The cold wind sliced across the terrace like a knife, and I brushed a tear from the corner of my eye.

Cheers erupted from the hall behind me.

Another game, I surmised. Kieran, without a second thought, chose Seraphina again.

"This is your fate, Aurora," I told myself. "Even if you gave him your heart, it wouldn't be as precious to him as that porcelain doll, with all her 'royal blood'."

I pulled myself together, ready to go back inside, when suddenly, the air shimmered.

Years of ingrained caution made me freeze.

A man in a servant's uniform darted from the shadows, a jet-black dagger clutched in his hand.

My eyes widened.

It was a demon hunter's blade, coated in enchanted poison.

"Die, vampire!"

He was coming for me.

I dodged awkwardly, the dagger slicing my arm. My clothes ripped, and blood gushed out instantly.

The searing pain made me gasp.

"Kieran!"

The name just slipped out.

For the past five years, whenever I was in danger, he was always the first one to arrive.

The doors at the end of the hall flew open.

Kieran burst out, moving like a black streak of lightning.

He'd heard my cry.

My heart leaped.

He still cared about me…

"Ah!"

At the same time, a delicate shriek echoed.

Seraphina was right behind him, stumbling as if she'd tripped on a rug and tumbling toward the stairs.

From that distance, she would have barely scraped herself if she fell.

But facing me was death, dagger in hand.

In that split second, Kieran stopped his charge toward me.

He spun around, catching Seraphina as she "fell," holding her protectively.

Time seemed to stop.

I watched Kieran's concerned gaze as he checked Seraphina's ankle. All the while, the assassin, grinning, raised his dagger again, aiming for my throat.

My heart shattered.

Despair turned into a strange, wild strength.

I didn't try to dodge again. Instead, I grabbed a pure silver candelabra from a nearby table.

The silver seared my palm, sending up acrid smoke.

But I needed this pain. This pain made me feel alive.

With all my might, I swung the heavy candelabra at the assassin's head.

He hadn't expected me to grab silver barehanded and stumbled back.

The next second, the manor guards finally arrived, pinning the assassin to the ground.

I leaned against the wall, my hand a bloody mess, blood dripping from my fingertips onto the expensive rug.

Kieran finally looked up and saw me, covered in blood. His pupils contracted sharply.

"Aurora…" He started to move toward me.

"Don't," I croaked.

Seraphina, trembling in his arms, whimpered, "Oh, Aurora, you're bleeding so much. But I suppose it's okay since your blood isn't as precious as mine, right?"

Tears of innocence streamed down her face, but her words dripped with pure cruelty.

"Oh, and," she added, as if remembering something delightful, "I found a ruby necklace in your vanity. It looked so old-fashioned, I thought it would suit my cat much better, so I put it around his neck. I'm sure you don't mind?"

The last thread of my sanity snapped.

It was the Blood Moon ruby necklace my mother had given me. My last connection to her.

Ignoring the vampire doctor tending to my wound, I lunged for the fruit platter and grabbed a silver fruit knife.

"Aurora, stop!" Kieran's voice boomed.

Too late.

I stood before Seraphina.

She hadn't expected me to actually do it and stared with wide, frightened eyes.

I wasn't going to kill her. That would be too easy.

My hand moved like a flash, and I plunged the knife deep into her wrist – the wrist that flowed with that so-called "noble blood."

"This is what you get for touching my mother's things!"

Blood splattered.

Seraphina let out a piercing scream.

The guards dragged me into the holding cell.

No warm bed tonight. Just the dim, cramped space.

Special silver chains bound my wrists and ankles.

With every second that passed, my skin burned. It was the cruellest punishment for vampires.

But I didn't cry out.

Compared to the hollowness inside me, this physical pain felt almost like a mercy.

After an unknown amount of time, the small door creaked open.

It wasn't Kieran who entered, but an elderly vampire in a white coat—Dr. Vane, Kieran's private physician.

"His Highness sent me to tend to your wounds," Vane sighed, opening his medical kit. "You were too impulsive this time, Miss Aurora. Miss Seraphina is the future mistress of this household."

I didn't respond.

Seeing my silence, Vane applied ointment to my injuries, speaking as if making casual conversation. "His Highness just bought out the entire top floor of the medical tower for her. Do you know how fragile that holy blood is? Even a minor injury requires the best blood therapy. His Highness has been at her bedside, never leaving."

I closed my eyes.

While I was injured and locked away in this dark, cold place, he was with her.

"And," Vane lowered his voice, "the assassin has been identified. They were sent by the Ashford family. His Highness is furious, but he feels… you brought this trouble upon yourself, that you startled Miss Seraphina."

I let out a small, dry laugh, finding the situation deeply ironic.

"Then let him punish me properly."

Two days later, Kieran finally appeared.

He wore a black turtleneck sweater, his face pale, with dark circles under his eyes.

He clearly hadn't slept well these past two days—no doubt, he'd been caring for his precious one.

He opened the door and looked down at me.

"Are you insane?" was his first question. "That was a silver knife. If it had gone a little lower, you would have crippled her hand."

"She wore my necklace on an animal," I said calmly, meeting his gaze. "If I had to do it again, I would have gone for her throat."

"It was just a joke!" Kieran roared, his voice echoing in the narrow corridor. "Seraphina said she just wanted to see the necklace's quality. She never actually put it on the cat! She was just jealous of your jewelry, trying to make you angry. How could you attack her over something so trivial?"

"Trivial?"

I looked at the man I had loved for five years.

Suddenly, he seemed like a stranger.

"That assassin's knife was less than an inch from my throat that day. And she only pretended to trip," I said, pointing to the fading bloodstain on my neck. "But you chose to save her."

Kieran's eyes flickered with guilt.

But he quickly regained his composure and spoke with indignation.

"She has no way to protect herself! You are a powerful pureblood, you could have dodged, couldn't you? Besides, you weren't seriously injured!"

"So, I'm guilty for being strong, and she's right for being weak?"

"I don't want to argue about this," Kieran said, rubbing his temples, his tone softening. "Miss Seraphina's holy blood is very unstable. This injury has severely depleted her energy. You will reflect here for a few days. When she is stable, I will let you out."

He turned to leave.

"Kieran."

I stopped him.

"Did you ever truly love me?"

He paused, his back to me. There was a moment of hesitation, but then he finally spoke.

"I…"

"No need to say it. I understand."

I gently cut him off.

Kieran's posture stiffened.

He turned around, looking at me with suspicion. "Understand what?"

Leaning against the cold wall, I managed a faint smile. "You are right. For her, anything is worth doing."

This wasn't something I would have said before.

The old me would have been hysterical, demanding promises.

But now, I simply offered my understanding.

Kieran looked at my eyes, as calm as a stagnant pool, and for the first time, genuine unease showed on his face.

He opened his mouth, as if to explain something.

But at that moment, his assistant rushed in.

"My Lord, Miss Seraphina is awake!"

He merely frowned, then turned to me.

"You understand."

"I have something to attend to. I'll see you later."

He then swiftly followed his assistant out of the holding cell.

I watched his back disappear, a hint of irony in my smile.

It's always like this. Whenever Seraphina is involved, I'm always the one left behind.

But that's alright.

He doesn't know that when a woman stops arguing, it means she's ready to walk away.

A week later, I was released.

Not because Kieran had a change of heart, but because Seraphina was out of the hospital, and he was in good spirits.

The sunlight was blinding the moment I stepped out of the detention cell.

The butler handed me an itemized bill.

"Miss Aurora, this is for your treatment, food, and lodging during your time in the dungeon. Lord Kieran has already settled it for you."

Looking at the astronomical figure, all I could do was laugh.

He imprisons and tortures me, then expects gratitude?

"Tell him I'll repay it."

I returned to Moonlight Tower one last time and found most of my things were gone.

That room had been completely transformed into Seraphina's "recovery suite."

Without pausing, I went straight to Christie's auction house in the city center.

During my treatment, Dr. Vane had let slip a crucial piece of information: to fund Seraphina's rare supplements and to punish my "disobedience," Magnus had decided to auction off a collection of family heirlooms.

Among them was the true Blood Moon ruby necklace.

So Seraphina had lied that day. The necklace wasn't with her but with Magnus, who was solely driven by profit.

The auction house was opulent, a hub for New York's elite.

I sat in a corner, wearing sunglasses.

Before coming, I'd sold off all my assets, raising fifty million.

It should have been enough. I had to get my mother's last possession back.

"Next, we have lot number 8, from the ancient Nocturne family, the legendary Blood Moon ruby…"

The auctioneer's voice boomed with excitement.

The necklace lay in its black velvet box, like a drop of solidified blood, radiating a mournful glow.

It was the only heirloom my mother had left me.

"Starting bid, five million dollars."

"Ten million," someone called out.

"Twenty million."

The price kept climbing.

I gripped the armrests of my seat, my fingernails digging in.

Finally, I raised my paddle:

"Fifty million."

But someone immediately countered:

"Sixty million."

A familiar voice echoed from the VIP box on the second floor.

I looked up.

Kieran was seated there, a wine glass in his hand, appearing utterly at ease.

Seraphina was beside him, playing the role of the demure woman.

He was buying the necklace?

A faint, almost absurd flicker of hope ignited within me.

Perhaps… he was buying it to give back to me? As an apology? After all, it was my mother's heirloom.

"Lord Kieran bids sixty million! Are there any higher offers?"

The hall erupted in murmurs.

Sixty million dollars for a necklace. It was an exorbitant sum.

"Sixty million, going once, sixty million, going twice… Sold!"

The auction hammer fell.

My heart sank with it.

A server carried the packaged necklace up to the second-floor box.

I removed my sunglasses, staring intently at the box.

I saw it all too clearly.

Kieran took the box, opened it, and removed the red necklace.

Without even glancing down at the crowd, he turned and gently fastened the necklace around Seraphina's neck.

"This is a get-well gift for you." Though I couldn't hear his voice, I read his lips.

Seraphina shrieked with delight, throwing herself into his arms for a kiss.

I felt as though I was plunging into an ice cellar.

Something inside me shattered completely.

He knew perfectly well it was my mother's heirloom, yet he bought it without hesitation and then hung it like a mere trinket around the neck of the woman who had ruined my life.

I stood up and pulled out my phone, dialing the number I had sworn never to call again.

"Lucian," I said into the receiver, my voice eerily calm.

Lucian's concerned voice came from the other end, "What is it, my little fiancée calling me out of the blue?"

"Come pick me up in a few days. Once I've settled things here, we'll get married," I said, looking at the embracing couple on the second floor, speaking each word with deliberate precision.