Chapter 3

After hanging up, I went back to my art studio.

My phone wouldn't stop vibrating.

I opened the Covenant's internal network, the "Night's Eye." Messages were flying.

The pinned post told me everything.

Posted by: Sylvia_Human

The photo showed Kaelan, intently installing a state-of-the-art anti-sunlight system in the apartment. Not just blinds—a high-tech defense grid worth hundreds of thousands.

Caption: “Thank you to our noble Lord for being so thoughtful! Humans are so lucky to have this kind of protection~ It's so moving to see our leader be so considerate!”

The comments were already over three hundred.

“Wow, the Lord is that nice to humans?”

“Lady Sylvia is so lucky!”

“Damn, that protection system is better than the one at my haven.”

“Is the Lord hiding his new pet?”

“I think Lady Sylvia is about to receive the Embrace! She'll be one of us soon!”

“Congratulations! Should we prepare for a wedding?”

Every comment was a dagger, aimed straight at my heart.

I kept scrolling.

More photos.

Kaelan, carrying her boxes of personal belongings.

Kaelan, calibrating the climate control system for her.

Kaelan, in her kitchen, preparing special food for humans.

Every photo, every detail, screamed one thing:

They were living together.

I thought of everything I had done for him over the century.

I used my family's ancient connections to fund his synthetic blood research.

I convinced my parents to recognize him as the leader of a fledgling Covenant.

I even vouched for him personally when the council of elders questioned his leadership.

But everything changed when Sylvia arrived.

Three months ago, Marcus, one of my family's elders, questioned why a human was involved in the Covenant’s core decisions.

Kaelan flew into a rage. He sentenced Marcus to a month of drinking only animal blood as punishment.

For us, animal blood is the ultimate humiliation. It weakens our power and dulls our minds.

I should have known then.

I let out a cold laugh and destroyed my network key.

From now on, their world had nothing to do with me.

Back in the vault, I started packing my personal things.

My eyes fell on a black ebony box on my desk.

I traced the intricate carvings on the lid before slowly opening it.

998 Stygian Roses lay inside, each one perfectly preserved, glowing with a faint, dark light.

The first was from 1925, when he was just a candidate for leadership.

The 998th was from last Christmas.

He had promised me that on the day he gathered 999, we would forge our eternal blood bond beneath the Blood Moon. The box was custom-made for this purpose, with exactly 999 slots.

But when I looked at the final space, it was still empty.

I stared at that empty slot for a long time, a self-mocking smile on my lips.

So it turned out, no matter how long I waited, it was all for nothing.

I carried the box out of the room and into the open grounds of the family cemetery. I took a silver match from my pocket and struck it.

The silver-kissed flame licked up the side of the box, devouring it. One by one, the magically preserved roses dissolved in the heat, turning to ash and then, to nothing.

These gifts were the testament to my century of youth. Now, the fire was their tomb.

Kaelan returned to find this scene.

His face was pale with shock and disbelief.

He shot toward me as a blur of black mist, shoved me aside, and tried to snatch the box from the flames.

But the fire was too strong. The flames, fueled by the silver match, drove him back.

Fire licked at his hands, searing his skin black. He hissed in pain and stumbled back, trying furiously to smother the blaze with his power.

It was useless.

He could only watch as the roses—the vessels of a hundred years of memories—vanished into the fire.

“Are you insane?!”

He finally spun on me, his eyes burning hotter than the flames. His voice was laced with outrage.

“You burned them? A century of work, an eternity of promises—and you just destroyed it all? Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”