Chapter 2. Please Save Me, Your Grace the Grand Duke

Was it because the words were too unexpected? Axia’s mind went completely blank.

Found you? The Emperor? What…?

‘…Me?’

As her thoughts froze in shock, the Emperor’s satisfied smile filled her vision.

His thick platinum lashes, trembling from pain, cast long, curling shadows over his sharp eyes.

Elation, ecstasy, and pain blended into an expression too strange to decipher.

But—no matter how overjoyed he looked, pain was still pain.

“Kh…!”

Still gripping her wrist, the Emperor staggered.

‘So, he really is human after all.’

She had stabbed his left chest.

At worst, she had hit a lung. At best—the heart.

“Your Majesty…!”

“Everyone… [Do not move—!]”

A raw, commanding voice, laced with invisible power, tore through the hall.

A pressure that made her ears ring.

‘He still has the strength to shout like that?!’

She had thought she had stabbed deep enough—but clearly, it wasn’t enough. Axia gritted her teeth.

‘I have to finish this now!’

It was obvious—she had neither the strength nor experience to overpower the Emperor in a direct fight.

This was her only chance to maintain the upper hand.

Axia lunged forward, intending to drive the dagger in deeper with her left hand—

But—

“You won’t get another chance…!”

The Emperor yanked her right wrist with force, making her body lurch forward.

The chains binding her wrists jerked violently, dragging her left hand along with them.

Clink—!

‘The silver shackles…! Damn it!’

The chain between the cuffs was long, but if one wrist was yanked, the other was inevitably pulled along.

Her aim had been thrown off.

For a brief moment, as she stumbled forward off the platform, Axia made her decision.

She had no choice but to admit it—

The assassination had failed.

She had inflicted a serious wound, but that was all.

If she were captured alive, it would mean torture. If she killed herself now, it would be a meaningless death.

As much as she viewed this life as disposable, she had spent six years preparing for this.

Six years of effort, wasted.

First, six years of grueling research in her past life—

Now, six years as an assassin, all leading to nothing?

She couldn’t let this life be thrown away just like that.

No, if she couldn’t kill the Emperor—then—

‘…I’ll go with the backup plan!’

Without hesitation, Axia spun away from the Emperor and lunged toward the man she had spotted earlier.

The one standing closest to the throne.

The man who now stared at her in shock—

“……!”

Crunch—!

Axia sank her teeth into his throat.

The much larger man flinched, his broad shoulders tensing from the impact.

“My gods! Your Highness the Grand Duke, Arcas!!”

“What kind of lunatic—?!”

Yet, despite the sudden attack—

He didn’t push her away.

He didn’t even move.

Because of the Imperial Mandate, he couldn’t.

“Your Majesty, please! Withdraw the command at once!”

Frantic, horrified cries erupted from all around.

But Axia ignored them all.

Schlurp—!

Axia sucked in the man’s blood with all the strength she could muster, forcing it down her throat.

“…Ugh!”

Her stomach churned violently, the thick, metallic taste overwhelming her senses.

She nearly retched.

The sheer revulsion threatened to claw its way up her throat, but she clenched her jaw, forcing herself to keep drinking.

Because this—

This was her only way out.

If she wanted to survive—she had to become a vampire.

Right here. Right now.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump—!

Each pounding heartbeat sent searing heat racing through her skull, igniting from the roots of her teeth to the core of her eyes.

Fwoosh—!

Her vision burned, her skin prickled as the air itself seemed to stab into her.

The transformation had begun.

“Hah… So. Axia Thracia, was it…?”

As she trembled violently, still latched onto his throat, a dry, chilling voice coiled around her ear.

“You tried this with the Emperor… and now, me? You’d better be prepared to face the consequences.”

His voice was cold, detached.

But—

Despite his sharp words, his cool hand firmly supported the back of her head as she spasmed against him.

‘…Is he helping me?’

Thud—!

She never got to find out.

Because in the very next moment, the overwhelming surge of transformation crashed into her body—

And she lost consciousness.

* * *

After the death of Kang Jinhee, a twenty-eight-year-old graduate student from South Korea—

She awoke as a fourteen-year-old orphan girl named Axia.

And the world she found herself in was nothing short of a nightmare.

If she had to describe it in genre terms—dystopian steampunk dark fantasy might fit.

Just how bleak was it?

Well, for starters, the ruling species of this world were vampires.

They called themselves the Bloodline in a vain attempt at sophistication, but they had ruled over and exploited humans since before recorded history.

‘Damn bloodsucking mosquitoes.’

You’d think that if vampires existed, then elves, dragons, dwarves, and magic would be part of the package too, right?

Nope.

Most non-human species had been wiped out over the past ten thousand years, and magic?

It had once existed—but had mysteriously vanished.

The only small saving grace was that some humans occasionally awakened extraordinary abilities.

And those who inherited such abilities became the nobility.

So, this world was ruled by two dominant powers—

The nobles, who possessed inherited extraordinary abilities—

And the Bloodline, composed of three great vampire clans that governed all vampires.

And Axia?

She had just bitten the throat of the strongest vampire of them all—Grand Duke Arcas, the ruler of the Pyro Clan.

A memory surfaced in Axia’s mind—

A woman with long black hair and warm amber eyes gently held her hand.

‘Axia. The ability you possess is the power to shatter boundaries.’

With those words, Anna pricked Axia’s fingertip with a needle.

Prick—

‘Ugh…’

Anna took the dish of Axia’s blood and picked up a vial from the table beside them.

‘Watch closely. Let’s see what your blood is truly capable of.’

The vial contained something highly illegal—

The blood of a Pyro Clan vampire, purchased from the black market.

She carefully let a drop from the vial fall onto a prepared dish of ordinary human blood.

Fwoosh—!

‘Normally, the blood of a Pyro Clan vampire burns human blood upon contact. It doesn’t mix. The chances of successful fusion… are barely 0.5%.’

When the flames died down, most of the blood on the plate had evaporated.

‘But…’

She tilted the vial over a second dish—

This time, onto the fresh blood Axia had just given.

Sssss—

‘Because of your ability to ignore boundaries, it blends seamlessly.’

Holding up the second dish, where the two types of blood had mixed without resistance, Anna smiled.

‘If your assassination fails, then steal the blood of a Pyro Clan vampire right then and there. They have difficulty propagating, so once you bear their blood, they will have to protect you.’

* * *

“Lady Axia. Since you seem somewhat conscious now, how about sitting up?”

The cold voice she had heard just before losing consciousness rang clearly in her ears.

“You’re a superstar right now. The entire Imperial Palace is waiting with bated breath for you to wake up. Even the Emperor himself.”

Axia, still too groggy to open her eyes, muttered in response.

“…I failed to assassinate the Emperor, but since you are here acting as my guardian, I assume I succeeded in becoming a vampire.”

A sharp scoff brushed past her ears, utterly unfiltered in its exasperation.

“You were far more likely to fail and end up as a ghoul instead.”

“I was confident that wouldn’t happen… Ngh—!”

Axia had tried to open her eyes—but immediately shut them again.

Everything was too vivid. Painfully so.

Kiiiiiiing—!

“Ugh…!”

It wasn’t just her vision. Her hearing, her sense of smell—every single sense had been amplified to an unbearable degree.

The distinct textures of fabric against her skin, smooth and rough fibers clashing.
The thick, damp air of a dungeon.
The pungent scent of moss, the sickly-sweet rot clinging to the walls and floor.

“Newborns struggle with it at first.”

The man clicked his tongue before offering advice.

“Take deep breaths. You no longer need your lungs to breathe, but old human habits will help for now.”

“…Hhh… Hoo…”

Her frustrated groan followed the forced breathing, but—

It actually helped.

Gradually, her senses settled into something manageable.

“You’re adjusting quickly. You’ve got talent.”

“…Thanks for the compliment.”

As soon as she was able to lift her head, Axia finally turned to look at the owner of the voice standing beside her bed.

‘Just as I thought.’

It was him—the man she had bitten.

‘Red and darkness…?’

Maybe it was the way the shadows played across his shoulder-length auburn hair, but that was Axia’s first impression upon seeing him properly.

Then her gaze moved to his pale, finely sculpted features—so flawless they looked as if they had been carved from snow-white marble.

And within the deep hollows of his eyes—

A pair of dark, brooding crimson irises stared back at her.

‘So he is from the Bloodline… If I let my guard down, I’ll be completely entranced.’

Axia silently marveled.

She had thought it when she lunged at him before, but—

This man was a completely different category of beauty from the Emperor.

But then…

‘What’s with that ridiculously pitiful posture?’

The man was hunched over on a small, makeshift chair.

Were his legs simply too long? His knees jutted up awkwardly, making a statement of their own.

Axia couldn’t suppress the chuckle that escaped her lips.

Still, she composed herself and offered a formal greeting.

“This is our first proper meeting. Your Grace, Grand Duke Arcas of the Pyro Clan. I must sincerely apologize for my rudeness.”

“You certainly should.”

The man—no, the Grand Duke—replied in a reprimanding tone.

“You performed Raptus—a forbidden act of consuming the blood of one’s own kind—on a high-ranking Bloodline member. And not only did you succeed, but you also survived. You are the first human in history to do so.”

His deep crimson eyes glinted as he muttered, his auburn hair falling over half his face.

“In human terms… what you did to me in the middle of the Imperial Palace is the equivalent of rape.”

“…Huh…?”

Axia definitely hadn’t been expecting that analogy.

She froze, staring at him in stunned disbelief.

‘…Should I apologize again…?’

But before she could say anything, the Grand Duke’s voice turned harsher.

“What I really want to know is—what do you plan to do now?”

His tone was heavy, unyielding.

“You attempted regicide and committed Raptus. That’s two major crimes. Even as the head of my clan, this is not something I can simply cover up for you.”

‘Attacking while I’m still rattled, huh?’

Axia scrambled to collect her thoughts, trying to figure out the best response.

And then—

‘Wait. No. That’s wrong!’

“Hold on—wait, just a moment!”

She quickly raised her voice.

“In this case, it was a human who consumed the blood of a Bloodline member! That means it wasn’t Raptus—since Raptus specifically refers to vampires consuming their own kind!”

“……?!”

The Grand Duke looked momentarily stunned by Axia’s outburst before sighing and rubbing his jaw.

“…So it is like that, huh…? No, even if that’s the case, you still attempted to assassinate the Emperor—”

“Which means a guaranteed death sentence, yeah, I know.”

Axia quickly cut in.

“But I have no intention of dying like a fool. The Pyro Clan still holds several valid immunity privileges under Imperial law. You could use one to save me, couldn’t you?”

“So that’s why you bit me instead of Grand Duke Lilia of the Shad Clan, who was standing right next to me? Now that I think about it, you had this planned all along.”

Axia simply grinned.

“Please save me, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duke slowly shook his head.

“This won’t be easy. Do you really think the Emperor will forgive the first assassination attempt in fifteen hundred years just because of some immunity privilege?”

“If you accept me as a clan member, I’ll handle the rest. I’ll negotiate with the Emperor myself.”

“……”

The Grand Duke stared at her in silence for a long moment before sighing, looking thoroughly unamused.

“…I don’t like this. Taking in a headache like you as a clan member sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. If I just let you be executed, I could retrieve my true blood afterward.”

“You really think the Emperor will let you retrieve my corpse after sentencing me to death? The moment I’m executed, the true blood I drank will disappear with me. That’s an enormous loss for you.”

“…I could just drink your blood back right now.”

“You and I both know that draining a lower-ranked Bloodline member only lets you recover a tenth of what was taken. And besides…”

Axia straightened her posture, staring him down.

“You can’t drink my blood now, can you? Raptus—and I’ll emphasize again, that means vampires feeding on their own kind—is a major crime, isn’t it?”

“Indeed… You are a vampire now. I suppose I have no way out of this.”

The red-haired man sighed, pressing his fingers to his furrowed brow.

For some reason, he seemed deeply reluctant to accept her as one of the Bloodline.

‘Why? Shouldn’t he be thrilled? A Pyro Clan successor is extremely rare.’

The turning success rate for Pyro Clan vampires was, at best, 0.5%. Even after embracing two hundred humans—maybe one would survive.

Suppressing her confusion, Axia decided to push harder.

“The Pyro Clan isn’t like the other Bloodlines. You can’t just increase your numbers whenever you want. We both know how valuable a new member is, so don’t be so quick to refuse me.”

“That’s not the issue.”

“Of course it is. When will you ever get another chance to add a high-quality new member? And I’m not just any vampire—I’m a noble with an extraordinary ability. You know how rare it is to have a vampire who’s also a noble.”

“I also know you were born a commoner and adopted into nobility.”

‘Ugh—Why is he so stubborn?’

“I was adopted because I have an exceptionally strong ability. I almost succeeded in assassinating the Emperor. That should count for something.”

Axia swallowed her growing irritation and continued arguing why she was worth keeping.

“It’s illegal to turn a noble with an extraordinary ability into a vampire. But in this case—I was still human. I acted on my own, I attacked you, and because of the Imperial Command, you couldn’t even resist.”

“Wait, Lady Axia, your choice of words—”

“It’s fine. No need to be embarrassed about it. The Emperor’s the one to blame, not you. And there are plenty of witnesses who saw you helplessly getting overpowered by me in the middle of the Imperial Palace.”

The Grand Duke, who already looked mortified, now buried his face in both hands.

“…Lady Axia. Please, for the love of all things, never describe what happened like that in front of others.”

‘Oh? What happened to that rape comparison he made earlier?’

Axia scoffed but quickly refocused.

“This is completely legal. And tell me—how often do you get the chance to legally claim a vampire with my level of ability? Just take me in already.”

“…And the damages you’ve caused? How do you intend to compensate me?”

‘We’re negotiating now, huh?’

She had almost won.

Axia flashed a triumphant smile.

“How much information do you have on me?”

“That phrasing is… unpleasant.”

“I meant that I’ll accommodate whatever you need.”

“I haven’t had time to properly calculate the losses yet. For now… You’ll have to fulfill your assigned duties according to your new status within the clan.”

“Thank you. I’ll be a model clan member.”

‘Good. I’ve bought myself time.’

As long as she was alive, she had to accomplish at least one of two things—

Either succeed in assassinating the Emperor.

Or confirm that he was the one who had killed her in her past life.

If she was executed now, all six years of effort would have gone to waste.

She would never know why the Emperor had killed Kang Jinhee in her past life. Or why he had been looking for her reincarnation.

And if she died again—

She would be thrown into another new life, still carrying this unresolved fury and maddening mystery.

‘No way. I refuse to let this cycle continue.’

“…So it’s decided.”

The Grand Duke sighed so deeply it was as if he were trying to sink into the earth.

“In the end… I’m getting married at this age, huh. Well then, I look forward to it, my bride.”

“…What?”

What the hell did he just say?