Lucian Veyrannis, the youngest prince of the Veyrannis bloodline. He was known as a genius among geniuses. At the age of 100 years, which is considered 10 if compared to human age, Lucian was able to reach the seven-star, star-formation realm.

By the time he was 170, he had stepped into the star connection realm, known to be one of the youngest vampires to do it.

Due to such an extraordinary achievement, Lucian was treated as one of the best prospects of the vampire realm. He always got whatever he wanted.

The same was what happened with Lilia. All he needed to do was ask his father for it, and he got engaged to Lilia.

He had decided from then on that Lilia was his. Lucian knew he was destined to claim her, protect her, and shape her into the perfect empress beside him.

He never wanted the throne, but that changed when he set his eyes on Lilia. He wanted to become the emperor and have her as his empress.

But then, ‘he’ appeared.

Alex Drakathor appeared.

At first, Lucian had dismissed Alex as an insignificant human. A mortal with no claim to their world, no right to stand in Lilia’s presence, let alone be close to her.

Humans were weak beings with nothing noteworthy to their race. Yes, they rose to power very fast. Humans could awaken mana at 16, whereas it took 50 years for vampires.

Vampires, however, had a solid base and lived longer than humans.

So, Lucian had just thought of Alex as one of those feeble humans, but soon, his casual dismissiveness turned into cold observation.

Alex remained too close. He made Lilia laugh in a way that Lucian had never seen before.

And worse—Lilia let him.

Lucian had always felt his heart being scraped from the inside whenever he recalled the incident at the academy’s ball.

At that time, he had kept it hidden that he was Lilia’s fiance. He wanted to surprise her that day but he couldn’t.

He had watched, veiled behind the shadows, as Alex and Lilia stood alongside on the balcony. The wind had caught in Lilia’s purple hair, and Alex had reached out, brushing a strand away from her face with an ease that made Lucian’s blood boil.

Lilia hadn’t recoiled.

She had smiled.

A smile that Lucian had never been able to elicit from her.

Later that night, he had broken a lesser vampire’s skull in his chambers, the unfortunate soul nothing more than an outlet for his fury.

That moment had been a shift.

Alex was not just a nuisance—he was a threat.

Since then, Lucian started spying on Lilia. And through them, he learned something both relieving and infuriating.

When alone in her room, Lilia had been seen talking to herself, drawing Alex’s portraits sometimes, and sometimes singing love songs.

Alex didn’t know of those; he had never touched Lilia beyond simple gestures. He never attempted to seduce her, never sought her affection the way a man should.

No, he was just her friend.

But that was what infuriated Lucian more than anything.

Lucian had tried everything, from sending anonymous letters to formal meetings with Lilia, making his affection for her clear, yet she never even gave him a side-eye. Alex, however, got everything Lucian wanted just by being a friend.

Lucian had then decided to change his approach. He had chosen to take Lilia with force if needed.

He had tried to be gentle and considerate, but she didn’t want it, so he would do it in a way she wouldn’t be able to do anything against.

He revealed his engagement with her and rightfully asked her to maintain distance from any male in the academy unless necessary because Lilia had no right to consider another man anything to her.

Then came the incident on Alex’s birthday.

It was supposed to be a simple celebration—one of many where Lucian, ever watchful, ensured that no one dared overstep their bounds with Lilia. He had lurked in the shadows, unseen, as she sat alone beneath the ivory archways, lost in thought.

He wasn’t invited but came, disguised as a noble’s servant.

Then Alex arrived.

Lucian’s fingers twitched around the hilt of his blade as he watched them talk. Something about Lilia’s expression was different. She wasn’t the untouchable, regal figure she always was. She wasn’t the cold, distant noblewoman that even he struggled to reach.

No—she was comfortable.

And that shattered every rule Lucian had ever known about their dynamic.

He listened intently as they spoke, waiting for something justifiable to happen so he could tear Alex apart then and there.

“Lilia, you don’t have to live like this,” Alex had said, his voice calm but resolute. “I know you feel trapped.”1

Lucian had stilled. ‘Trapped?’

Lilia, for a long moment, had remained silent. Then, softly, she had whispered, “I don’t have a choice.”

Alex had reached for her hand then—but only to squeeze it in reassurance.

That was when Lucian knew.

Alex was the first person in Lilia’s life who made her feel like she had a choice.

And that was unacceptable.

He didn’t even stay there to see them dance. He knew if he did, he would end up doing something unexpected.

He would end up killing Alex, something he had wanted to do for some time. So many times.

But he didn’t. Because despite his seething hatred, he wasn’t a fool.

Killing Alex wouldn’t make Lilia his; it would just make things hard for him and his father.

Alex was the only son of Vanessa Drakathor after all.

And to him, killing Alex too soon would make him a martyr in Lilia’s eyes, and Lucian refused to be the villain in Lilia’s story.

So he let him live, let him walk freely, and let him believe he was safe.

But then something happened. Something unexpected yet welcomed by Lucian.

Lilia planned to run away from the academy. Lilia’s closest vampire aide told Lucian everything.

Yes, it was true that she was trying to run away from him, but now he could claim her. He could claim her when she was off record.

He would make her his no matter what he had to do. He had time in his hand. Lilia was missing, and no one could find any clues that pointed at him. All he needed to do was make it seem like he had gone into hiding.

Lucian even made it seem like he was guilty by the threat he had left for the student council, but that was all so he could have more time with Lilia.

But now, an unknown guy was trying to foil everything.

Lucian had no idea who it was, but he knew the guy was alone, and that was all he needed.

‘I was getting bored with nothing to do here anyway.’ That was what he thought when he knew that a rat had sneaked into the trial ground.

He knew about the self-defense mechanism that got triggered. He had already found control of this palace, so he knew everything happening here.

Lilia arrived just a day ago and had yet to wake up.

He could wake her up by inducing pain, but he didn’t want that. He would try the gentle approach again, but until she woke up, he had nothing to do.

He was now planning on taking Alex as a captive and torturing him to his heart’s content since he had been pretty bored lately.

“Do you plan to keep hiding?” He drawled, his voice laced with amusement. “You have come to the end of your path, intruder.”

But no response came.

Lucian’s smirk, however, widened. “Very well.” He turned to his subordinates, crimson energy crackling at his fingertips. “Eliminate him.”

The vampires surged forward, but before they could reach the gate, a sickening gurgle interrupted them.

One of the women convulsed, her eyes wide in shock as blood poured from her throat.

Lucian’s eyes snapped to the side just in time to see the black blade embedded in her neck.

Then—slash.

Her head hit the ground.

And there he was. The intruder behind her, his darkness veil disappearing.

Alex had killed one of his subordinates.

He still didn’t know that the intruder was Alex; the guy was still wearing the mask, but when Lucian realized that Alex killed one of his subordinates, especially one of the most important ones, Lucian’s smirk disappeared.

The air went deadly silent for a fraction of a second.

Then—

“Kill him!” Lucian roared, his eyes blazing with fury as twenty vampires lunged forward, their fangs bared and claws extended.

A cut seen from the birthday celebration.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep