Reina's panic about getting her period soon was a valid and reasonable one, especially after gaining all the information related to it in the last many minutes.
While it was praiseworthy that female vampires in this world would ovulate and menstruate only once every year, there were numerous aspects that she found daunting.
Thanks to the memories she gained, Reina knew that her predecessor survived on blood alternates which gave her lower amounts of life essence.
When she menstruated, even that meager sum of life essence would be depleted after her fertile womb failed to be impregnated.
If that wasn't enough for Reina to lament about her fate, she had now learned another matter which was equally frustrating.
Female vampires ovulated one week in a year and this was the optimal period to get pregnant.
Since the population of their race was low, the elders promoted young ladies to get pregnant with the child of the one they were fated to, because success was not guaranteed.
To those who had found their fated ones, their 'mates' whom they would love and cherish, this period could be said to be blissful but for the rest, it was no laughing matter.
Unlike werewolves who had their mates predetermined by the Moon Goddess, the vampires who stemmed from the lineage of demons had a different way of finding their mates.
While the concept remained the same, that everyone would have one fated mate they would meet somewhere along their life, it depended on the vampires whether they wished to accept or reject their fate.
Werewolves would be cursed by the moon goddess for rejecting the mate she chose for them but vampires were different.
A vampire could choose the one with whom they felt a connection and mark them as their mate.
It was entirely their decision about who their mate would be but once their bond was formed, it was unbreakable.
Loyalty was a rare virtue they possessed and glorified, implying that after finding their mate, a vampire either male or female, would never leave their side.
Every creature in this world had a mate created for them, it was only their efforts that would lead them to their fated one.
For vampires, an indescribable attraction towards their fated one would bring them closer no matter where they were.
It was only then would they decide whether they were perfect for the other and later become mates.
Until now, there had never been someone who rejected this innate attraction as their entire being would scream and yearn to be close to that person until they mated for life.
Only then would they find satisfaction and joy in life, by staying next to their fated one.
'But those who haven't found their fated ones are basically screwed…' Reina snapped out of the mellow mood which enshrouded her due to this information about mates which she had also obtained earlier.
The reason why the mated couples were the only ones who were blissful during the ovulation period was obviously the weeks of passion they would partake in.
However, there was a downside for those who had yet to find the one for them.
When a female vampire began ovulating, her entire body would emit a fascinating scent, arousing the desires of any eligible male vampires around her.
'Krev pheromones.' She recalled the name used for this phenomenon.
During the ovulation period which was called the 'Krev Cycle', a female vampire's body desires to be impregnated, and to achieve this, it would disperse an alluring scent containing Krev pheromones into its surroundings.
Any male vampire in her vicinity would be driven by lust and be attracted towards the place where the female was present.
This caused major mayhem whenever a female entered her Krev cycle.
Every male in her vicinity would be engulfed in the desires of impregnating her, with or without her consent.
This posed a massive threat to the females who would be weakened during their ovulation yet have to protect themselves from any random man trying to impregnate them.
Though men could control their lustful desires whenever they accidentally came across such situations, most chose not to do so.
They did not exercise self-restraint but caved into their desires and would try to force themselves onto the females they found around them.
Thus a set of rules were implemented to protect female vampires from enduring such horrendous incidents which might scar them both mentally and physically.
Since the blood-related family of the female would not be affected by the Krev pheromones, it was their duty to protect their daughters, keeping them safe from outsiders.
This was a valid solution only until they found their mates as once a female and male vampire mated, these pheromones would never affect any other male.
After mating, the fated mate would be the only one affected by it, continuing to be driven by maddening lust during her Krev cycle.
Therefore, it was the duty of the female's family to protect her, at least, until she found her mate.
However, before she found her mate, if someone were to force themselves onto any female during her Krev cycle, the only punishment for them would be banishment or worse, death.
'Glad that consent is a necessity in this world.' She applauded King Zander and the Kings before him who emphasized this point, even creating stringent rules for safeguarding female vampires of their Kingdom.
If the female was a willing partner in this incident then no harm was done but in the off chance that she was forced to do something against her will, these rules would be applicable in that case.
It did not matter whether the female ended up pregnant after that unfortunate incident or not, the culprit would be punished regardless of the outcome of their forced mating.
Therefore, these strict rules forbidding anyone from attacking an ovulating female vampire helped in curbing the number of such cases from happening in Valanthur.
However, it was also the female and her family's first and foremost duty to protect her.
If negligence was discovered during the trial of such cases, then even the female's family would be fined a heavy amount to set an example for the rest in their Kingdom.
Thinking of everything that was related to the Krev cycle and the rules followed in their Kingdom, Reina grimaced as soon it would be her turn to abide by these rules as well.
She too was a female and from what she had learned just earlier, her Krev cycle would begin next month.
This meant that for the first week during which she would ovulate, even she would be letting out the Krev pheromones, signaling to every male in her vicinity that there was a fertile female waiting to be impregnated nearby.
More than letting out these pheromones, Reina was concerned about exposing her true gender to the King.
The man closest to her right now was the King and then his aide.
If she were to be anywhere near them during her ovulation period then without a doubt they would figure out that she had been keeping them in the dark about her gender for years.
'A man can never let out such pheromones…' She groaned as one whiff and they would know that she had been lying to them.
She wasn't worried about her safety as she had faith that the King and his men could control their desires if they came in contact with her pheromones.
After all, the more powerful a vampire was, the higher their self-restraint was.
This was known to all which also explained why the King had been an indifferent and celibate man despite having such beautiful women who were willing to do anything just to be with him.
However, her main concern was the fact that her neck might be sliced off if he were to discover the secret Rein had kept from him until now.
For years, Rein served him as a chamberlain but the trust she had built up would be shattered in a moment and Reina would be the one to bear the brunt of her predecessor's past decisions.
'Can't let that happen!' Reina shook her head repeatedly, refusing to even imagine what the scary King would do to her after realizing that she had been tricking him all along.