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(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)

(Castle Eden- Private Study Room)

Mary recognised the look on Lily\'s face as her sister stormed past her and reached for the doorknob.

It was her \'I\'m going to give this person a piece of my mind\' face. Or more accurately... it was her \'someone has pissed me off\' face.

Oh no...

"Wait!" Mary quickly spoke up, but it was too late as Lily pulled the door open and walked into the room.

Mary ran behind her sister with her heart pounding frantically in her chest.

She didn\'t know what Lily was going to say to Camilla, but she had the sneaking suspicion that it was not going to be something pleasant.

Lily entered the room in front of her and her golden eyes swept up and down her nearby surroundings taking in the details about this unfamiliar place.

There was a crackling fireplace in the corner and the walls were lined with wooden bookshelves that were covered with a thin layer of dust.

Beneath her feet was a fur carpet that was surprisingly clean considering the rest of the slightly dirty room.

At the back of the study was a wooden desk and a large comfortable chair had been placed directly behind it.

Sitting on it was a vampire.

A vampire whose appearance brought a small frown to Lily\'s face.

Camilla was an unnaturally beautiful woman with enchantingly pale skin, perfect facial features, soft plump red lips, and a voluptuous physique.

She wore a dark black dress that fell down to her knees and wrapped tightly around her curves.

​ The arms of the dress had been purposefully cut off to reveal traces of her delicate skin.

Vampires were known for their beauty and yet even when compared to the others of her kind... Camilla\'s appearance was well above the average.

Certainly, she was good looking...

But often the snakes with the most dangerous venom had the brightest colours.

"Lady Camilla, I assume?" Lily calmly questioned as she looked directly into the pair of crimson eyes that were also observing her closely.

"Yes. I must say that... I am a bit surprised..." Camilla responded in an even tone as she tried to not let the shock in her heart show on her face.

"I wasn\'t expecting you to look... identical to your sister..."

Camilla was a powerful vampire lord skilled in magic and the forbidden blood arts and yet... she had never felt a sense of tension like this before.

How was one supposed to act around the closest relative of their lover?

Should she be warm and friendly? Act like herself?

Wait... what if Mary\'s sister didn\'t like her? Would their relationship end?

Numerous thoughts and worries surfaced in Camilla\'s mind but not a single trace of her concerns showed on her face.

"I will thank you for the compliment," Lily coldly replied as she crossed her arms and assumed a hostile posture.

Mary entered the room and walked over to Camilla. She bowed her head and whispered something into the vampire queen\'s ears.

Lily raised an eyebrow as she saw a light blush spread across Camilla\'s cheeks before the vampire got her emotions back under control.

"Anyways... I understand that you are... \'dating\' my sister," Lily spoke in an expressionless tone.

Her loud voice interrupted the sweet moment that was beginning to form between Mary and Camilla.

"Lily... don\'t grill her too much... I..." Mary\'s voice trailed off as Lily raised up her hand and shushed her sister.

"It\'s okay... I know that your sister is only doing this out of love," Camilla smiled gently at her lover before focusing her attention on the woman staring at her coldly.

"Good. Now I have several concerns, but I will first ask the most important question," Lily spoke with a sharp glint in her eyes.

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," Camilla immediately replied as if she did not even have to give that question a second thought.

Mary let out a small sigh of relief when she saw the barest hint of approval in Lily\'s gaze when she heard Camilla\'s answer.

It was small but... at least it was some progress.

She wanted to stop Lily from peppering Camilla with questions, but Lily was a stubborn girl and getting in her way would probably make things worse.

There was a tense moment of silence as Lily intentionally waited a bit before asking the next question on her mind.

This was the question that bothered her the most.

She just could not see how love between humans and vampires was possible and it was for one simple reason.

One side was immortal while the other would age and die.

Vampires and humans were both fundamentally different existences due to the nature of their lifespans.

It was easy to fall in love with a beautiful woman or a handsome man in their early twenties but what about in their late fifties? Sixties? Seventies? Or even eighties?

Looks fade.

That was a fundamental truth for humans but not for vampires.

Lily opened her mouth and slowly voiced the concerns on her mind,

"But what about in forty years? Or sixty? When wrinkles appear on her skin... when she becomes frail and weak... when she no longer looks attractive, and you look the same..."

"Will you love her then? Are you sure that your feelings will not fade? Humans... we become physically and mentally weak in our old age."

"Can you see yourself looking after my sister if she loses her physical and mental facilities?"

Mary felt her heart sink as her sister talked about the fears that she secretly harboured over the last two years.

She loved Camilla dearly and these were concerns that she privately held about their relationship.

Camilla would always be an otherworldly beauty, but Mary knew that her looks were on a timer just like the rest of humanity.

Camilla placed her hands on the desk in front of her and her fingers tapped the sides of its wooden surface.

"My father... well my adopted father..." Camilla began to speak and her eyes drifted off towards a distant past.

"He told me that immortality was a curse. That I would one day regret begging him for the gift of eternal life."

"I know... he had human lovers... and every time they died... a part of him died with them as well..."

Camilla lost herself in old memories as she remembered how the smile on her father\'s face slowly disappeared with the passage of time.

She remembered the sadness in his eyes as he dug graves in the back of the mansion to bury the humans that he had once loved.

Eventually he simply stopped personally burying them and had the servants do it instead. He could not longer feel anything the longer that he lived.

Camilla did not want to suffer the same fate and had made a decision.

"I don\'t plan to live forever," Camilla suddenly spoke.

"I... didn\'t understand then... but I do now... immortality is not a blessing like you humans believe it to be."

"Mary will be my one and only lover. When she passes from this world... I swear on my blood magic that I will as well."

A pulsating web of dark red runes appeared on Camilla\'s skin as she swore that terrible oath without hesitation.

Lily\'s eyes widened in shock and Mary immediately grabbed Camilla by her shoulder and stared at her with tears in her eyes.

"Why?! Why would you do that?!" Mary choked back sobs as she questioned her lover with a mixture of anger and concern in her voice.

Camilla\'s lips gently curved upwards as she stretched out her hands and wiped the tears out of Mary\'s eyes.

"Because life without you..." Camilla softly whispered.

"Isn\'t worth living."