"Sibelle, I've missed you for so long. Don't leave me again, stay with me forever!" The soft, gentle voice, though refreshing, carried a chill like a wind from a frozen land. "Last night, I followed you all the way. I could see how heartbroken you were... You know, Lionel doesn't value you. His heart is filled with nothing but hatred, still hatred. My dear, let us walk together into eternity. I will ask my father to grant us a marriage."
So, it was him who followed me last night?!
No wonder he could resist my telepathy. After I froze him last night, he must have found a way to counter me!
But... marriage?!
As I was still reeling in shock, a sudden sharp pain pierced my neck, and warm liquid trickled down my skin.
The harsh, grating sound of swallowing reminded me that he was drinking my blood—my blood! God, my blood!
"No—help! Help!"
The blood in my body surged chaotically toward the wound on my neck, my strength drained away completely. A cold numbness spread from my spine to my limbs, and a bone-chilling fear made me scream uncontrollably.
But no one came... How ironic. A graveyard—what else is here besides the dead and their tombs?
My body convulsed, already limp in his arms, as an endless, desolate despair wrapped around me like a shroud.
A gust of wind suddenly swept through, and a powerful force collided with us. A sharp red light flashed before my eyes, and a strong hand grabbed my arm. With a loud crash, Rui Jones' body was sent flying, and I fell into a cold embrace.
Enduring the icy pain in my body, I trembled as I raised my hand to cover the wound on my neck. Fearfully, I looked up and saw that the person holding me was—Lionel·Albert, the last person I wanted to see!
How did he suddenly appear?
A dark purple cloak, long and extravagant, trailed behind him. The wide hood hid his face and his striking auburn hair, blocking the sky from my view.
His blue eyes swept over my bleeding neck and instantly turned blood-red. His perfect lips trembled slightly, revealing two sharp, snow-white fangs.
He hastily averted his gaze, his handsome face filled with anger. His eyes, sharp as knives, glared coldly at Rui Jones, who had just steadied himself. "I warned you not to touch her!"
Looking at him like this, I no longer felt fear. I hated him, yet I wanted to touch his face.
It had only been one night since we last saw each other, so why did it feel like a century had passed?
Had I truly fallen into this endless, pitch-dark abyss of eternal damnation, unable to escape?
Tears streamed down my face. The pain from the wound on my neck was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
"Lionel, I'm in so much pain..." His cruelty, deceit, dominance, allure, and care—everything about him made my heart ache.
He glanced down at me, his brows furrowed in helplessness. With a swift motion of his cloak, a cold wind rose, and he carried me toward the graveyard's parking lot.
The car sped around corners, racing toward the Rose Baron Hotel on the Champs-Élysées.
In the silent car, only my hurried breaths could be heard. Would I become a vampire?
Thankfully, Bevis had injected me with an antidote that would last a week. Was today the fourth day? The fifth? Or maybe the sixth? I could only pray that the seven days weren't up yet.
"I need to go to the hospital," I said, slumped in the car seat, struggling to breathe. Losing so much blood, if I didn't get to a hospital, I might die.
"You're bleeding!" His voice trembled slightly.
"Thanks for the reminder," I replied, glancing at him. Only then did I notice that his red eyes and fangs hadn't retracted—perhaps he was struggling to resist the scent of my blood but couldn't suppress his thirst.
A bleeding human to a vampire was like a fragrant feast, and to make matters worse, in his eyes, I was still a damned suspect.
"I need to go to the hospital... I never want to step foot in that damned dungeon of yours again!" I was also tired of the schemes of those three maids.
If I were dead, that would be one thing, but I wasn't deaf. He should be able to hear how much I despised him.
If it weren't for him clinging to me, I wouldn't have become so obsessed with him, nor would I have followed him into that underground castle in a daze, and I certainly wouldn't have run into that damned Rui Jones at that wretched party. This was the first time in my life I'd been bitten by a vampire, and by one of the worst of their kind at that. If I didn't kill him, I swore I would no longer be human!
He frowned deeply but still didn't stop the car. "Margie, if I truly did something wrong, I apologize... You're still bleeding. I can't leave you out here. The blood clans have been rampant lately. You're in danger like this!"
Was he implying that he didn't think he'd done anything wrong?
Hurting someone who loved him for the sake of a vampire who deserved to die ten thousand times—wasn't that wrong?
Forget it. If he didn't think it was wrong, it only proved how insignificant I was in his heart, which had never truly beaten, except as a means to increase his power.
"Stop the car!"
"If you really hate me that much..." he sighed helplessly.
"I don't just hate you. I hate all vampires!" I gritted my teeth, wanting to tell him just how much I hated him, but my voice was already weak and trembling.
He stopped in front of a hospital, got out of the car first, and then carried me out.
"Put me down!"
He commanded firmly, "At least let me check your injuries."
"It's just two bite marks. No big deal, Baron Lionel·Albert. Please, let me go!"
"Fine!" He stopped in his tracks, his arms trembling as he held me. He pursed his lips and gently placed me on the steps of the hospital building.
Those deep, blood-red eyes were filled with sorrow, like a stormy sea churning with endless bitterness. Suddenly, his eyes welled up, and two drops of bloody tears fell, splashing onto my face.