My Blood Legacy: Reincarnated as a Vampire

Chapter 117: Behind The Masks

"He lost the Dragon?" Ethan questioned, shaking his head in denial. It was impossible not to be frustrated after losing such a creature.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Baron diverted the funds for his own gains and neglected the Beast's protection," Jun-he promptly responded to her boss.

"I should have anticipated this," he said, leaning back on the couch with frustration evident in his closed eyes. The days had been hard on him.

Ethan was exhausted. The issues in the administration of the Imperial Palace were slowly consuming him. His father, Adam, made sure to leave the place in complete chaos just for him to fix and "prove himself," in his words.

"Jun-he," he called, and the woman standing in front of him responded, "Yes, Majesty?"

"Sigh. Kill that imbecile if he fails to kill Velryna," Ethan said, and she nodded. "Anything else, Majesty?"

"Stop acting like a secretary when we're alone," he said, a smile appearing on his face.

"Ara," she said, approaching Ethan, who was seated on the couch, and gently removing her glasses. Calmly, she looked into Ethan's eyes, never breaking eye contact. She slowly moved closer to the couch and sat on his lap.

Whispering softly in his ears, she said, "You don't have to bear everything alone, Majesty. I'm here to share the burden with you." Jun-he's lips, crimson red with soft touches of pink on her cheeks, caught Ethan's attention.

Their gazes met, and the palpable tension in the air began. Slowly, Ethan leaned towards the secretary. Their lips were almost touching when he pulled back and whispered again.

"And what would I do without you, my dear?" He said with a smile, and she replied to his ears, "I hope you never have to find out, Majesty."

And then, in a moment of restrained desire, the emperor's lips met those of the secretary, sealing a moment of passion. The wet sound of their lips meeting echoed in the room as they truly began to kiss passionately until they were breathless.

Jun-he, sitting on his lap, was flushed. Her heart was beating faster than anything in this world, the speed and warmth she felt in her neck, the sensation of being loved.

"Enough..." she murmured as she caught her breath. "Lady Axilen could appear here at any moment," she said, pulling away from Ethan, who was smiling like a cheerful boy.

"Is this how you treat your Majesty the Future Emperor?" He questioned, and Jun-he pouted. "Humpf, emperor or not, you're still the same little boy I met!" She huffed, getting off his lap.

"What would you do if Axilen found out? Humpf," she said, looking at Ethan. "Well... could she do something about it? I will be the Emperor, of course, I will have concubines, won't I? My father himself has three," he said confidently, receiving a look as if a knife had been pointed at his chest.

"So, am I just a mere concubine?" She said, almost cutting him with her piercing brown eyes.

"Hm, are you?" He questioned, pulling her closer again, making her fall onto his arms, and he hugged her like a bear. "Would a mere concubine have access to her husband's plans?" He questioned, stroking Jun-he's long brown hair. With a kiss on her forehead, he concluded: "Who knows what awaits you when I usurp the throne and kill my father and fiancée?" Ethan said with a smile.

"Will you be the Empress?" He questioned, and she fell silent, but nodded slightly, full of love.

"You can count on me, your Imperial Majesty," she said with a sweet smile, hiding in the man's chest as he continued to stroke her brown locks, looking out the window.

'I've been feeling a bad omen, what could it be?' Ethan thought, ever since his sister had returned, something was wrong.

Knock-Knock

The knock on the door was heard, Ethan promptly straightened up as Jun-he stood up and opened the door. When she opened it, a woman known to both appeared. Axilen.

"I have bad news for you, dear," Axilen said and entered the room, facing Ethan head-on.

"What happened? Why the face?" Ethan asked, seeing Axilen's serious expression; it seemed something had happened.

"The Shadow Squad is back," Axilen said and looked at Ethan, who seemed curious. He asked, "And then?"

"They were exterminated," Axilen said, and the room fell silent. A tense atmosphere fell upon the place, a deafening silence that left no one breathing properly. He forgot about it.

"How were they exterminated? There were over twenty men!" Ethan stood up yelling and punched the table in front of him.

Both women were startled, but they couldn't say anything. Axilen continued the report and looked at Ethan attentively.

"Only three came back, two died of poisoning on the way here, and the rest were massacred by the Princess and her aides, despite having exterminated all the Knights escorting them," Axilen concluded, and Ethan was pensive, pacing back and forth.

"Besides Simon, who was with her? There shouldn't have been anyone else," Ethan asked.

"We don't know. It was a knight dressed in the clothes of the White Knights of the Witch's Tower," she said.

"A knight? Simon foresaw that I would try something. That damned old man should be locked up with his mistress in that stupid cube," Ethan said, getting up to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Axilen questioned, pulling him by the arm. Ethan turned around, his expression seeming downcast. She shrank slightly and returned to her place as he left.

Jun-he and Axilen stood there in silence, but soon Jun-he also left, bowing slightly, while only Axilen remained quiet in the room.

"How long will I need to pretend to be a helpless girl and in love with this wretch?" she questioned aloud. She sighed lightly and heard a knock again.

"You may enter," she said aloud, and the person on the other side entered. It was one of the assassin knights who had previously survived.

"Lady Axilen, the Princess is currently in a luxury boutique and will soon come to the Imperial Castle. Do you want us to continue watching her?" he questioned, bowing.

"Yes, keep an eye on her moves," Axilen said, and the Knight vanished into the shadows.

"Ahr~," she sighed and slouched on the couch. "I hope nothing happens to you, Velryna. The one who should be assassinated is your useless brother. Keeping this up until I leave this place alive is what I need to do," she murmured as she closed her eyes and rested lightly.

Meanwhile, in a clothing boutique, Ziriel was having trouble.

"You really can't decide?" Velryna questioned, with a confused expression. For her, it was easy to do these things... well, she didn't know that Ziriel was a man in mentality, literally speaking.

"I-I don't know," Ziriel replied as she looked at two different dresses, both white and gold, perfectly matching her skin, hair, and eyes. But well... how would she choose something she didn't even know how to wear?

"Come on, try this one on already!" Velryna said, pushing Ziriel with the dress in hand and throwing her into a fitting room. "Put it on and show me!" she said excitedly, seeming like it was the first time in her life she was having fun.

"Come on, now it's my turn," she said aloud, holding up a celestial blue dress with gold trimmings.

Both entered fitting rooms while... Simon watched the scene, sitting on a sofa, sipping his tea calmly.

"Kids," he muttered as he savored his tea, reading a magazine about Knights. He was already wearing an Empire standard black suit, with a dark blue cape and golden cuffs, something that was commonly seen in the royal family and nobles, the excess of luxury in the gold, demonstrating abundant wealth.

Minutes passed, Velryna was the first to come out. Her golden hair shone against the curtains, her grandeur clearly highlighted, as she placed a tiara with a blue gem, matching earrings, and a lapis lazuli stone on her pendant that waved around her neck, she looked like a beautiful fairy.

[Image of Velryna]

"Look at you," Simon said, getting up to see the woman in front of him. "Your mother would be proud if she saw you like this. Haha, indeed, you were born to be a princess," he said as he lightly placed his hand on her head, adjusting the tiara.

"Humpf! Stop it, you're embarrassing me!" she retorted, with a huff. She then got to the real issue. "Is she doing well?" she asked, looking at the other fitting room that made no noise.

"She doesn't seem to like dresses much. When we found her, she was all clumsy, especially in those heels," Simon said, laughing lightly.

"I can hear you, you know?" Ziriel's voice echoed from the fitting room, and both started to smile. Fortunately, Ziriel managed to wear her dress. Of course, she had the help of a certain Dragon who used magic to dress her up after so much begging. But in the end, the Dragon relented and granted Ziriel this opportunity not to look completely terrible in front of her friends.

So, finally, after the ordeal she went through, Ziriel stepped out of the fitting room and saw the faces of the people around her slightly closing. There were many people in the boutique, the employees attending them in blocks, and in the block where Simon and the girls were, there were a few more people.

Ziriel felt envious looks, but at the same time, everyone was in awe.

"This is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life," one of the employees whispered to another, causing a commotion around. The high society ladies who accompanied each other looked at Ziriel almost pointing a knife at her. But before they could say anything, Ziriel was smarter.

Ziriel, in turn, wore a white dress with gold trimmings, white cuffs, and her hair was completely loose and wavy, as if it was messy, but that gave it an extra charm. And, like Velryna, she wore a kind of tiara that placed a fringe forward and her hair back.

In a few words, if any man saw her now, it was almost certain that he would fall in love.

"What do you think, Imperial Princess?" she said aloud, drawing everyone's attention to the woman in the blue dress in front of her.

Velryna didn't even care. She just smiled and then uttered the words.

"I never imagined that a knight would be more beautiful than all the women of the Empire," a sentence that shocked everyone, even Simon. Even though he couldn't deny that Ziriel was truly one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen in this world, he thought the Princess's words were exaggerated. But as a man, he remained silent. After all, the rule is clear: men are never right!

"So, can we go, right?" Ziriel said, with a passionate smile on her face. But inside... 'Damn reincarnation!' She roared as she saw herself in the reflection of the room's mirrors.

"Next time, don't try to be a jack of all trades, absorbing all kinds of powers to cause imbalance," Voralith's voice echoed through her head.

"Damn it! Damn Dragon! This is your fault!!!!" she roared again, and Voralith just huffed. "Humpf!"

[Image of Ziriel]