An extremely handsome and confident man strode through the Sanguine castle with a charismatic warm smile.
He had long silver hair, an exquisitely charming appearance and the standard hypnotizing red eyes.
Wearing a simple but luxurious black suit with a red cape, this man was one of the ten vampire lords of Upyr, Jasper Volturi.
Despite this man's youthful and friendly demeanor, he was a ruthless and sarcastic individual who enjoyed immersing himself in blood and women.
Normally, that would not have proved to be a problem for him as women always seemed to swoon at the mere sight of him.
But today it seemed like they could not care less that he was here!
He could feel no lingering gazes on his body and hear no seductive remarks.
At first, he believed that everyone may have been tense with the sudden appearance of a dragon a few days ago and thus, were not in the mood for the finer pleasures.
However, that theory was dispelled rather quickly when he realized the maids were still gossiping and giggling the same as they had always done.
So why didn't they care that he'd arrived?!
Eventually, Jasper decided it was best to ignore all of this as he approached the meeting room where the other ten lords were already waiting.
He normally wasn't one to make a habit of being late, especially when the queen called but this time, there was simply no helping it.
'I'll apologize properly when I see her.' He thought lasciviously.
Jasper pushed open the door to the throne room and found that all of his companions were already inside.
Nine of the most beautiful, powerful, and intelligent vampires from across this land were all standing around, eyeing each other and making idle chitchat.
The group was evenly divided into men and women, all of whom stopped to glance at the door when Jasper arrived.
Satisfied again when all eyes were on him, he performed his signature smile and wave and was delighted to see that at least in here, the women were still reacting to him as they should.
All except one woman whom Jasper immediately set his sights on.
Moving through the groups of ancient vampires, he very quickly came to stand beside the one who always seemed to attract him the most.
"Been quite a while hasn't it, Lady Kirina?"
The woman in question appeared to be immersed in deep thought and as a result, did not immediately respond to his greetings.
"Hm? Jasper? When did you arrive?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtRather than being upset she did not notice his arrival, the vampire maintained his friendly demeanor. "Just now. What were you thinking about so hard that you hardly noticed me?"
"...The future." Kirina replied after a moment of silence.
"Oh? Might this future include us?" He asked as he took her hand and flashed the same devastating smile that made all of the women he interacted with swoon.
"Only in my nightmares."
"Aw, don't be like that. Can you truly say that you did not miss me even a little bit?"
"Not only did I not miss you, I am currently so repulsed by your presence that I feel like I could vomit were I not physically incapable." She replied coldly.
Jasper was slightly taken aback.
Before, the two had always shared a playful and flirtatious banter that showed the potential of blossoming into something more, but now she was very clearly annoyed by him.
What had changed?
Before he could even begin to process this unreal turn of events, the door opened again and princess Isabelle immediately walked in.
The lords bowed respectfully and immediately began exchanging pleasantries.
"Glory to the Sanguine royal family!"
"The princess is as lovely as ever."
"I wish you good health, princess-"
"All of you, shut up. The shit is about to hit the fan and I need as much quiet time to mentally prepare as possible." Isabelle came to a stop beside the ornate golden throne and pulled a flask out of her back pocket.
Taking a quick swallow of dwarven whiskey, she silently wondered just how horrible things were going to go on a scale from 1-10.
All of the lords began to look at each other in confusion, save for Kirina who knew exactly why Isabelle was behaving in this manner and that her reaction was entirely justified.
'Fufufu, Seeing her react like that, I actually feel a bit less nervous.'
"The queen is arriving!"
No one knew who announced it first, but all of the ten vampire lords dropped down to one knee and bowed towards the throne.
The black double doors swung open for a final time and Audrina walked in a bit slower than normal.
'The queen is pissed..'
'She's moving so slowly, she must be deciding which of us to kill!'
'What has her so upset?'
The lords weren't aware but Audrina was only walking slowly because she was still feeling the lingering effects of her husband's divine punishment.
It had taken two whole days for her to even regain consciousness, and Eris and Seras were both still unconscious in the bedroom.
Had she not been a demigoddess, she would have still been sleeping right in between them.
'I feel a little sore, but for some reason I really want him to take me like that again...' Audrina had finally discovered a new fetish thanks to her husband's rampant jealousy.
The pleasure she felt from being roughly treated and overwhelmed was incredibly addictive and euphoric, while also leaving her slightly afraid.
'Let's get all of this nonsense out of the way so that we can hurry up and go home!'
The vampire lords were surprised when instead of taking a seat on the throne like normal, Audrina instead stood beside it.
"It's good that you all came so quickly, I have a rather important announcement to make."
Seeing that she had all eyes on her and everyones attention, Audrina didn't waste any time.
"I'll keep this short and simple. I'll be passing the throne to my husband effective immediately. You're free to voice any complaints you might have, and if you have none then we will begin the plans for his coronation."
When Audrina finished making her speech, the jaws of all of the vampires went slack.
Not only did the queen just drop the bombshell that she'd gotten married, she also declared her intention to pass the throne to this unknown man.
"S-Surely you jest, my queen?"
"That's right! How can you say something like that so casually!?"
"Who is this husband?!"
Audrina held out her hand for her sister to pass the flask and she complied without batting an eye.
"No I'm not joking, I said it because it's true, and you all have already heard about him. You were all pissing yourselves when you heard he showed up after all." Audrina took a large gulp from the ornate silver flask before passing it back to her sister who copied her actions exactly.
The vampire lords all wracked their brain to understand their queen's words but it proved to be to no avail.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not figure out who their queen could possibly be talking about.
They were the most feared vampires in the continent so if it wasn't one of them then who could it be?!
Unless...
The male vampires all began to eye each other suspiciously.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWhen it came to looks, power, and wealth, there were no vampires more suitable than them so surely the queen's husband must be amongst themselves!
Unfortunately, when the men looked for the culprit they found that they were receiving accusatory looks as well.
"If you insult me like that again, I will kill all of you and feed your concubines your remains." Audrina said with an unfriendly tone.
How could they think she would ever settle for one of these insects?!
"M-My queen I'm sorry but... we have no idea who you could be referring to." A woman next to Kirina said.
"That hardly matters! Upyr has never once been ruled by someone outside of the sanguine royal line! For you to want to hand our nation over to any random vampire is unthinkable!" An older vampire noted.
"I couldn't agree more, Ambrose! That's why my husband is not a vampire at all." Audrina said with a wide smile.
Once Audrina's words clicked in their minds, the group remembered the horrifying report's they'd received earlier in the week.
"My queen... surely you don't mean...?"
Audrina's smile only grew wider and wider when she saw their faces filled with disbelief.
"Husband? Have you heard enough yet?"
[Spell : Mist Body, deactivated.
On the ornate golden throne between Audrina and Isabelle, a single man appeared, his body seemingly emerging from thin air.
He was frighteningly tall, at well over six feet.
His body exuded a natural air of raw power, a feeling that was only multiplied by the strange tattoos adorning his upper body.
He was wearing a ceremonial black dress with a golden insignia down the center, paired with a loose and open red robe that exposed the powerful muscles underneath.
His outfit was one that Kirina greatly approved of, as it reminded her a great deal of Helios.
When their eyes fell on his face, they were either easily seduced or agitated, with a few of them unsure of which emotion was more dominant within their minds.
He opened his eyes to reveal two mismatched irises, both reptilian in nature.
One was a bright and iridescent purple that seemed to peer into their hearts and minds, leaving their entire existence bare.
The other was a chilling crimson that perfectly conveyed the feeling of standing in front of an apex predator.
They were so mesmerized by his fearsome demeanor and beauty that transcended common sense, they had completely forgotten that this strange man had simply shown up out of nowhere without any of them being able to sense him.
"Abaddon my love, it would seem as though you require an introduction."
The dragon said nothing as he dragged his gaze over every one of the kneeling vampires.
While the women had spiraled into a state of heat, the men met his gaze with bold and furious eyes.
Unsurprisingly, one of the vampires was bolder than the rest and immediately stood up aggressively.
'It begins...' Abaddon thought.