"I can't have you and you can't have me either. The sins we made tonight I will pay when the lunar eclipse arrives and after that, I will no longer appear in front of you."
Anthony sighed, the words spoken by Airin kept ringing in his head and haunting him.
Airin drove him crazy because she had completely disappeared after that night.
Now Anthony can't even find Airin's house even though he has passed the road that he often travels to be able to meet Airin, but this time he just turned and kept turning on the same road and couldn't find Airin's house.
Airin's house is indeed located in the middle of the forest, but the house is so magnificent like a palace and usually, from a distance, Anthony can already see Airin's house tower but this time, even though he was standing on the tallest tree he saw only the thick treetops.
"No matter how much you hide from me, I will still find you."
Anthony growled, he closed his eyes, that's when he could feel Airin's scent from a distance.
Anthony immediately jumped far from one tree alighted to another tree, he could feel Airin getting closer to him, but suddenly an arrow that almost hit his face passed in front of him making Anthony's steps stop.
Anthony immediately opened his eyes, his fangs were immediately visible because his instincts as a hunter were disturbed, someone was stalking him and Anthony would make sure that whoever was stalking him would not be able to live again.
With his sharp eyes, Anthony immediately found an archer who was hiding behind a bush and in an instant, Anthony was in front of the archer, which made him fall in fear.
"Little witch, what are you doing here with your stupid arrows?" Asked Anthony, he was like a hunter who was playing with his prey at the moment, and at the end of his sentence, he threw the arrow which had almost hit him right at the teenage wizard.
The archer mage shook his head quickly as he crawled backward as his arrow tore into his shoulder deep enough to make him bleed profusely.
Of course, the blood of a witch is very seductive and makes Anthony's vampire instincts even crazier but he can't suck the blood of anyone other than Airin's blood, it was their pact when they tied the knot as lovers.
"Don't hurt me, prince, I was only ordered by ..."
"By whom?" Cut Anthony, his face could not hide his ferocity, even though he was in the witch's territory but no one ever dared to threaten him because he is the strongest among the vampire clan and all the witch know about it.
"By the great witch, Airin. She left this message."
The witch then snapped his fingers and a letter immediately floated in front of Anthony.
"Please don't kill me, I didn't mean to shoot you. You're so fast that I can't catch up to you." His body trembling with fear, he had never come face to face with the vampire and had only heard about their existence and how savage they were because that was the weaver, those who used to be weak ordinary humans finally seek knowledge hidden behind spells that exist in nature universe and gain their strength so that they can face the vampire clan even though only magicians of the highest level can fight them, but clan vampire no longer bothered the witches, let alone an incarnation of the moon goddess with them.
"Go ..." Anthony spoke almost as a whisper so that the young witch could not hear him clearly and remained there enduring the pain until finally, Anthony screamed very dating, "GO NOW!" Anthony's shout was like a thunderous roar that was so loud that it made the crows that had previously perched on the tree immediately flew.
Seeing Anthony's anger, the young witch immediately limped away while clutching his injured shoulder and disappeared behind the trees.
Anthony grabbed the letter coming from Airin, who ordered him to go back to his kingdom because the lunar eclipse was coming, but which made Anthony feel very angry because of the last sentence that Airin wrote in his letter.
"Don't look for me anymore. "
"I will come back, I will find you, Airin!"
That is the promise of a prince, a determined noble vampire and nothing can stop him.
...
Anthony finally returned to his kingdom, he had to gather at the palace after all the soldiers closed the entrance to the kingdom of Etona.
The lunar eclipse is a very frightening thing where they all become very weak and even weaker than ordinary humans. All that happened because the power of the clan vampire came from the moon, the brighter the moon the greater their strength.
It is a natural law, a curse, and a punishment for the clan vampire while the witch loses their power because they get their power from the goddess of the moon and if the moon is not with them they will lose their magic, even though during the day the moon is not visible but the sun never covers the moon because that is why the power of the vampires and the witch will still exist.
"When the sun eats the moon like humans suck our blood. That is what happened, our people are not many. Humans can kill us whenever we are weak because of that we have to close down our kingdom, we do that to protect all the clan vampire, the same thing that the incarnation of the Moon Goddess is currently doing is protecting her people so that humans don't burn them, it's been centuries and every lunar eclipse there will always bewitch caught and burned alive by them, We are indeed stronger than the witch because the power we have is a blessing from the universe, but that doesn't mean we are weak. Oh, my people, tomorrow will come soon, let's party tonight and close the doors of your house tomorrow, do not come out even when it is noon until tomorrow has passed." Said King Arthur to his people, he raised the glass high above his head indicating that the party was starting.
Both inside and outside the palace, every Vampire clan is having fun, sip the fresh animal blood that the kingdom has served and listen to music and then dance.
They believed that their wise king would guard them with the help of the two princes, without them knowing that the king's condition had weakened.
"Dad, you shouldn't have come out and greeted them, I can do it," Alexander said as he helped his father sit on the throne while Anthony stood behind them along with the other nobles.
"I'm fine, there's no need to worry. I may be almost a thousand years old, but I'm really fine. You better just enjoy this party." Arthur replied, smiling at Alexander and also the nobles gathered at the altar looking at him worriedly.
"All right, dad. Just call me then I'll come right away." Alexander said, he immediately descended the stairs and glanced at Anthony who had a flat face, he seemed to harbor his anger, but Alexander didn't care, he kept walking and approaching the nobles and started partying.
Alexander was just about to take to the dance floor with a noble lady he had just met when he saw his father whisper to Anthony and immediately Anthony laughed softly making Alexander curious about what they were talking about because his father never told him funny stories.
The closeness of Arthur and Anthony made Alexander heated up, he could not let Anthony be so close to his father because after all Anthony was only the second prince, he's not the crown prince so Anthony shouldn't get more attention from his father.
When Alexander chose to leave, he could not stand his jealousy seeing Anthony's closeness to his father.
Alexander had just passed the first hallway and he had already heard arguing from a room. Out of curiosity Alexander stood at the door and started eavesdropping he did not care about the debate between the prime minister and his daughter but because her daughter repeatedly mentioned Anthony's name in an angry tone, all this made Alexander want to know what they were arguing about. It would be great if they hated Anthony then it was a boon for him.
"Why do you keep telling me to approach Anthony? He is just the second prince, what can I expect from a prince who will never ascend the throne?"
The smile on Alexander's face grew, what Eliza said was true, Anthony is just a prince who will not take the throne then why bother approaching him so much.
The new Alexander will step in and offer to marry Eliza so that his position as a potential heir to the throne will be stronger, but Alexander's footsteps stopped when he heard the prime minister speak.
"Anthony is the one who will be king one day."
Nonsense! Alexander immediately felt burning when he heard the prime minister's words, he wanted to destroy the door right now and choke it until the prime minister died in his hands, nothing is the most presumptuous except to doubt his position as crown prince.
"It can't be, Daddy, everything is already regulated by royal regulations if only the first prince will become king. The second prince is just a backup."
"Even the king himself told me he liked Anthony more than Alexander. Anthony is stronger and smarter than Alexander, even if they both fight then Anthony will be the winner."
"But being king isn't just a matter of strength."
"That's right, many kingdoms that Anthony has conquered even without war, he has unlimited brainpower. He was destined to become a king, nothing could change him even though Alexander would still live for another thousand years, he will never be king. So approach Anthony if you want to be a queen in this kingdom."
Anthony ... Anthony ... And always Anthony ...
Alexander was very angry, he had shown his fangs and he promised that he would kill Anthony tonight. No one can take his position as king in the future, Alexander will never back down.
Alexander then looks for Anthony, he is not in the middle of the party, he does often disappear but this time Alexander will keep looking for him wherever Anthony goes and finally he managed to find his younger brother.
He was sitting alone on the roof and was shocked when Alexander saw tears trickling down Anthony's cheek.
"Airin I miss you ..." The ears of the vampires were so sharp that Alexander could hear Anthony's words even from a distance.
Airin? The incarnation of the moon goddess? What has Anthony got to do with the great witch? Alexander wondered why his younger brother missed the witch, maybe Anthony loved a witch?
"If missing her makes you cry, then I will make you lose it forever and keep crying, my little brother. I like seeing you become weak so that I am the only heir to the throne in the kingdom of Etona."
***