The Blood-Fiend Princess

After the ceremony ends, the students and their masters all face towards the section the royals are sitting in. The princess eyes Atlas dangerously. The eldest prince looks at them haughtily. The youngest looks at them with a gentle smile as he pets the head of the goblin beside him. The king looks at them with indifferent eyes as it seems he is stuck in his own mind. As the king stares off, his eldest son steps forward.

"Well, children, that was quite a show you put on! It seems like the next generation of nobles is full of… Talent."

The princess walks forward, staring directly at Atlas,

"Indeed. Quite a few of you are incredibly talented."

Atlas frowns and slightly scowls as the princess looks at him. This causes her to put her hand on her cheek and smile creepily. She kneels over to her father and whispers something in his ear. He nods his head quietly as her smile grows more wicked. She looks at Atlas and the girl next to him with a gaze that causes their blood to run cold. Master Orion looks at her coldly and releases some of the magic from his circle, causing the king and princess to feel a chill down their spines. The king looks at her and starts shaking his head. The princess lets out an audible 'tch' and leaves the stands.

The announcer comes out in front of the students and their masters.

"Repeat after me: I pledge service to the royal family, that I may serve as the bulwark of the kingdom."

[All together]

"I pledge service to the royal family, that I may serve as the bulwark of the kingdom."

[Announcer]

"That I may protect her people against all odds."

[All together]

"That I may protect her people against all odds."

[Announcer]

"I shall use my own body if need be."

[All together]

"I shall use my own body if need be."

[Announcer]

"All hail the royal family. May they reign to the end of time."

[All together]

"All hail the royal family. May they reign to the end of time."

—------------------------

"Heltanis damn it! That bastard Orion! If only the king had a bit of a spine! Who cares if he's an Archmage?! So is Arturius! Not even the court mage gives him a spine. That boy is the son of a baron. Why should I worry about his family of all people?"

The princess sits at her table, sipping on a glass of blood-red tea. She puts the tea down and licks the viscous liquid off her lips.

"Ugh, why must everybody around me be so incompetent?"

She reaches beside her chair and grabs a golden bell, ringing it lightly. A slightly pale young man walks into the room and bows to her.

"Prepare a bath for me."

The man nods his head and leaves.

It had been a few years since the princess had met the young man who is now her servant. At first, she suspected him of vampirism due to the color of his skin, however that was immediately proven wrong. The princess is obsessed with the blood of young virgins, male and female. She drinks it, dyes clothes with it, and bathes in it. Reason being, an old woman had once told her that the blood of virgins was an incredible agent for clearing skin. This one interaction was enough to turn the mentally unstable princess into a fiend.

Fiends are people with dangerous obsessions that can eventually lead to them being tempted by demons. Her mother had placed a sense of inferiority into the young princess by constantly making her feel as though her looks were not good enough.

She would beat her constantly if her looks were ever so slightly unkempt. If she had the slightest blemish, she would torture her until it went away. Eventually, this caused the princess to kill her own mother. The king chose not to interfere with the "mother daughter spat" as he "had no place" in the event.

The princess walks to her bathing room and comes face to face with the young man who had prepared the bath. The disgust on his face was clear. This is why she knew he wasn't a vampire, he had an intense disgust of blood.

The young man quickly recovers and bows,

"Your bath is ready, my lady."

The princess strips in front of the servant and walks up the stairs to the tub, seeing a warm, steaming bath of water and blood. The scent of copper fills the air as she steps into the syrupy concoction. A slight film gives way as she enters, sticking to her legs like a wet piece of tissue paper. As she steps in, her skin slowly turns red. The film she took with her slowly starts to form again as blood coagulates on the surface of the water. As she reaches to her neck in blood, she closes her eyes and lowers herself to be completely covered in bloody water.

The servant looks away in disgust as he dry-heaves slightly.

"I'll never get used to this crazy bitch…"

The servant very quickly leaves and mutters under his breath,

"I can't stand lower beings…"

After he leaves the princess stands up with the film covering her face, looking like a cursed baby coming out of the womb of some repulsive creature.

"Atlas Luce… I wonder what wonders your blood will do for me."

She smiles wildly as the bloody film slips onto her teeth.