Kris drove as fast as his classic Rolls Royce could handle but he couldn't just let it run over the bumps – his car was too precious – and the speed annoyed his unwanted passenger to no end.

'Hurry up!' she hissed again, smacking her arm on the headrest so hard, it made his head throb. She'd been doing it for the past fifteen minutes and it was beginning to get on his nerves.

First, Lay had to make that face which made him feel guilty as hell for trying to harm his brother's bride and adding even more to the tensions within the family; the look that said 'he's your only living relative, are you really going to do this?'. And while Baekhyun could make himself forget the loyalty that came with blood, Kris couldn't.

Call it his weakness but he actually cared about the stupid brat and felt bad for trying to snatch his Bride away. In his defense, he'd only meant to keep her in custody – in the greatest luxury – until he found his own bride, so he could claim her first and become the head of the family clan.

However, things seemed to have gotten out of hand. Tao had had to hit Sehun and his fever had yet to go down; and from what he'd seen of the young vampire, Sehun didn't look too good with those black eyes either.

It was sad that his own clan members – they might've left with Baekhyun but he still felt affection for them because they were clan – were fighting.

And then Lay had to say, 'Whose fault do you think that is?'

Needless to say, Kris had made his way over to apologize to the rest. Not Baekhyun – he was justified in trying to get his bride first… as the older son, it was his right to be the head of the clan and his right to be blood-bonded first – but the rest were needlessly involved in their fight. And, if possible, give his sister-in-law the wedding present which he'd put in the car's trunk.

Then, this… this human jumped into his car out of nowhere and started ordering him to drive. At first he'd been shocked, then panicked because she'd sounded so panicked herself. And instead of giving him any address – if she was hitchhiking, she could at least tell him where she expected to be dropped off, right? Tch, not even common courtesy these days – she just kept saying, 'Just drive!'

Well, he did just that and when she said to take her home, he brought her home.

His home.

She kept turning around and looking back to see if someone was following them. It was only after he stopped the car that she sighed and slumped in relief.

'Phew, that was close.' she muttered, closing her eyes.

He stared at her for a second, wondering if all humans were this strange. Maybe it was a normal thing to jump into cars and drive away. What did Luhan call them? Taxis, yes… maybe she thought he was taxi driver?

As if on cue, she threw a couple of bills on the dashboard. 'Here, I hope this is enough.'

He started, offended. He was no taxi driver and Beatrice, his beautiful Royce, was no taxi.

'Excuse me?' he asked, affronted at even the thought that she could compare Beatrice to those yellow-black atrocities.

'Hmm?' She opened one eye, looked at his face before straightening hurriedly. 'Oh, right. I'm sorry, thank you for helping me out, it means a lot. I'll just go now.'

He watched, still annoyed, as she opened the door to step out. He started getting out as well but she waved a hand at him, 'Oh no, no need to get out. I'll book myself a room, thanks.'

What? What did she think this place was?

'A hotel.' she said, raising a brow, 'Duh.'

'That,' he intoned, feeling irritated. She had something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. 'is my house.'

'Yeah,' she laughed. Laughed. 'And I live in the Imperial Palace.'

He gave her the best, coldest glare he could manage. Sadly, it seemed to have as much effect on her as it had on Baekhyun – none, in other words.

'You don't believe me?' he demanded, incredulous.

'What do you think?' She laughed again in a really insulting way.

Kris was fast getting to the point where his patience, never much to begin with, was running thin. 'Silence!' he roared suddenly, the rasp of his husky voice lending it a scary quality that made people quiver.

The girl blinked, shocked, and Kris smirked. At last, she was intimidated…

Or not.

'Did you just…,' She stared at him incredulously, her face a mask of offended disappointment – as if she'd expected better of him and Kris felt the stirrings of guilt inside him. 'yell at me?'

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

It wasn't this human's fault that she had run into him on a bad day. He hadn't fed for the past month because how could he when he hadn't found his Bride yet? He'd been too darnn busy to feed and then, the argument with Baekhyun early in the morning had destroyed whatever was left of his appetite. Now, by all means he shouldn’t be having one because his body was immune to such weaknesses but he could swear he had a headache and it was making him unnecessarily irritable.

Still, that was no excuse for bad manners.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose before clearing his throat. 'My apologies, it wasn't my intention to be so rude.'

His adopted Russian accent, sharp and flawless, sounded imperial. Perfect.

She blinked, eyes softening. 'Rough day?'

He sighed deeply. 'You could say that.' Straightening, he crossed over to her side, offering his arm. 'Allow me to you inside.'

…………………………………

Mei blinked at the unexpectedly courtly gesture, unable to resist a smile.

'Why thank you!' She slipped her arm through his, more than a little charmed. Damn, what was with her luck these days? Where did all these hotties keep coming from?

This guy was tall, taller than Baekhyun by a head at least, and he had a severe face, sharp jawline and ferocious eyebrows that made him look grumpy. Combined with the severe hairstyle, it made him look cold in a princely, poker-faced sort of way. Sort of like Sehun, except he looked older and more mature. And damn, that accent! He sounded like hot foreign business tycoon. Why was he driving when he could totally be modeling?

'So…' She fluttered her lashes, unable to stop the flirtatious side of her from coming into play. 'what do you do?'

He cast her a hesitant look. 'I have several ventures…'

Oh. So he was a hot business tycoon. Damn.

'And…' She glanced around as he led her up the steps to the grand entrance. 'this really is your home?'

'You did say to take you home.' He smiled in an uncharacteristically shy way and she couldn’t help but coo internally.

'I did. I'm sorry, I was in a bit of a state back there.'

He nodded understandingly before letting go of her arm and gesturing at the entrance grandly. 'Welcome to my humble abode.'

She bit her lip to stop the sarcastic comment about the 'humble' abode and nodded as gracefully as she could, taking his hand – and wow, he hands were HUGE! – as the great doors swung open.

A smartly dressed man stepped outside, raising his brows when his eyes landed on her. 'Welcome!' He bowed. 'Miss…?'

'Mei,' she replied with a smile. They were all so formal around here, it felt like she'd stepped back in centuries.

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