Chapter 1

Six days after Alexander lost all contact, I navigated my way alone to the Nightfall Gala to find him.

The guard's expression twisted into something peculiar when he heard my purpose.

"You're saying you are looking for your mate, Prince Alexander? And what is your name?"

"I am Cecilia."

The guard let out a harsh, mocking snort. "Stop causing a scene! A blind beggar trying to pull a scam? Don't think you can just impersonate her just because you know the name of the Prince's mate."

"Everyone knows the Prince just gifted Cecilia the millennia-old Abyssal Night Crystal to celebrate her pregnancy! What the hell are you?"

Just then, the giant LED screen cut to the Gala's live broadcast.

"Allow me to formally introduce my partner, Cecilia. Furthermore, she is expecting. Our family is about to welcome a new heir." It was Alexander's voice.

"Thank you all. This is the greatest gift Alexander and I could ever receive."

The moment that sweet, timid voice echoed through the hall, a string violently snapped in my brain. A sharp ringing pierced my eardrums.

—It was the voice of my twin sister, Elena.

...

Two years ago, to purge the lethal silver poison ravaging Alexander's body, I overdrawn my core essence to forcibly extract the toxins.

As the backlash of that act, my eyes were entirely burned away.

At that time, Alexander was at a critical juncture in his fight for power. The Council of Elders would never allow a blind woman to sit as the Prince's mate.

They pressured him to replace me with Elena.

I would never forget Alexander on that day.

He overturned the council table in front of everyone, aggressively pinning the suggesting Elder by the throat, his crimson fangs fully exposed.

"Any woman wearing a face like hers, who is not her, disgusts me to my core!"

He stormed into the room later, holding my blind self tightly, his warm tears dropping onto my collarbone.

"Even if I have to make an enemy of the entire world, all I want is you." He kissed my ruined eyes and swore a blood oath to me.

Yet now, he had personally handed over the name 'Cecilia' and the sole spot by his side to the very woman he once claimed disgusted him.

Why?

"Let me see him!"

My sanity shattered. Driven by the raw instinct of a madwoman, I stumbled frantically toward the inner hall.

"Throw this crazy bitch out!"

I struggled desperately, but was violently shoved backward.

My temple crashed hard against a sharp edge.

Warm liquid instantly slid down my skin. Pain. A tearing agony ripped through my organs.

"A cheap piece of trash like this actually dares to impersonate the Prince's mate?"

A man's mocking sneer echoed above me. No one cared whether I lived or died; they just saw me as a lunatic trying to cling to the powerful.

Just before I blacked out completely, I heard a roar tear through the air.

"Cecilia—!"

It was Alexander's voice.

When I opened my eyes again, a piercing white light stabbed into my eyeballs like a blade. I instinctively shut them.

Then, realization hit me.

Light?

A violent shudder ran through my whole body as I slowly pried my heavy eyelids open.

This was the master bedroom of the Prince's estate.

My eyes... my vision had returned. After lying dormant in darkness for two years, triggered by extreme physical trauma and emotional shock, my eyes had miraculously broken through the barrier.

Before I could process this absurd miracle, muffled arguing drifted through the half-open door.

"How much longer are you going to let Elena take her place? It's been exactly two years, Alexander!"

It was Julian, Alexander's most trusted second-in-command.

"Keep your voice down," Alexander said, his tone laced with irritation. "When Cecilia went blind, the Elders threatened me. If I hadn't found an exact copy to stand in the spotlight and pacify those old fools, the family would have been swallowed whole. I did it to protect Cecilia!"

"That was your excuse two years ago! You've already purged the old guard. Since your rule is secure, why did you announce to the entire clan today that she is pregnant!"

A deathly silence fell outside the door.

"Because she is pregnant," Alexander replied in a low voice. "Besides... we've been acting the part for so long. I don't know exactly when, but I found myself unable to leave her."

"Are you insane? If you've caught feelings for Elena, what does that make the real Cecilia in here? If she finds out about all this—"

"She will never find out." Alexander coldly cut Julian off. "She's a blind woman. I've placed her in this estate; her entire daily life is under my control. She will never know what happens in the outside world!"

"Let Elena keep being Cecilia. It's for the best for everyone."

The bedroom was warm, yet I felt as if freezing water was seeping into my very bones.

I was finally wide awake. The feverish devotion and favoritism that once belonged exclusively to me, had—just like the name 'Cecilia'—thoroughly changed owners.

After Alexander and Julian left, I walked over to the cabinet.

It was filled with the gifts Alexander had given me over these past two years. Arctic snow lotuses, hand-carved woodwork, blood-sworn letters written by him... and that insignia of the 'Only One', the highest vow among vampires.

[Sworn by blood, you are the only light for the rest of my life.]

A flame sparked from my fingertips. I pressed the fire directly against the blood-sworn parchment.

The dry paper was instantly engulfed. I watched coldly as the fire spread through the cabinet. All those promises that used to soften my heart were reduced to ashes in the searing heat.

I dialed the number I hadn't touched in two years.

"I thought you were going to play the blind bird in that hypocritical cage forever." A deep voice resonated from the other end of the line, carrying an absolute, oppressive dominance, yet tinged with a hint of amusement.

The Vampire Progenitor, Victor.

"That favor you owed me two years ago... does the offer still stand?"

"Naturally. Whenever you wish, consider it redeemed."

Since Alexander believed Elena could perfectly replace me, I would gladly grant his wish.

"Help me arrange my departure. I want to disappear completely."