第四章

After Draven left, I forced my weak body to move, pushing through the pain to start packing.

I checked the time. Six hours until my brother's people arrived.

I glanced at the blood-ward surrounding the manor and contacted my brother's lieutenant. "It might not be easy for you to get me. There's a clan blood-ward."

"Don't worry, Miss Isolde. We'll handle it," a calm, strong voice replied. "You're safe now. We won't let anyone bully you again!"

Even though I had been away from home for so long, his words gave me a surge of strength.

But just as I hung up, Sabine's mother burst into my room with Draven's parents.

Each of them looked at me with scorn.

"You, with your filthy, inferior bloodline!" Draven's mother hissed. "How dare you deceive my son? He told me he smelled a wolf in your chambers. You're the one carrying the mongrel!"

"If it were me, I'd let everyone know and ruin her name!" Sabine's mother added, which only enraged Draven's mother more.

Draven's mother stormed up to me, her lavish rings nearly grazing my cheek.

"You nameless creature! How dare you trick Draven with your lies! He protected you, didn't even dare to investigate your background, and this is how you repay him! Whose bastard are you carrying?!"

A maid who had witnessed everything quickly stood in front of me like a shield.

"Miss Isolde is very weak right now. Mr. Draven ordered me to take good care of her. You can't hit her!"

Draven’s mother shoved her aside.

A cruel, twisted sneer spread across her face as she pointed at the sunroom, where light still bled through the edges of the drawn curtains.

“You’ve been rotting in a sunroom for months, and that thing inside you still clings to life. Only a tough little werewolf mongrel would be so resilient! A pureblood vampire fetus would have withered to ash by now under this constant solar burn!”

The twisted logic made my blood run cold.

They were using my child's resilience as a weapon against me.

Draven's father, the Lord of the Crimson Moon Clan, stepped forward.

"It was the honor of a lifetime for you to become my son's blood-mate. Yet you show no gratitude, defiling the bloodline of Crimson Moon with a bastard! Guards!" he ordered the clan guards at his side. "Drag her to the ritual chamber. Perform the Blood Purification. When it's done, throw her out. I don't care if she lives or dies."

They grabbed my arms. "No, let me go!" I struggled.

I was terrified for my child's safety.

The maid tried to help me break free again, pleading, "Miss Isolde is seven months pregnant and extremely weak! If you force her through the ritual, she'll die!"

"And the child in my belly is Draven's, not a bastard! Sabine's child is the bastard!" I tried to defend myself.

But my honesty earned me nothing but another slap across the face.

"How dare you keep spouting lies! Draven himself admitted Sabine's child is his! It seems you're not just shameless, but a liar too!" Draven's mother shrieked.

"No, it's not true..." I shook my head desperately. But they sealed my mouth with magic, giving me no chance to explain.

I laughed at myself silently.

Didn't you once think of giving up this child?

Why are you so sad now?

Tears streamed silently down my face as my consciousness began to fade.

Just then, a voice cut through the silence of the room.

"STOP! Who dares lay a hand on the heir of Eternal Blood!"