Chapter 1

Evelyn's POV

I was the only human at the vampire banquet, and the fiancée of the Prince's heir, Lucien.

Everyone said the greatest fortune of my life was saving him when I was a child.

That year, Lucien had been chased by vampire hunters to the edge of human territory.

I didn't know who he really was. All I saw was a blood-covered boy collapsed in the woods, with the sound of hunters' footsteps closing in behind him.

I hid him in an abandoned wine cellar and deliberately pointed the hunters in the wrong direction, leading them away.

Later, the Prince and his wife came to our home in person.

They thanked me for saving their son, and because Lucien had refused to let anyone but me near him during his recovery, they decided to cancel his existing engagement to Selene and chose me as their future daughter-in-law.

I was too young then to understand what an engagement to the Prince's heir truly meant.

All I knew was that Lucien depended on me completely.

He told me that whenever I wasn't there, he had nightmares.

He told me we were destined to be together forever.

Lucien was too young then to grasp the weight of that promise.

And I was still too young to know that such words should never be believed so easily.

From then on, I spent most of each year living in vampire territory, learning their customs, accompanying Lucien to banquets, preparing to become his wife.

Only for a brief stretch each year could I return to the human world, spend time with my parents, and do what I loved.

With just one month left before our formal engagement, I accompanied Lucien to yet another ball.

The ballroom was filled with vampires.

They spoke in barely audible voices and moved so quickly they were almost impossible to follow. One moment they stood by the long table; the next, they had appeared at the far end of the dance floor.

I had practiced for a long time for tonight.

At human balls, I never missed a step.

But the vampire dance was too fast, with almost no pause between turns and position changes.

I had to memorize every step while constantly watching for anyone suddenly closing in.

Lucien's hand rested at my waist.

"Stay with me."

I nodded, doing my best to match his movements.

The first half went smoothly.

When the music suddenly quickened, I was a beat late on a turn.

Lucien had already stepped back half a pace, but I failed to follow in time.

A vampire happened to be cutting swiftly across the dance floor behind me. I couldn't hear his footsteps.

By the time I felt the rush of air, it was too late to dodge.

A hand seized my waist.

Lucien pulled me into his arms and swept us off the dance floor.

The vampire brushed past without even realizing he had nearly collided with someone.

My heart was pounding, and my fingers instinctively clutched the front of Lucien's shirt.

He looked down to check my arms, confirming I wasn't hurt, but his expression didn't soften.

"How long have you been learning this dance?"

I slowly let go.

"I just didn't hear the person behind me."

"That's exactly why I told you to check before you turn."

His frown deepened.

"Why are you always so slow to react?"

People at the edge of the dance floor were already looking our way.

Lucien didn't stay. He took my hand and led me through the crowd to the quieter terrace.

The night breeze washed over me, but the heat and shame on my face refused to fade.

"I'm sorry."

I spoke first, as I always did.

"I'll practice more."

Lucien glanced at me.

"The engagement is one month away. You can't keep waiting for me to remind you."

"I know."

"You say that every time, and you still make the same mistake."

His tone wasn't harsh, yet it kept me from lifting my head.

I had practiced for two solid weeks.

My ankles were blistered from all the turning, and that very morning, my maid had re-wrapped the bandages before I left.

But I couldn't tell him that.

It would only make me seem more pathetic.

A dance that any vampire could master after a few attempts had taken me half a month, and I still couldn't get it right.

"Lucien."

Selene's voice came from behind us.

She had left the dance floor with a glass of wine in hand, looking as composed as if that impossibly fast dance had been nothing more than an ordinary stroll.

She and Lucien had grown up together.

Before I came along, everyone assumed she would be the one to marry into the Prince's family.

When she first learned the engagement had been changed, Selene didn't take kindly to me.

She once deliberately sped up her speech in front of me, and she had told me the wrong customs so I would embarrass myself in public.

Eventually, she must have realized I wasn't even worth seeing as a rival.

The hostility faded, replaced by a lofty sort of pity.

"Don't be so hard on her."

Selene walked up to us and glanced down at my feet.

"Evelyn is human, after all. She can't hear footsteps from that distance, and she'll never have a vampire's reflexes."

She seemed to be speaking on my behalf.

But my face burned even hotter.

After Selene's words, Lucien's expression eased slightly.

"That's precisely why she needs to be more careful."

"She's already trying her best."

Selene smiled.

"Though this kind of dance really is too difficult for a human. When we learned it together, even I needed two tries to memorize it completely."

Two tries.

I lowered my eyes to my feet, hidden beneath the hem of my gown.

Lucien didn't notice my silence. He turned to Selene and said, "If you have time, teach her again. You know better than I do where she's likely to stumble."

Selene nodded.

"Of course."

She turned to me, her voice gentle.

"You don't need to be so nervous. Even if you can't learn it now, it won't matter. Once you marry Lucien and you're turned, all of these problems will disappear on their own."

Lucien squeezed my hand.

"She's right."

"You don't need to rush to learn everything."

"Just stay by my side this next month and stop causing trouble for yourself."

His palm was ice-cold, yet he held my hand firmly.

From anyone else's perspective, he was still the devoted fiancé who would do anything to protect me.

When I nearly got knocked over, he was the one who immediately pulled me close.

When I couldn't keep up with the vampire dance, he was willing to have Selene teach me herself.

Everyone would envy how well the Prince's heir looked after me.

But all I heard was that same underlying message.

Nothing I did now mattered.

I just had to wait. Wait to marry him, wait to be turned, wait for this slow, clumsy human to disappear entirely. Then everything would be fine.

I looked up and gave Lucien the same smile I always wore.

"Okay."

He took my hand, satisfied, and led me back to the ballroom.

Along the way, he deliberately slowed his pace.

Even so, I still had to walk faster just to barely keep up with him.

Selene walked on his other side, discussing the Prince's political affairs with him.

They didn't need to pause or explain. They understood each other effortlessly.

I followed quietly beside them, and my mind drifted to the Lucien who had hidden in that wine cellar all those years ago.

Back then, he was the injured one, and I had slowed my steps to stay with him.

Now I was the one who couldn't keep up, and all he thought was that I was stupid.