Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Vampire Lord Who Tortured His Mermaid: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 8

Three o’clock in the morning, when darkness clung to the castle like a curse. The iron door of the cellar was kicked open with a harsh, echoing crash that shattered the dead silence.Guards hauled me roughly to my feet, their blows landing sharp and unforgiving across my face—each slap a dull crack, until the corner of my mouth split, blood oozing sluggishly down my chin. Only then did the cruelty stop.Lazarus’s personal attendant seized my legs, dragging me across the cold stone floor, his curses venomous and bitter, hanging thick in the stagnant air.“Isolde is hurt, you lowly thing—how dare you sleep soundly while she suffers!”The castle’s wind sliced through the corridors, carrying the acrid stench of rust and old blood, creeping all the way to Lazarus’s chambers. I was hurled roughly at his feet. Lazarus’s eyes flickered to the blood on me, his brows furrowing as if a flicker of something stirred—but it vanished, leaving only cold indifference.“Isolde is injured. Heal her.” Hi

Half trapped between wakefulness and slumber, I felt someone brush my hair with gentle tenderness, a scalding tear spilling down my cheek.“Aurora… if none of this tragedy had ever befallen us, how different everything would be.”It was Lazarus. Yet when I forced my eyes open, there was no one in sight.Servants dragged me to the open courtyard. Merfolk are born to dread sunlight, and I was already worn thin, clinging to the last embers of life.At my arrival, Isolde curled her lips into a cloying, feigned smile.“Aurora, would you care for some food?”Lazarus had one arm loosely around her. Watching me shrink from the sun, he lifted his foot as if to strike me with brutal force, yet he dulled most of his strength the moment it neared my flesh. Still, his boot crashed into my unhealed wound.Warm blood seeped through my robes in an instant. Lazarus’s eyes narrowed sharply. He tore off his black coat and tossed it over me in a rush, masking his flustered disquiet beneath a frigid tone.

The grand castle banquet buzzed with unceasing revelry, as Isolde basked in the flattery of the crowd.Leaning against a corridor pillar, Lazarus was seized by an inexplicable, hollow restlessness. A guard hurried over in urgent haste.“My lord, an unexpected guest has arrived at the castle gates.”“Who is it?”“It is… your parents. They have returned.”The air around Lazarus froze solid. He darted to the entrance in an instant. The moment his parents laid eyes on him, their faces were etched only with anxiety and sorrow.“Where is Aurora? Take us to her at once. A mermaid cannot survive far from the deep sea. She will dissolve into foam and vanish forever.”A heavy dread sank in Lazarus’s chest, yet he forced himself to remain cold and unyielding.“She defied Isolde and has been confined in the forbidden storage chamber. Father, merfolk possess tenacious vitality—she will not perish so easily.”“Set her aside. Tell me, where have you been all these years?”“Where is that chamber? Take

“Bang!”Lazarus slammed the helpless elder of sorcery into the stone wall, his crimson eyes bloodshot with unbridled fury. He screamed, his voice a raw, broken roar.“Who gave you permission to give up? If she does not survive, all of you will perish with her!”A guard could contain his outrage no longer.“My lord, you have hated her for centuries. You imprisoned her, tortured her, and now, as she hangs by a thread, you descend into this madness. Is this not the height of hypocrisy?”Lazarus froze. A wave of crushing guilt, pain, and regret surged through him. A metallic taste of blood rose to his throat, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.The third watch of the night. Isolde slipped into the subterranean chamber, her eyes glowing with vicious malice.“Aurora… I come to grant you final release.”She drew a silver dagger steeped in forbidden curse magic, lifting me from the water tank. As the blade plunged toward me, Lazarus jolted awake, moving without hesitation. He slammed