Despair

“Mom, Mom, save me…” The girl’s heart-wrenching cries pierced the air, making hearts tremble.

Tears streamed down her dirt-streaked cheeks, her sky-blue eyes brimming with fear.

Her delicate face, wet with tears, evoked pity in anyone who saw her. Yet, in this place, no one would extend a helping hand.

The Ice Guard, clad in enchanted armor, sealed off the alley.

Residents had been driven away, leaving only the Empress’s ruthless enforcers.

To them, emotions were superfluous, loyalty their sole creed. Little Avia was pinned down by two adults, unable to break free.

The Blood Empress, Tiar, pinched the girl’s chin, her crimson eyes blazing with possessive desire.

“How about it? Abandon your old mother and join me.

Shed your filthy, lowly identity to become the Empire’s revered princess—the greatest honor of your life,” Tiar declared arrogantly, her head held high, her crimson gaze dripping with condescension.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Avia’s tear-filled eyes trembled with despair and shattered innocence.

Too young to comprehend Tiar’s words, she clung to the unbreakable bond with her mother, the one who gave her life.

How could anyone demand to sever that tie? To lose her mother and call a stranger, known for barely a week, her new mother was unthinkable to her pure, childlike heart.

“I don’t want to leave my mom! Never!” she cried, shaking her head fiercely, tears blurring her vision.

She remembered every birthday when her mother, scraping together their meager savings, bought her a small blood cake.

Lighting the candles, her mother would hug her tightly, whispering, “You’re my most precious child, my proof of existence in this world. No matter what, grow up happy. Our blood will always resonate.”

It was a ritual, those words repeated yearly, stirring the blood bond only vampires could sense.

Avia’s cries echoed through the alley, but the Ice Guard remained unmoved, their enchanted armor stripping away empathy. Tiar, surrounded by her guards, watched the sobbing girl with amusement. “Such a dutiful child,” she mused. “But the more you resist, the more I want you.”

“You asked what you did wrong, promising to fix it? You’ve done nothing wrong. Your kindness, innocence, and purity are exactly why I must have you. Everything in this nation is mine—body and soul. You’re a good girl, a daughter any mother would be proud of, but now you’ll belong to me, Tiar Night, not your lowly mother. Nothing in this world is beyond my grasp—not even you.”

Her words crushed Avia’s worldview.

In Tiar’s eyes, everything, even human lives, had a price.

Bonds of blood and love were mere commodities.

Neither Avia nor her mother had erred, yet their innocence and powerlessness made them prey to the powerful—officials, nobles, and now the Empress herself.

Her mother’s belief in “justice will prevail” rang hollow. Justice was a weakling’s prayer, and to the strong, Avia’s purity was a tantalizing toy.

Tiar’s words left Avia stunned, her struggles ceasing, her blue eyes empty of hope.

“Do it,” Tiar commanded. “Clear a five-mile radius. Let no one disturb my first embrace with my future daughter.”

The Ice Guard mobilized, dispersing onlookers with weapons drawn.

Court mages in regal purple robes chanted, erecting protective barriers.

The first embrace was a sacred rite, a once-in-a-lifetime act for an empress, limited to three uses.

Granting it to an ordinary girl like Avia signaled her ascension to a royal heir, a matter of imperial significance.

Houses on either side of the alley were razed with magic, debris swept away by wind spells.

A ceremonial platform was swiftly erected. Avia’s hands were bound with enchanted ropes, hoisted by chains until her feet dangled five centimeters off the ground.

An elderly mage, his face etched with age, approached, chanting obscure verses.

His ceremonial dagger gleamed as he reverently sliced Avia’s wrist.

Pain snapped her from her daze. She screamed, her eyes regaining clarity as she thrashed futilely, like a prisoner on the gallows.

The dagger’s magic suppressed her vampire healing, blood pouring from the wound, dripping into the platform’s engraved array.

Her body grew colder, her cries weaker. “Mom, save me! Mom!” she called, but her mother, bound to a cross, remained still, eyes closed, unresponsive.

As blood loss drained her, Avia’s vision darkened, her body nearing death.

The mages’ chants pulled her soul toward the underworld. But Tiar wouldn’t let her die.

With a serious expression, she ascended the platform, her heels clicking.

Embracing Avia from behind, her fingers brushed the girl’s chilling skin. “Ready for your new life?” she whispered, her crimson eyes radiating pity and sorrow.

Avia tried to refuse, but her strength was gone.

Tiar’s fangs pierced her neck, igniting a burning pain.

Avia’s screams shook the air, her struggles futile against Tiar’s grip.

Royal blood flooded her veins, transforming her frail body.

Her bones cracked and reformed, her skin paled to a flawless, jade-like hue, her hair turned silver.

Her blue eyes bled red, purity replaced by pain.

The ritual ended. Tiar withdrew her fangs, gazing at the girl now resembling her.

Avia, dazed, felt her blood bond with her mother sever.

The woman on the cross was a stranger now. “Mom…” she whispered, her eyes dry despite the ache.

The guards lowered her, treating her with deference as the Empire’s new princess.

Tiar, still holding her, inhaled her scent with satisfaction. “Welcome to your new world, my dear daughter.” Avia’s blood pulsed again, resonating not with her mother but with Tiar. “Your old name, Avia, is too common. You’re now Avia Aemiya, the Empire’s third princess.”

Noticing Avia’s gaze on her former mother, Tiar’s eyes flashed dangerously. “A princess can’t have two mothers. It would shame the royal name. Go, Avia, my daughter. This woman is your first meal.”

Her voice, sultry yet demonic, ignited Avia’s new blood. Hunger overwhelmed her, driving her toward the cross.

Her mother’s face, pale with dried tears, stirred no warmth. As Avia embraced her, the woman’s eyes twitched, a tear falling.

Their bond was gone—Avia was a stranger’s princess, her mother her prey.

Despair closed Avia’s eyes, a tear tracing her cheek. She lunged, blood staining the ground, her heart breaking.

Among the onlookers, Selina watched calmly, her hands clenched tightly in her skirt, her emerald eyes unreadable.

The scene faded as the blood-red domain dissolved. In her hand, her gemstone sword dimmed, depleted.

Behind her, Avia, holding a purple dagger, collapsed to her knees, trembling.

Avia hadn’t anticipated Selina’s divine weapon, nor had Selina expected Avia’s.

Their duel ended in a stalemate, both drained of magic. But Avia, overwhelmed, stared at the blood on her dagger, her crimson eyes filled with shock and self-loathing.

Through the gemstone sword’s light, Selina glimpsed Avia’s memories, including a familiar figure—Felicia, who believed in and helped Avia.

The realization hit: the sister of the one Avia planned to harm was her savior. “What am I doing?” Avia whispered, guilt threatening to drown her.

Selina turned, her disguise gone, her emerald eyes pitying the kneeling vampire.

Before she could speak, Avia screamed, “Go, Selina! Leave before I lose control!”

Her voice, once cold, trembled with a sob. The bloodlust from her burst state demanded high-quality blood.

Without it, her instincts would consume her, endangering everyone nearby. She clawed her skin, pain delaying the inevitable.

Tiar’s warning echoed: her weak body couldn’t withstand blood burst’s backlash without replenishment, risking transformation into a ghoul.

Blood tears filled her eyes as she screamed in despair, begging for salvation.