TRISTAN:
As soon as Samalah disappeared from my sight, the carriage halted. I went down from it and was stuck in awe at the sight of the grand palace of Talandor.
The palace itself was bigger. Before me was the large marble façade of Talandor’s Great Hall of Justice. This was the only part of the palace that was accessible to outsiders like me.
As expected, the security in this part of the palace was heavily laden, especially today as the peace talks are about to take place. In fact, before we could enter the Great Hall, Gideon and I had to undergo a thorough inspection by the palace guards. Weapons were confiscated by the knights, and those who disagreed to follow the protocol were not allowed access inside.
“You may enter now, Lord Abell,” the knight escorting us said after we were carefully inspected.
Before we can even enter, however, we heard someone’s outrageous voice nearby.
“And who are you to tak
TRISTAN: “As you all know, this peace talk has been going on for the past five years, and yet countless attacks are being made as we speak. If you may allow me to read through the reports…” Count Jeteris, the head of the peace delegation in our side, began as he went into his thick collection of parchments.“To date, there have been three hundred and four incidences of attacks in the last five months. Clearly, these figures only go to say that the vampire clans are not sincere when it comes to the resolution of this feud.”The head of the Apricus delegate, the one sitting at the first chair next to the podium where the royals were situated began to speak.“Count Jeteris, we beg to disagree. We also received the same reports, but out of those recent attacks, about fifty percent began with invasions of smaller vampire clan tribes. We understand the need of your kingdom to expand territories, but the lands th
TRISTAN:“You scoundrels! How dare you accuse me? How dare you accuse me of making such lowly acts?” Count Jeteris continued to roar inside the palace’s Great Hall of Justice.At this point, no one had dared to point out the obvious, and when the count started to lash out, it felt even more hilarious and more damning on his part.“Count Jeteris, please settle down.” It was Sir Linus who started to speak in a calmer manner. Everyone fell speechless once again, and even the monstrous duke fell silent.“We are not accusing anyone of anything yet. We are simply here to present some facts, and we want Talandor’s help regarding this matter since, as you claimed earlier, this was part of your land…”“You bastards! How dare you -!”“Count Claude Ilyon Jeteris!” It was the crown prince’s turn to silence the babbling buffoon again. “Let’s hear them out fir
DAHLIA:After Kaist had left that morning, Tristan bid me good bye as well since his presence in the council was needed that afternoon.After purchasing a fallen nobleman’s title, he had instantly become the lord of Crohmwall District, one of the places that were continuously damaged by the countless rogue and vampire invasion.Although it would be the first time he would join the council, he didn’t seem quite nervous at all. He just smiled warmly towards me as he kissed the top of my head before he boarded the carriage.Imagine my surprise then when several carriages came in front of the house shortly thereafter, demanding my attention.“Countess Abell,” Lina said, sounding alarmed. “There’s a commotion outside! I think you need to see it.”I got up from the bed and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders. I haven’t been feeling too well yet, but if it’s just outside the gates, I don’t
DAHLIA:“Papa, why? What’s the matter?”My papa never cried, at least not in front of my eyes. They were times he would cry in secret when he was drunk, especially when my mother’s death anniversary was near. Yet, here he was, crying his eyes out in front of me.“That man is a complete monster, Dahlly! He is an absolute monster!”I couldn’t quite look my father in the eyes, remembering the recent incident between Tristan and I, but I was deathly curious why he was saying it so.I reached for the pitcher of lukewarm water beside me that Lina had prepared earlier. I really wanted some cold water, but Lina insisted I drink this while trying to recuperate.“Here papa,” I offered the glass to him. “Please don’t cry. You’re making me worried… Are you hurt anywhere?”I stopped as I remembered that my father absolutely hated it when I had to use my powers on
DAHLIA:I paced the room back and forth, trying to think carefully of what my father had told me before I sent him secretly away through the giant window that gave a direct access to the garden. He really said there were no such letters, right? My papa didn’t receive my letters, save but one…“Here, Dahlly,” he said as he produced a parchment from inside his vest. “This is the letter I received from you. The one and only letter I have ever received for the two months you have been away...”I unfolded the parchment my papa handed to me. It did look like the parchments I have used when I was writing those letters to him.The first few lines of the letter had caught my eyes suspiciously. It wasn’t like any of the letters I had written to papa before. It read:Father,I’ll go straight to the point. I do not wish to see you. Please stop trying to get into the district and
TRISTAN:Twilight came, but thankfully, I was back in the villa before darkness has already fully consumed the light in the sky.I had an action-packed afternoon. It was good to see the whole council tumble into chaos. It must be like that every time a peace talk was being held, but it was nice to see the prince’s reaction to it. It seemed that, just like me, it was his first time to see such a ruckus.However, unlike that boy Kaist, I was part of those who created the ruckus, so I half-expected that circus to have happened…Despite all the glee of seeing Count Jeteris humiliate himself, my heart was still feeling weak, and there was only one solution for it.It felt like a long day… I had to see Dahlia.This morning, I stayed away from her because I knew that the blasted ex-lover of hers will come to visit, and then in the afternoon, I had to part with her for the council meeting. Goddess, those were all awfully long hou
TRISTAN:“The men who had wronged your family – is there any chance that my father had something to do with that? Could it be the actual reason why you hated him?”Dahlia’s eyes were looking straight at me, not evading it, not blinking at all. She wore a serious look in her face that it made my heart quiver.‘Idiot, just tell her the truth… How can you avoid such a direct question now,’ Arthur murmured in our shared consciousness.‘But our mate would get hurt… She definitely won’t forgive us then,’ Albus whimpered.For the first time in my life, I wanted to run away from Dahlia’s sight. I wanted to hide and evade her questions. I didn’t want to see her face at all.I had lied a million times before to survive and to get nearer to the ending I’ve envisioned, so why?... Why was it so hard to lie to her now?...“Dahlia, if I suspected Duke Hurst,
DAHLIA:“A banquet - what for,” I asked, looking at Tristan’s reflection on the drawer mirror.He was sitting on the bed, reading a book. He was wearing his reading spectacles, which made him look like a different person than the one I knew.“Well, we never had a proper wedding banquet, and you’re starting your study in three weeks. I think it’ll be the perfect time for us to celebrate these milestones.”“These milestones,” I said, my eyebrows shooting upward, “didn’t we agree I’d take private lessons at home? What’s with this sudden display of achievements?”Honestly, I didn’t get his idea. He was the one who suggested that I take the lessons at home from a private professor sponsored by the university for the time being. He didn’t want me to feel too overwhelmed with all the changes since my powers have been revealed to the capital. The last thing I ne