6. A Difficult Reality to Accept

"I can't marry you."

 "You don't have a choice," said Erick with his gaze fixed on the swollen face in front of him, his thumb still stroking Angel's cheek which was wet with tears. "You are destined to be my partner... like it or not."

 "This isn't a movie, Erick!" Angel snapped with an annoyed face, but it couldn't be denied that his eyes were confused. "I'm human and you're a vampire, how can we possibly get married?!"

 "You already believe in me as a vampire, why don't you believe that we can be together?"

 Angel was stunned. Erick was right, he had just subconsciously believed in the existence of vampires in this life, and not just cosplay from a film.

 "This world is full of mysteries, darling... many things beyond reason happen."

 "But... why does it have to be me?" Angel asked quietly, it felt like her brain was too tired to digest everything.

 "Because you are not fully human."

 Again Angel's face looked shocked, his eyes and mouth were wide open again. "What do you mean?"

 "You are the seed of the love story of an Orion and a human," replied Erick with a cold, expressionless face.

 Suddenly Angel's forehead furrowed deeply. "What is that?"

 "Come with me," said Erick as he got up from the edge of the bed, holding out one hand towards the girl, "and I'll show you everything."

 Hesitantly, Angel linked his hand to the cold hand. He had no other choice, especially when his curiosity had really peaked in his head. His feet stepped behind Erick, leaving the room he was in for the first time.

 Angel shuddered in horror when he was suddenly surrounded by the cold atmosphere around him. Every corner you passed looked quiet with very minimal lighting, you could only feel cold gusts coming from who knows where.

 "Where are we going?" Angel asked breaking the silence.

 "You'll find out later," Erick answered without turning around.

 Angel continued to walk with the man, his hand still held tightly. They were seen passing several people who also had pale skin, and all of them always bowed respectfully to Erick.

 "So, you really are the vampire King?"

 "According to you?" Erick turned his head with a faint smile.

 "Anne said that you are the vampire leader of the Cullen clan," answered Angel.

 "Thank goodness you already know your personal servant," replied Erick, who had stopped walking, right in front of a wooden door full of intricate carvings on its surface.

 "Hah?" Angel snorted loudly when he was faced with a magical incident again, the door immediately opened without them even touching it.

 Angel was again attacked by the cold when he entered the large room, making him reflexively hug himself. Now his eyes wandered, looking at the large room that looked like a study, with bookshelves soaring up to the ceiling. In front of you, you can see a large chair with the typical design of a king, with a table in front of it.

 However, what kept Angel transfixed at the moment was a large frame stuck on the other side of the room, showing a photo of a woman who had a face very similar to hers in a more ancient version. Angel's body froze, feeling a rush of fear attack him again just because he saw the photo.

 "Who's he?"

 "She is Cornellia Cullen, the daughter of King Cullen who fell in love with an ordinary human," answered Erick, looking at the woman's photo.

 "Why does his face look like me?" Angel asked with his hands clenched tightly at his sides, trying to stay calm even though he felt like he was almost fainting.

 "Because she is your mother."

 "What?!" Angel shouted, reflexively turning towards Erick. "Are you kidding?!"

 Erick smiled slightly, his eyes still didn't move from the photo. "Cornellia was the future Queen of this nation, but she made the mistake of falling in love with a human. They had a relationship until Cornellia became pregnant and gave birth to you, but King Cullen rejected your presence which he thought would damage the purity of the vampire nation. Finally you were banished to the human world, while your father was killed in front of Cornellia. Due to deep sadness, Cornellia decided to commit suicide by burning herself."

 "What other ridiculousness is this?" Angel muttered with his head already spinning. He really wanted to deny the authenticity of the story, but his heart seemed to agree with it.

 "The Matthew family only adopted you, you can find out the truth for yourself when you get home."

 Angel closed his eyes for a moment, his jaw seemed to tighten before looking back at Erick sharply. "If I'm a descendant of a vampire, why can I be a normal human?"

 "Because Cornellia deliberately didn't give her entire soul to you. She only carried you, and your father's soul is the dominant one in your body," explained Erick firmly.

 "Huh? I really can't believe this."

 "But you're still different, darling," added Erick, one hand gently stroking Angel's cheek again. "You have extraordinary power that can destroy nations like us, you just don't know how to use it yet. Even I myself can't enter your mind, even though I can do it to anyone."

 "That's why you want to marry me?" Angel smiled crookedly.

 "I can become King because it is my destiny to marry you." Erick brought his face closer, his lips began to pinch Angel's slightly opened lower lip.

 "Damn, I can't resist it," Angel grumbled to himself when Erick's lips pressed against hers intensely, sucking up and down without pause. He enjoyed it, enjoying the sweet taste and pleasant sizzle every time they kissed.

 ***

 "Whatever it is, I still don't want to marry a vampire," Angel grumbled as he walked in any direction. He continued walking around the castle after Erick gave him permission, but still accompanied him by his personal servant.

 Angel seemed to stop in a courtyard, looking up at the row of tall towering trees that surrounded the castle. Suddenly there was a strong desire to escape from this scary place, especially when there were no gates or guards there.

 "Your Majesty, it's time for dinner," said Anne.

 Angel turned to the woman. "Why are there no guards here? Wouldn't a palace usually be heavily guarded?"

 Anne smiled sweetly. "This palace has been surrounded by a powerful spell. Foreign creatures will immediately be burned when passing through, except us because we have this."

 Angel frowned, looking at a small stone with the name "Anne" written on it in the palm of her maid's hand. The stone was like jade, dark black with white patterns in the shape of lightning. "What stone is this?"

 "This is the key to getting past the spell fence, and everyone in this castle must have it," explained Anne.

 Angel nodded slowly. In the next second, his attention was diverted by the sound of a horse-drawn carriage. He looked forward again, seeing two horse-drawn carriages that seemed to have just penetrated the transparent gate in front of him.

 "What train is that?" Angel asked with great curiosity.

 "Those are carriages that carry servants who are tasked with finding groceries. Usually we are scheduled to take turns going every night."

 "There's something like that too? Don't vampires eat by hunting?"

 Anne smiled sweetly. "We are vampires of a higher rank, Your Majesty... we eat in the right way, not mindlessly slaughtering creatures."

 "Ah, so that's how it is," muttered Angel while nodding slowly.

 "Tonight happens to be my scheduled time to go out."

 And in that very second, Angel felt a breath of fresh air for his plan.