Annesa, Vampire King's Mate

Chapter 2 — Seven NightsThe first night felt like hell.Annesa lay on the cold stone floor of the cave, both her hands and feet still bound by chains. Her body trembled violently—not from the cold, but from a heat that seemed to be burning through her from the inside.Cold sweat covered her forehead.Her breathing was ragged.Not because her heart was racing—Annesa no longer had a heartbeat she could hear.All she could hear was the heavy, uneven sound of her own breathing.Hah... hah... hah...Her throat felt as though it were on fire.Hot.Dry.Painful.She tried to swallow, but even the slightest movement made her throat feel as though it were being sliced open.Annesa writhed.The iron chains around her wrists struck the stone floor.CLANG!"Ahh...!"She bit down on the piece of wood Eryx had placed between her teeth.The wood was already covered with bite marks.Annesa didn't know what was happening to her.All she knew was that her body felt as though it were being destroyed fr

The city center was far busier than Annesa had imagined.The snow had stopped falling some time ago. A layer of white still covered the rooftops, narrow streets, and trees, but life in the city continued as though winter were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.Horse-drawn carriages passed through the streets.Merchants opened their stalls.People walked around wearing thick coats and hoods pulled over their heads.From the small shops and taverns came the warm aromas of freshly baked bread, soup, and roasted meat.Annesa walked beside Eryx, the hood of her cloak covering part of her face.She quietly observed everything around her.It had been a long time since she had been somewhere that felt so ordinary.No palace.No soldiers.No royal halls.Just ordinary people living their lives.Eryx stopped at a narrow street near the edge of the city center.There stood a modest women's clothing shop.Its wooden sign was simple.There were no golden engravings or large glass windows lik

They had been riding for nearly several hours. The long snowy road eventually began to change. The trees became less dense, replaced by wide fields and several small houses scattered along the road. From a distance, Annesa began to see something. A city gate. Beyond it stood tall buildings with stone walls and steeply pitched roofs. The closer they got, the louder the sounds became. Merchants. Horse-drawn carriages. Travelers. Gate guards. And people desperately searching for shelter before the snow began falling heavily again. Eryx slowed the horse. "We're staying here tonight." Annesa nodded. They entered the city and followed the main road. Not long afterward, Eryx stopped in front of a fairly tall stone building. An inn. Even from the outside, it looked far more comfortable than the smaller inns they had passed earlier. Eryx dismounted. Then, as usual, he held out his hand to Annesa. Annesa climbed down with his help. They handed the horse over to the stable k

When dawn began to touch the sky behind the window, Annesa sat in that small restaurant beside Eryx, yet her thoughts kept drifting back to the night they had just shared—as though every single second of it still clung to her skin.She bowed her head slightly, unconsciously playing with the rim of her cup. The warm steam rising from the tea wasn't enough to warm a mind still scrambled by memory.Why did everything change so fast? she asked herself quietly.Last night... she never imagined it would end like that. Eryx, the man she initially thought was merely a mysterious savior, turned out to harbor something far deeper. And herself... Annesa never expected she would let someone get so close.She could still vividly remember how Eryx looked at her before everything happened. Those ruby-red eyes held nothing of the monsters she had heard about in royal tales. On the contrary—there was exhaustion, loneliness, and something that made Annesa feel... a desire to understand him more deeply.

CHAPTER 10Night enveloped the Vampire Kingdom.Snow fell so heavily that the palace courtyard was barely visible. The wind howled past the stone towers, carrying a freezing chill that prompted the servants to shutter the windows tightly.Inside the throne room, however, the atmosphere was far hotter.The Vampire King stood before several black-clad warriors.They were a covert squad.They wore no royal crests.They carried no banners.Their names were not even recorded on the regular army rosters.They moved only when commanded directly by the King."Find her."The King’s voice sounded low."Quietly."One of the warriors knelt."Whom are we to search for, Your Majesty?"The King glared at him sharply."Annesa."The name echoed coldly across the vast hall."The girl brought to the palace a few nights ago.""She mus