Three days later, my door opened.

Cedric walked in with Elsie on his arm.

The bloodstone ring on her left ring finger, a symbol of her clan's alliance, flashed a blinding red.

The Eternal Ice Rose I had dreamed of for a century was now a brooch pinned to her chest, a declaration of her victory.

“Alaina,” Cedric’s voice was flat. “How are you feeling?”

“Alive,” I said hoarsely. “Disappointed?”

Cedric’s brow twitched, as if surprised by my calm.

Elsie walked to my bedside, her face a mask of false concern. “I’ve been wanting to see you. I heard you were badly injured protecting us. You’re so brave.”

Protecting them.

What a fucking joke.

“Just doing my duty,” I replied, my face blank.

“Your loyalty is truly touching,” Elsie said, a flash of unconcealed triumph in her eyes.

Just then, a black shadow flew in through the window and landed on my shoulder.

It was a raven. His feathers were ink-black, shimmering with a strange, blood-red light.

His name was Nyx.

He was a magical familiar, born from our mixed blood and magic when we first sealed our Guardian’s Pact.

He was our deepest secret.

And my only family in this cold castle.

A flicker of jealousy and disgust crossed Elsie’s face. She turned to Cedric, her voice sickly sweet. “Darling, Alaina’s familiar is so special. But… your darkness is all over him. It reminds me of a past I don’t share. It makes me… uneasy.”

Cedric froze.

He was silent for a few seconds.

Then, he issued a command to the castle’s dark magic deacon.

“Have Malachi bring his ‘Purification Altar’ to the healing chamber. Now.”

My blood ran cold.

Malachi was the deacon in charge of dealing with corrupted beasts and purifying bloodlines.

What he was about to do… would it be crueler than simply killing Nyx?

No.

He wouldn’t…

Twenty minutes later, Malachi walked in carrying an ancient obsidian chest.

He looked at me on the bed, then at Cedric in confusion. “My Lord, are you certain… you want to perform the ‘Blood Purification’ ritual here?”

I thought he was going to kill Nyx, to erase the last secret between us.

I was wrong.

The truth was a thousand times crueler.

“Right here,” Cedric said, magically pulling the panicked Nyx from my shoulder and suspending him in mid-air.

That blood-red raven, a life I co-created with his own heart’s blood and my family’s sacred blood after I took a fatal curse for him the 100th time.

One of a kind.

“Purify him,” he ordered Malachi, pointing at Nyx. “Use the princess's pure blood. Wash every trace of that human filth off of him.”

“My Lord!” Malachi’s voice was tight. “Are you sure? Forcibly purifying a familiar… it will suffer immense pain, its spirit might even collapse!”

“Do as I say,” Cedric’s tone was absolute.

I didn’t struggle or beg as he expected.

I just slowly sat up in bed and stared at him with a gaze as cold as ice.

“This is the last thing that binds us,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “Are you sure you want to destroy it with your own hands?”

My calmness unnerved him, sparking a flicker of panic.

He looked away, refusing to meet my eyes, his tone even colder and more forceful. “Shut up. This has nothing to do with you.”

Nothing to do with me.

I said nothing more. I just watched.

Watched as he, for another woman, personally tortured our last shred of history to death.

The purification incantation echoed in the quiet room, a soul-tearing screech.

Nyx let out a piercing shriek, not like a bird, but like an infant being dismembered alive.

I saw the beautiful blood-red light being forcibly stripped from him, dissipating into black smoke.

His black feathers fell out in clumps, revealing raw, bloody skin beneath.

My heart felt like it was being torn apart by the same spell, the pain was unbearable.

But my face remained expressionless.

I simply carved this pain, this hatred, into the very marrow of my bones.

I watched the life I created, the symbol of our past, being tormented, devoured, and consumed by the “pure blood” that represented his new alliance, his new mate.

Cedric stood by, watching with a blank face.

His eyes never left Elsie.

“Will it hurt?” Elsie asked, dabbing at Cedric’s non-existent sweat with a handkerchief, her voice full of feigned concern.

“Old things must be cleansed,” Cedric’s voice was devoid of warmth, but his eyes never left her. “A little pain is necessary to welcome a new, pure beginning.”

An hour later, the ritual was over.

Nyx was no longer Nyx.

His once night-black feathers were now a startling, lifeless white.

The blood-red light was gone forever.

He lay on the altar, barely breathing, looking at me with the eyes of a stranger filled with fear.

“Perfect,” Elsie whispered, holding out her hand. The white raven hesitated, then flew to her arm. She gave him a new name. “From now on, you’ll be called Lumi.”

Cedric looked at the strange white raven, at how it affectionately nuzzled Elsie’s cheek.

He gave Elsie a weak but satisfied smile.

“Yes,” he said, but his gaze sliced into mine.

“Now, he belongs only to you.”

The next morning, my spare communication stone vibrated.

It was Cedric.

“Go to Viktor’s Soul Forge,” he commanded, his voice devoid of emotion. “Be there in an hour. Elsie needs a new token. You will design it.”

“I refuse.”

“This is not a request, Alaina. Don’t make me have my blood thralls ‘invite’ you again.”

He cut the link.

An hour later, I stood in the underground forge of an abandoned monastery.

Cedric and Elsie were already there.

“Viktor,” Cedric said to the forge master, an ancient vampire renowned for crafting soul-bound artifacts. “This is Alaina. Our clan’s best guardian and foremost expert on ancient magical items. I need her to create a one-of-a-kind Blood Chalice for Elsie.”

"Ah..." Viktor's ancient eyes lit up. "A guardian's sacred blood, woven into a vampire's soul-bond. A rare and... potent vintage. I would be honored."

He led us to a black velvet-lined workbench laden with rare materials—shadow crystals, dragon’s blood resin, and an obsidian stone freshly pulled from a hellhound’s heart.

Cedric came to my side. His voice was a low whisper, meant only for me. “I want you to forge the most perfect chalice for her. To the same specifications as my own. The one you tailored to my soul a hundred years ago.”

My breath hitched.

“I know you remember every resonant frequency,” he continued, his voice cold. “The seven runes on the wall that absorb lunar energy, the thirteen ancient sigils that amplify blood magic, and the base, quenched in your sacred blood, that instantly resonates with my soul. Replicate all of it. For her.”

I understood.

He wanted me to dissect our past. To take the very soul of our bond, and gift-wrap it for another woman.

This was a hundred times crueler than purifying my familiar.

“Alaina?” Elsie came over, her voice sweet and innocent. “Can you help me? I’ve always wanted a chalice engraved with mine and Cedric’s initials. Isn’t that the most romantic token of eternity?”

I looked at her innocent smile, at Cedric’s unyielding gaze.

Slowly, I broke into a gentle smile.

“Of course, my future mistress.”

I picked up the enchanted quill, my hand as steady as a rock.

I drew the elegant curves of the chalice, the perfect runic structure, every secret detail that was once ours alone.

My hand drew. My heart counted down the seconds until I was free. Every stroke was a gravestone for our past.

Not only that, I even added several more complex ancient runes to the original design, runes that would enhance the soul resonance by thirty percent.

A secret I had recently discovered and never told him.

“Magnificent!” Viktor exclaimed, looking at the blueprint. “No, this is more than a work of art! Alaina, you are a genius! This is even more perfect than the Lord’s current chalice!”

Cedric’s expression became complicated.

He had wanted to see me suffer, but instead, I was so “dedicated” that I had surpassed my past work.

An uncontrollable flicker of unease crossed his face.

“How long?” Cedric asked, his voice a little dry.

“Three weeks,” Viktor replied. “If Lady Alaina is willing to personally supervise the forging process.”

Supervise it. Watch another woman hold the ‘eternal token’ made from my past with him, and drink his blood from it.

"Of course," I said, my voice smooth as glass. I even volunteered. "It is my duty to ensure the happiness of my lord and future mistress. I will personally oversee every step. It will be flawless."

Everyone stared at me, including Cedric. His eyes were filled with shock and confusion, completely unable to comprehend my reaction.

I gave them a flawless curtsy, then turned and calmly walked away.

No screams. No tears. Just a dead calm that sent a chill down his spine.

Back at my hideout, an invitation sealed with blood was at my door.

“You are cordially invited to the ‘Eternal Vow’ ceremony of Lord Cedric and Princess Elsie.”

I picked it up and smiled.

The stage was set. It was time for the actors to prepare.

I opened the secure line to my father.

“Father.”

“Is it time?”

I looked at the piercing names on the invitation, my voice cold as ice.

“It’s time. The night of the ceremony is the night we leave.”

My calm submission seemed to unnerve Cedric more than any violent protest.

I had just packed the last ancient spellbook into my trunk when the door to my hideout was blasted open by a surge of dark magic.

Cedric stood in the doorway, his crimson eyes were bloodshot, burning with a desperate rage.

“What game are you playing?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

His eyes raked over me, scrutinizing me from head to toe, as if trying to find a single crack in my facade.

“I am simply fulfilling my duty as a guardian, my Lord,” I answered calmly, even giving a slight curtsy.

“Duty?” he snarled. “Designing a better token for my fiancée than the one you made for me? Supervising its creation and calling it duty? Alaina, do you really think I can't see you're trying to provoke me?"

“I am not provoking you,” I met his eyes, my tone innocent. “I merely wish to offer my final, most perfect contribution to the Thorne clan.”

“Final?” He seized on the word.

A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he grabbed my wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going? Alaina, have you forgotten who you are?!”

I didn’t answer. I just stared at him in silence.

My silence was, in his eyes, the clearest sign of betrayal.

“Where could you possibly run?” he roared, his hot breath on my face. “You are mine, Alaina! My mark has been in your blood for a hundred years! You can’t go anywhere without my permission!”

“Is that so?” I finally spoke, no longer willing to endure it.

My question ignited his fury.

He flung me against the stone wall, his hand clamping around my throat like a white-hot poker.

SLAP.

His other hand struck my face.

The force was so great I tasted blood.

“You dare question me?” he raged, his voice a guttural snarl.

He pulled an ancient, heavy insignia carved from human bone from his coat and slammed it against the wall next to my head.

The “First Blood Vow” sigil of the guardian family.

"Your ancestors begged mine for the gift of long life," he hissed, his voice pure venom. "They swore a blood oath. Your life, your loyalty, everything about you… belongs to the Thorne clan! It belongs to me!”

I stared at the sigil, my blood turning to ice.

“You’re using my ancestors’ oath against me?” I asked hoarsely.

“If it’s the only way to make you obey!” He picked up the sigil, his eyes turning cold again. “Alaina, don’t forget, your family’s near-immortal life is a gift from my ancestors. If you dare break your vow, if you defy your lord…”

He leaned close to my ear, hissing the vilest threat.

“I will invoke the Vow's price. You will lose your long life. Your body will rapidly age and decay, turning to dust. Your entire family’s longevity will be crippled. Do you dare gamble your family’s fate?”

I just looked at him. The man I was once willing to die for, now stooping to such vile threats to keep me.

My eyes held no fear, only a deep, bottomless pity.

He didn’t know. Everything he was relying on was already an expired contract.

Soon, he would learn. No pact is eternal.

My silence was his victory.

He released me, his sense of control restored.

“Good.” He adjusted his collar, as if he wasn’t the one who had just lost control. “The day after tomorrow. The ‘Eternal Vow’ ceremony. You will be there.”

He paused, then delivered the final, cruel blow.

“And you will personally present the chalice you so ‘diligently’ crafted to Elsie. You will kneel. And you will show every clan in attendance what a guardian's absolute loyalty looks like.”

I looked at him and answered in a hollow voice, “I understand.”

He thought he had won. Satisfied, he turned to leave. “Remember your place, Alaina. You are my property. Not my enemy.”

He and his blood thralls vanished into the night.

I stood alone in the trashed room, gently touching my swollen cheek.

The blood-red moon cast long shadows on the floor.

He had no idea his insane command was the final piece of my plan.

What could be a more perfect curtain call than leaving him, completely and forever, at his grandest celebration, in front of everyone?