COUGHING up blood, Seungwan still tried to stand up and face her fellow generals but before she even managed to lift her head, the oldest general kicked her in the stomach. When she was about to hit the ground once more, the said general kept her up by pulling her hair.

“You, traitor.” The oldest general gnashed his teeth. “How dare you remove the lifeline of the King? How dare you betray our kingdom!”

Seungwan spitted blood before she looked at the general eye to eye. “I never betrayed anyone… This is the King’s wish himself—”

The other general slapped her. “And you believe that Negative!? Do you think the King will entrust the kingdom to someone like her!? She will just ruin everything just like her predecessor!”

Seungwan took a deep breath. “The King won’t make her a substitute to Prince Euigeon if he doesn't trust her. The King knows the Princess’ potential to run the Kingdom.”

“That’s what’s more alarming, Seungwan. Are you just acting blind?” The general pushed her away, making her hit the wall. “She’s a Negative, I believe she has done something to our King to make her the heir of the throne. I believe she was also the one behind the sudden disappearance of our Prince Euigeon!”

Seungwan heard another general scoff. “I agree with that. The heavens only blessed us because Prince Euigeon somehow escaped the attack and pretended that he’s dead. I believe the reason that he came is to save the kingdom from the hands of that filthy Negative!”

General Son glared at the said officer. “Watch your mouth, Seulgi is our Queen now!”

“Blasphemous! You’re the one who should be careful with your words!” The oldest general kicked her at the head before stomping on her back. He then violently removed Seungwan’s general badge.

“Y-You can’t do anything… Princess Seulgi is the heir of the throne…” Seungwan insisted but the others were just rockheaded to listen to her.

“And what do you call Prince Euigeon?” The oldest general rolled his eyes. “He’s the firstborn. He’s a male and he is very much alive! He has every right for the throne!”

“But that’s not what the King—”

“Enough!” The man put even more force to his foot, making it hard for Seungwan to move.

“Poor Seungwan.” One of the other generals shook her head. “It’s a shame that you ended up like this. I am sure you were also hypnotised by that abomination, right? Don’t worry, we will do everything to remove the hypnotism from you.”

The oldest general balled his fists. “The rebels were right. We shouldn’t have let the wedding between the vampire and that girl take place. She would be more powerful with the help of the vampires. She would surely wipe us from existence.”

There was a short term of silence in the room, all were filled with fear and disgust of Seulgi.

“I am sure she played some tricks to get to this position.” One of them bit his thumb nail.

The oldest general let out a sigh. “Just like us, I don’t think all of the Vampire Kingdom is in favour of this marriage. There were even more rebels from their side who came out after finding out that the groom will be changed to that girl.”

“That’s true. Even the Duke gave us a warning. I believe he couldn’t do anything as well because his brother, the Vampire King, has been pursuing an marriage with our kingdom for so long.”

“It would be worse if that girl is the reincarnation of the White Tiger. His consciousness might be controlling that girl so he can rule the world once again.”

“We have to do something.”

The highest ranking general then looked back at Seungwan and gave her one last kick. “You said that they are in the vampire castle in Scotland, right? That abomination needed help because she’s nothing without the presence of other shamans, right?”

He then turned to the other generals and with the sense of urgency and utilising his rank, he gave them an order.

“Honourable generals of the Shaman Kingdom, let this servant speak to you!” He even put his right hand by his chest. “Kings of both kingdoms have fallen and everything is out of control but you also witnessed the news—the Vampire King was slain by none other than our saviour, Prince Euigeon and the Duke has been serving him all throughout his disappearance! The two knew that this would happen and decided to offer sacrifices for the sake of peace! Our main enemy here is nothing but the horrible abomination, the Negative herself!”

The others were just listening to him as if they were attending a mass.

“We must help our Prince Euigeon. We have to support Duke Matthew as well. The vampires lost a lot of lives during the reign of the White Tiger. There’s a reason why the two have teamed up in secret! Now that the two of them are on their way to slay the Negative and bring peace back to us, we should be in their aid no matter what! Our late King put us in our positions to protect our fellow citizens! Let’s not betray our oath to the King unlike this lowlife that got misplaced in this prestige!”

Seungwan couldn’t do anything but grit her teeth. These people are all going insane.

“If protecting our people would mean death then so be it, we will attack the Negative from a distance where she couldn’t cancel our powers until she falls to the ground lifeless! If you are with me with this crusade then follow me! Let’s set forth to that land, defeat the devil and crown Prince Euigeon as our new King!”

He then raised his right fist. “For our new king we shall fight!”

The others raised their fists as well and yelled the same thing. They set forth and left Seungwan on the ground. Taking the chance, Sunmi immediately went to help the said girl. She has been hiding all throughout the time Seungwan was trying to convince the generals to be of help to Seulgi. She might be a royal but her power is no match to those officers.

“General Son, come. Let me help you.” Sunmi helped the other girl sit and handed her some healing potion. Seungwan thanked her and drank the potion in one shot.

“The Shaman hierarchy of power is really insane. This culture should have been abolished when the first negative showed what real power tripping could bring!” Sunmi could feel her blood boiling. Those generals were really full of themselves. She even wondered how they managed to get such positions with such bad heads.

“It’s okay…” Seungwan smiled as she looked at the direction where the officers went. “With this the Princess won’t be angry at me. I still managed to send ‘backup’ nevertheless.”

THE DUKE then made his way out of the private jet but just one look at the people who were there as he landed, he knew so well that he wasn’t welcome. He gave them a proud smile as he slowly came down the stairs of his plane.

They were at the huge field nearby the castle. Seulgi and Irene were there together with Sooyoung and Yeri. Yujin was also there but she couldn't calm herself. She knew they were in big trouble. Just looking at how Seulgi is prepared to fight anytime sends shivers to her spine. What’s worrying her even more is the fact that Seulgi was holding Minjoo as if she’s a hostage.

“What’s with this welcoming?” Matthew asked as he stepped his feet on the ground. “I couldn’t believe that you would be welcoming me as if I were an enemy, Shaman Princess Seulgi… Or should I say…” The duke’s eyes glowed crimson red for a moment. “Negative.”

Seulgi just glared at the said guy. Even Irene had her guard up.

The Duke’s eyes widened, his lips pressed together as he looked back and forth to the couple. “Oh come on, Irene, my dear niece! I know you guys have been through a lot and I understand that you doubt everyone that comes your way but dear, I am your uncle~ And I am only here to pick up my daughter! I can't let her stay in such a dangerous place!”

Irene rolled her eyes as she let out a sigh. If Matthew is calling this acting then he needs more years of training but she knows so well that he’s intentionally acting that way. He was well aware that his betrayal had already reached the couple. He was even the one who called every media station to put the death of the Vampire King in headlines.

He gave another taunting smile. He smugly shrugged his shoulders. “Come on, Irene. Why are you holding Carrie like a hostage? Did the girl do anything bad to you?”

Irene’s eyebrows twitched. She was about to answer but Seulgi stood in front of her, gesturing to her that she would be the one to answer.

“One wrong move and you’ll see the head of your daughter flying.”

Yujin loudly gasped at Seulgi's statement. “A-Appa! What are you even talking about!? He’s right! Minjoo has nothing to do with this! I know her well! I believe she didn’t even know what her father was doing!”

Minjoo started shaking once more. She might not have done anything for her father. She was also surprised when Seulgi showed her the news. She was shocked to see that her loving father was already scheming things under their noses without any of them noticing. She’d rather be reborn and be killed right away than continue living as this person’s daughter. Who would’ve thought that he was the one stirring up rebellion to both sides all this time?

“Well~” The duke just shrugged his shoulders once more. “I can see very well that you are already aware. I guess I really hired the best news stations out there.”

“F-Father…” Minjoo tried to walk towards her father but Seulgi stopped her. “D-Did you really–”

Matthew just nodded casually as if he did something so trivial. His smile started to look sinister. “Yes, dear Carrie. I did all of this.”

Tears started rolling down Minjoo’s cheeks. She felt so ashamed. “W-Why? Why do you have to start a war? How on earth did you manage to kill your own brother?”

The Duke took a deep breath. He then noticed Taeyeon standing beside Yujin, together with her lady in waiting. Matthew raised his hand and snapped a finger.

One of his butlers then came out of the plane, he seemed to be carrying something in his arms that’s wrapped in red cloth. The said servant handed it to the Duke and quietly stepped back. Matthew then played with that thing with his fingers but Irene’s eyes widened when she saw a little hand slapped the duke’s fingers away.

Matthew laughed at what just happened. “This baby has quite a temperament. He’s not even afraid that I can easily put an end to his life right here, right now.”

Irene gritted her teeth, her fangs started protruding, her nails stretched out. “Dirty old bat…”

But there was no trace of fear on Matthew’s face as well. He even took a few steps towards the group. “You guessed it right, this baby is the phoenix of my brother, Angus. If only he wasn’t crazy then I wouldn’t have resulted into this.”

He then looked back at Taeyeon who wasn’t showing any emotions at all yet the Duke could smell how her heart was suffering from the death of her husband. The forever beautiful Artemis that was always proud of her mark is now even hiding her shoulders from everyone. He wasn’t even able to recognise her right away because she wasn’t wearing her signature style.

“This little one is my brother’s phoenix. My brother is still my brother. We’re still related by blood.” He then threw the baby on Taeyeon’s way but he threw him so high that it had some air time. “If only he wasn’t my brother then I would be the one to personally light him into flames.”

His eyes completely turned red and was about to attack the baby with bullets made of his own blood. Thankfully, Seulgi was quick to notice what he was about to do. Ordering Yujin through telepathy, the lycan managed to save the baby from the attack through the help of her innate lycan speed.

“Ohh~ What a display~” The Duke even clapped. “He won’t be harmed by those. I didn’t really aim for him but I must admit.” His stare then transferred to Yujin before his lips. “This young lycan is really fast.”

Yujin glared back at the Duke. He might be the father of the girl she loves but she won’t be able to accept him just like despite that inevitable truth. The lycan then gave the baby with shining red hair to the Vampire Queen. Taeyeon was shaking when she held the baby.

“Oh, this kind of warms my heart.” The Duke continued with his taunting. “It was really part of my plan to give Angus’ phoenix to you, Artemis. I know how you loved him a lot but he loved an idea more than you. He loved a non-existence thing more than anything. He loved…” The Duke shook his head in dismay. He even acted like he was getting goosebumps. “Peace.”

Seulgi tilted her head to the side. She’s genuinely not impressed with what the Duke is saying. “What is wrong about trying to obtain peace?”

“You’re asking me what’s wrong?” The Duke’s laughter made Seulgi even more annoyed. She could feel how this guy thinks of her as a joke; her blood felt like boiling. “Young one, being the negative that you are, you’re asking me what’s wrong with obtaining peace? Alright, I understand. You’re young and naive. Let me explain to you then.”

Matthew started walking to his side, enjoying the view of their castle. He somehow felt nostalgic. It has been decades since he last visited his home.

“To us nephilim, peace is just an illusion. We were all descendants of rebellious angels anyway. When they were thrown out of the heavens, they mate with humans resulting in many nephilim races. We were all honhyeols in a way to be exact.”