times weeds are cut, they will always grow back. You have to pull it out by the roots. You are special, Your Highness. You will not be culled, but you must swear your allegiance to the master.”

  Lucianna felt like she was losing her mind from hearing the speech and she wasn’t even giving her focus. She sneaked a peek at her pursuers, waiting for the right moment to run for the door. As she was doing so, she realised she was only seeing the two Syers. Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

  “You’re not very good at hiding, Your Highness.”

  Lucianna felt shivers crawling all over her body. The voice came from behind her. She didn’t gnce behind. She just bolted for the door but her hair was grabbed and she was yanked back. She yelped as she was thrown to the floor.

  “Stop running!” Aaron shouted. “I’m trying to save you here, Your Highness! Don’t you see that? I’m trying to save you and the kingdom! Isn’t this what you want? Stop making this difficult!”

  Lucianna gred at the knight. “If only the nobles were the ones being sin, I would have considered your offer, but you killed the servants too and the common folk. And you expect me to trust any of the words that come out of your mouth?”

  Aaron sighed. “You were always a stubborn one, Your Highness. But perhaps that is why you have made it so far.”

  “...Why are you doing this? Killing innocents just to punish the wicked?”

  “That is not what I am doing here. I’m only—”

  “Involving the innocents for the sake of some greater good, hogwash,” Lucianna scoffed. “You sound awfully simir to those nobles you were—”

  “Silence!” Aaron screamed. “Don’t compare me to those selfish scums! I am different!”

  “You are giving the same excuse as they did. How are you any different?”

  “I said, silence!” Aaron unsheathed his sword and trained it on the princess.

  Lucianna narrowed her gaze at the sword. More precisely, she was staring at the bde that was tinged red. Plenty of lives had been taken by this bde and the wielder could still walk around proudly with his head held high. “Save your words… Save your excuses… I will not be maniputed by your lies.”

  “I spoke no lies,” Aaron growled.

  Before she knew it, the two Syers were behind her, ready to act at any moment’s notice. She could no longer run now. “I said spare me your excuses. I will not join your tyranny. Do what you must and what you will.”

  “...You disappoint me, Your Highness. I thought you were different.”

  “I thought the same way… but clearly your red bde tells a different story.”

  Aaron frowned and grimaced at the princess. He raised his sword, preparing to strike. Then, his eyes darted to the left. He immediately turned around and swung at the dark figure rushing at him. He blocked the strike but the force behind it was more than he could handle. He was flung by the blow and he crashed into the furnishings.

  The two Syers reacted and lunged at the dark figure. The figure parried the Syers’ arm bdes, not with a sword, but with its cws that were as long as a dagger.

  Though Lucianna couldn’t quite see the figure’s face, she could see its eyes. They were bright red, as if a torrent of blood was pumping through their eyes. And she didn’t fail to notice the fangs jutting out from its mouth. “A vampire…” she realised.

  The vampire was quick on its feet and strong with its blows. It fought as an equal to the two Syers that were unleashing a flurry of attacks on it. The vampire seemed to be on the losing end but that quickly changed in a split second. The vampire lured the Syers into a feint, which it then countered with a flourish of its cws that cut the Syers into pieces with ease.

  “...You’re a vampire,” Lucianna said, slowly pulling herself to her feet with the help of a nearby armchair.

  “And you’re Princess Lucianna.”

  “You know me?”

  “I do. And you must come with me.”

  “Why?”

  The vampire smiled. “Because my Mistress is looking forward to being your acquaintance. And you might just be able to reunite with your beloved maid.”

  Lucianna widened her eyes. “Maria? She’s alive.”

  “She is. Now, will you come with me, Your Highness?”