Chapter 4

Late on the 30th day.

The bell at the top of the castle tolled 12 times. The heavy chimes spread through the silent night like the close of an ancient ritual.

I stood at the window when my blood suddenly surged.

I felt the last thread of the blood oath binding me to Alaric snap. Perhaps the severing had hurt for so long that I felt no pain this time. There was only a hollow feeling, followed by a lightness I hadn't felt in ten years.

There was finally nothing between us.

The door burst open.

Alaric rushed in, pale. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was disheveled from running through the night. His usual arrogance and composure were gone.

He could feel it now. The bond between us was gone.

"Selena!" He hurried up to me, his voice shaking badly. "The blood oath is broken... You really broke it?"

I turned to look at him, calm. "The 30 days are up, Alaric."

Alaric stared at me, panic flashing in his eyes. He'd probably expected me to come crying to him at the last moment, to give in when my life was at stake.

But I didn't.

"No... it can't end like this." He lowered his proud head and went down on one knee in front of me.

It was the first time in his life the Progenitor Duke had bowed his head to anyone.

"Selena, come back." He gripped the hem of my dress, his voice close to begging. "I know I was wrong. As long as you come back, I can give you everything you want. The duchess's title, control of the castle, all of it is yours."

I looked down at the man who had once stood so high above me, and all I felt was numb.

"Everything I want?" I asked softly. "And Orla?"

Alaric flinched and went rigid.

His grip loosened a little, and he wavered. "She... her child still needs protection. Selena, don't push me like this. She's weak. I can't just abandon her. But you're my only wife!"

See? Even now, he couldn't let go of his old love.

He wanted me to remain his duchess to keep up appearances, and he wanted to feed his own vanity by playing protector to the weak.

I gave a cold laugh and pulled the hem of my dress from his hands, inch by inch.

"Alaric, you make me sick."

I didn't even bother looking at him again. I walked straight past him toward the door.

"Selena!" he roared behind me. "Without me, without the Progenitor bloodline's protection, you won't survive! There's no place for you on the Night Continent!"

I didn't look back.

Once, I'd also thought I would die without him.

But now I knew that only by leaving him could I reclaim my bloodline's dignity.

I carried my small bag down the stairs.

The great hall of the castle was already full of people. Orla was there. Even Alaric's parents, Edmund and Vivienne Vane, the former duke and duchess, had heard the news and arrived.

Nobles from all 13 Clans had gathered around, as if waiting for the curtain to fall on a show.

"Selena, this is outrageous!" Vivienne's face darkened, and she slammed her cane on the flagstones. "Ten years ago, you married into our family as a low-ranking vampire. Think of all the glory Alaric has given you. And now you're turning everything upside down over a ring. You've brought nothing but shame on the Vane name!"

Edmund snorted beside her. "Without Alaric, you're nothing. Without the Progenitor bloodline, your blood will dry up before long and you'll die. Don't come crawling back to beg us when it happens!"

The accusations grew louder and louder, echoing through the cavernous hall.

Orla stepped forward with the baby, looking frail, tears in her eyes. "Selena, don't go... It's all my fault. If it's because of me, I'll move out with the baby. Please don't divorce Alaric. If you leave here, how will you survive on your own..."

Alaric had followed me downstairs. He stood at the very front, looking down his nose at me. "Selena, my parents are right. Without me, you won't get anywhere on the Night Continent! If you bow your head and apologize now, I can pretend none of this happened."

Their sneers and murmurs of agreement closed around me, trying to push me back into the mud.

They were used to looking down on everyone, used to treating me like someone who could only survive by clinging to the Progenitor's Castle.

I stopped, touched my belly, and was about to speak.

Boom!

The castle's massive iron gate, which hadn't been fully opened in centuries, suddenly let out a screech that set my teeth on edge.

Then the castle's whole defensive ward collapsed in an instant!

A surge of terrifying pureblood power blasted the double iron doors off their hinges. They crashed down in the middle of the hall, throwing up a cloud of dust.

The vampires in the hall recoiled.

Edmund blanched. "Who is it? Who dares to break into the Progenitor's Castle!"

The night wind howled in through the broken doors.

When the dust settled, a man and a woman in magnificent black brocade robes of an ancient cut walked slowly in. The power of their blood was noble, ancient, and so crushing that every low-ranking vampire in the room went weak at the knees and dropped to the floor.

It was the absolute might of the very first progenitors!

Even Edmund, Vivienne, and Alaric felt a tremor deep in their souls.

"Who said my daughter was a low-ranking vampire?" my mother asked, her elegant voice carrying a bone-chilling threat through the hall.

She raised her hand, and an ancient dark red crest slowly appeared in her palm. It was the supreme mark of the Roland family, the most mysterious and noble of the old progenitor houses on the Night Continent. It ranked above all 13 Clans.

Alaric's eyes widened, and every trace of arrogance vanished from his face. "Roland... the Roland progenitors?!"