"Caius, the king humbly requests for your presence in the royal hall." It was Bion, his butler and most loyal friend. He gave Bion permission to call him by his first name when no one's around as it is treason to call a royalty by their first name. Caius was the duke of Selkath. His father's the only brother of the current king in the vampire society, King Alexander.
Caius drowns his sorrow in the dark corners of his study hall while holding a chalice filled with fresh human blood, glistening against the moonlight, piercing into the huge glass window.
"Request rejected." He said, almost a whisper, not even minding that it was the king who requested his presence.
"But, Your Grace-" even before Bion could argue with him, Caius held his free hand up, a gesture of telling his butler he had heard enough. Bion knew that it would be pointless to argue with Caius when he's in this state. He took a deep breath and exited the room.
A few years have passed and Lord Caius still mourns for the loss of his significant other, Lunafreya. A powerful immortal who died the night after their secret wedding ceremony.
Bion took a deep breath before sending the letter to his majesty. It's probably a good thing that the king treats Caius like the son he never had. Or else, Caius would have entered eternal sleep by now as punishment for disobeying the king.
The king, Alexander, wishes Caius to be the next in line once he enters eternal sleep but Caius humbly declines the offer. The good old king respects his decision as he knows the load Caius will carry if ever he becomes king; however, the vampire council thinks otherwise. Caius knew that the elders are scared of having their power and status stripped away from them. They knew that without a king sitting in the iced throne, their powers would wither away. A pure-blooded immortal king holds the power that can grant anyone anything, including immortality itself. Alexander wears a specific pendant that holds this power. This pendant is not just any other stone as it has the ability to choose its own master. The last time someone tried to steal this power, the guard only witnessed a flash of burning light and the next thing they saw was a pile of ashes along with the pendant on the floor. They had to call Alexander himself to pick up the said pendant as they might turn to ashes themselves the moment they try to pick it up. If this stone doesn't have a current holder or master, it will slowly absorb back the powers it has given to the other immortals, including the elders. This is what they're scared of, this is what frightens them. Without a holder, they'll turn to ashes, back to nothing. The challenge is they can't just find someone, the pendant must choose its master.
There are only a few purebloods in the realm and only purebloods can breed. A human turned into a vampire is called Immortal. Given that an Immortal was previously a human, they cannot breed with the purebloods. Even with a body of an immortal, their body will not be able to withstand holding such power in their womb.
It's been decades since the purebloods tried to conquer the pendant as Alexander wanted to enter eternal sleep with his wife, the queen, who happens to be an immortal. Greedy purebloods tried to hold the pendant but they failed, they turned to ashes.
Thousands wanted to be king, to hold the realm together and some wanted to expand the territory to the human world. However, none of them succeed, to the point that they're almost extinct.
Caius's father, Leynor, who is the only brother of the king, tried to get hold of such power but he also turned to ashes. Caius, a young pureblood at that time was shaken by the sight of his father turning to ashes in his very sight, causing him to run towards his father and try to get hold of whatever ashes he can grab. Hoping that he'll be able to hold his father one last time but he ended up grabbing the pendant accidentally. The crown became worried for the young lord but to their surprise, he did not disappear nor did he turn to ashes. He was still there, crying and holding the pendant close to his heart. Alexander felt a sigh of relief. Finally, a rightful heir appeared.
With Lunafreya gone, the king released a royal command that Caius is meant to marry Lucine to continue the bloodline of purebloods. Knowing that this is an absolute command, Caius agreed on one condition: he gets to decide when to marry her and consummate their marriage.
"We have a lifetime to wait for the right date, Lucine." this was his only words to his betrothed and never laid his eyes on her again.
Caius was ready to give up with his life, too succumb to the loneliness and darkness he felt throughout those years he was alone. He was ready to meet his judgment and be punished for not obeying the king's command until he met a mortal who resembled his wife.