#Episode 1
Chapter 0: It Wasn’t Intentional
“The target is inside the building. Search every inch!”
Vampire Vasylisha hid in a corner of the abandoned building, holding her breath.
She made sure to keep her long purple hair tightly held to avoid being spotted by pursuers.
Despite being a vampire, being hunted by hunters or even by her own kind was routine, given her inferior status. It seemed that a few years of peace had made her complacent.
As a result, she found her feet bound mercilessly to the building.
‘Damn it, I should have put up a barrier around the building…’
Vasylisha gnawed on her lips thoughtfully.
Originally, the barrier was a protective shield of the Lamphas Order to block those with magic abilities.
She hadn’t even considered that they might use it against her to confine herself.
Using magic to escape was also not feasible. Those chasing Vasylisha could read her magic. If she rashly attempted to escape and failed, it would be a disaster.
At that moment, the air in the abandoned building where Vasylisha was hiding suddenly became heavy.
Thud, thud.
The sound of footsteps, not bothering to conceal their presence, echoed particularly clearly throughout the abandoned building.
“We’ve driven her this far, and she still hasn’t shown herself?”
A grim-looking man with black slicked-back hair, leading a pack of wolves, appeared.
He was even taller than the others occupying the abandoned building.
Draped in a coat that could belong to nobility, with already imposing stature, he seemed like a mountain.
A man with a mix of nobility and vulgarity, like water and oil mixed together, unfitting qualities combined.
He was none other than Todd Van Drake, the master of this underworld, and the main pursuer of Vasylisha.
Todd, leisurely crossing the abandoned building with the grace of someone herding prey, ran his fingers along the window frame. The thick layer of dust scattered at his touch.
“No trace of magic…”
Todd chuckled.
“Does my contractor want to play hide and seek?”
At Todd’s chilling voice, cold sweat dripped down Vasylisha’s neck.
“Or perhaps you just can’t stand the sight of my face.”
A seemingly innocuous sneer that was spat out.
But soon, as if that petty taunt had ignited a matchstick, the voice, previously restrained by Todd’s efforts to contain his anger, erupted frighteningly.
Suddenly, an unmistakable anger simmered in his voice.
A rough voice that seemed to smell of gunpowder…
“Vasha!”
Vasylisha denied reality, tightly closing her eyes at Todd’s familiar yet unfamiliar cry.
‘When we parted ways, he was only sixteen… How many years has it been since then?’
Vasylisha recalled the boy who was once her familiar.
No, to be precise, he still was Vasylisha’s familiar.
Their souls were still connected.
Familiar refers to the companion of a vampire’s contracted soul.
In the past, Vasylisha, half reluctantly, half voluntarily, entered into a familiar contract with Todd when he was young. Since then, Vasylisha had eagerly awaited Todd to grow up and become a dependable familiar who would protect her.
If only they hadn’t parted ways for some reason!
As if becoming a grown lion from a kitten, the one-time child now Todd, as her contractor, began to reveal himself towards Vasylisha.
Where did this relationship begin to distort?
‘No, come to think of it, Todd becoming my familiar in the first place wasn’t originally part of the plan…’
“Hey, Vasha? It’s been fifteen years, are you really not going to show your face once?”
Todd continued to coax Vasha, calling her sweetly as if trying to lure her out by any means necessary.
But it didn’t last long.
When Vasha continued to ignore him, as if tired of playing games with her right in front of him, Todd’s patience wore thin, and his voice raised sharply as if flipping a hand over.
“Vasha! If you don’t show yourself right now, I’ll feed that little brat you were with to the wolves!”
His voice echoed through the abandoned building. The ill-fitting window rattled loudly as it opened slightly.
The thought of the child who had been with Vasha sent shivers down Todd’s spine. The child seemed to resemble him in some way, making it unbearable.
As if he could easily replace himself…
“Ha, you’ve been raising a child while abandoning me?”
‘Raising a child, what a nonsense!’
Vasha, who had been indifferent to the idea of sacrificing the child to the wolves, was taken aback by the mention of a new child and jumped in surprise.
Both abandoning Todd and raising a new child were misunderstandings.
But instead of defending herself, Vasha remained silent.
Of course. Vasha couldn’t bear to face that anger.
Todd’s clear resentment was palpable in their reunion!
One reason Vasha was hiding so tightly from her familiar, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, was because of this.
The longer the contract between a familiar and a contractor lasts, the more resonant it can be when the other party feels strong emotions.
It was as if the communication between Vasha and Todd had been severed while she was away, and the moment she reunited with Todd, his hatred poured down on her like a waterfall.
It was a huge emotion that made Vasha’s skin tingle.
‘To hate me this much, it seems like you’ve been through a lot during the 15 years without me…’
So, as Vasha, instead of facing Todd, she had no choice but to flee.
It was because she was afraid.
How did it come to this?
Vasha’s separation from Todd and her return now were not her intentions at all.
‘I just woke up and realized that time had passed!’
But would Todd listen to such excuses from Vasha?
Seeing his livid demeanor, she was skeptical.
Todd was the rightful heir of the famous Van Drake family, known for their vampire hunting prowess.
There was no one in this world who knew more about tormenting vampires than Todd.
Until now, Vasha had secretly felt reassured that Todd was her familiar…
‘In principle, a familiar should not harm their contractor, but Todd, that guy, probably knows at least twenty ways to bypass the rules without it being surprising…’
Todd might not be able to kill Vasha, but there were plenty of other ways he could torment her.
Just imagining how Todd might seek revenge sent shivers down her spine. Vasha looked for any opportunity to escape his clutches.
Meanwhile, the wolves gradually closed in on Vasha.
Wolves were sensitive to the magic of the moon. Consequently, they were adept at tracking the traces of vampires, which were similarly influenced by the moon’s magic.
Growling sounds of the wolves became audible nearby.
If she were to be caught by Todd like this…
“I found you.”
While Vasha was momentarily lost in thought, a sinister whisper accompanied by darkness enveloped her.
Amidst the obscured face in the shadows, only golden eyes stood out like the moon in the sky.
Dilated pupils. Rough breathing. Stern gaze.
She must not be captured.
Sensing a sudden drop in her heartbeat, Vasha instinctively pounded the ground to flee.
But before she could escape, something immense overwhelmed her from above.
“Ugh!”
A powerful force gripped Vasha from behind. It felt like her toes were about to touch the ground.
She was restrained by an overwhelming strength.
Vasha thrashed to break free from her opponent.
However, the opponent only tightened their grip even stronger.
“Trying to escape again?”
The voice, which had seemed dry as if all emotions had evaporated just a moment ago, now carried a moist heat that tickled Vasha’s ears.
The man holding Vasha tightly emitted scents of musk and jasmine from within Todd’s embrace, making it hard for her to breathe.
“If you left your familiar alone for fifteen years, you should bear the responsibility.”
Vasha’s lips parted. Words of injustice rose to her throat.
In that moment, the image of young Todd flashed through Vasha’s mind. The boy who would stand tall and argue with pride when facing her, but would slump his shoulders as if abandoned the moment she turned away.
Eventually, Vasha remained silent, unable to utter a word.
‘It may not have been intentional, but it’s a fact that I abandoned Todd…’
Todd’s face contorted even more, misunderstanding Vasha’s silence.
“You really…”
Todd’s sigh, like a whisper, brushed past Vasha’s ears.
“Hmm? Vasha. Let’s say something. Say that you abandoned me because I’m a nasty, arrogant, ungrateful, and useless brat. Just say something like that.”
