“What we should be hoping right now is that they don’t recognize each other. Because if they do…?”
“That’s it. I’m going to get my daughter back,” Mr. Carter interrupted, stepping outside the courtyard and heading toward the east lane with a mission in mind.
“Brother, don’t do anything drastic. Hello? Are you listening? Hey, brother, don’t—”
The call was hung up before the speaker could say anything further.
On a balcony at an unknown location,
A man stood, gazing at his phone in disbelief. His eyes, unlike a normal human’s, were pure white, with no dark pupils.
There was a certain sexy charm in every gesture he made.
“Did he just hang up on me?” he asked, pointing at himself in disbelief.
“Yes,” a shadow replied plainly.
“Ah, great. Just great.”
“You should know by now how he does things,” the shadow said.
“Damn it… he can be very vexing at times,” the man sighed forlornly. “I thought we would use this opportunity to catch up.”
“…”
“Never mind. I’ll keep appearing in his presence until he introduces me to his family. That sounds lovely, right?” he said, turning to the shadow while sweeping invisible dust from his clothes. “I know I’m magnanimous. You don’t need to say it.”
“…”
The shadow was speechless, but didn’t expect anything less — already used to the man’s flatter-me syndrome.
Back in the secret room in the mansion,
The crackling sound of bone continued, as if something were stretching itself back to life.
From the darkness, the man’s lashes trembled subtly, as though he might open his eyes at any moment.
His appearance remained obscured by the shadows.
The room returned to pin-drop silence as the crackling of bones ceased, as if it had served its purpose.
The man floating in the air slowly descended, while still embracing Lynette by the waist.
Butler Thomas stood there in awe when he saw his Lord open his eyes.
Something he had prayed and wished for, for years.
“Snap!”
What followed was the sharp snap of the man’s fingers.
As if performing sorcery, the room lit up the moment he snapped.
As the room brightened, Butler Thomas dropped to one knee in a respectful bow, one hand braced on the other knee.
“My Lord.”
The man turned, facing Butler Thomas when he heard his voice.
He was dressed in ancient regal black attire, as though it belonged to a long-forgotten dynasty.
His hair was long and dark, like darkness itself, falling down his back.
His features were sharp and aristocratic, with high cheekbones and a sculpted jaw, framed by dark, intense eyes that radiated coldness and indifference, as if he wouldn’t give a damn if hell broke loose—except…
His tall, lean shoulders, with a broad, tapering waist that exuded effortless strength and grace, held Lynette in a passionate embrace, his strong arms nailing her waist firmly to his side.
The man ignored Butler Thomas’ greetings indifferently, but his expression softened into something affectionate and tender, filled with yearning and love as he gazed at the unconscious Lynette in his arms.
“Lyn…”
His voice came out barely a whisper as he traced his cold fingers along Lynette’s face and hair.
Azael Alarico De Leon had never imagined he would see the woman he had been dying to hold one last time in his past life, before his long slumber—in his arms.
He felt a mixture of joy and relief.
In his past life, he had traded going into slumber in order to retain the memories of her in his mind.
He couldn’t keep forgetting her in each life.
He, Azael Alarico De Leon, was the first vampire to manifest in her kingdom, in their first life.
In that life, he was the little lonely boy, bullied and scorned, regarded by all as the sole error in an otherwise perfect world, while she was the holy maiden, worshiped and revered throughout the kingdom.
If he was darkness, then she was light.
He was known as the ‘evil egg,’ bred from darkness.
A child born from the crack of a dark egg, with no origin or lineage.
As a child, he couldn’t control the power that surged from within him, erupting every time like a volcano.
His life was one of loneliness, hatred, indifference, hunger, and revenge—a savage existence with no purpose.
But when an unfortunate encounter tied them together, everything changed.
A life that had been meaningless became beautiful and colorful.
She was his blessing amidst misfortune.
His light, in the darkest world he had ever known.
She taught him how to harness his power, how to be truly human, what love was. He couldn’t help but fall hopelessly in love with her, to the point of possessiveness.
In the end, due to a conspiracy, he misunderstood her—someone he had vowed to love, protect, and trust with everything within him, even death.
In the end, he drained her power and blood in his quest for vengeance.
With excruciating pain and regret searing through him, Azael swore an oath in the presence of the holy maiden’s crystal pearl, which fulfilled wishes, to be reborn in every life she existed.
But the punishment for his sins came as a cruel backlash: he would live without aging or dying for eternity, and only recognize his love when it was already too late, in each life she was reborn.
He was never one to resign to fate, so Azael sought a way to retain the memories of his beloved—but the price was his slumber, to be awakened only by her blood.
If in each life she was reborn, and they did not meet, it would condemn him to slumber for eternity.
Looking at Lynette’s unconscious state, her forehead bruised, Azael lowered his head to her face, pressing a deep kiss to her injury—gentle, yet full of love and affection.
The scene shocked Butler Thomas, his eyes widening like saucers, disbelief clouding his face. He hurriedly hid it by bowing his head, as if he had seen nothing.
Did he just kiss Miss Lynette!?
How could that be possible?
No… he must be imagining things!
All of Butler Thomas’ thoughts were unknown to Azael, and even if he had known, he would not have cared.
“Lyn, my Lyn… we finally meet in this life at last. You’re mine, Lyn. I won’t let you leave me again. No one—absolutely no one, can separate you from me, Lyn.” He swore, bending his head to her neck and sinking his protruding fangs in, forging a bond between them.