It’s a bad habit of mine to drift asleep before I mean to. It causes confusion when I wake up. Like right now. Everything feels like a dream. But the stinging sensation on my lips is enough proof that what happened last night was not a dream. It happened. It really happened. I’ve been claimed by the Princess of the Pink. And now, I can’t move. What is this heavy thing—the answer is in my face when I open my eyes. Urgh. She slept on me the entire night? No wonder I can’t move. I can’t even feel my limbs right now. Have I been paralyzed? Is paralysis a side effect of being claimed? Or—oh no. Ms Ms Pink dead?

“Ms Pink?”

A soft groan is all I get. At least I know she isn’t dead and I’m not stuck in a lonely castle with a dead vampire lying on top of me. Maybe I can try to get out from under her. Even though it’s pretty warm and cozy where I am. Mmm! The one arm that I can move is not enough to push her off. Maybe if I try lifting…

“Can’t a princess get her beauty sleep without being disturbed?”

“Ms Pink?”

She groans. Then rises on elbows and knees. Her eyes open and they are pink. But it’s a faint pink. I touch her cheek, concern rising.

“Are you still hurting?”

The pink in her eyes intensify, but only a shade darker. It’s nothing like the brilliance I’m used to seeing. I have trouble sitting up—my limbs have been bearing her weight for so long—but I manage to push myself up to take a good look at Ms Pink. She has the slightest of trembles, almost imperceptible. Surely, that’s not a good sign.

“What do you need? Is there medicine for this sort of thing?” I ask, as stupid as I may sound.

She almost smiles. “I didn’t take enough blood to kill myself, stupid. But it hurts like hell. Your blood is more potent than I thought.” A heave of her chest stops her from talking for a moment. “Are you sure nobody in your family has ever mentioned anything about your bloodline?”

I shake my head. “Never.”

It’s her turn to shake her head. “How did a stupid human like you turn out to be such a powerful bait. This world doesn’t make any sense. As usual.”

An overwhelming cloud of sadness descends upon my heart. “I’m sorry.”

Her pink eyes meet mine, flashing dim. “Why are you apologizing.”

“I don’t know,” I reply truthfully, “it’s just all so sad.”

She frowns. “What’s sad.”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know why you’re sad.”

“I just don’t. The feeling came suddenly. From nowhere.”

Her eyes dig deep into mine before she turns away and gets off the bed. “You’re a mystery. Even to me.” She pauses beside the bed and spins back to look at me. “But you’re mine now, and I will solve you.”

X

Breakfast was served magically (I didn’t get to see who put the food on the table) and somehow, Ms Pink managed to make me feel more like a pet than a human being even though we sat at the same table and ate from the same porcelain bowl. Then again, I shouldn’t even be surprised by what Ms Pink is capable of anymore. Not after she managed to survive drinking my blood (as poisonous as she said it is). The pain I saw in her eyes was real and the trembles ever so striking since I could feel her on every inch of my body. Maybe pain affects vampires differently. They aren’t human after all.

At any rate, she seems to have recovered from the poison of my blood. And I am actually feeling better than usual, which is odd. Am I supposed to feel better after getting my blood out by a vampire? How can something that hurts her so badly make me feel refreshed from sleep instead of my usual post-sleep lethargic state? She did say something about phlebotomy once, but I can’t remember the details. I should check it up.

“Which slot did we get?” Ms Pink is speaking on the phone, I presume with Seo. I look down at my shoes, brand new from Ms Pink’s bountiful closet and wriggle my toes. I couldn’t get my consumer way this time, so I’m stuck in a pink floral blouse and jeans. The jeans come with pink buttons which I find quite pretty even though pink isn’t my favourite colour.

“Get moving. We have the first appointment of the day.” Ms Pink looks satisfied as she says that. Of course she would get what she wants in her world as well. Seo said pink is the colour of royalty which means Ms Pink must be some kind of royal subject. Or was she already royal before becoming a vampire? I know almost nothing about Ms Pink yet here I am, about to go to an appointment somewhere with she-who-has-claimed-me. So much for the age-old rule of being wary of strangers. “What’s funny.”

I look up into Ms Pink’s eyes. “Huh?”

“Why did you laugh?”

“Did I?”

Ms Pink rolls her eyes. “Come. Stop dreaming. The trip to the federation isn’t going to be a stroll in the park.”

Federation? We’re going to the federation? Why?

X

Now this is a castle. Complete with a drawbridge and moat. The view from the helicopter takes my breath away, quite literally. Turrets, towers. Stone cold castle walls. The layout of the castle is clear to see from this bird’s eye view and it’s beautiful. We hover over the thickest tower and descend onto the helipad after flying for little under an hour. Slow and steady does it and we are standing on what seems to be the keep.

Two masked figures are standing by the red carpet laid between the helipad and the wooden door behind them. “Welcome to the Melior Castle, Your Highness. The Sovereign awaits you.”

“Take us.”

“This way, Your Highness.”

I’m in awe of the royal greeting and grandeur of the moment b