Empire

—Chapter One: History

제 1 장: 히스토리

"The world was shared by two species, the humans and the vampires. They once lived in harmony, sharing their powers and helping each other prosper. Humanity had assisted the vampires with their thirst, vampires assisted humanity with the building of their colonies, protection from the wilderness, and much more. It wasn't until the fateful day in which humanity turned their backs on the vampire, murdering mass amounts of them from the source of paranoia that the worlds slowly became the present. When humans grew different opinions, they split off into what was originally called Regnos. They elected royals, ruled their territory, all while hiding away from the vampires. The first colony to leave were those of the frozen clan. Gifted with the powers of ice and snow they abandoned their kind, hiding in the mountains away from both the vampires and the humans."

"Now I'm going to stop you right there," Jin-Ae spoke sternly towards the tall male who leaned on her windowsill. "We aren't hiding. Just. . . staying away from those rabid beasts and your kind." As she listened to her friend recite words from an old battered book, she stood from her dark navy bed and paced toward him.

"At least welcome me in," He commented, half of his body floating out in the cold winter air, "It's almost always wintering here and I'm afraid I don't want any illnesses." He let out a hearty chuckle, his dimples showing onto his ivory skin. Jin-Ae only waved her hand as a response, instructions him to come inside.

"We only left because the beasts were becoming too power hungry." She sat back down onto her bed, crossing her arms as she puffed out her cheeks. "Why do those beasts make up such stories?" Jin-Ae looked over to her friend as if asking for an answer to her question. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before tossing the dusty book onto her bed.

"Which beasts are you referring to? Us or your own kind?" He ticked his head to the side as he floated from the stone floor below them, a flame seemed to grow in his eyes as sharp fangs grew in his mouth. "We're both beasts in our own ways, so explain darling."

Jin-Ae grabbed the old book that rested by her side and threw it directly at the floating boy. "You know exactly who I'm talking about you damned vampire." The book hit his face directly and the blue tips of his hair flew back as he stumbled down o to the cold floor. Jin-Ae only laughed as the vampire in her room hung out the window once more, screeching about the dust that had invaded his mouth.

Her laughs were interrupted as a loud knock erupted from the wooden door of her bedroom. Jin-Ae's eyes widened as she rushed over to the male who's bottom was rose high in the window. "Wait outside!" She whispered as she shoved the complaint boy out the window and shut it as soon as his well-dressed feet left the glass.

One more set of knocks echoed through her bedroom. She jumped towards her bed and slid the crumpled book under her navy coated bed. "Come in!" She chimed as she fell back onto her bed, the bloated black pants she wore flattened as she sat up.

A woman with long black hair stepped into the room, her face glowing with health and beauty. Her voice as silky and smooth as her hair, "Jin-Ae darling, you got a letter." Jin-Ae looked up towards the woman as she held a black envelope sealed with crimson wax. Only once in her life has she seen a letter of that structure.

"Thank you, mother." She gently took the letter out of her mother's small hands and sat it where the book had formerly rested. Though it seemed her mother had nothing else to say, she remained in front of her. Her face was calm yet it showed distress, a high amount of distress. "What's the matter, mother?"

"Read the letter Jin-Ae." Her mother's words shook with every syllable. Jin-Ae raised her eyebrows as she broke the wax seal and took out the pale offwhite paper. As her eyes scanned over the words on the paper,

"To the crown princess of the human's Ice Kingdom. His royal highness, Kim Taehyung requests your presence to his kingdom. To join your fellow princesses in a lavish ball that will help prevent a world of hell and misfortune. Bring small belongings as your residence will be provided. Your presence shall be welcomed by his highness in the travel time of two days."

Jin-Ae looked up from the letter and saw her mother's red face of fear. "Oh, I see." She said as she stood from her bed and dusted off her black pants. "I'll be fine mother!" Her bare feet tapped against the floor as she spun towards the two swords that hung from her wall. She unscathed the one coated in crimson and held it directly in front of her body. "Unlike most of those gargoyles, I know how to fight off. . . vampires."

"I wonder Jin-Ae, why do you call us humans monstrous names but not those vampires?" Jin-Ae's mother turned around to face her young daughter with a worried expression on her face, "You wouldn't happen to have affection for those demons do you?"

"Why would you care?" Jin-Ae commented before quickly covering her mouth once she registered what had flowed from her mouth. Her mother's expression changed to that of a worried one to a shocked within a second. She let out a high pitched hun as she turned on her heel and exited the room. The door harshly blaming behind her.

Jin-Ae groaned as she opened the window and her vampiric friend flew in. "So what was that all about?" He asked a smirk spread across his face. Jin-Ae only groaned once more, squatting to grab the beaten book that she had previously slid under her bed.

"You already know what happened, I guarantee it." The male only snickered and nodded, proving Jin-Ae correct. She slammed the book down onto her bed, dust clearing from within the pages. "Namjoon, use that vampire ability of yours or whatever on this book, I won't be able to take this with me and I'm sure as hell not leaving it here."

"As you wish, Princess Jin-Ae." He picked up the book and within moments it crumbled into dust. Kim Namjoon, one of the six court vampires. The man who saved her life and who she finds to be one of her closest yet only friends. The vampire of destruction, Namjoon is physically the strongest of all of the vampires. How she managed to befriend one of her kind's most dangerous enemies. Luck. Pure luck.

Taking the dust from the broken book, Jin-Ae captured each memory of the book and created a new one. The book now had a blue tint to it rather than the aged brown cover it originally had. "That should do." She looked up at her friend once more before sitting on her bed.

"Let's start packing."

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Hey! Thanks for reading the first chapter of Empire! More chapters are soon to come! Bye bye!