The Lord had been fairly quiet about his plans. No one knew what he wanted to do. He went out by dawn and came back at dusk. Jinki and I often exchanged glances, wondering what was going on with our revenge. Surely, Lord Chanyeol hadn’t given up on it, because the whole Demon clan was ready at his command.

                  On the other hand, Baekhyun and I were back to the usual ‘us’. He was still a great confidante and a powerful ally. He turned from a potential lover to a big brother figure. He had not given up on me, but I thought that sort of feeling would take years to cease. Sooner or later, he would move on. Though I did give him a hard punch on his pretty face. As a result, his cheeks were bruised for a few hours. Jinki endlessly about it.

                  “How many days has it been?” I played with the fork and half-cooked egg. The house felt more like a cage sometimes, because the Lord threatened Jinki and his other brothers not to make any movement for the time being. Jinki, Baekhyun and some of his brothers spent most of our free time sparring against each other.

                  “Ten days… and a half,” Baekhyun walked in half-, barring his torso and perfectly chiseled abs. He was sweating as if he just took a cold shower in the bathroom. The towel hung onto his chest. I glanced at him, so used to the display in front of me that I barely felt anything about it.

                  Jinki walked in not long after, wearing a wet tank top and training pants. “Yesterday he said he would be back for breakfast.” He robbed Baekhyun of his towel and wiped off the sweat on his face. Baekhyun grimaced but said nothing against it. “He should be here by now. Let’s just hope he won’t bring in anymore surprise.”

                  “Do you think he will resume this kind of schedule for long?” I looked at Jinki hopefully and bit the fork hard. “I am bored. I need air to breathe and this house lacks of it. Do you think I can run off for a bit while he’s gone?”

                  “Absolutely not.”

                  The Lord strode in, his eyes brightened at the sight of food. Unknowingly, I looked down at my own plate as he sat in front of me, just because my heart started doing a strange flip-flop motion. He had always looked good, but now, he was devastatingly good looking. The memories of our kisses nights before flooded in, and I had to resist the temptation of replaying it ever again because he could be reading my mind at the moment.

                  “Oh, there you are,” I said sarcastically and whipped my fork around, muttering a quiet “finally”, before I continued, “Where have you been, my Lord?”

                  “Just out and about.”

                  I was about to hiss, thinking that perhaps he wanted to avoid me after the kiss. Maybe he wanted to avoid responsibility and deflected it somewhere, but my train of thoughts dissipated when he slyly caressed my legs with his own. At first, it started lower on the knees, before it moved upward to my thighs. I forcefully closed them and squeezed his feet hard and glared dagger across the table.

                  “What’s your ‘out and about’ about?” Jinki refused to back down and set the fancy platters of food onto the table. Baekhyun placed a glass of warm water and another glass of gassy water for me. I glanced at him and spared him a one-second-smile, before I used my hand to push the Lord’s feet away. What a ert!

                  As if he had read my mind, his smirk grew wider, and my mood went down the drain. The tense atmosphere quickly went sour, and I refused to speak any more words until I found my soul back in the body.

                  “I am setting up a magic barrier around the house, so no one is allowed to leave until tomorrow,” The Lord carefully sipped into his drink. He loosened his smile and contemplated for a while, “I went to see Irene yesterday. The ball will be held next week. And before that, we have to send invitation to the clan leaders.”

                  “I will cover the minor clans’ invitation,” Baekhyun voluntarily pushed himself forward, but the Lord shook his head. I didn’t know what he felt at the moment, but there was little resentment and more amusement in his eyes and his tone. Jinki and Baekhyun exchanged glances, trying to guess what exactly was in the Lord’s mind.

                  “Think about it, Jin,” The Lord explained calmly, “We are going to hold a banquet in Irene’s place. Technically, we are bringing the fault and suspicion into her, but we can’t do that before the ball happens. So the invitation needs to be as private and exclusive as possible. We need to treat these clan leaders well. Besides, we have already spread false rumors that Irene and her mate is getting married by the end of next week, and that the ball is just a grand wedding party to celebrate the joyous occasion.”

                  I sensed something big was coming, because the Lord’s tone grew crueler by the end of the hanging sentence. Jinki, who knew him best, sighed early and prepared himself for the big revelation, and even Baekhyun raised his eyebrows at me in suspense. I could only shrug.

                  “They won’t miss the party, of course. No one dares to. Not if they are scared of the Warlock’s wrath. Besides, Irene is famed for her wild, once-in-a-lifetime parties, I can assure you a lot of commoners will be there to cover our trails.” The Lord smirked. “What we need to do is to kidnap the clan leaders to a private lunch with us. Here. Three days before the ball.”

                  “Is that why you put up the magic barrier? To seal this castle from the eyes of others’?” As expected, Jinki was the first and the quickest to react. He was also the calmest among the three of us, as if he had expected the Lord’s antique tactics.

                  “You can say so,” Lord Chanyeol shrugged it off easily and looked at me.

                  Three days from now, Lord Chanyeol wanted to have lunch with the clan leaders. I could only picture the diplomatic words he would say to scare them off. I hid a smile underneath my cold, careless façade.

***

                  I didn’t know when it happened.

                  I didn’t think I wanted to know.

                  In my life, the feeling of hatred always ruled over anything else. I hated my parents, I hated my rare blood, I hated human, I hated the world. Hatred pushed me forward, and I became the person I was today; a skilled murderer who knew how to kill with a flick of my hand.

                  “Are you alright?” His tender voice woke me up to reality. Sometimes the Lord scared me with his sudden change of mood. One moment he was serious, intimidating and cold. The other, he was sweet, gentle and affectionate. Both his personalities inflicted different emotion and reaction from me.

                  “Better than yesterday,” I sighed and hit my neck. I had stiff muscle from too much training. The bruises took a long time to heal. “Never mind. I can still do this. I will infiltrate Lady Hana’s house and bring her here. As for Lady Ara and Lord Junhong, Jinki will be in charge. Baekhyun will take on the Seelie Prince Suho and Lord Kyungsoo.”

                  “Should I go with you?” His tone changed again, and this time, his eyes softened.

                  “No need to trouble yourself, my Lord.”

                  “Can you handle Jaejoong, Sehun and Kai at the same time? You may be strong, but the three of them combined are quite a pair of unbeatable fighters,” Lord Chanyeol folded his hands in front of his chest. I gave him a slight smile, and clenched my fists,

                  “You are my Lord. I live to serve you. Your life comes before mine. Besides… You have the other clans’ leaders coming in in a short while. Please do not worry. I have my ways to tame the new Lady of the Vampire Clan.”

                  “If you say so,” He nodded in approval. I thought he would worry too much and be an overprotective man he was, but he actually trusted my capability and let me go. I appreciated his sincerity and nodded in return. Warmth spread inside of me, and a smile made its way back to my lips. “Be careful.”

                  I was no damsel in distress. And this was my fight.

***

                  “Hana!”

                  “In the room!” The lady in pink shouted back. She was dressed immaculately as usual. The shy and quiet girl had been hiding herself in closed spaces lately, burying her thoughts into reading and writing letters. Sehun was not present at the moment, so it was only natural that she felt a bit lonely.

                  “Kai? What are you doing here? I thought you went together with Jaejoong to the Unseelie Court,” Hana raised her eyebrow and watched as her best friend walked into the room, locked the door and made a quick observation to her surrounding. She tensed and clenched her fists. Was this another revelation, because lately, news and rumors had been popping out and scaring her out of wits?

                  The room was fit for a Princess. The way she should be treated as the rightful leader of the vampire clan. I could sense immense power and potential from this young vampire, but she had yet to cultivate the energy inside of her. Being a Stealer had its benefits. I could sense the kind of ability she held, and fortunately, it was one of my strong forte; flame.

                  I let my façade melted down slowly. Hana gasped, clearly shocked that I was not the person I was. Lord Jaejoong and Lord Sehun must have lost their sense of precaution over time. How could they let their bride alone without any protection at all? Perhaps the vampires relied too much on their barrier strength that they forgot to put any barrier spell on the castle. Their loss, my advantage.

                  “Pleased to meet you, Queen Hana. I have been wanting to meet you for a long time.”

                  Hana was a scared little rabbit. She tried to hide her fear, but I could see through her bitten lips and pouty cheeks. Her eyes were a little teary, but I had to applaud her courage for not screaming and running off the room like any other girls would. She decided that she didn’t have any room to escape, so as calmly as she could, Hana sat down and straightened up her back, asking me in a dignified manner, “Who are you?”

                  She wouldn’t have known me or recognized my face. Only those who lived in the past or possessed vast knowledge of the history would know Joo Ri of the Demon Clan. I examined the girl in front of me. In a sense, both of us shared similar fate. We were once human. We were destined for the leaders of our clans.

                  Queen Hana; Hwang Miyoung’s best friend. A thin, average woman in her early twenty. I remembered the vow I had yet to accomplish.

                  “I am no one important,” I waved my hand slightly to diminish my importance and continued to look around the room. I could sense how stiff she became when I walked around and familiarized myself with her space. “I assume you know Hwang Miyoung, the half-human girl?”

                  Hana froze in her seat. Her eyes widened, and she trembled. I had hit the right mark!

                  “W… what of her? How do you know Miyoung?”

                  In front of me was no longer a stubborn and confident Queen she was, but a vulnerable girl who just lost a precious someone. I flashed my teeth at her and used the sickly saccharine tone to persuade her, “If you want to know about your little lady friend, you would have to come with me for a while.”