LEGACY OF BLOOD
CHAPTER 1 — LEGACY OF BLOOD
Immortality was not nearly as great a gift as humans imagined.
For a human, a hundred years meant a life fully lived. For a vampire, a century could sometimes feel like nothing more than a particularly long season. Kingdoms rose and fell, cities changed their names, and humans were born, grew old, and died. Vampires continued watching it all unfold.
Some considered eternity a privilege.
Others considered it a curse.
For the Darkblood Dynasty, immortality was, above all else, a responsibility.
Perched upon the black cliffs rising north of the city, Darkblood Palace had stood in the same imposing splendor for centuries. Its Gothic towers reached toward the clouds, while pale light glimmered through its pointed-arch windows against the night’s darkness. The forest surrounding the palace was forbidden to ordinary visitors. Behind its towering stone walls lay not merely a royal family, but a living piece of history.
In the grand dining hall of the palace’s western wing, a long table had been set beneath magnificent crystal chandeliers.
King Damien Darkblood sat at its head.
Having lived for more than twelve hundred years, the king bore almost no visible traces of time. Apart from a few silver strands at his temples, he looked no different from a powerful man in his forties. His sharp features, broad shoulders, and composed gaze carried an authority capable of silencing anyone without his ever needing to raise his voice.
Damien never spoke unnecessarily.
And once he made a decision, changing his mind was nearly impossible.
The woman sitting across from him, however, had never been particularly fond of silence.
Queen Victoria Darkblood set her crystal goblet on the table.
“How much longer are we going to put this off?”
Damien continued reading the document before him.
“Put what off, Victoria?”
The queen pressed her lips together.
“You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.”
“I’d still like to hear you say it.”
Victoria drew a deep breath.
“Nicholas.”
Damien closed the document.
“Of course.”
“He’s ninety-eight years old, Damien.”
“I’m aware. I was there when he was born.”
Victoria shot him a sharp look.
“That isn’t funny.”
“I wasn’t laughing.”
The queen straightened in her chair. Her dark hair fell in flawless waves over her shoulders. The emerald-green gown she wore accentuated her pale complexion and striking features.
“You’re considering handing him the throne. We both know it. Yet our son still has no wife. No heir. And he hasn’t shown the slightest intention of getting married.”
Damien leaned back.
“He isn’t even a hundred yet.”
“Are you going to tell me that while he might be considered old by human standards, he’s still a child by ours?”
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
“Then what were you going to say?”
“That our son is perfectly capable of making decisions about his own life.”
Victoria let out a bitter laugh.
“Life? What life? The one where he spends every night with a different woman and can’t remember any of their names by morning?”
The corner of Damien’s mouth curved slightly.
“I’m quite certain he remembers their names.”
“Damien!”
The king lifted his goblet.
“Victoria, Nicholas is a prince. He knows his responsibilities.”
“A prince’s most important responsibility is ensuring the continuation of his dynasty.”
“And he has many years ahead of him to accomplish that.”
“There was a time when I thought the same thing.”
This time, Damien fell silent.
Victoria’s gaze drifted toward the towering windows of the hall.
Outside, it had begun to rain.
“Four hundred and thirteen years,” she said quietly. “I waited exactly four hundred and thirteen years.”
Damien’s faint smile disappeared.
Victoria continued.
“Every morning, I woke wondering whether that would be the day. Every night, before I closed my eyes, I hoped the next day would be different. For hundreds of years, I waited for a single chance.”
Such was the fate of pureblood vampire women.
A human woman could become a mother many times throughout her life. Female vampires who had been turned could also give birth more than once, although pregnancy was difficult for them. For that reason, vampire law strictly prohibited turning humans unless it was necessary and supported by a valid reason.
But for women born as pureblood vampires, things were different.
They had only one fertile day in their entire existence. Their ovaries became active for a single day, and their reproductive cycle occurred only once.
Twenty-four hours.
No more.
No less.
No one knew when that day would arrive. For some women, it came within their first century. For others, it might not happen until a thousand years had passed. The fertile day always made itself known when it arrived.
Only its timing remained a mystery.
And even then, pregnancy was never guaranteed.
That was why pureblood children were extraordinarily rare.
Victoria had waited four hundred and thirteen years before finally conceiving Nicholas.
Although nearly a century had passed since that day, she still remembered the fear she had felt.
What if she hadn’t become pregnant?
What if she had lost her only chance?
What if she had failed to bring a child into the world who could carry on the Darkblood bloodline?
She could be a queen.
She could be powerful.
But against that single law imposed by nature, she had been utterly helpless.
“I don’t want Nicholas to make the same mistake,” she said.
Damien frowned.
“What mistake?”
“Waiting.”
“Victoria, our son is not a woman. He doesn’t have a fertility window limiting him to a single day.”
“But the woman he marries will!”
Her voice echoed through the hall.
Victoria remained silent for several seconds before speaking again, more calmly this time.
“The number of pureblood families decreases with every passing century. Most noble daughters have already passed their fertile day. Others haven’t experienced theirs yet. Finding a suitable wife for Nicholas won’t be nearly as easy as you think.”
Damien studied his wife for a long moment.
“Do you want him to choose a wife, or do you want him to marry someone you’ve chosen for him?”
Victoria said nothing.
The king gave a slight nod.
“I see.”
“I’m only thinking about the future of our dynasty.”
“I know.”
“Then stop opposing me.”
“Just because we want something doesn’t mean we can force it to happen.”
Victoria was about to respond when the hall doors swung open.
Two guards immediately snapped to attention.
“His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Nicholas Marcus Darkblood!”
Victoria turned toward the entrance.
Nicholas stepped inside.
Dressed in black trousers, a dark shirt, and a jacket casually thrown over his shoulders, he looked less like a prince attending a royal family dinner and more like a man about to head out to one of the city’s most exclusive nightclubs.
He stood six feet three inches tall. His broad shoulders and athletic build were evident even beneath his perfectly tailored clothes. His black hair was slightly tousled, and his dark gray eyes held the same cold expression as his father’s.
He looked twenty-five.
In reality, he was ninety-eight.
“You’re late,” Victoria said.
Nicholas glanced at the watch on his wrist.
“Four minutes.”
“Four minutes late is still late for a prince.”
Nicholas pulled out his chair.
“Then perhaps I’ll outlaw it when I become king.”
Damien smiled faintly.
Victoria did not.
“When are you going to start taking things seriously?”
Nicholas sat down.
“Good evening, Mother. It’s lovely to see you too.”
A servant placed a crystal goblet before him.
The dark red liquid inside was slightly thicker than ordinary wine.
Nicholas lifted the goblet.
He took a sip.
Victoria narrowed her eyes.
“Are you going out again tonight?”
“Probably.”
“With whom?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“Nicholas.”
“Mother.”
“We need to discuss something serious.”
Nicholas set his goblet down.
“Marriage?”
Victoria hesitated.
Nicholas looked at his father.
“Again?”
Damien shrugged.
“I didn’t say a word.”
“It’s written all over your face.”
Victoria was rapidly losing her patience.
“Stop making a mockery of this.”
The faint smile vanished from Nicholas’s face.
“I’ll stop making jokes about it when you stop discussing my marriage.”
“My son—”
“Mother, we’ve had this conversation countless times.”
“And every time, you’ve given me the same answer.”
“Because my answer hasn’t changed.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“One day, you will be king.”
“I know.”
“You will need a queen.”
“I don’t need a wife to rule.”
“You need one to continue the dynasty.”
Nicholas turned his gaze toward his mother.
“I’m not obligated to bring a child into this world solely for the sake of the throne.”
Victoria’s expression tightened.
“Your duty—”
“I know my duties.”
His voice had grown sharper.
“To ensure the kingdom’s security. Enforce its laws. Protect our people. Uphold the agreement with humans. Manage our companies. Preserve the legacy my father has built.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“And I haven’t failed at a single one of them.”
Victoria had no answer.
Because Nicholas was right.
Although the young prince seemed like an irresponsible womanizer, he was exceptionally capable when it came to governing the kingdom. He oversaw a significant portion of Darkblood Holdings’ international operations, chaired the Security Council, and could solve even the most complicated political matters his father faced.
But Nicholas had one flaw.
He hated being controlled.
Damien finally spoke.
“Enough.”
Both Victoria and Nicholas fell silent.
The king placed his goblet on the table.
“We are going to have dinner as a family tonight. We are not going to put one another on trial.”
Nicholas leaned back.
“Works for me.”
Victoria pressed her lips together.
Damien looked at his wife.
“We’ll discuss this another time.”
“Always another time,” Victoria muttered.
Nicholas pretended not to hear.
But when his gaze fell upon the files in front of his father, his expression changed.
“The Council meeting reports?”
Damien nodded.
“Yes.”
“Are the human representatives demanding tighter border controls again?”
“This time, they’re demanding more than that.”
Nicholas set down his goblet.
“How much more?”
Damien slid a file across the table.
“There are new allegations that certain vampires have violated the agreement.”
Nicholas opened the file.
A photograph lay on the first page.
A young woman.
Bruises covered her face.
Deep marks marked her wrists.
Nicholas’s gaze hardened.
“What is this?”
Damien waited a moment before answering.
“The latest complaint sent to us by the Human Council.”
Nicholas turned to the second page.
Then the third.
The photographs continued.
And each one showed a different human.
“Did these incidents happen within our territory?”
“Yes.”
Nicholas’s fingers went still against the edge of the file.
“Who did this?”
Damien’s answer was brief.
“We don’t know yet.”
Nicholas raised his head.
“Then it’s time we found out.”
At that moment, every one of Victoria’s marriage plans vanished from Nicholas’s mind.
Because something far more urgent than the future of the Darkblood bloodline mattered.
Someone was breaking his kingdom’s laws.
And Nicholas Marcus Darkblood did not take kindly to being challenged.
END OF CHAPTER 1
