2. Meet The Horrifying Vampire

The horse carriage accompanied by ten equestrian guards rode along the spooky road that cut through the forest of death.

In the carriage that kept on rattling and shaking violently, a young lady with skin like snow bathed in the morning sun, kept peeking out the window only to gulp for the umpteenth time.

Since childhood, Triana had always been in the care of her beloved parents. Castles, palaces, and other beautiful buildings, gardens, and cities were places she was allowed to go.

Roads that were paved neatly were what she could tread on. She was never even allowed to leave her castle after five o'clock in the afternoon - when the sky started to darken.

But now, Triana was alone in a horse-drawn carriage, travelling on an uneven, dark road that cut through the deadliest forest in Galvadea. The King's sudden invitation made her mother had to accompany his father to the palace as a form of respect for the king.

Visiting a witch to ask for eternal beauty was a secret between Triana and her parents. Her three sisters didn't even know about it.

Witches had always been hated and feared by everyone. Most were even burned alive if caught making trouble. Dealing with a witch would put the Gelev family's name to unbearable shame.

In addition to feelings of fear, Triana secretly had a question that she wanted to get rid of, but didn't work.

If she may ask; actually, why did she have to do this? In fact, who people loved all this time; her true self or her beauty?

'Stop that thought, Triana! Mother and father love you sincerely. Everyone loves you. They want you to keep your beauty because they want to see you happy forever,'

Triana shook her head to get rid of that thought again.

After hours of travel that made Triana's butt sore and banged her head on the carriage wall several times, she felt her carriage finally stop, followed by a knock on the carriage door.

"My lady, we have arrived,"

Triana opened the carriage door. Her head poked out only to feel the blown by the cold air in her loose hair.

"Th-this is the place, correct?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"It is, my lady. This is Tevac castle." The head guard replied as he extended his hand politely.

After gulping, Triana put her hand there. "Thank you," then, she stepped down.

"The castle is surrounded by powerful magic. Are you sure we can go inside?" The head guard asked.

"The witch said that castle protection magic only applies to vampires and other witches," Triana answered while looking at the rather small, but very tall castle in front of her.

"I'm not even sure someone lives inside," She muttered.

Accompanied by five bodyguards, Triana entered the castle full of cobwebs. Two of the guards carried lanterns to light up the spooky dark castle.

They descended the stairs until they reached its dungeons. The head of the guard again looked at the map drawn on paper by the witch. Then, he paced towards an iron door with a small barred window in the middle.

"This is the prison, my lady," The guard whispered.

Triana nodded. Her heart didn't stop beating loudly, and got louder as they walked further and further inside the castle.

"Very well. Please open the door," Triana ordered.

The guard nodded, and pushed the door open. The sound of rusty iron colliding against each other echoed in the empty and humid narrow alley.

The chilly air and a stuffy feel greeted the people. Although afraid, Triana had no other choice but to step into the dark room.

"The light, please," Triana said.

The guard nodded and handed one of the lanterns to her.

Holding her breath, Triana went deeper by aiming the lantern in front of her. The light of the lantern slowly reached the end of the dark room.

Triana's hands trembled even more when she saw the three chains lying on the stone floor. Gulping, Triana directed her lantern to follow the chains, then stopped when she found that they were tied to a pair of feet.

As the light of the lantern moved further and further, Triana felt her heart being squeezed as she discovered that the owner of the feet was a man who looked like a skeleton wrapped in skin.

A pair of light brown eyes glared at Triana. It shone in the darkness and was extremely sharp, as if it could read the minds of anyone it looked at.

Gulping again, Triana, with cold and trembling hands, opened the small leather bag that was wrapped around her waist.

She pulled out a piece of paper that was folded in half, and unfolded it. "M-Mister... Vlador Lev Dracount?"

The dropped eyes blinked slowly. Despite his sharp gaze, he looked like an old lion that no longer had its teeth and hooves to pounce on its prey.

"What brought you here?"

The slightly-husky deep voice made Triana turn her head around. Then, she realized that the sound was coming from a living skull in shabby old-fashioned royal garb in front of her.

"I'm sorry," She said, clearing her throat.

"My name is Triana Rexa Gelev, the youngest daughter of Duke Stefanus Gelev. I came here to ask you to drink this," She took out something again from her small bag, and then showed it to the horrifying vampire.

A condescending laugh escaped the dry and wrinkled lips of the vampire named Vlador.

"You came to order me? What year is it now? It looks like it's still the same as the old days; beautiful women have stupid brains."

Triana pursed her lips hard. She had never been insulted like this by anyone. In her entire life, her ears had only heard thousands of compliments.

Beautiful women have stupid brains? Like the old days? Don't tell her that all this time, people thought she was stupid behind her back!

But Triana immediately shook her head. She didn't have any more time. This was the last night when the moon was at its fullest, which was also the reason why she had to come to this terrible place without her parents' accompany.

"Please, help me, Mr. Dracount. You have to drink this. Giving you this potion is a condition so that I can save my future," Triana explained as held forward her hand that was holding the potion bottle.

The pair of shining light brown eyes moved to stare at the tiny hand that was shaking in the air. Then, his gaze returned to the girl's blue eyes.

"Who ordered you? Why should I drink that?" Vlador asked.

"That was… a witch. She said that... this potion will... make you young again," Triana said.