The Grand Elders men make it back to Hinchinbrook Island the following day. They are even careful while walking towards the mansion, scared of experiencing the wrath of Milla Valentiana. They discover she's nowhere on the island when they get inside the mansion. As one of the Grand Elders whispers a question to the vampire king, "Is Lady Milla awake?"
"The Vampire Emperor forcefully took her with him, yesterday... Some of the elite vampire guards also saw that Lady Milla tried to take his heart out!" The vampire king says dispiritedly, but he gains this slim hope every time he remembers that Milla has a higher chance of killing the vampire emperor than everyone else.
The Grand Elders get alarmed and become panic-stricken at what they have just heard. If these two cannot be stopped, the world would take a huge turn towards something dreadful. One of them proposes, "We should take Milla back, all of us. With her help, we can totally bring her back here to our side."
"I agree, Grand Elders. It is for the best, but we should prepare for the clash that may happen," the vampire king nods immediately as he talks, but there's a hint of nervousness in his voice.
For the next three days, Milla stayed in her room lounging on her bed. She only gets up every time she eats, but she has tons of fresh blood in stock on her bedside table. In the case of the vampires at the Hinchinbrook Island, they've been waiting for an opportunity to attack Lionel's mansion.
As luck would have it, half of the Shadows members are sent by Lionel to train and recruit Shadow trainees in the Philippines. Hearing this from an elite vampire guard that they've placed to be an undercover near his mansion- the vampire royalties, Grand Elders, and elite guards head there without further ado. Before they can step into the mansion's vicinity, the remaining Shadows block their way.
The captain of the Shadows asks about what can be their business there as one of the Grand Elders speaks in a resolute voice, "We are here to escort Lady Milla back to the mansion."
Milla peeks in between the curtains after hearing what the Grand Elder said. They keep arguing outside, with the Shadows forcing them to leave. Since the beginning, Milla sensed someone outside her room so she zooms to open the door with an inaudible sound, even for vampires.
Josh is startled when the doors open behind him, so he unintentionally asks her with a little bit of a surprised voice, "La-lady Milla! Do you... need something? Are you going somewhere?"
Milla looks at him with bored eyes, and he can feel her aura telling him to get out of the f*cking way. He moves out of the way, but he jogs after Milla as she walks in her vampire speed. Before she can reach the first floor, a hand pulls her arm backward which makes her turn around. With a stern face, Lionel ghastly asks her, "Where do you think you're going?"
Milla glowers at him and forcefully removes his hand. Then, she leaps to the first floor with a difference of ten steps and sprints to the door. She immediately notices the locked door and decides to kick it open. But she underestimates herself and uses too much force, making the door fly outside.
No one notice Milla smiling slightly and quickly, because of what she did. She changes her expression back to nothing, "Good morrow. What are you all doing here?"
Steve, the vampire prince, enthusiastically shouts at her, "Lady Milla! We're here to escort you back-"
"What's in it for me? Give me one good reason," Milla challenges their determination and intentions.
One of the Grand Elders responds quickly upon seeing Lionel walking out of his mansion, "We'll crown you the one and only Vampire Empress." One of their intentions is to rescue Milla, or more like rescuing themselves from the damage that these two might cause if they end up ruling together.
"Good," Milla sprints to where the Grand Elders are. On-time before Lionel catches up to her when he hears her agree. Not giving them a chance to restrain her again- she ran away from him. Her sprint was so fast that the Shadows couldn't help but to make way for her.
After she arrives, she turns around only to find Lionel walking towards them with a dangerous aura around him. Milla, then shouts at him with her palm facing him, "Stop!" It wasn't her shout that made him stop, it's her small smile after she shouted. Even the Shadows are flustered to see her smile just a little, it's like the demoness suddenly turned into an angel.
"If you want me to be your Vampire Empress, try courting me first, okay? Fare thee well!" Milla hastens back to Hinchinbrook Island, followed hastily by the vampires except for Lionel and the Shadows.
The reason? Lionel has his hand raised signaling them to stop. Josh questions his decision, "Why are you letting her go?"
"Do you still think that the two of us are friends? You're just my butler," Lionel snaps at him. Josh is used to his personality that he doesn't feel irritated or angry at him.
'What game are you playing now, Milla Valentiana? Court you? Huh.'
When the vampires get away from the mansion, the vampire king politely asks Milla, "Uhh- Lady Milla? Are you really letting the Vampire Emperor court you?"
"No. I just said it, for him to let us go and avoid casualties." After Milla seriously speaks the truth, she runs ahead of them and no one can catch up to her. While doing so, Milla is in a good mood wearing a grin on her face, 'What a fool.'
Milla heads straight to the dining area and she sees a bountiful feast in front of her. The vampires arrive after Milla begins eating without them. No one wants to sit on the opposite head seat so they all stand behind the seats on Milla's sides- waiting for her to give them a sign that they can sit.
Only the clanking sounds of utensils and plates can be heard while they are eating. Milla is also fast in eating since she doesn't care about these table etiquettes that the vampire royalties know. She eats the way she wants to, but not in a disgusting way. After eating, Milla just leans on her seat and casually drinks her glass of blood, "How will we proceed with the ritual?"
The vampire king turns his head and all of them for the first time, "Ritual? Ahh yes, the crowning ceremony for you, Lady Milla. It'll be held tomorrow at the garden outside with all the vampires present from different parts of the world."
Milla nods her head a little and smirks, "Hmm, now that I'll be your Vampire Empress, you can answer any of my questions, huh? Then answer this, why are you all aging normally?"
The vampires take glances at each other and they know that they do not have a choice, but to answer her truthfully. One of the Grand Elder answers Milla after some deliberations, "We are the oldest race of vampires with an age of almost a hundred years. We, the Grand Elders, were only babies when all of the vampires were wiped out by the Eder Clan- the vampire emperor's family... Then they injected us with something to lessen our immortality and strength... One of its side effects is aging and it will forever be passed on to the next generations..."
"If they were all wiped out, how did any of you know that they injected something into you?" Milla asks him straight away with a hint of doubt in her voice.
The Grand Elder replies to her and a sad voice can be heard from him, "A vampire woman barely escaped from the Eder Clan, she tried to save all of us. But she was able to carry two of us- me and my wife. She took care of us, and she always told us two things- our immortality is decreasing as we grow older and someone might be able to protect every one of us, someday."
"What's the woman's name and where is she?!" Milla suddenly has increased her voice as if she's expecting something to hear from him.
Meanwhile, the Grand Elder is panicking inside as he stutters, "Uhh, what's... her name... Le-leslinda? No, it's... Lucinda! We were discovered by the Shadows and she tried to kill them, but it was she who was killed…"
Upon hearing the name, Milla says inside her mind, 'Lucinda? Is it the Lucinda that I knew?' It was indeed the Lucinda she knew. The same Lucinda who knew her since Milla was still a child. The one Milla made a deal with, regarding her being buried forever. They were like a mother and a daughter, but they were also friends. The one who always believed Milla and never judged her, even when she killed countless humans.
Milla unexpectedly vanishes in front of them, they don't hear anything except for the smashing sound of the doors upstairs. Nobody knows what's gotten to Milla, but they do know not to disturb her or get in her way. The vampires finish eating as they continue to prepare the whole island for the crowning ceremony tomorrow.
The deadly vampire woman upstairs is currently buried in her blanket on the bed. She feels drained and empty inside. She doesn't know why she's like this because it doesn't make any sense. For Milla, she thinks that she never cared for others including Lucinda, except for one person. Now, she has this urge to kill someone, specifically humans and the Shadows. Before she can follow her impulses, she falls asleep hugging a pillow so tightly.
Milla wakes up in the afternoon, feeling much better than earlier. She decided to change into her already washed old wool dress, she walks to her balcony and jumps from the 4th floor without even thinking about it. As expected from her, she swiftly lands on the ground, slightly kneeling with one knee with her two hands on the ground. Then, she dashes towards the shore with no one noticing her except for the cold strong wind they felt.
She dives straight into the ocean and swims normally near the shore. Milla wants to cool herself down, that's why she decides to go on a swim. Dionne is patrolling the island when he sees Milla's nonstop swimming. Sometimes, he cannot understand what's going on with that mind of hers or maybe he can never understand her. With that thinking, he takes off and continues patrolling.