Chapter 3

When Seraphina announced her pregnancy, the entire Rookwood castle treated it as a divine blessing.

Overnight, the ancient stone halls buzzed with a manic, joyous frenzy. The upcoming wedding was no longer just a union of two powerful bloodlines; it was the dawn of a new era for the Rookwood family.

"I’m so sorry, Maren," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she stood in the grand dining hall, one hand protectively cradling her stomach. "The wedding preparations are draining the castle’s treasury. And the maesters insist my baby needs the highest-grade synthesis elixirs. We simply have to cut back on guest expenses."

"Besides, with so many noble guests arriving soon, it would be highly inappropriate for a half-blood with no official title to be seen wandering the main halls. Your status here is... well, awkward, to say the least. People might gossip. It would be best for everyone if you stayed completely out of sight and took your meals in your attic from now on. Don’t appear in front of Rhys. Don't ruin his perfect wedding."

I looked down at my plate. My goblet was filled with diluted pig’s blood that smelled faintly of rust. My meal consisted of stale bread and wilted greens.

Around us, the servants watched with bated breath. They expected me to flip the table, to scream about my father’s sacrifice, to demand to see Rhys.

Instead, I picked up the stale bread, took a bite, and swallowed.

"Perfectly understandable, Lady Seraphina," I replied, my voice completely flat. "Congratulations on the child."

Seraphina’s triumphant smile faltered. She searched my face for a crack, a tremor of jealousy, but found nothing. I finished my miserable meal in silence, and walked past her.

The servants quickly took the hint. If the future Lady of the house deemed me worthless, they had no reason to respect me.

Over the next two weeks, my heating coal was "forgotten," leaving my attic like an icebox. My laundry was intentionally tossed into the dirty water.

The maids didn't just stop bowing when I walked past—they deliberately bumped into my shoulders, sneering openly.

"Look at her," they would whisper. "The Lord is marrying his true love and welcoming an heir. How does a shameless parasite like her still have the nerve to stay here?"

I didn't care. I was too busy planning my escape.

I pulled up the loose floorboard under my bed and took out a heavy leather pouch. Inside was my father’s military pension—a hefty sum of pure Blood Crystals he had earned with his life. I had never touched it, foolishly believing Rhys’s promise that he would take care of me forever.

I sneaked out of the castle at midnight, slipping into the murky underground black market of the lower city. I didn't seek out pureblood merchants. Instead, I found a contact within a low-tier vampire syndicate.

"I need a forged identity crystal and a one-way airship ticket to the Southern Human Free Cities," I told the hooded forger.

The forger bit the crystal, his eyes widening at its purity. "The South? That’s entirely out of pureblood jurisdiction. You’ll be a nobody down there."

"That is exactly the point," I said.

Returning to the attic hours later, I began the purge.

I opened my wardrobe and pulled out every silk dress, every velvet cloak, and every jeweled hairpin Rhys had casually gifted me over the years.

I piled them into the small iron fireplace. Next went the diaries filled with my pathetic, one-sided longing.

I struck a match and tossed it in. The flames roared to life, consuming the silk and paper, reducing my humiliating past into gray ash.

Bang!

The door of my attic was violently kicked open.

Rhys stood in the doorway, his crimson eyes darted from the roaring fire to the empty wardrobe, and finally settled on my face.

"So, the spies at the central bank weren't lying," Rhys sneered, stepping into the room. "You withdrew your father’s entire pension."

I just picked up a poker and stirred the burning dresses. "I did."

He strode forward, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to face him.

"Is this your new strategy, Maren? Running away?" His grip was like a steel vise. "You couldn't handle the news of Seraphina’s pregnancy. You can't stomach the fact that I am marrying her. So you throw a tantrum, empty your bank account, and plan to flee to the human territories just to get my attention?"

He was so arrogant, so deeply convinced that my entire universe revolved around him.

"I am merely leaving to give the new Lady of the house some peace," I said, my tone eerily calm. "I don't belong here."

"You belong where I tell you to belong!" Rhys roared, his composure snapping.

But just as quickly, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at me with a mixture of pity and absolute disdain.

He pulled out a heavy velvet bag, and threw it onto my small wooden bed.

"There is extra funding in there," Rhys said coldly, adjusting his cuffs. "If you want to run off to the human borders to lick your wounds, fine. Go play for a few months. But take that money and ensure you live decently. Do not dress like a beggar and embarrass the Rookwood name."

He walked to the door, pausing without looking back.

"When you finally realize how harsh the real world is without my protection, you may return. But by then, Seraphina will be the official Lady of this castle. I expect you to kneel and show her the respect she deserves. Stop this pathetic rebellion, Maren. It changes nothing."

The door slammed shut.

The next morning, I took Rhys’s bag of pureblood wealth straight to the slums. I dumped every single crystal onto the desk of the low-tier vampire orphanage. The matron nearly fainted from shock.

"Distribute it," I told her. "Consider it a wedding gift from Lord Rookwood."

I then walked to the underground courier office to pick up my forged identity crystal and my ticket.

The airship Crimson Horizon.

Departure date: The 15th of the Blood Moon.

I traced the date printed on the parchment ticket with my thumb. It was the exact day of Rhys and Seraphina’s grand wedding.

On that day, Rhys would be standing at the altar, surrounded by the highest echelons of vampire society, reveling in his perfect pureblood bride and his supposedly perfect heir. He would be at the absolute peak of his power and pride.

And I would be thousands of miles away in the sky, completely vanishing from his world forever.