Chapter 1

Seven days from now, the blood bond between Caelan and me would finally dissolve.

And when that day came, I would finally be able to leave the castle that had trapped me for five years.

The moment I pushed open the banquet hall doors, the entire room fell silent for a second.

Then all those eyes landed on me.

Pity. Mockery. Amusement.

I glanced down at myself. I had just finished my hospital internship, and the faint scent of disinfectant still clung to my clothes.

At the far end of the long table sat Isolde Voss beside Caelan.

Silver hair. Red lips. A black velvet gown.

Simply sitting there, she fit perfectly into this world.

And from the moment I entered, Caelan’s eyes never left her.

“So the Prince finally brought back his real fiancée.”

“That Claire’s just a human blood source. Did she seriously think she was the mistress of the castle?”

“I heard she’s some poor student from a human medical school.”

Soft laughter spread through the hall.

I stood there silently.

She was the fiancée.

What was I?

What exactly was I?

Nothing more than the blood source he regularly used.

Isolde lightly swirled her wine glass, the crimson liquid shifting slowly inside.

The next second, she lifted the glass directly to Caelan’s lips.

The banquet hall instantly fell silent. Even my breathing stopped for a moment.

For the past five years, Caelan had never allowed anyone to touch his blood. He even hated cups.

Every single time he fed, he insisted on biting directly into my wrist.

When his fangs pierced my skin, the sensation always tingled.

And whenever he lowered his head to suck at the wound, my body would tremble uncontrollably.

But now, the man who had always seemed obsessively particular lowered his head and drank from another woman’s hand.

The movement was natural, effortless, as if they had already done this many times before.

So it had never been obsession.

I had simply been convenient.

“Claire.” Caelan finally looked at me, his tone flat. “Come here.”

Like he was calling over a pet he had raised for years.

I walked toward him.

He set the wine glass down.

“What exactly was that document you asked me to sign yesterday?”

My heart tightened instantly. “A travel permit for a medical exchange program.”

His gaze paused for a brief second. “Let me see it.”

My fingers slowly tightened as I reached into my bag.

Just then, Isolde gave a soft cough.

Caelan’s attention immediately shifted away from me.

“What’s wrong?” He turned toward her at once, lowering his voice.

“Nothing.” Isolde gently shook her head.

Caelan frowned and murmured something else to her before finally looking back at me.

But his expression had already returned to its usual indifference.

“Don’t interrupt me with trivial things like this during a banquet again.”

Someone nearby whispered softly,

“Isolde coughs once and the Prince is already worried.”

“She’s only a human. The Prince is already being generous enough to his blood source.”

Caelan didn’t deny it.

The moment Isolde felt even slightly uncomfortable, he no longer cared enough to confirm whether Claire intended to leave him.

Five years ago, I was just a first-year student at a human medical school.

That night, the campus lost power. I was carrying a stack of papers downstairs when several low-level vampires cornered me in the hallway.

I thought I was going to die.

Then suddenly, the entire corridor went silent.

Those vampires seemed to sense something terrifying. One by one, they dropped to their knees in fear.

At the end of the dark hallway, Caelan slowly stepped forward, his eyes fixed on me.

That was the first night Caelan smelled my blood.

Later, I learned that I possessed an extremely rare blood type, something nearly irresistible to a pureblood prince as selective as him.

The first time he bit into my skin, even his breathing became uneven.

And somehow, just from his closeness alone, my entire body softened.

For a very long time, I truly believed that whenever Caelan came near me, he wanted more than just my blood.

Until Isolde returned. Only then did I finally understand.

He didn't need me. He needed what ran through my veins.

Those are not the same thing, and I'd spent five years pretending they were.

“Caelan.”

Isolde leaned lightly against him.

“The castle has already started preparing for the engagement ceremony.”

The people around them immediately chimed in.

“The Vale and Voss families were always meant to unite.”

Caelan lowered his head and adjusted the slipping strap on Isolde’s shoulder, his fingers brushing gently across her skin.

I saw the slight swallow in Isolde’s throat.

My chest went heavy. Everything I might have said just — dissolved.

“The exchange program you mentioned earlier,” Caelan suddenly said, looking at me.

“When do you leave?”

Before I could answer, Isolde lightly placed her hand over his.

“It’s only a small program,” she said softly. “Don’t tell me you’re actually worried she might leave you?”

Caelan let out a quiet laugh and didn’t ask again.

Of course. He had already assumed that I would always remain the human waiting for him to lower his head and drink from her veins.

But what he didn’t know was that in seven days, I would finally leave for good.

Leave Vale Castle. Return to the human world.

Become Claire Hartwell again, instead of Caelan Vale’s blood source.