#10: Hidden Royal of the Elves

*Luan/Leo's P. O. V*

I was tired, having constantly used my magic in order to put up the appearance of an elf, Using magic was not a great deal, but using it without break for at least a year was a big deal.

This wasn't the first time, there were many instances when I had to continue for 3-4 years, I had taken upon many disguises, worked undercover and even praised the most worst creatures all for the sake of revenge.

Many philosophers, ministers, well wishers told me, revenge will not calm my heart nor revive my family, that it was futile, and a line, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. "

it didn't matter anymore, I almost lost my reason to survive when my family was slaughtered. If it wasn't for Luna and Titan being alive, I would have gone astray and just died. So what if the whole world is blind? I had to make him pay...

This single goal kept me going, even if I fell, had to bend my head in front of the worst, it never fazed me.

As of today, it shall be the 118th year, I haven't smiled, not the physical fake smile, but the one truly from heart. It was just not possible, even when I heard a really funny joke or see a baby smiling at me, my heart just feels guilty, guilty for even trying to be happy.

Every time I close my eyes or even try to relax, it hurts, the guilt chokes me, I don't even remember the last time I dreamt, I only sleep a mere 3-4 hours, that too interrupted sleep. The fact that I am here, sleeping peacefully whereas my twin, Luna is struggling to be alive, just makes me feel like I am in a bottomless pit, falling down into a dark abyss with a big rock choking me, depriving me of air and peace.

Well, it isn't wrong, I was guilty for their death, if I had listened to my mother's words and went to our aunt's place when she was sending back our cousins, Luna would still be happy and healthy, if I had listened to my brothers to go to the mountains, Atlas and Kai would still be alive. Every second, every day I regret my actions, what could I have done so that none would be dead, what if I turned back time? these all thoughts eat up my brain. Turning back time, is possible, though is frowned upon. unfortunately, the only mages who can perform such a feat are, vampires, and among them, only one could do it, Nyse(pronounced as Nee say) Beatrice Rune. The mother of the Emperor of Rune.

She had saved many people, vampires and other clans upon request of their families, not all, only who deserved it, like innocent victims, or innocent people charged with false charges and executed.

No one knew how often she did it, except my brother Kai, he was the most sensitive among us and could feel the change in magic.

He had a kind of skill, by which he determined that something changed in the timeline. The year my family was slaughtered, I was totally traumatized, in such a way I couldn't even drink water, my aunt helped me recover from that. I disguised myself as a vampire, in order to see Grand Queen Nyse. But she had passed away almost two years back...I looked over and saw, all over the streets and walls, the name of the Oberon Royalty was slandered with rude words plastered and deeming the entire clan of werewolves as lower, cruel and dirty beings.

The Emperor, came out for a visit and all people cheered in joy as he held a small cute baby whose cheeks were pink, in his hands, The whole crowd cheered, saying the times have changed.. it's good times.. etc, he had the most satisfied look, but I guess only I could see the cruel nature of that smile, how many horrible things were hidden.

Killing of royals was not a new thing, but killing of newborns and kids below age 50 was a crime. The fun fact, it was the Vampires who came up with this. Vampires on whole were a foolish bunch of sheep, following their head thoughtlessly without taking time to consider the truth. I had no exact enmity towards the clan, so their thoughts and actions never really mattered, whether they cry or laugh, but the fact that Rune Family is thriving as my very home got crumbles and stampeded on gives me rage.

Revenge, was the best option after all... From then, I devote my whole time in getting revenge. The goal was simple, make that bastard Emperor, the loneliest creature with no family nor throne nor support. The most easiest way, was to overthrow him by power. But since both of us were equal in terms of power and strength I needed more power.

I from then took on an identity of human and successfully started a huge business, in order to keep a check on human world, so that vampires don't get power there. Next I spent years as a delegate of the dragons, but it was of no avail, I just couldn't meet the Emperor. Finally I took the role of Leo Silas, the handsome official preparing for the exam, I did have to write a boring exam even prepare for it, but I must say, this position was the best. The parents had always left Leo in a residential school and were always out on trips, so, it was not that astonishing that they didn't notice the difference.

The real Leo, sadly is spending time with my guards. Blonde hair was a very rare thing in werewolves, who only had, black, red or brown, or silver hair. And Leo, was a bright blonde, it helped keeping my guards entertained. I did warn them not to be too much harsh. Like the last time, they ended up breaking the poor delegate's arm as they tried arm wrestling...

The bastard Emperor was very much vary of me, Leo, the youngest defense minister. But soon fell for the young genius clever strategies which could help him get control over many other clans which threatened the peace of Rune Empire.

And, I slowly gained favor, then there was Princess Amber. The ignored princess, the one weakest of all. The perfect bait.

The ones who are ignored are the ones who easily fall. Getting their trust is a hard job, but once you get their trust, they fall so deep, deeper than Tartarus. The day we got engaged, happened to be her 118th birthday and my family's death anniversary.

Though the main problem, was that she too was a carnivore, which meant she would carry around blood, as we were going in the carriage that day, she drank a bit of blood from her bottle.

Never was I this much drawn, my eyes just stared at her lips which were stained red as blood touched them slightly, the sweet smell of blood flooded my nostrils, I don't know how long I kept staring, it felt like a really long time, I gulped as she was drinking, I wanted to drink blood....

She said something and I snapped out of it, but I was restless, I was about to snatch the bottle from her and gulp down the blood in a minute. But no, I was Leo! Leo Silas the Elf!! Not Luan Artem.

We had an awkward and weird conversation, where I had to act shy and weird.

Soon, Amber fell asleep, her bottle lying right there beside her. I couldn't stop myself and drank it up, drinking blood broke my magic, my hair turned silver and my ears and fangs popped up, I quickly looked over, she was still asleep, drooling.

I tried changing back but my magic was unstable as I was panicking. I asked to stop for a break and told the servants to put up a tent. I ran into the forest and I changed completely into my own self, the dress was a bit small so it ended up tearing a bit and was so tight I removed a few layers. I only had a single shirt on.

The bush moved and a deer jumped from over it running, from a wolf, the deer was hurt and bleeding. The wolf upon seeing me, ran away whimpering, well, not my fault, I was just like his superior hence he ran. I tried helping but no, the only thoughts roaming in my mind were to bite and eat it up. But I couldn't.. so... I just stopped but it took a whole lot of energy to stay that way, the deer accepted it's fate and whimpered without struggling, somehow, I couldn't hurt it.

I patted it's head and I hear someone coming over I quickly hid behind a tree... It was Amber, and she helped the deer instead of actually killing or sucking it's blood considering she would be hungry.

I stared at her in awe as she helped it without worrying about herself.

But she got her meal, as she dug her fangs into my neck, the weirdest part of it being that I felt pleasure. not pain.. but pleasure?.. a feeling which I never felt .. the whole day was weird, after her drinking, she gave me.. Leo's money... that is.. my money to me as compensation for the bite.

But the strangest thing yet about that vampire is that I slept peacefully beside her. I had a peaceful dream though it ended as a nightmare. I felt eerily calm and she looked... lovable. It took me a while before I realized it was my nerves getting to me. I was in no way pitying, loving or befriending that vampire.

*****

Due to the attack on Amber, that stupid Nyxus gave a warning and held a Royal as hostage. This was a mess. What is this? new love and care for his sister? so suddenly? this bastard needed some medicine for his head.

That night, I was super annoyed over many things but couldn't point out what, I was coming over to my room after the whole fiasco and sending back the two idiotic princes, as I stood in front of Amber's room, a sweet smell came towards me, it was an enticing scent which tested my patience, it grew a bit fainter and I was already rushing in her room.

It was a bit awkward when my whole body throbbed and I lost my magic for a split second, exposing myself, but I immediately, ran to my room, my body throbbed again, causing my magic to be unstable, I immediately ran in and locked myself, but it didn't stop there, I couldn't stop myself, it was like a calling, a mysterious scent of prey, it wasn't surprising that I was already in her room and stood staring at her, I had a sudden urge to kill and eat her up, which I must say... is weird and um.. not my taste, werewolves stopped eating and attacking other clans like an eon ago.

I held her and bit it, the scent was at fault, her wrist seemed so delicious, like a meal waiting for me.

But I stopped myself, this was not my intention.. so I just went back...

The whole palace was in chaos due to the warning of Nyxus the crown prince, and Amber grew more and more suspicious of me... I had to do something....

*****

"Sir Leo!! Sir Leo!!! ", an attender shouted out.

" Yes, I am here. ", I turned, he was quite out of breath and looked as though he saw the end of the world.

" The Prince-cess... t. the princess... had gone towards the Empress Castle holding the precious green bunny of the Emperor. ", he said gasping for breath.

" The what???? ", I had began running.

I was not worried that Express Castle was an area off limits for all, not that Amber might get lost or worse punished. But the green bunny. The green bunny is quite a special thing.

Yes, the Elf's most greatest priority was to protect the green bunny if it was ever seen. No one knew why, but since our king kept it always with him, they just assumed it was his favorite pet.

But... the fact that no one knows is, the green bunny is the crown prince of the Elven kingdom and the blood child of the Empress and Emperor, the only child. Hence the importance. How I know of this?.. Well... I discovered it in the secret notes left by Empress and the Emperor himself told me... This was kept as a secret from the whole world, as the king suspected the one who assassinated the Empress was a vampire, a Royal to be precise..

The priest, me, two more ministers who are completely devoted (I guess) to the Elves know of this.

When the Empress was pregnant, with the crown prince, the security around her castle was tightened, The number of servants reduced to the minimum and all of them trustworthy, but still she was assassinated, but the assassin didn't know that she had already given birth, The Empress died after naming her child.

He was too powerful when born, that his father, the king had to concentrate his power and seal it up inside. The seal would break after a ten-twenty years, which means... now????...

oh.. great.. As I sped towards the hallways, I noticed her and the rabbit staring at the portrait. I rushed, but the crown prince might have heard me, he ran away deeper in the castle.

As I went in, I saw that the king was also approaching the garden in worry, we both were opposite each other, when the prince and Amber both fell down in the pond, the portal to human world.

The other reason of closing away of this portal to human world was that, this one was a bit tricky. If a group went in, they would find themselves in the center of an ocean, or separated.. There was a saying, anyone who crossed this would have at least a single mental trauma,.... I don't know... but I could see... Amber, my precious pawn for revenge and the crown prince(not exactly my problem) both went down the pond.

****

It was a mayhem, the whole palace was in chaos, the palace was already an old and dreary place with no flowers bit just stone like walls and sad curtains, the court room and the throne room being the most dreary, it was just a hard slab of stone carved to look beautiful, but it too had lost the beauty, the only thing special about the throne room was that there were hanging lights, of various colors which illuminated the throne.

Other than that, it was dark, but Amber looked at the place as though it was an exotic park, well...

For a girl who has only seen riches and extravagance all her life, mediocre stones and slabs might look exotic....

All the ministers were called for a national Assembly, the king was quiet as all the ministers argued to have been called for a pet, that was when the minister, broke the secret after confirming that there were no holes.

"The green rabbit, was none other than our crown prince. ", he said.

All were dumbstruck, and looked at him, wondering if he was joking.

" Sir, you do know that this is a serious meeting and not a stage where you tell jokes. ? ", One of them said.

" It is true. ", The priest said and all remained silent.

The priest held a certain power, he looked over at me and asked me to explain.

" Well, my dear courtiers, it is true, our crown prince, hadn't died during the assassination of our beloved Empress but was alive and taken care of. ", I said.

" But Sir Leo, why is our prince, a rabbit? ", A courtier asked.

" Well, he was born with a lot of magic which could serve as a beacon attracting unwanted attention. So the king himself sealed his abilities which led him to take the form of a rabbit", I said.

"Is it true, my king? ", the member of the opposing faction asked.

" Yes. ", the king replied.

" But why wasn't this told to us, until now? ", they asked.

" Our sources tell that the one behind the assassination could be, our partner, the vampire royalty, for it is only them who could have performed such a feat, in order to not let any vampire know, we had to cut off the amount of people who knew. ", I said.

" The Vampires?.. ", All stared at each other jn disbelief..

" Our prince!! But oh.. no!! The human world... the portal was a faulty one.. ", the ministers began mumbling.

" why did the princess take the rabbit there? ", asked a few.

" I don't know. ", the king replied looking at his locket which held a small portrait of the Empress.

" I think I know sire", the minister of home affairs said.

"You do? ", all asked.

" Yes, I think this is a plan of the Vampires, considering that Leo Silas knew about this, we can't remove the possibility that princess Amber would have known about it too. ", he said.

" But sir, I haven't written not mentioned the word rabbit not green anywhere neither home or official papers. ", I said.. If they blamed me as a suspect, it would be over...

" I heard that each vampire possess a special magic, and there are few magical devices and spells which would enable a person to read an elf's deepest secret. Though they are quite expensive, I doubt a princess whose monthly allowance is 12,400,000 klad, would find it difficult. Considering that my wife could purchase one without my knowledge. ", he said.

" Hmmm, but what could be their intention? ", asked another.

" What they had always wanted... complete devotion and conquering us.", he said.

"What? Isn't that a ridiculous statement, considering our good relations, us making them an enemy solely on a hypothetical scenario.. doesn't do well. At least for us. ", a minister said.

" What do you mean by hypothetical?.. Our crown prince was taken by the vampire princess, and our second Royal, the princess was taken by the vampires too! the stupid warning he issued says it all, that They are ready to reconsider our relations!! ", he said.

" Hmm.. ", the king said and all began murmuring...

Somehow, this situation seemed best, as my ' dearest' fiancee left and used me for political gain and tried harming the royalty upon orders of the vampires. Me playing a role of victim is best.

" Sir! I have a news!! ", a guy came running in.

" What is it? ", the king asked.

" All our portals to human world have closed up! The forest is growing darker! There are wild fires growing. ", he said.

" What? ", all exclaimed, but the king remained silent.

" My king, I apologize, but we may need to shift our concern towards the country first or our clan may end up extinct. ", all ministers pleaded.

" Hmmm, secure our borders, The forests burning is a sign of calamity. Order all defense troops to stay vigil and bring back all spies. "The king said.

" Yes, your majesty. ",

" But sire what about the prince? the portals? Why did they close up? ", A courtier asked, even I was curious as to why the portals... the ponds dried up?

"It is a sign, of calamity. A calamity so high, it threatens our existence. Find out if the other country's portals have closed up or not! Even if it's werewolves or dragons... Immediately. ", he said going back to his room.

I immediately went back and told I shall go to the Werewolves side for checking and was granted permission, I wasn't assigned a troop to support me(lucky for me) as it was a dangerous territory and I had to go alone.

I did act as a pitiful lover who is heartbroken.. Amber just left me a good situation, a situation where I can get the Elves from helping the vampires to my side...

As I crossed the border and went further into the deepest forests, I relaxed my magic, looking like myself and not a blonde pretty elf. I was walking towards the werewolves hideouts within all small villages and took a rest. I didn't disclose any information because there are backstabbers in wolves too...

After a whole day of travelling, I came to the Castle , the Midnight Diamond, silly name, but it was Atlas who kept it, so... Yes, we are going to call it 'the Midnight Diamond', it was worthy of that name, as it would shine as a diamond during night, when moon is at its highest peak.

The whole castle was lined with silver, the tips of spears made of silver and the walls had sharp silver linings, the door made of silver gleaming beautifully, with silver roses and silver leaves designed on to it.

Man... I wish I brought a vampire here, it would look cool, how they would flinch on the sight of this, This much silver can't be found in the mirror world, this was imported from the human world, since, I, also known as Atlas Wulfric, the famous mysterious business tycoon who has enough money to power a whole country, feed all its people a decent meal and enough clothes for at least a 100 years. The third most richest man on earth...

I use all my yearly money to get silver in the mirror world..

As I came in, all guards and maids were shivering, of course, I was the ruthless crazy Duke, who would put all prisoners to a torturous end. Well, I did torture but only who deserved it, I don't torture innocent people, because if I did, Luna would be hurt.

"How are the portals? ", I asked a maid.

"t-the what? sir. ", the maid fumbled.

" THE PORTALS? YOU DIDN'T HEAR ME? ", I said a bit louder.

" They're fine... normal? ", she said shivering.

I wanted to apologize, but it would just make her more afraid, so I just went in, the portal, was in the middle of our castle, it was fine, the moon was shining brightly upon it.

I went to the main tower, where my sister, Luna slept. The whole room was decorated with silver, just in case, her favorite dolls kept by her side.. she will surely kill me the second she wakes up as I broke her favorite doll's eye,..

'Just... please wake up... ',i thought in my head as I sat beside her holding her hand. I kissed her forehead and went out to meet my brother, the king of werewolves, Titan....

*****