The Secret Unfolds

THE servants of the Gregory household spent five days preparing the ballroom at the first manor. It was hectic! Typically, the preparation for a ball or ceremony could cost almost a month, but Damien wanted it to be earlier. After all, it was for the ceremony to celebrate the victory of Damien and his knights on the battlefield. As the host, Damien was the busiest in handling his ball. But wasn't that a Duchess' work? Why did he must do that? Well, the answer was simple enough. It was because Duchess Bridget did not want to be involved at all. At first, she threw a fit once she found out that they would hold the ball in 'her' manor, but the elders commanded for it. And she could never go against the elders' words. In Gregory Estate, the orders of the elders were absolute. Their orders were like the rules in the estate.

"Milord, I cannot believe that you are hosting the ball for celebrating our triumph on the battlefield on your own. I mean, isn't that someone else's job? We should rest, not prepare for the ball!" Luke sounded dissatisfied and annoyed.

"Calm down, Luke. You are not the only one who is frustrated." Felix, Damien's closest aide, spoke up. He had been writing the invitation letters since the morning. He could feel the muscles in his fingers started to spasm.

Damien, sitting at his working desk, just smiled. There were lots of things to do. And his schedules for the month was fully packed. After this victory ceremony, Damien had to prepare for his wedding day and his incoming coronation as the fifth Demon Lord.

Damien personally decided on his engagement and his partner. His future wife was the only daughter of Baron Collins. She was Lady Vanessa, who was adequately known as the 'Madonna Lily of the Society'. She had beauty and quite charming. However, there was no such thing as love between them. They barely knew each other. It was more like a political marriage that would benefit both families in the future. To become the new Lord of Underworld Realm, Damien must become the Duke of Gregory first. And to succeed as the new Duke, he had to get married. It was the oldest rule made by the elders.

Two simple reasons why Damien chose Lady Vanessa as his potential wife candidate were because her family had no ties with Bridget. And her family currently on the brink of bankruptcy. Lady Vanessa's family needs money, and Damien needs a puppet wife.

It was perfectly coordinated! Ergo, Damien did not care about her personal feeling for the marriage. His vengeance was his utmost priority. Thus, he required no love in this fake relationship.

Please do not call him evil or irresponsible. He already stated that condition to his future wife long ago, before he went to the war. And Lady Vanessa agreed. Well, she complied after months of thorough thinking. Damien also stated that Vanessa could have a lover, and he would never object or complain about it.

"By the way, where is Ryan?" asked Felix. He never saw the head knight since yesterday.

"I gave him an important task to do," answered Damien before continuing his work.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Aha! Speak of the Devil. "Here he comes." Damien put his fountain pen beside the documents.

"I greet Young Lord Damien."

"Enough of the formalities, Ryan…" Damien gestured, telling Ryan to come in quickly. "Felix and Luke, please leave us for a while. I need to speak with Ryan."

Felix and Luke left the study after hearing that command. After they closed the door, Damien started to ask, "So… you find anything about the vampire?"

Ryan shook his head in regret. "No. No, at all. There is no report of an adult vampire missing."

Damien looked surprised. "But at least you must have some information about that female vampire, right?"

"None in the least. As if she never existed in the first place," expressed Ryan in confusion. He spent five strenuous days in the Southern Republic, seeking and searching for information on the vampire. And he found nothing. NOTHING!

No birth certificate. No missing reports, which were kind of odd because the population rate of adult vampires was low and dangerous, so if one went missing, everybody would freak out. And Ryan even hired an artist to draw the vampire's portrait to show to others, but no one EVER identified or recognized that vampire. She had no family or acquaintances. "I found nothing about her in the Southern Republic. However, milord. I went back to the location of the slave house near the Eastern Territory because I had this feeling that it might help in my mission..." Ryan paused.

"… And?"

"There was a report saying they found a red-haired vampire at the Red Sea, near the port town. And I believed that was the vampire we are talking about."

"So… where exactly did she come from?" asked Damien.

"I am not sure, milord. Even the villagers thought she was from the Southern Republic. But they did not care because the slave traders took her away," explained Ryan.

Damien sighed. This vampire was a total mystery. "Do you find anything else?" asked him with a slight of hope.

Ryan replied, "The guards in charged informed me that this vampire does not touch her food."

"She does not drink the blood?" Damien tried to make sure. Maybe he misheard it. "And she is still alive? She did not turn wild or doing anything dangerous?"

Ryan shook his head again. "No, milord. She looks pretty normal."

There was silence and pressure in the room. What have they brought back to the manor? If that woman was not a vampire, could she be a monster hybrid?

Could today be any worse?

Suddenly, the knight in front of his study announced, "Milord, Little Lady Grace is here to see you."

DANG!

Without permission, Grace barged into the room! "May I speak in private with my brother? Now!"

"Grace, this is not a good time. We are discussing something important here." Damien stood up. He and Ryan looked surprised seeing Grace.

Grace came clean. "I brought a human inside the manor!"

"You WHAT?!"

Well. That technically explained everything.