Lucille's eyes widen as the mysterious intruder removes his hood, revealing shoulder-length silver hair, pale skin, and eyes that share the same shade of purple as hers.
Above all that, she can clearly see how similar their faces are — it's as if she's staring at her masculine counterpart.
"Y-you look...
"Just like you, of course."
The lady gulped.
"Are you my father's illegitimate son?" It was a curious query, considering how clueless she is. She does not even know what to ask first.
The man stared sharply at her. "You aren't even his, nor am I. The duke's daughter died weeks after her birth. They took you away from me because you share the same features as her."
Lucille could not utter a word. Her heart races faster each time he begins speaking.
"Look at me closely, Emily." He took a few steps towards her and bent his knees to match her height. "It's me, your brother. I've held you in my arms day and night until they came and burned the orphanage."
Looking deeper into his eyes feels like being pulled into his soul. It's almost as if she's seeing a glimpse of his past beyond it. But before she drowned in his hypnosis, Lucille quickly turned away.
"It's my special day, can't you see? Whoever you are, can't you just let me go?" she pleaded, still avoiding his piercing gaze.
"That's why I'm taking you away. You've matured enough, Emily. It won't be too long until your real nature shows."
Those last few words caught her off guard, prompting her to once again meet his eyes to seek the truth.
"We're not like them, Emily. I myself do not desire to force you like this. I've initially planned to take it slowly since I successfully located you, but not until I heard about your marriage, and so I decided that I must act with haste. Also, you were born in winter. You've been living a life full of lies, Emily, and I came here to save you."
"I told you I'm not the one you're looking for."
His rough and wide hand was quick to grip Lucille's trembling arm as she was about to turn her back. He forcefully pulled her back, leaving her frozen in terror.
"No use denying it now, sister. Forgive me for what I'm about to do, but I don't want you to suffer the consequence of the duke's greed later."
"Please let me go; you're hurting me." she begged, and tears started to escape from her eyes.
"I do not wish for our reunion to turn out like this. But for the sake of your future, I'll be disclosing everything right now."
His grip did not loosen a little, but his tone has become calmer and softer as he proceeds.
"From what I've heard, the duchess gave birth when she was inside the palace and stayed there for a month. Everyone has already seen what her daughter looks like — the one who's betrothed to the prince. That child died weeks later, so the duke had to search for a replacement or he would have to give up the chance to gain more power."
Lucille shook her head sideways, not allowing that information to get into her head.
"I only let you speak to hear you out, but that doesn't mean I'll believe you." The frightened lady has now grown resentful and impatient. She withdrew her arms with all the strength she had left and took a step back.
"I'll cut to the chase. We're half-vampires, Emily, and you too can transform into this."
"W-what are you?" Fear took over her when the man suddenly drew a knife from his cloak.
Would he kill her now? Should she just go on with his schemes instead?
All those thoughts faded in an instant now that she witnessed the man draw a straight line through the skin of his palm. Dark red liquid flowed from the wound he inflicted upon himself, which he did not bother to tend to; he did not even flinch at all.
"It's time, Emily."
Those were the last words she heard before everything fell into chaos.
***
The party proceeded despite the celebrant's absence, but this circumstance persisting until midnight was enough for the staff and her parents to start panicking. They searched the garden but could not find her anywhere.
Eros himself reported that he failed to fetch her when he was supposed to before leaving. The duchess fears that she might have been stressed out by the guests' constant checking on the prince's attendance, but she could not voice it out, much to her frustration.
Her butler, who shares their worry, decided to look into her room.
A loud scream of agony made his heart race as he touched the doorknob, thus urging him to act with haste.
The room was filled with darkness; only the ray of moonlight coming from the veranda gave him an adequate means to see the mess before him.
"Young lady, what's happening?"
"I will return for you, Emily, my sister."
He finds the lady weeping, clearly in extreme pain, as she sits lifelessly on the floor. Strangely, a man who had just pulled away from her calmly turned his back and jumped off the window.
"Come back here, you bastard."
". . He-help me."
"Hold on, young lady, I'll call —"
His eyes widen in terror as they meet her burning vermilion orbs.
It wasn't so long until the Duchess herself entered the room, and what welcomed her was the rusty smell of blood that flows under her foot.
Her maternal instinct tells her that her daughter might have been in grave danger at the hands of an intruder, but the scene before her suggests otherwise.
The butler's lifeless body dropped from her grasp, revealing the bloodstained face of her daughter, whom she never let a pinch of dust settle on. Her angelic, flawless face is now splattered with crimson liquid all over.
Tears fell from Lucille's eyes. "Mo-mother..."
Her daughter's frightened face was the last image she saw before everything turned black.
***
A month later. . .
George pierced his body through the aggregated crowd, forcing his way to deliver a single piece of paper he covertly detached from the public bulletin board.
Here and there, the gossip was all about that one incident. . .
'Lady Lucille of the House of Matthews, fiancee of the respected Crown Prince, has gone missing since her coming-of-age celebration. Witnesses reported that the lady was last seen being intimate with a mysterious man in the maze garden of the duke's mansion. . . '
"This is bad, your highness. I heard that everyone is blaming your actions for her disappearance!" He cried in a low tone, which simply earned a cold shoulder from the Prince.
"Any news from the duke's mansion?" Eros asked as he leaned on a light post, smoking a cigarette.
George rolled his eyes at the dismissal of his concern. "The person you have sent to tail on the duke has reported that the lady rode a carriage with her personal maid a week after that night and has not returned since then. Also, he has hired two men on separate occasions for some unknown job. Just recently, his subordinate went to recruit another man from the countryside for uncertain reasons. They seem to be sent somewhere else."
"Could it be related to his human trafficking business? Nothing seems to fit the puzzle."
"What do we do now?"
Eros took a deep breath and turned his gaze toward the sky.
"She had never responded to my father's invitation when it was time for us to plan our wedding. Damn it, now my father's holding me accountable for her sudden change of heart. He even threatened me to revoke my rights to the throne should she withdraw from this engagement. That duke, I am sure he's got a tight grasp of something my father holds in high regard, something adequate for my father to push through this union."
"What do we do now?"
"I have a plan. We'll set this as our top priority for now."