Surprise.

Victoria went out of the house and went straight to the tribunal. She had a bright smile on her face. The car traveled on the road for an hour before it came to a stop in front of the church of justice. Today there were a lot of people present in the church. Turns out that someone was holding a charity gathering.

The blood princess glanced around and saw a lot of people leaving with smiles on their faces. She asked a lady out of curiosity, "Madam, who is holding the charity gathering?"

The lady replied to her, "Miss, it is Mister Willian. he is such a kind man. He would donate millions to the people in need, every year. He doesn't even ask for our blessings in return."

Victoria only knew one person by the name of Willian. She was surprised and after thanking the lady she walked inside the church. She spotted a table set up in some distance and Bones sat there holding some things. On his face, there was a rare faint smile. Suddenly he turned his face to Victoria, who was gazing at him, and the faint smile vanished.

The girl shook her head slightly and walked in. She knew why he did not show his emotions in front of her. He was focused to kill Oleksiy Vlad before he could ever open his heart to anyone. The girl stepped inside the church and the clergy appeared wearing his habit.

he asked, "What do you seek, Miss Vlad/"

Victoria said, "Challenge to the head of the family." her tone was as dead as the clergy's earlier.

The priest nodded and said, "Please follow me." with that he led behind the altar. he pressed the altar gently and the floor tiles slid, revealing a staircase. the two people walked down the hidden staircase. Vampires were magical beings and also had great attainments in crafting trap doors and other clockwork mechanisms.

Victoria asked, "Can the tribunal help me with setting up rules for the challenge?"

The clergy nodded silently as they descended the dark staircase. Nocturnal beings all had the power of night vision. Soon they came down to a dim-lit hall, where sat five elders. The clergy bowed to them and Victoria followed the gesture.

The elder sitting in the middle asked, "What is it?"

The Clergy said, "Miss Vlad seeks to challenge the head of Vlad household for the position of the head." his tone was still as bland as if a corpse.

The elders exchanged a glance. the one on the left said, "Leave us." his cold voice sent shivers down Victoria's spine. These old relics were all pure blood. This was one requirement for being the elder of the Tribunal.

The clergy nodded and left. The elder on the right asked Victoria, "Miss Victoria. Tell us why do you seek the challenge?"

Victoria did not hide anything, or more like she did not dare to hide anything. She said, "Oleksiy Vlad, wants to kill me. I would not like that to happen easily."

The elder nodded, the one on his left asked, "Do you want to have some special rules for the challenge? Remember, you can only have one rule." the elders all talked in bland and monotonous tones. They had no interest in these mundane things. Their task was to oversee that everything is done within a certain order and discipline.

Victoria nodded and said, "The Champions must belong to the Shine City only. That is all." she bowed her head to the elders.

One on the extreme left-hand side asked, "Do you have a champion in mind?"

The princess smiled and nodded, "Yes, Elders."

"This champion, who you bet your life on. Who is he?" the speaker was the second guy from the left.

Victoria spoke, "Bones, the hunter." her voice suddenly turned soft as she said this.

The elders could not help but show a change in their poker faces. Victoria saw too clearly, they all raised their eyebrows for a second. She felt as if she achieved something in her heart. The elder in the centermost chair said, 'The tribunal will arrange for the champion to seek you. You have a month to prepare for the challenge. During this time. You will be living with the champion."

Victoria was surprised, she asked, "Elders this. Why do I have to live with the champion?"

"This rule is made to prohibit the two contenders from harming each other before the challenge duel is held. Also since you have selected the champion from outside your line of frequent interaction. You are to live with him and develop a connection with him so that the challenger could develop an understanding of your opponent from interacting with you." said the guy on the right.

Victoria asked, "Bones, the hunter, does not know about my father? Are you kidding me?" although she loved the guy but moving in with him was too quick. She was not mentally prepared.

Before the elders could respond a soft voice sounded in the hall, "Victoria Vlad, did you not say that you want to prove me wrong about his heart? This is your chance." a man wearing a black suit walked out of the shadows.

The elders stood up and bowed to this man, "Your Excellency."

Victoria turned back and was shocked to see that the person who visited a night before came here and also, how did he know what she mumbled. She bowed down and said, "Your Excellency, It is bad to eavesdrop on someone."

The elders were surprised by how sharp-mouthed this girl was. Even dared to rebuke the progenitor. To their surprise, "Hahahahaha, another reason why he likes you." said the man as he laughed.

Then he stopped and said, "Do you accept this term? Only then will I allow the Challenge duel to be held."

Victoria was speechless, this old relic dared to strongarm her. Her eyebrows twitched, she said, "This is against the rules, Your Excellency."

Alucard laughed, as he said, "Surprise, I am the rule. HAHAHAHA, what can you do?" he was having fun.

...

The next evening, in Bones apartment, a scream sounded, "YOU HOOLIGAN."

The one who screamed was Victoria, the reason was that Bones walked into the living are in nothing but his birthday suit. (This is just a hook. I will explain this in the next chapter)