Chapter 1: The Only Royal Princess

Copyright © 2022 by Apollona.

The black dress was glamorous and perfectly outlined her figure. The intricate red rose was so life-like, attached to her shoulder.

Her lips curved lightly, and the servants dared not make the slightest sound, afraid of attracting the woman's attention.

Her face seemed small and lovely, nearing the description of cute and pretty. However, those who had dealt with her knew she wasn't as lovely and soft as she looked.

The slender finger traced the outer side of the glass on the table. Listening to the report of the guard who was kneeling below her, she seemed emotionless.

Without her order, the guard dared not lift his head. He continued to kneel. Anxiousness grew in his heart. The sweep of that sharp, knife-like gaze was brief, yet it brought him pressure.

The princess brought in from the human world wasn't as weak as the rumor outside, he complained in his heart.

"Say that again." The cold voice sounded again.

The servants' hearts shook, almost jumping in fear.

The guard resisted the urge to lift his head. He recited the report he had brought back from outside. "Reporting to Your Highness, a few guards had died during the last few days. There are some bite and claw marks on their bodies."

"Who do you think did it?" The tone of her question was flat.

The guard was surprised to hear the question. He hesitated for a split second and could only bite the bullet. "This humble guard thinks that it was done by the beasts in the Forest of Beasts. They have been spotted entering the city lately."

As soon as the guard finished speaking, a chuckle resounded in the hall room. Humorless and cold.

When the people in the hall room snuck a glance at Irene's expression, they discovered that her eyes were filled with frost.

"Good." The tone wasn't good. "Get up."

The guard slowly got up from his kneeling position. He was a vampire. Kneeling for a few minutes wouldn't be a problem, but he had done that for almost an hour just now. His body was still similar to that of a human, so he was a bit shaky after kneeling for so long.

It was unknown whether the princess in front of him was doing it deliberately or not.

Irene could see at a glance that this guard didn't look like he had a great physical condition, more like a vampire picked randomly from the crowd.

In the vampire race, there were still elites. Those with the qualification of greater strength than normal vampires could be guards.

"You are dismissed." She waved her hand, her lips curled up lazily as she leaned on the cozy, soft chair. The perfect epitome of a self-indulgent ruler.

The guard was taken aback, not expecting that her reaction was just like that. Did she care about the dead guards or not? The people in the hall room were doubtful.

At that moment, just as the guard walked out, someone walked in.

"You all, get out," Irene said to the rest of the people, her eyes narrowed at the approaching figure.

The servants revealed an expression of fear on their faces before they scrambled to get out of the room. Irene noticed their expressions.

"You are scaring them, old man." She said in a lazy tone with a hint of ridicule.

The so-called old man actually didn't really look old. On the contrary, he looked the complete opposite; young and fresh.

It was her eldest brother, Stelian Hildegard.

However, it was just that, according to the calculation of human age, he was qualified to be her ancestor.

He was dressed in a black robe, matching his cold and gloomy temperament. The long silver hair hung from his shoulder to his chest. The pale complexion didn't reduce his outstanding looks in the slightest. He gave off the vibes of a cold, ruthless beauty belonging to men.

"Seeing your management of Blackcourt City, you are capable." Stelian was emotionless. He didn't give her a good attitude in return.

One glance and people would know that these two didn't like each other.

The newly-returned princess of the vampire race was given a small city like Blackcourt City after she returned. Even worse, the city was near the Forest of Beasts, which had a lot of fierce and deadly beasts lingering in it.

The prince brothers didn't look favorably on her either. Some were sarcastic, some ignored her, and some looked down on her.

After all, the presence of a princess was the first in history. Most of the female babies in the royal family either died after a few years of birth or died inside the womb.

So, in the eyes of the nobles and the masses, the attitude of the royal family to her was clear. She wasn't favored. They were afraid that this princess would be short-lived, or even if she didn't, her bloodline presumably wasn't strong.

In short, they thought that she was weak, unworthy of too much of their attention. Nevertheless, she was still the source of gossip; whispers among noble ladies at tea parties, or the entertaining topic of dinner in several households.

"I am indeed capable." Irene took his sarcastic words nonchalantly, with the hint of challenge.

Among the royal family members, the one she had the worst relationship with was Stelian. She didn't treat him with a good attitude.

Many regarded her with scorn, calling her ungrateful. Stelian was the one who brought her to this Astral Continent to be recognized as a royal princess, living a noble title above thousands, but her attitude to him could only be described with the word disrespectful.

Some of them called her a fake. Royal children couldn't be born a girl. For several generations, she was the only one. So, they began to suspect her identity, that she was pretending to be one. However, under the majesty of Stelian, this rumor was mostly suppressed. Who would dare to openly accuse one of the princes that he was lying?

"In the last few decades, it's the first time that so many guards have died. And so, it happened after you took over." He looked at her with a meaningful gaze.

Irene supported her chin with her right hand. Her finger traced the shiny surface of the glass on the table beside her.

"I know." She lifted one of her eyebrows. Stelian's words didn't affect her mood. "This city is also one of the cities under you, North Lord."

Since there was only one king in the entire vampire race, the territory was divided into five: Imperial Capital, North Territory, South Territory, West Territory, and East Territory.

On the Astral Continent, there were only two major races; the werewolves, and the vampires. Some figures from other races may appear occasionally, but the ones dominating the broad mainland were still these two.

Compared to the vampire race, the hierarchy system in the werewolf race was more complex. They weren't unified as one and divided into territories with a leader in each one.

Irene was similar to one of these werewolf leaders. It was just that she still had someone above her, up until the king's position.

Unfortunately, someone above her happened to be Stelian. However, she was never as glad to be a leader under him as she was now. She got another chance to taunt this arrogant man.

"So, as the North Lord, I am reminding you of your abilities."

Irene looked up from the activity of checking her nails. The bored expression was replaced with an innocent one. Like an innocent white rabbit who didn't know what wrong she had done.

"I am truly capable. You already said that. No need to repeatedly remind me of my abilities, brother." The last word was emphasized with a sarcastic tone.

"Royal Sister, you are here." Another man walked in.

If Stelian gave off the impression of deadly cold beauty, then this man was the kind of sunny person with a light temperament. The short silver hair enhanced his extraordinary looks, making him look like a gentle prince.

"Don't be too hard on her. She's still new here." He said with a frown to his eldest brother.

It seemed that this youngest male member of the royal family, Edmund Hildegard, had heard Stelian's words. With his exceptional senses, it was no wonder he could hear it.

Stelian merely sneered at his words.

Irene nodded slightly, acknowledging his greeting, but gave no response to his words.

She lifted the glass in her hand and took a few gulps. The movement was filled with indescribable elegance.

Stelian's iceberg face finally showed another expression. He frowned slightly at the sight before his expression returned to normal again.

"Lord Father summoned you to the palace."

Irene's movement paused briefly. She put the nearly empty glass back on the table.

"What happened?"

It was Edmund who asked first. His brows twisted together. Irene sent him a surreptitious glance, pondering something.

Stelian didn't answer him. He stared at Irene. "Go to the palace right now."

After that, he left. His figure disappeared in a split second. The room was instantly quiet.

"Irene, don't think too much. Lord Father probably wants to tell you something important."

She knocked her fingers against the surface of the glass, making small sounds that resonated in the wide hall room. She gave a small, soft response. "Yeah."

She went to the teleportation array stationed in the mansion to get to the palace quickly. The territory of the vampire race was half of the continent, so it was quite wide, and the distance was far. Even though the vampire race could teleport, it would take too long to get there.

She had just recognized her new identity, so she still took time to adjust to things.

Irene entered the majestic palace where the king lived, step by step in a graceful manner. The palace maids and guards sent her a surreptitious glance, wondering about this princess who rarely showed her face in the palace.

Irene had changed to a new dress, but it was still black. The long dress with an intricate rose design gave her a sense of undeniable glamour.

If looks were the measure of royal status, she could get listed by her face alone with the evaluation of very high status. It was a pity that the status of royalty was determined by strength and bloodline.

And she hadn't even received her bloodline awakening yet.

As she finally stepped into the wide throne hall, her footsteps were the only sound resonating in the room. Other vampires teleported, but what did she do?

She still maintained her calm, and as she finally arrived in front of the king, she gave a bow. Lifting her face, she slowly met the calm, inscrutable eyes of the king.