A Fateful Reunion

"It has been a long time, Lucienna," the man's voice, deep and cool, rumbled through the house.

It was a voice that evoked the chilling memories that had haunted her for the past years. Only now, it was no nightmare.

Sienna instinctively stepped back from the door, shielding her son behind her and holding him close. Her grip was firm and protective as if she could shield the child from the very essence of the man standing before them.

The man took a few steps forward. His gaze, like an unrelenting spotlight, scanned her from head to toe. It lingered on her tied hair, then it traveled down briefly to her body before returning to her eyes, cold and penetrating.

A small, mischievous smile crept upon his lips, adding a sinister edge to his demeanor.

"I see," he said, a sardonic nod accompanying his words. "You have changed some things in your appearance."

Sienna felt the tremors coursing through her body, her knees quivering beneath the weight of her shabby dress. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to cower, to submit, but she fought to maintain her composure. She couldn't afford to show weakness now. She had a son to protect.

"But no matter if you change your entire physical appearance..." his voice trailed off, heavy with a chilling certainty as he inched closer, closing the gap until he stood only a meter away from Sienna.

"I'd still recognize you. I always will."

Sienna's heart pounded in her chest. She knew he was right. There was no hiding from the piercing eyes of this devil.

No matter how much she altered her appearance, whether it was the color of her hair, her eyes or the way she dressed, it was all futile. He would see through her disguise as easily as one sees through a crystal-clear pond.

It was the very reason she had sought refuge in this desolate, forsaken place, far from the world she once knew. She had gone to great lengths to disappear, to erase herself from the life she had once known. But the relentless phantom of her past had found her.

Every fiber of her being screamed at her to run, to take a desperate leap of faith into the unknown, but she knew it was a fruitless endeavor. She could never outrun him. The idea of escape was as distant and unreachable as trying to hit the moon with a stone.

"You feigned your death right after our wedding night and fled without telling a soul," he continued, his voice laced with a peculiar mix of bitterness and something else that Sienna couldn't quite place. "Aren't you too cruel to your husband?"

The mere mention of the word 'husband' sent shivers down Sienna's spine. After abandoning everything and staging her own death, she had never once considered the man standing before her as her husband. Their union had never been a marriage of love or choice. It had been a sinister scheme, a web of manipulation she had been coerced into.

"Your wife was long dead. I have no husband."

His low, haunting chuckle reverberated through the modest house, coinciding with a sudden, bone-chilling wind that swept in, enveloping Sienna's body in a shiver.

Wrenwood village, nestled in the remote reaches of Thefadore continent, was a place eternally touched by a biting coldness, even in the absence of snow. The evenings were particularly harsh, and having been exposed outside for too long, Sienna could feel the relentless cold gnawing at her bones.

But she dared not step inside the house where the man was standing by the doorway.

After all, she was the only one who suffered from the numbing cold. Her son, a vampire, was barely affected by the chill.

"Did you think I went here to get my wife back?" He asked, the sides of his lips rising so slightly with a hint of amusement and mockery, but his eyes were blank, dark, and grim.

He shook his head. "No, of course not. Why would I claim back a wife who ran away from me after our wedding night as if I were some monster who violated her?"

One step forward from him, and she instinctively took one step back.

He halted, his eyes narrowing at her.

"Everyone believes you died a tragic death. Should anyone know you're still alive and that you feigned your death just to escape your husband, it won't do good for my reputation as a duke, will it?"

So he became the Duke of Amstel Fortress?

Sienna realized things had changed. He had ascended to the rank of Duke of Amstel Fortress, a title he could never have held when she last knew him.

She remembered him as the unfavored son of the duke six years ago, the third son of esteemed Von Amstel family. He was the third in line of the dukedom's succession, a ruthless young master known for his waywardness and misdeeds.

His family had disapproved of him, but due to his mother's royal birth and his ties to the royal family, his father had been unable to disown him and had no choice but to put up with him.

His name echoed in her mind, a sharp reminder of the dark past she had.

Lemiel Von Amstel.