The moment Chanyeol stepped foot into the castle the entire day he had spent outside the stone walls became nothing more than a fairytale, a story he would hold close to his chest when his gaze was met with his father's who had clearly been staying awake to welcome him back home with a frown. 

"Where the have you been all day?" The king snarled as he rose from the couch and approached his son with a fire burning bright behind his eyes. "Minho didn't see you at your private lessons with Jongin or his pathetic mate-" 

"Leave Kyungsoo out of your foul mouth!" Chanyeol snapped, his eyes wide as he realised just how cruel his father was to his brother's mate. Kyungsoo deserved a lot more than being called pathetic, even if it was said by the most respected man in the country. "He didn't ask to be the mate of your foolish adultery with Katherine when you had a perfectly loving family back home, if anyone is the pathetic one here, it's you!" 

"The both of you need to shut your mouths right now!" Katherine hissed, throwing open the door and rushing inside with her fangs bared and her eyes darkened. "Suho is weak and fell straight into slumber, I will not have your endless rivalry wake him!" 

"I'm sorry Katherine," Chanyeol was quick to apologise to the woman he saw as his own mother, though she hadn't been the one to birth him at least she cared for him like a true mother would. Seeing her and his Appa so close made them both look like a happy modern family, which is far from what they had to experience daily. "we were reckless again. I just couldn't seem to hold in my anger when he says such things regarding the people I love, I apologise." 

"Why must you place the blame on me?" The king scoffed, turning around as he walked over to the movable tray filled with liquor Chanyeol watched as his father filled himself a glass. "You're the one that stepped outside these castle walls when everyone is aware of the rebels wishing to kill you, you're the one to blame not I." 

"I admit that what I did was foolish" Chanyeol explained, looking at Katherine whose eyes were wide with the words her lover had stated. "I should have notified a servant or brought a guard to accompany me as I'm not a lover of fighting. I will admit that for that alone I am foolish, but that is not the reason I lost my head with you." 

"Then why did you?" Katherine questioned, her brows furrowing in the centre of her forehead. She understood why Chanyeol hated his father for all the harm he had caused to their family, but Katherine knew the young prince wouldn't have blown a fuse over that reason again. 

"He called Kyungsoo, my dear brother's mate pathetic. I simply explained how the king himself was the one that needed to be addressed with the word rather than our dear friend." Chanyeol smiled turning to Katherine like he hadn't just yelled at his father moments before, his grin making him appear innocent. 

The mistress rolled her eyes and waved her hand, dismissing him from the room to which Chanyeol particularly skipped out of without much hesitance. When the two of them were alone in the room together, the true side of the king was revealed. He threw his whiskey glass at the woman, Katherine managed to avoid it and heard the glass shattering behind her. She drew a deep breath before standing properly and fixing her corset, she loved the designs of the old fashioned dresses and was more than thrilled to find them in the attic of the castle by Suho who figured she would have more use for them then he. 

"Must you be so extreme all the time?" she sighed, crossing her arms against her chest as she stood her ground against the king. "Honestly Kris, you're making it harder and harder to believe that you haven't completely lost your mind every passing day. I watch on the sidelines as you burst a fuse over the simplest of things, but calling a member of this family 'pathetic', well let's just say that I'm surprised Chanyeol has allowed you to keep your head. We both know how protective he gets." 

"The sooner he's married the better" the king growled, pouring himself another drink and managing to keep it in his hand rather than aiming it at the wall. "she's the daughter of one of my most trusted generals and I cannot help but say she's quite the fine looking woman." 

"Then wouldn't you like her all to yourself rather than giving her to your son who already has a mate? Do you honestly believe that Suho and I would allow him to marry someone who is not?" 

"You have no choice, neither of you have any power and my general is more than happy to offer his daughter-" 

"Do you honestly believe that the council would allow you to do that after they find out that your heir has a mate?" Katherine laughed, looking at the king like he had completely forgotten about the men he answers to. They were old and hell bound on following traditions but they would never allow a king to take the throne with someone who wasn't their mate after witnessing first hand of what it could do to their reign, Kris and Suho proved how that would never be able to work again. The only thing keeping the royal family together was the idea of Chanyeol taking the throne with a mate by his side and now that Kris was getting in the way of that, things wouldn't be easy for him. 

"I could very easily dispose of them!" The king shouted, his anger boiling over like Katherine had expected it. After all the king was quite sensitive when it came to the people who kept him in power. 

"Of course you can darling." Katherine humoured her ex-lover, running her fingers down his cheek in a mock attempt of affection. Kris' head fell into the palm of her hand, his brain melting into goo as his constant arousal dulled his senses. Before he could act on the matter and pleasure himself and his ex-lover, Katherine took her hand away and left the room closing the door behind her. She left the king to wreck whatever else he needed to in order to get the anger out so that he may sleep peacefully that night. 

Katherine found herself outside Chanyeol's room, her hand risen to knock but the door opened before she could even pull through with the action. Her lips were curled upwards into a grin at the sight of her happy step-son, he looked to be lost to the world his mind travelling through the comos unable to grasp at reality. 

"You look chipper" she giggled, entering the room. The king's mistress sat herself down at the end of the young prince's bed, she never liked that his room was smaller than a majority of the rooms in the castle but after listening to his five hour rant one time she learned never to bring the subject up again. "to what excuse can you give in order to explain your bursting energy?" 

"I met with my mate today" Chanyeol exclaimed, his eyes gleaming in happiness. He sat on his table with the window overlooking the vast concrete jungle the prince hated viewing, Katherine saw the various types of cactuses lining the window sill their prickles bared like fangs for any wandering finger to fall victim to. "he's glorious Katherine, a true pleasure on the eye..." 

Katherine noticed the long pause that birthed from the end of the sentence, her brows furrowed as she awaited the prince's next few words but when they appeared to be taking their time she questioned it. "But?" 

"You've told me the story of how after you gave birth to Jongin you went looking for the man you had fell in love with when you were still human, you said that you had no idea of the consequences that followed and yet you still chose to turn him right?"  Katherine nodded her head, her eyes tearing up as she recalled the memory. "It ended in tragedy but I need you to tell me the story again." 

"Chanyeol-" 

"Mum please." the prince begged, his eyes filled with sorrow as he pleaded. 

Katherine drew a deep breath trying to keep her tears at bay, but she sat firm in her stance and after a moments silence she began the tale of her past. "Like many a girl in my village I was limited to the amount of boys that could turn into possible suitors when the time for me to wed had come, there was this boy at the time that I knew and he was quite the sight. My brother Doyoung was a friend of his and whenever Yuta came around to our house to see him, Doyoung would tease me constantly about him. Anyway, after our village was overrun with rebel vampires and I was turned I lost track of him and my brother. I found out quick that Doyoung was killed but Yuta was able to escape into the neighbouring village, when I had received concrete word of his location I went to find him much to your father's disapproval."

"Kris or Suho?" Chanyeol quizzed, generally curious as to which one of his father's was disapproving the woman from finding her true love. 

"Suho actually," Katherine grinned, her gaze falling to her lap as she remembered a conversation between herself and the vampire one night while they were feeding their children. "he was worried about me and what could happen to Yuta if I were to bring him back to the castle. We both know how temperamental Kris can be and how protective he is over Suho and I, yet that didn't scare me. I was actually willing to leave the castle with Jongin the night I sawt out Yuta, I wanted us to have a life together and after much persuasion I was able to assign Suho as babysitter. I met with him and almost instantly he was speaking of our marriage and the live he was willing to have with me, he didn't seem fazed by the fact I had given birth only that I had managed to survive the attack on our shared village. Like the gentleman he was he apologised for my brother's death and I offered to turn him, I gave him blood and instructed him to meet me again the following night.." 

Her sweet voice ran out after talking as much as she could without allowing her voice to crack, instead Chanyeol watched as she fiddled with her fingers against her lap. She was uncomfortable and the prince could tell it even if he was standing a mile away, he hated to have pushed the woman he loved and cared for to tell a heart aching story but seeing as how she was ploughing through it, Chanyeol was able to realise just how strong a woman like Katherine was. 

"When I arrived with Jongin in my arms and a suitcase of clothes and jewellery that I figured we could use for money, I was surprised to see that the villagers had marked a new grave. After many interviews I was made aware of what happened to my beloved, he had died with my blood in his system as we had planned. He had slit a goat's throat for blood when he awoke and within the hour he was suffering with hallucinations and eventually he began throwing up blood. He went mad, every passing hour he grew crazier he terrified the locals and before anyone could help him he began tearing off his flesh. It was after that night that I discovered that no man could be turned into a vampire, males had to be born." 

"Have you ever felt a mate bond?" Chanyeol wondered, blinking up through his tears at his mother who had wiped a trailing tear from her cheek. 

"I have not" Katherine answered after swallowing the lump that had formed in from pressing her sobs back. "I don't expect to either, why do you ask child?" 

"For as long as you've known me, I have always felt my bond right?" Chanyeol pressed, desperate for the information to his never ending questions. 

"You felt it in 1909 when you were eight years old, I'm able to recall the moment it happened too. Suho and I had taken you and Jongin to the lake just beyond the castle, you wanted to take a swim and when you didn't resurface I dove in to save you. Once you came back to the surface you claimed that you were able to see what your mate was seeing although, granted it was quite dark and I do think there was a mention of bunkbeds?" 

"So what you're saying is that I have never felt my mate link break?" 

"Gosh no!" Katherine shrieked, her eyes blowing wide as she stared at the prince with her jaw dropped. "You would have been in despair, you would have complained about your chest being in pain at the young age you were. If your mate link broke your mental state wouldn't have been sane, you would have crying or weeping for days. Should I continue to ask you why you are inquiring after this information or will you finally tell me?" 

"My mate is human" Chanyeol declared after taking a deep breath, Katherine felt her stomach drop while the prince simply shrugged his shoulders. "I don't understand it either, clearly he isn't a human but he doesn't appear to think in such a way. I could smell the blood in him from the moment my eyes locked on his, but there is no mistake he is my mate." 

"Oh sweetheart.." Katherine gushed, raising from her seat and rushing to stand before her son. They weren't blood related in any way but the mistress couldn't help but see the prince as her own, after all they had been together a long time. "I'm so sorry." 

"I don't know what to do Katherine, I know he can't possibilty be a human but what other option is there?" 

"I'm unaware" the woman admitted, her words coming out in a breathless tone. She saw how deflated the prince became, his eyes welling with tears as his emotions got the better of him. It was one of the things she loved about him, even though he was the future king of the vampires Chanyeol never allowed his emotions to be shadowed by it. "but I will stop at nothing until I can figure out something, he is going to be my future son-in-law now won't he?" 

This caused the young prince to smile which therefore brought a grin to Katherine's lips as well. She pulled him into an embrace holding him close as the prince clutched at her skit tightly, she giggled when she realised that it was an old habit that was unable to die with time. 

"There is one more thing!" Chanyeol rushed to explain, pulling himself away from the neck of the woman he loves so much. Katherine blinked at him in confusion, urging him to continue with a confident nod of her head. "I found Yixing, he's a teacher in my mate's school and just so happens to be his neighbour as well."