8 A False Funeral Without A Body 1

South-Mairak Kingdom has performed thousands of royalty funerals which were always to utmost extravagance and luxury. They was always a mighty feast for each and every vampire in the kingdom.

But there was something very different about the funeral being performed this year. Not that it wasn't the typical flamboyant style of the royal family but because there was no dead body to be buried.

King Luther had sent his men to the Borders Mountain to find the body of the supposed dead princess but to no avail. The only bodies found were the ones of the vampires that saved the princess, according to the fake story.

No postmortem was conducted for the bodies as per the Queen's order because if it was indeed conducted and they found out that the wounds on the bodies was inflicted by a vampire wielding the Python Blade and not a werewolf, the Queen would have so much to explain and she wouldn't even know where to start from.

As the entire castle was pumping with orders to go do this and go do that, all preparing for the funeral that was going to held tonight, there was a solemn figure sleeping on his large bed and slowly breathing in and out in sorrow.

When Prince Lane found out the devastating news about the princess, he burst out into unkempt laughter that his father considered sending him to the royal mental asylum. Everyone, including the guards at the royal chamber were dumbfounded by the reaction because unless they were blockheads, someone's death isn't supposed to invoke any sign of laughter.

The Prince had so much faith in his sister that he was certain it was just false news and they were mistaken but when the gloom in his stepfather's face shone over him. He couldn't take it. He collapsed.

Ever since Prince Lane was just a child, he was diagnosed with a serious heart disease. A lot of people concluded he was going to die before he could even grow fangs but here he is today, tall, handsome and all grown up, still alive but there are times his heart failed and he would enter a serious coma.

So when the prince learnt of his sister's death, his heart fell and he fainted from the shock of the news. The doctor said there was nothing to be worried about because it was an expected reaction and that the prince would be up and do even before they would know it.

The Queen and King stayed by their only son's side throughout the night but left early this morning to consult the council about the funeral that was scheduled for tonight.

When the Prince woke up, he didn't move an inch of his body, he just stared quietly at the ceiling. The relationship that Tashina and Lane had was a very special one. It is believed that most step siblings always harbor hatred for each other, one way or another but in their case, it was a lot different.

Although Tashina is almost a century older than Lane, when she first saw him in his crib, sucking his little thumb with his big green eyes, she fell in love at first sight. She has always been a little overprotective of her younger brother because of his weak heart and that made him love her more than he even loved his dear mother.

Poor prince Lane, a single tear dropped from his eyes and his grey sheets as he thought about his memories with the princess. He sat up and held his head in his hand that rested on his knees as he started letting out the tears that were unable to fall last night.

The nurse that have been assigned to take care of the prince suddenly jerked into consciousness when she heard some noises. She wiped the drool that came out of her mouth during this peaceful nap and looked around the majestic room for the one that disrupted her sleep.

When her eyes fell on the sorrowful figure, she quickly stood up from the soft sofa and rushed to his side.

"Are you alright, your highness?" she bowed her head.

When she didn't get an answer, she looked at him to see his figure moving up and down as if he was shaking from immense pain. The nurse was now terrified that he was going through a seizure, not because she cared about his but because if something of such were to happen, her blood will be served as a royal meal.

And as much as the thought of her blood being served as dinner to the greatest family in South-Mairak sounds appealing, she still preferred to live a few centuries more.

On second thought, she didn't think they would serve a lowlife nurse's blood as the royal dinner.

She ran out of the room to call the doctor when the prince didn't give her a response and the next minute, the old doctor came scrambling inside the room to get to the prince.

"My Prince?" The doctor called, his concerned gaze fell upon the aghast look of the prince.

Doctor Lambore has been the family doctor of the royal family for as long as his white and wrinkled body have lived. He has always been there whenever the prince heart failed and went into a grave coma. But never has his old heart ached the way it did for the prince now.

Prince Lane looked up, staring at the doctor but on the second look, he wasn't actually staring at the old man but instead his melancholic look was on the wall and sometimes it appeared to be nowhere at all.

The lost look on Lane's face was so tragedic that the old man could have shed tears for him. The nurse whose head was bowed down also had a sad look on her youthful face but it wasn't because of the prince but because she was late for the date with her boyfriend whom had promised to take her out.

The doctor brought out his equipments and began to examine the prince. He took the stethoscope and listened very carefully to the rampant beats of the prince.

"Thankfully, your heart is stabilized now. All you need to do is to get some rest and stay away from issues that may take too much of your strength" the doctor put back his equipment in the briefcase.

When the prince didn't make a sound, the old man let out a disturbing sigh "My prince, once upon a time, we must all lose someone very dear to our hearts. When I lost my wife to that disastrous massacre, I lost all hope in living. It took me a while to be able to get myself back. I realized something crucial during my mourning, to lose someone is inevitable but to get over it and live your life is a choice that only you can make" the doctor squeezed his face in pain as he recalled the incident of almost two centuries ago like it was just yesterday.

"My deepest condolences, your highness" he put his wrinkled hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Such beautiful words yet very minimal to console my bleeding heart, old Lambore. She was my heart, my soul, my anchor, my everything. She was my one and only supporter, the only reason I was able to fight off this disease of mine" he gripped the old man's hand like it was the only thing he had to live.

"I tried stopping her, I warned her countless times. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have done something to stop her. Maybe I should have collapsed and pretend I was in a coma. Then she wouldn't have gone. I should ha... should have stopped her" the old man embraced the prince in his chest as he rubbed his back soothingly.

"It's not your fault, my son. What has happened has happened. You can never change it." The grave words of the doctor ignited multiple emotions in the prince and his cries became louder.

The loud cries of the prince filled the air and hit the walls heavily, the passing by servants halted in their work as they heard deep sorrows coming out from their prince's room. Lane has always been a very cheerful and friendly prince, he was nice to everyone, including the maids but his mother thought that this attribute of his was a sign of weakness.

She always chastised him for that, scolding him to stop smiling unnecessarily and act more like his sister. His sister was brave, confident and passionate about ruling the kingdom, why couldn't he be more like her? After all, they had the same father.

What the Queen didn't know was Prince Lane was the favourite of all the royal family because of his soft and kind nature.

The servants shaked their head in pity for their prince and continued their work. They had to finish so many things in such a short time, they didn't have the time or luxury to pity anyone.

Outside, the sky was a dark shade of grey and strokes of thunder could be heard. It didn't take a while before heavy peals of rain rushed down from the sky and unto the magnificent castle of South-Mairak Kingdom.

The entire universe was consoling our dear pitiful prince for his loss.