At the kingdom’s border, the wind cut to the bone.

Ivan clutched his wounded left arm, eyes wide with disbelief. He couldn’t believe the comrade who’d once fought by his side had shot him in the back.

“Freya, why did you betray me?”

The blonde girl holding a spear merely shrugged.

“Ivan, do you still think the Empire is united? Dream on. This war never had a true winner—not from the start. You and I are both pawns, and I’ve already found a better side to join.”

“Is that so?” Ivan gave a scornful laugh. “So you’re going to kill me?”

“I can’t do that. Someone’s quite interested in you, after all. You’re a rare talent with a sword. Who knows what kind of war machine they might turn you into? You love war, don’t you? I’m doing you a favor.”

A mocking smile curled across Freya’s lips. She raised her foot and kicked Ivan in the stomach again.

“You know, I’ve put up with you for a long time. You’re too capable—so capable that you’ve gotten in the way of certain people’s interests. I might as well tell you now: this war will never end. As long as there’s money to be made, why would those fat cats ever let it stop?

“And that faith of yours? It’s nothing but a childish fantasy. Wake up. The real world isn’t a fairy tale. There’s no kindness or compassion here, only eternal self-interest.”

“Honestly, you’re such a fool. You should’ve agreed to become the princess’s knight. Then you’d be the king’s lapdog, and I might’ve had to think twice before coming after you. But now you’re all alone, a stray dog with nowhere to go—and I’m the one who’s really won.”

“Heh… Hahaha! I never should’ve trusted you.”

“You’re right. You shouldn’t have trusted me. You’re too softhearted. Good people never get a happy ending. But I can help you fulfill one last wish. You’re the only boy in your family, aren’t you?

“My family has enough connections to find your sister a decent match. She can carry on your family line—just not your family’s, unfortunately. Cheer up. At least your bloodline won’t die out completely, right?”

“Don’t push me too far!” Ivan trembled from head to toe, but with his right arm dislocated, he couldn’t even pick up his sword. He tried to move, but in the next instant, Freya planted her leather shoe on his head.

“Worms don’t get a say.”

Ivan’s head felt hot, and a warm current seemed to well up inside him. But his body was growing colder and colder, and the scene before his eyes began to blur.

It was all over.

……

Cough—

A violent fit of coughing rang out from a pitch-black room. Something cold splashed across his face. Ivan jerked his head up, but his consciousness was still fading in and out.

He was freezing. It felt like his whole body was about to turn to ice.

He was terribly thirsty, too. Almost without thinking, the tip of his tongue lapped at the moisture on his body.

“What a sorry sight.”

A voice looked down at him and spoke without a hint of kindness. A small, pale hand grabbed Ivan by his tangled hair.

“Lord Ivan, do you remember who I am?”

He struggled to open his eyes. A silver-haired girl with a doll-like face was looking down at him, as if toying with him. When he saw her scarlet eyes and the dark-red bat hair ornament, Ivan’s pupils shrank. His chains rattled violently.

How could he forget the person standing before him? The demon who’d destroyed an entire village overnight, known throughout the kingdom as the “Vampire Queen”—Vivian.

“Vivian, you…”

The moment the words left his mouth, Ivan froze. That wasn’t his voice. He looked left, then right, then down—and was left completely dumbfounded.

When had he turned into a child? Those little feet were caked in mud, but compared with his battle-hardened, scarred feet, they were practically works of art.

He might once have been a brute, but he still had an eye for beauty. It just didn’t feel right for that beauty to be part of his own body.

And what was with that childish voice?

Ivan was so stunned that he forgot, for a moment, that the renowned Vampire Queen was standing right beside him.

Ignored, Vivian forced a smile and twisted Ivan’s ear.

“I hate it when people look all around while I’m talking to them. If you were anyone else, I’d have drained you dry by now and left you to shrivel up.”

Ivan paused, then remembered the rumors: the Vampire Queen was said to be fickle and cruel.

“Then explain my voice first.”

“You don’t like it? Or are you especially fond of that deep, gravelly middle-aged-man voice of yours?”

“But I…” Ivan trailed off. He’d noticed a delicate little figure reflected in Vivian’s pupils.

Who was that?

He looked around the room. There were only two people inside.

Could that person be him?

When had he become a girl?

“Looks like you’ve figured it out. Allow me to introduce you to your new self: you’re part of my family now~”

“Family? Who’d want to be family with a filthy vampire like you?”

“Can’t you say a single nice thing? You should actually be thanking me. If I hadn’t been there, you might not even have a body left by now.”

“Oh, right. Here’s something you might find interesting: the one who sold you to me was your closest comrade. I even lost a piece of territory because of you.”

“Territory?”

“That’s right. Those nobles cared more about land than your safety. That city had one of the Empire’s most famous ballrooms. I hadn’t planned on attacking it.”

“But your unit had slaughtered too many of my people, so I had no choice but to teach the nobles a little lesson. I never expected those noble lords to use your life as a bargaining chip. So you see, they don’t care whether you live or die.”

“Are the people you’ve been protecting really worth all this?”

“I don’t believe you. Don’t think you can brainwash me. Talk is cheap. Do you have proof?”

“Do I really need to show you proof? Have you forgotten who wounded you with their own hands? I wanted to treat you, but your teammates had done far too much damage. I had no choice but to make a few adjustments to your body.”

“Get some rest, my future little princess. Why risk your life for those people? Even if you survive this, once the war ends, you’ll still be a thorn in the nobles’ sides.”

Vivian’s voice, dripping with mockery, rang in Ivan’s ears. In a single day, he’d been betrayed by his comrades and turned into the very creature he hated most. He couldn’t accept it. Desperate, Ivan opened his mouth and drove his white teeth toward his tongue.

Vivian reacted just in time. She reached out to stop Ivan from biting his tongue and killing himself, but he clamped down hard on her hand. His sharp teeth pierced her skin, and warm liquid flowed down his throat. Ivan choked and coughed for a long while.

Vivian simply wiped her palm as if nothing had happened, then lifted Ivan’s chin.

“It’s not that easy to die. Looks like I’ll have to put a few restraints on you.”

Vivian gave him a wicked smile. As she chanted a string of incomprehensible words, Ivan’s mouth grew unbearably dry. It felt as though ants were gnawing all over her body, and the pain was so intense she wanted to writhe on the floor. The chains around her rattled.

But the discomfort didn’t ease in the slightest. It felt like her throat was about to split open.

Just as she was about to pass out from the agony, a glass vial filled with red liquid pressed against her lips. Before she could recover, her body began gulping it down like a plant parched of water.

In that moment, she looked no different from a stray dog by the roadside.

Her dignity lay shattered on the floor. She was nothing more than a little rag doll, completely at someone else’s mercy.

The instinct to survive forced her to lap at the liquid in the vial.

Tears slid down Ivan’s cheeks as a mocking voice sounded beside her ear.

“Not a single Blood Princess can resist the temptation of blood.”

Vivian tipped a little more liquid into the vial, then quickly stopped.

“Want more? Then get down at my feet and beg. I’m only giving you three seconds, so make up your mind, Your Highness.”