Delusion

[Charles's POV]

"I wanted to say that I'm glad to see you again after almost months of not seeing each other." I poured a glass of blood on a goblet before giving it to Rhazien. "But that would be a lie since I know what you are here for."

Rhazien didn't drink. Instead, he reclined on the couch and crossed his arms on top of his crossing legs. "If you attend every week's court, then I don't have to come all the way here and see you. But since this is a pressing matter, and you're ignoring my summons, then I had no choice but to come personally."

"Does any pureblood attend those boring meetings with the elders except you?"

"No one except for Dmitri, who is after my throne."

"You don't have anything to worry about. Dmitri can never have your throne. He doesn't have Razim's blood."

Though I am older than Rhazien by so many years, we've threat each other like we were just ages apart. All Pureblood did since we didn't age, no matter how many decades passed.

The elders were simply terms for the vampire council, which was made up of mostly turned vampires who lived longer than the rest.

Rhazien adjusted himself in the chair and looked me in the eyes. "That's not why I came through."

We both looked at each other with our backs on the chair, sizing one another on who would break the deadlock first.

It was Rhazien when he sensed that I wouldn't speak no matter how much he probed me with his intimidating pair of crimson eyes.

"You're one of my allies, Charles, and I wouldn't say this if you're not important to me."

"Say what?"

Rhazien stared at me, unblinking. His face was serious as his voice. "That I don't agree with the mating bond with you and that woman."

Boiling steam churned in the pit of my stomach, slowly rising in my chest. I swallowed my temper and said with a gruff voice, "I believe that even you had no power to deny the mating bond."

"True. But it only applied if she's really your mate."

My fist slammed on the table, almost destroying it in half.

"Catherine is my mate!" I snarled.

Why was everyone questioning that?

The hard lines on Rhazien's face melted, and he let out an audible breath. "Charles . . . how long has it been?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I meant."

". . ." I stood to my feet, the chair scraping against the wooden floor. I went towards the window with my back facing Rhazien.

"Why are you bringing that up now?" I said, controlling my voice not to shake without much success.

"Just answer my question."

". . ."

"Though we are friends, I am still your King, Charles."

". . ." I know. No one could ever go against the Razim bloodline. He was the founding father, and his words were the law.

No Vampire could ignore Rhazien's words if he used his powers. That was his unique ability. Besides from his enormous strength and frightening speed, he could control all vampires, whether pureblood or not.

Except for the descendant of Razim, Seraphim, and Loki, he could control vampires and hypnotize anyone.

That made him one of the most powerful beings in GrimHeart.

Fortunately, he wasn't fond of using his powers since it was too powerful and tiring for his body. I have never seen him use it. Not that he had to. His strength and speed alone were enough for everyone to fear him.

I sighed in defeat and said with a hollow voice, "Forty years, seven months, four days, two hours, and forty minutes."

I never stop counting.

"She's dead, Charles."

I closed my eyes and blocked those words from my ears.

"Emilia is dead. And that woman, no matter how similar they are, is not her."

". . ." How I wish it were sunrise now so I could open the curtains and watch him burn.

I didn't have to be reminded of her death. I knew. Every blood in my veins, every fiber in my cell, and every flesh in my body remembered. Not a second that I didn't know that Emelia was dead.

"That woman that you turned against her will as you did with Emilia . . . She's not her. She's not your mate."

I heard the sound of a chair scraping the floor, but Rhazien might as well be invincible as all I saw was Emilia staring at me on the window glass.

"We only get one mate in this lifetime, Charles. And Vampires don't go in the cycle of reincarnation. Our soul is damned the moment we're born, and the moment you turn into a vampire.

"If we die . . . our souls get shattered. You know that."

". . ."

"And yet, you wanted me to approve of something like mating with a woman that isn't your mate so that you could atone for what you did to Emilia? So you could relieve your life with a woman pretending to be her? I will not stand by and watch that happen. I will not watch you live your life in delusion."

"ENOUGH!"

I snarled, and my hands were on Rhazien's throat while my fangs bared at his face. "Catherine is my mate, and we WILL perform the mate bond whether you or the others consent to it or not!"

". . ." Rhazien just looked me in the eyes, not minding the grip of my hands on his throat. And one by one, he removed my fingers with his, and I couldn't do anything against his strength.

"I will turn a blind eye to your aggressive behavior towards me, just this once. But I will never allow you to live in an illusion inside this castle of yours.

"You're are free to collect and turn as many humans who looked like her into vampires if that will help you. But . . ."

Rhazien's eyes turned to slit. "I will never allow a sacred ritual such as the mating bond to happen between you and her."

I dropped to the floor with all strength sapped from me. "You can't do this . . ."

". . . Apparently, I can, Charles."

Yes. He could. But I knew his powers wouldn't work on me. I could pretend that it did and run away with Catherine.

But life on constant run was no life at all.

And without the mating ritual, I could never complete the mark and I could never fully claimed her as my mate.

Rhazien squeezed my shoulder, and his voice came down harsh and full of threat. "Don't make me do it."

Then he turned but stopped at my next words.

"Do you know what it feels like to have a mate, Rhazien?" I knew it was a dangerous question since everyone knew he was sensitive to the topic since he hadn't found his mate.

But at this moment, I wanted him to kill me if I couldn't have Catherine.

And as I expected, the room was suffocating with his dark aura, and the glass cracked and shattered, but I didn't care at the anger he unleashed.

He bit back a snarl. "No."

"So how can you possibly say that Catherine isn't my mate? Just based on an old saying in the past that our soul is damned? For what we know, our soul doesn't even shatter if we die."

"Don't play mind games with me, Charles."

I didn't care if I was deluding myself or that I was spouting nonsense. I had to convince him one way or another.

I got to my feet and regained my calm. "I'm not. For all, we know those stories passed down for centuries about our soul aren't even true. No one can say for sure that our soul shatters when we're dead. It's not like some vampire was brought back to life to tell the tales of his afterlife experience."

Rhazien finally faced me with a solemn expression. "These beliefs have stayed with us far more than you and me. It is what makes the mating ritual sacred.

"If the Vampires suddenly had the notion that our soul will go in the cycle of reincarnation, then half of them will kill themselves. Most of them will tarnish the mating ritual with some charlatans posing as their mate, believing them to be their reincarnated partner.

"The rules and systems that our ancestors had established will collapse all because I had made an exception for a pureblood to mate with his supposed to be reincarnated partner.

"These beliefs are there for a reason, Charles."

"And who's to say that they are true? I thought that you're not into one believing just anything, Rhazien. You stand by facts. You're not like the elders who ruled with the past.

"Or was I wrong?" I knew that I was making a point here. No one really knows if our souls were damned and would shatter at our death.

". . ." His eyelids twitched ever so slightly.

I had him. He just needed one push. "For all we know, they are devised by Seraphim and his followers."

". . ." Rhazien's face dimmed.

Silence befell the room, hard and thick before his expression loosed, and he let out a breath through his mouth.

"You really wanted her?" he muttered.

It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I'd rather die than not have Catherine as my mate."

". . ." Rhazien didn't speak, but he knew that I was serious.

". . . Very well."

I almost grinned with joy when he finally agreed. I thought he wouldn't. Rhazien was strict about rules and such.

"I'd rather have you alive and delusional than dead. We purebloods are already small in numbers. I don't want to lose more of you. I'd rather tarnish the sacred mating ritual and deplete half of the vampires' population than lose anymore purebloods."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm a pureblood. With that title came privileges that others don't have." It was true. Rules didn't apply to us. We could do whatever we wanted as long as Rhazien permits it.

No one would question it if I marked Catherine and claimed her as my mate. Well, except maybe the elders and the other purebloods.

Rhazien's lips quirked to the side. "I know. That's why I will make an exception for you."

My face brightened. "Then . . ."

"But on one condition."

My heart drop.

Rhazien's smile turned to a full-blown grin. "Postpone the mating ritual for a year, and the decision to mate will be decided by that woman after a year."

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A/N

This is a long chapter and my eyes were so itchy halfway from editing.

Sorry for any grammar mistakes. Just correct them in the comments.

We'll release another chapter as soon as I rested my eyes T_T