Chapter 3

That night, I led my elite vampire guard in a brutal raid on the human Templar Knights.

The battle raged on through the night. Only as dawn approached did we finally claim victory.

I had expended a vast amount of blood and dark energy, leaving my body weaker than it had ever been.

Even the faint glow of the rising sun on the horizon felt almost unbearable.

I stumbled back to the Sun-Scorched Peaks of the Nether Realm, where the intensifying sunlight instantly enveloped me.

The rays seared my skin, piercing my very bones. The pain was so intense I could barely stand.

Seraphina and Caleb stood not far away.

She saw me, saw my agony and my weakness.

But she didn't come to my aid. She didn't spread her wings to shield me, not even for a flicker of sunlight, as she had done for Caleb.

She simply stood there, cold and unmoving, a cruel satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.

"My King," she sneered, "you look utterly pathetic right now."

"This is your karma for punishing Caleb yesterday."

I looked at Caleb, standing so perfectly protected beside her.

Suddenly, the decade of favoritism I had shown Seraphina felt utterly ludicrous.

While I was recovering, the special Blood Artifact Auction, held in preparation for the Grand Embrace Ceremony, began.

Most of the vampires in the Realm would attend, either to choose suitable artifacts for their future companions or to bid on rare, powerful souls.

I had no intention of choosing a companion, but I was still intrigued by the countless bizarre blood artifacts on display.

The auction was held within a massive cavern, its walls embedded with glowing crystals.

My eyes immediately fixed on a potent soul, sealed within a crystal vial.

The energy radiating from it was pure and immense, enough to completely heal the wounds I'd sustained in the recent battle.

Just as I prepared to bid, I saw Seraphina fiercely competing for that very same soul.

"Seraphina, darling, let it go. It's too valuable. Besides… the King is here too."

He glanced in my direction, his eyes devoid of any reverence.

Seraphina shook her head stubbornly, gently patting his hand. "You were burned by the sun, Caleb. You need this to heal."

Then, she abruptly turned to me, her eyes filled with their usual contempt. "Unlike *some* vampires, who only fight a minor skirmish with humans and then need a powerful soul to heal. What a disgrace to our kind!"

A vampire's hearing far surpasses that of any human.

Her words, every single one of them, pierced straight into my ears.

Fine. *Excellent*.

I raised my hand, announcing an even higher price.

Seraphina, not one to back down, immediately countered.

Whispers began to ripple through the cavern.

"Isn't she the King's blood servant? Why is she bidding against her master?"

"Bidding? She's using soul fragments granted by her master to compete for an item for *another man*! Isn't she publicly humiliating the King?"

A cold sneer touched my lips. I triggered the final bid.

It was the signal for the highest bid, meaning the item was mine.

I thought I had won, that I had thoroughly humiliated her.

However, as I prepared to draw on my dark energy, to retrieve the soul fragments from my spatial storage to pay,

I found my power utterly blocked, refusing to obey.

What in the hell was going on?

The entire hall fell silent for a beat, then erupted into thunderous laughter.

"Hahahaha, have I been out of touch with the royal family too long? Since when was the King nothing but a hollow shell?!"

"He just fought *one* battle and now he's this pathetic?"

"Can't even produce the soul fragments and still dares to trigger the final bid? How utterly clueless!"

While they didn't dare say these things directly to my face, out of respect for my title,

My enhanced senses picked up every mocking whisper. The tide of their laughter still threatened to drown me.

At that moment, Seraphina, holding Caleb's hand, slowly approached me.

A victorious smile played on her lips as she calmly paid for the soul fragments, claiming the powerful soul.

Right in front of everyone, she opened the crystal vial and allowed Caleb to absorb the soul on the spot.

Watching the unbridled, triumphant smile on her face, a chilling truth suddenly dawned on me.

Last night, she had uncharacteristically delivered my tribute blood herself.

She'd said it was the sweetest human blood she'd specially hunted, hoping it would help me recover quickly.

She, who had always disdained to flatter me.

That sudden warmth, that tainted blood… it was all for this auction.

For Caleb, to publicly humiliate me, she had been willing to cast aside her dignity and play me like a fool.

"My King, thank you for your generosity."

Caleb, his strength restored, walked up to me, a taunting smile on his face. "If you hadn't generously gifted Seraphina so many soul fragments before, we really wouldn't have been able to afford this precious item today."

A sharp, searing pain suddenly tore through my heart. The dark energy within me began to surge uncontrollably.

This was... a sign of my transformation into a demon.

I couldn't be bothered to endure their petty, gloating faces any longer. Under the confused and wary gazes of the crowd, I rushed back to my castle.

I needed to seclude myself immediately.