Chapter 1
I was sitting in the damp, gloomy bone dungeon, staring blankly at a half-eaten hunk of rotten meat covered in green mold.
I was a low-tier blood servant with barely a spark of magic. I was so weak that I didn't even qualify as a regular blood donor. All I could do was scrounge through the lower levels of the castle, gnawing on rotting meat just to stay alive.
I was already on the brink of starving to death, so I screwed up all my courage and snuck into the main tower. I figured I'd find some random sleeping noble and sneak a quick bite.
But when I pushed the door open, I bumped with the Vampire Duke himself, right in the middle of his Blood Moon frenzy. Dark crimson flames curled around his body.
A high-tier witch was crumpled on the floor, wailing in agony, "Your Highness, your Dark Source Power will burn me to ash!"
I swallowed hard, my eyes fixed on the man. Not only did he have the purest progenitor blood running through his veins, but I could sense two throbbing blood cores pounding inside his body...
My sharp fangs sprang out before I could even stop them.
Under the witch's stare, I lunged forward, grabbed the Duke by his fancy embroidered collar, swung a leg over and straddled his lap, then sank my fangs deep into the throbbing carotid artery in his neck.
"This top-tier blood bag's mine. Get lost!"
Dead silence.
Even the wind in the entire great hall seemed to stop.
The few high-tier blood servants kneeling around us were too terrified to even lift their heads, their bodies shaking like leaves in the wind.
"His Highness's frenzy is out of control again. The last countess who tried to get close to him was burned straight to ash..."
"This low-tier blood servant is so dead..."
I froze.
Two blood cores? That meant double the Source Power boost, right?
Alexander lowered his head, his dark-gold slit pupils ice-cold and bloodthirsty, clearly waiting for me to scream in terror as his flames incinerated me.
But I was too busy staring at the surging progenitor blood aura pouring from his neck, my eyes blazing bright red.
Under the horrified stares of every blood servant in the room, I lunged forward and slammed him against his cold marble throne.
"No one gets to take this! Back off!"
I clung to him like glue, gulping down that intoxicating, deadly Dark Source Power.
"How dare you profane His Highness the Duke!"
The royal guards finally snapped out of their shock, drawing their silver swords to yank me off him.
I clung desperately to Alexander's embroidered tie, nearly tearing his shirt into pieces.
Just then, the half-burned high-tier witch crawled over and wrapped her arms around Alexander's boot. Her face was twisted with agony, but she forced a cringing smile.
"Your Highness's power is unmatched. It is Anna's greatest honor to withstand your Source Power."
"Is that so?" A cold chuckle rumbled in Alexander's throat as he suddenly reached out and gripped the witch's chin.
Dark crimson flames crept down his fingertips and spread across the witch's body.
The witch screamed in terror as if she'd come face-to-face with a demon from hell. "Monster! You're a monster!"
All the strength drained out of her instantly, and she collapsed to the floor, convulsing violently.
Alexander threw her hand off in disgust, pulled out a silk handkerchief to wipe his fingertips, and spoke in a voice so cold it could freeze a soul solid, "Drag these two reckless fools to the Black Forest and feed them to the ghouls."
Several heavily armored knights charged over, dragging me and the witch away like a pair of tattered old sacks.
I kept my eyes fixed on the man sitting on the throne, my nose twitching wildly.
"So good..."
His anger made the progenitor blood aura around him surge even more violently.
Hunger had devoured my reason.
If I didn't get fed right now, I would actually die.
The split second before they hauled me through the door, a ferocious surge of survival instinct blazed through me. I slipped out of the knight's iron grip.
With every pair of eyes in the room fixed on me like I was a lunatic, I scrambled up the steps on all fours, launched myself through the air, and clung to Alexander like a stubborn octopus, sinking my teeth into the side of his neck again.
"You taste so good! You're mine!"
I didn't have the clue how to please a noble pure-blood vampire, so I just bit and sniffed wildly at his neck.
Searing progenitor blood aura gushed from the shallow tooth mark.
I lapped it up greedily, too hooked to even think about letting go.
Dead silence fell over the entire hall.
Alexander went stiff as a flawlessly sculpted marble statue.
A full 30 seconds ticked by before he finally snapped back to his senses. He grabbed me hard by the scruff of the neck and hurled me onto the carpet.
His dark-gold pupils, blazing with hellish fury, locked onto me. His razor-sharp nails pressed into the skin over my heart.
"You lowly little thing. How do you want to die?"