Prologue

"Son.... Let the crown bleed and gush over the throne with blood. You must not allow them to manipulate you into ruining your life."

He grasped the arm of his father with both hands.

"I wish I could shield you from harm, but you have to live now! You must survive." He was the only one that could hear the speech because it was spoken in a hushed voice.

His father's breathing came to a halt, leaving his eyes wide open as he looked at his son. A tear rolled down his cheek from the corner of his eye.

While his son didn't dare to shed a tear for fear that he might be seen as vulnerable by some. Dillion still held tightly to his father's arm, even though he couldn't feel the nerves in his father's arm.

"You will be exiled! You are no longer a member of this family!" Suddenly, the old master exclaimed from the back.

The boy with brown eyes, who stood next to his dad, looked blankly at his father's dead body with no feelings.

"Your father refused to meet the conditions when he was alive, so you are no longer a member of the imperial vampire household. You must go anywhere you want but here." the old master said with his voice hoarse.

"But then who will claim the throne?" However, the butler stepped in to save the situation.

"Since Dillion has no parents and must be called an unfilial child. I can not let him ruin the reputation that we made. So our second grandson and the family's righteous son will assume the throne." With a smirk on his lips, the old master explained.

When hearing such mean words from his own grandfather, Dillion's hold tightened. 

"I absolutely understand old master," he stood up to his feet with his head held high.

CLACK, CLACK, CLACK!

The sound of heels stomping their way into the grand hall echoed in the mansion.

"No, not at all! What gave you the right to do that to Dillion?" A little while later, he was interrupted by the old mistress. After his mom, she was the only one who cared for Dillon more than anything else.

"Grandma, do not worry, it will be well..." Dillion said softly, with a slight shake of his head.

"Put a stop to it! It does not sit well with me." old mistress Lyra turned her attention back to her husband, saying, "Dillion is our first grandson, and he should still be our first priority, no matter what."

The old master jumped up and yelled at the mistress, "You are not welcome here! If you wish to live a happy life, you must learn when and how to keep your mouth shut. My decision will be the final say in the matter." 

He said raising his voice, "I decree that at midnight tomorrow, Dillion Finn will be executed from this kingdom and will have no further ties with our families."

The old mistress sank to her knees in humiliation. The maids rushed over to her side to lend a helping hand. 

Mistress Lyra responded with a yell of her own "How could you be so shameful? How could you have killed your own daughter-in-law, poisoned your own son, and now you are abandoning your own grandson in the same year? I've never seen a man with such a cold heart as you. Because of you and this throne, I have lost so many people I care for...."

The old master ran up to her and smacked her in the face in broad daylight, in front of everyone. Even the family members were there, in front of all of the other maids and security guards.

The sound of the single slap could be heard echoing across the corridor. The maids all gasped at the same time, and the guards bent their heads down as they saw the abuse against the old mistress.

No one, however, dared to speak a single word to the old master.

The hall was deafeningly still, and the people were too frightened to talk for fear of upsetting the old master with their opinions.

"That brings us to the conclusion of today's decision! I have no obligation to provide an interpretation to someone but I do not owe any explanation to anyone. Get back to work on your respective projects." Before exiting the grand hall, the old master shouted at everyone.

Everyone left the hall slowly, with the exception of the old mistress, the maids, a few guards, and Dillion.

"Grandma, may I be of assistance?" Dillion asked the question to the old mistress.

"Guards, kindly take Late master Dave to the mortuary," the old mistress said in a shaky voice before turning her attention to the maids, "I will be alone with Dillion for a while, You all are free to leave."

"Of course, madam!" The four maids all said the same thing in unison.

After everybody had exited the grand hall, "Dillion, can we take a walk to my room?" the old mistress asked, her voice trembling and her eyes welling up with tears.

"Yes, absolutely! Allow me to lend you a helping hand." Dillon hurried to her side and assisted her in getting back to her feet on her own.

"Please accept my apologies Dillion. I could not prevent your grandfather from exiling you from our kingdom." Lyra, the old mistress, expressed her regrets to her grandson.

"It is fine, old mistress, everything will be fine. I would prefer to live on my own than to stay in this cage." He looked her in the eyes and grinned.

"Put an end to your emotional impersonation. I know you are just putting on an act to calm me." Her cheeks were wet with tears. "When your mother died, I promised her that I would keep you by my side, saving me from all the evil eyes here, but I failed to follow through with that vow."

As they approached the old mistress's room, Dillion decided to remain silent.

"Dillon, please come in. Follow me and shut the door behind you." The old mistress hurried inside to her room.

He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. Meanwhile, Old Mistress Lyra opened her wardrobe door and walked over to where Dillion was standing with a purse. 

"I was unable to assist you because you have been exiled. You must, however, lead a fulfilling life. We vampires are scarce in number and far between, but we need a large amount of blood to survive. You must not violate the prohibition against murdering people in order to satisfy your appetite." The purse was held by the old mistress, who extended her hand toward him, "Take these canned blood pills whenever you are short of blood. It will be of assistance to you if you are unable to obtain food. These pills are only available to royal families, so make sure no one else sees it."

"Thank you so much, madam." He gratefully accepted the purse.

"Dillion, you must survive, live, grow stronger, and then return to this place to seek retribution against all the people who harmed your parents. Whatever happens, you can count on me to be by your side." As tears streamed down her face, she kept his hands in hers.

In answer, he nodded his head.

THE NEXT MIDNIGHT

Dillion was escorted away by a few maids, guards, and the old mistress.

He only held one bag pack, which contained all of his essential belongings. He hugged the old mistress for one last time before walking away into the royal Nesta forest.

'There is no one else who cares for me but Madam. I don't even have madam anymore, which is a relief for her. I lost my parents, and I even lost control of my kingdom. What am I supposed to do at this point? What is the best place for me to go?' In his thoughts as he continued walking, he wondered aloud if someone might be interested in caring for him.