Home / I Sold the Painting Hiding His Affair / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of I Sold the Painting Hiding His Affair: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1 I pushed open the heavy tower door.

Soft, breathy moans drifted out of the dark room.I was still holding the glass of warm blood I'd brought him.After Dorian turned me, I thought becoming a vampire would finally bring us closer. But he still wouldn't touch me. He claimed my blood was too tempting—that if he got too close, he'd lose control and drain me dry.He was always locking himself away in the tower, where no daylight could reach him. There, he endured his hunger alone.But as he grew paler by the day, I couldn't bear to watch. So while he slept, I'd secretly cut my wrist and feed him my blood.Tonight, I'd come to tell Dorian that he'd grown used to my blood. He didn't have to worry about losing control anymore.The door opened a crack.At the center of the room hung an oil painting that shimmered with an eerie light.It showed a dark, lavish Gothic bedchamber with two figures on the bed.Dorian lay on the shadowy bed, pale-faced and red-eyed, entwined with an alluring spirit.The woman was Lenore, Dorian's vampi

Chapter 2 I slipped back out without a sound and pulled the door almost shut behind me.

I walked down the cold stone steps and stepped outside. The first breath of fresh air made me feel alive again."Marta, go get the Holy Silver Lock my father gave me."I'd sent for Marta Novak, the older maid my father had assigned to look after me.Marta's clouded eyes flew wide. "My lady, you're only a low-ranking vampire. The Holy Silver Lock will burn your arm. It's forbidden for a reason—it was made to imprison vampire souls. Once that lock closes, there's no escape. The soul is trapped forever—"I cut her off with a smile. "It's fine. I can't bear to watch the Count suffer. I just want to help him with his little problem."Half an hour later, I was back in the tower.The painting had gone quiet. Lenore was sound asleep, curled up against Dorian's broad chest.Dorian usually woke in the small hours before dawn.Calmly, I tore down the curtain and draped it over the painting, covering it completely.On the bed, Dorian's pale body twitched.I didn't hesitate for a second. Gritting m

Chapter 3 Dawn was just beginning to filter through the castle windows when someone started pounding on the front doors.

Casimir Draven, the old Count and Dorian's father, burst in with a crowd of deathly pale old servants draped in black gauze. He pointed at me and started yelling."Alyona, what have you done with Dorian? My birthday banquet is today! Did you lock him away to keep him from attending?"I set down my milk and covered my eyes, pretending to be upset."My lord, the Count has locked himself in the tower. He won't come out..."Then I perked up, as if I'd just had a wonderful idea. "My lord, since you're here, why don't we go up and bring the Count out together? I'm sure he'll want to see you."Casimir's expression changed in an instant.Apparently, Casimir knew everything: that Dorian could leave his body in the tower, and that he planned to kill me at the birthday banquet.Fear crossed Casimir's face. "He locks himself in that tower because being near you drives his bloodlust out of control. You're his wife, aren't you? Why can't you give him some of your blood?"I narrowed my eyes and gave

Chapter 4 The club's owner was Barto Kessler, an old vampire with pointed ears and sunken eyes.

His eyes lit up when he saw me walk in. "Well, if it isn't the noble Countess Draven herself. What brings you all the way down here to a place like ours?"I handed him the wrapped painting. "Barto, I have a treasure here. I'd like to put it on display here for three days."Barto looked the tightly wrapped frame up and down, squinting in confusion. A wary growl rumbled in his throat."You... what kind of treasure comes with a lock on it?"He was feeling me out. "You didn't steal this from the Count's castle, did you?"I smirked. "It's a cage for souls. And inside are the two souls who love each other more than anyone else in the world. For a single copper coin, you can watch that high-and-mighty noble, so proud of his pure blood, bare himself without a shred of shame. And the woman beside him will coyly give herself to him."The caution in Barto's eyes instantly gave way to greed. "Who knew the Draven family had a treasure like this!" he marveled.I looked around at the crowd. Some were

Chapter 5 In less than half an hour, the club was packed with vampires.

Outlaws and bloodthirsty freaks of every kind kept pouring in."I heard old Barto got his hands on a painting. They say the man in it is a Count, and the woman's a real beauty. For one copper coin, you can touch her snow-white thigh.""Yeah? Then I've got to go see this for myself."The hall was crowded.The reek of cheap liquor and unwashed bodies mixed with the choking smoke of burning hallucinogenic herbs, hitting me all at once.Trapped inside the frame, Dorian and Lenore were in agony.Necromancy could do more than transport souls. It could also amplify every foul smell and physical sensation from outside the frame dozens of times over, forcing the souls trapped inside to endure it all.Those bloodthirsty lunatics stared at Lenore, their eyes blood-red, not bothering to hide what they wanted.One of them let out a lecherous laugh. "What a shame she isn't alive."As he said it, he dropped in one copper coin, stuck out his tongue, and licked the painting right where Lenore's cheek w

Chapter 6 On the second day of Dorian's disappearance, Casimir forced his way into the tower with his servants and Ambrose Vale, a vampire Elder.

Casimir took one look at Dorian's corpse-like face and passed out cold.Once he came to, he stormed over to confront me."Alyona! You vicious woman! Have you forgotten who turned you, who raised you from a lowborn human to a noble vampire? And now you're heartless enough to stand by and let Dorian's soul stay locked out of his body!"Ambrose glowered at me. "Alyona, Dorian is a pureblood and a Count—and he's your sire. By letting him die, you're murdering the very vampire who gave you eternal life! Tell us where Dorian's soul is, or you'll be cast out and left to fend for yourself. Let's see how long you last before the sun burns you to ash!"I laughed coldly."Burn me to ash? And who gave you the right to decide that?"I stood up and pulled my collar aside to show the turning mark on the side of my neck. It still bore Dorian's bloodline mark."That pureblood Count you're talking about left this mark when he turned me. Afterward, he signed an agreement with me."I clapped my hands, and

Chapter 7 On the night of the third day, the doors of the Blood Pit were shut tight. No one was allowed in.

After three full days of torment, Dorian's soul had been stripped of every last scrap of pureblood pride.Lenore had lost her mind completely. She lay slumped in a corner, whimpering without even realizing it."So filthy... Don't touch me..."The hall was dead silent. Then, out of nowhere, the sharp reek of chemicals mixed with the stench of rotting corpses.A figure in a black cloak stepped out of the shadows.It was Silas Morrow, the sorcerer who had cast the necromantic spell for Dorian three years ago.He glared at me, his eyes cold and vicious. "You insolent little fledgling. How dare you imprison your sire's soul? Release him now, or you won't live to see another sunrise!"Inside the painting, Dorian heard Silas's voice and lit up with hope. "Silas, kill her! Kill that lowborn woman, then get me out of here!"With a sneer, Silas chanted an incantation. But it didn't hurt me one bit.He stared at me in shock and pointed a bony, trembling finger my way."Why isn't my magic working

Chapter 8 One look at the triumph on my face, and Dorian finally understood.

I'd never planned to forgive his betrayal.I had secretly contacted the Vampire Council and handed over proof of every crime Dorian had committed over the past three years.He'd broken vampire law by secretly conspiring with a sorcerer to use forbidden necromancy. He'd kept his dead lover's soul in a painting and tried to bring her back in the body of the human he'd turned.Everything Dorian had done defied the Blood King's authority.I hadn't put Dorian on display for three days just to humiliate him. There was also a reason I'd made sure Casimir and Ambrose knew exactly where to find his soul.More importantly, I needed to draw out Silas, the sorcerer behind his scheme.I stepped forward, took out the key, and opened the lock.Then I picked up a small bucket I'd prepared earlier. It held a cloudy mix of holy water and molten holy silver.Without a moment's hesitation, I splashed it all over the painting.A sharp hiss.Thick, choking white smoke billowed up in front of me. The two sou

Chapter 9 What was left of Dorian's soul was forced into a cage and carried back to the castle tower.

The Blood King's men shoved his weakened soul back into his rotting body, and his body violently rejected it.Servants held Dorian down by his arms and legs to keep him from going berserk.After three days of torment in the Blood Pit and the slow decay of his body, Dorian was no longer himself. Once his soul was forced back into that ruined body, he became nothing more than a mindless lesser vampire.That was the scene Casimir walked in on.He stumbled over to the bed and touched Dorian's cheek in disbelief.He couldn't accept that his son, once a pureblood Count, had been reduced to a raving lunatic.Casimir's voice shook."Dorian, how did you end up like this? Didn't Silas come to save you?"Casimir didn't know yet that Silas, the man he'd trusted, was already dead.Dorian kept twitching and jerking. Terrified of being touched, he let out a scream of pain."Don't touch me... So filthy..."Right in front of Casimir, the masked man made his announcement."Count Draven has broken vampir

Chapter 10 I took over the Draven lands and claimed the title for myself. I was the new Countess, in my own right this time.

One day, a servant came to me. "His Grace, the Duke, is leaving. He'd like to say goodbye to you."I still owed the masked Duke my thanks.I walked into the great hall and spotted him right away, standing with his back to me. That familiar feeling washed over me again.I spoke softly. "Your Grace, thank you for all your help."At the sound of my footsteps, he slowly turned around.The moment I saw his unmasked face, my heart skipped a beat.It was a face I knew by heart. His deep-set eyes were an exceptionally rare shade of dark gold.I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed those eyes the last two times we'd met.I remembered the love in those eyes as he watched me grow up, and the pain and worry in them when I swore I'd leave him."Erwin... Your Grace."I clenched my fists and kept my voice steady.The Blood King had sent the very man who'd once been my adoptive father, Erwin Voss. He was a vampire Duke.When I was little, I thought he was human.It wasn't until Dorian had won me over tha

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