Her Vampire Prince

"Hei, hei. Do you think it's our time being kidnapped by our vampire prince?" The girl in a plain blue dress whispered enthusiastically to her friends beside while watching an opera forward with sparkling eyes.

"I hope so. Meeting our vampire prince and indulging in their carnal desire and being loved by them ... ah. That's the dream of most of the women here. Although it only lasts for a moment, we all don't mind, right?" Another girl replied excitedly as she imagined she became the main character of the play.

"Right. Even if it's only one night, we don't mind." The girl in the flower dress who also heard that nodded in agreement.

Their focus returned to the opera forward where the female lead who was a human and the male lead who was a vampire were kissing passionately like it was the end of the world.

Seeing that, they sighed with dreamy eyes.

Lea, who witnessed all of that, took a deep and long breath. The festive atmosphere of the festival couldn't manage to improve her mood. She had had a foul mood since a week ago, and it was getting worse by day because unlike her neighbour next door who had met their destined vampire, she hadn't.

There wasn't a single vampire who approached her as if she was invisible even though she had reached adulthood a year before and was waiting for them eagerly. Besides, she was one of the prettiest women.

Not wanting to listen any further to the chatter of the commoner girls, Lea strode away from the audience chamber and mingled with the citizens of Rowedna Kingdom in the crowd of the festival. She wandered aimlessly around the streets, trying to enjoy the view.

Today was the first day of the festival, where the vampire race came to all over villages in the Rowedna Kingdom and kidnapped their brides. The festival was held to welcome the vampires as the citizens could also enjoy these dedicated days.

The tradition had been held for over three generations so people were familiar with those immortal beings. A time where they feared vampires had long gone.

Before vampires kidnapped their brides, they had tagged up the girls they wanted and when the times came, they would bring the brides to their kingdom in a faraway land. Of course, it was with their consent.

The kidnapped brides would stay in their vampire grooms' castle for one full moon. After they had produced heirs for the vampire, the brides would be sent back to their homes with many gifts and they were awarded honours, was what the kidnapped women said.

This became the dream of the women in the Rowedna Kingdom and so did Lea. Though, what she wanted was incomparable to present or honour.

At first Lea thought that this tradition was silly because the tradition itself was just a form of peace treaty between Rowedna Kingdom and vampire race so war wouldn't break in the near future, but after she had met a cute and stunning vampire boy who had helped her, she completely changed her mind and how she saw this tradition.

It was definitely love at first sight. The vampire boy was her first love.

Lea was always looking forward to the festival so she could meet the vampire again. This year was her one and only chance to meet and be kidnapped by a vampire or else she couldn't dare to dream of having a chance meeting a vampire again later.

She was too immersed in her own thought that she didn't see someone walking towards her, and ... they bumped into each other. She was staggering and was about to fall if the young man didn't catch her in time.

"Are you okay, my lady?"

That voice was so deep and husky, making her heart flutter with a strange yet warm feeling, but what made Lea startled was the way he called her, my lady. Who would call a commoner girl my lady?

Lea lifted her head like a wind to see the identity of the young man in front of her, then she gasped in great admiration, forgetting her original intention.

The young man who still held her waist to prevent her from falling to the ground was breathtakingly beautiful. His curly ginger hair, his thin and plump lips, his sharp jawline, his pointed nose ... every part of him screamed of gorgeous. He looked like a nobleman, though he only wore simple attire.

The most striking thing of all that was his emerald eyes that were fluttering between his long eyelashes. It was glimmering with joy and full of life as if he had never faced difficulties in life. The more she was staring at him, the more intense she sensed her desire to madly ravish him. He gave off a gentle atmosphere, yet there was an indecent aura that was irresistible, exuded from him. It made her skin ... hot and feverish.

Lea had never seen a man as stunning as him that made her rendered speechless. How could a human be this alluring?

"You should be careful, my lady. It would be terrible if you hurt yourself." The young man gave her a gentle reminder as he released his hand from her waist after he ensured she could stand up properly.

Then Lea gasped delicately on her own obscene mind. She had stared at him as if she was bewitched. On top of that, she had imagined something she shouldn't have as a virgin woman.

"Thank ... you," she responded in a stuttering voice. Her cheeks flushed with reddish hues. She was too embarrassed to look up, thus she only glanced at him and wandered her eyes to his broad, comfortable chest.

"Cheerio, my lady."

And Lea was left in the crowd. Her eyes were still stuck to him who was walking ahead. Even after only his ginger hair that she could see, she didn't avert her longing gaze, following him wherever he goes and before she realised, she had shadowed him.

His towering frame could be seen gradually from apart. Food stalls lined up neatly along the road he had passed and she couldn't help, but giggling when she witnessed him eyeing at a stall selling tiny, cute plushie of vampires with admiration before he moved to a stall selling candies.

It looked like he truly enjoyed the festival.

She kept her distance far enough as to not expose herself to the young man and that he was being followed. She didn't exactly know why she chased him, but there was an unyielding and mysterious power that forced her feet to take steps towards him.

She knew it was perilous and dangerous stalking a man who she didn't know where his origin was, but curiosity had won over and it was too late to regret that, so she just did what her soul wanted.

It might be because she partially believed in the rumour that was circled around the commoner girls. They said that there were some vampires who only came to our villages to go sightseeing and if we encountered one of them by chance, you could try persuading them to take you as their brides.

She knew it was ridiculously idiotic to hold on to that rumour when she wasn't sure whether the young man was a vampire or just a human with extraordinary beauty. If she looked thoroughly, the chance that it was just a trap set by some human traffic organisation was bigger.

When a flood of doubt washed her resoluteness away, she halted dilly dally in the middle of the road. Her eyes were still glued on the young man though.

"That's why handsome men are dangerous." She took wide steps to catch up with him, tossing away her doubt temporarily, but when she had hardened her resolve, she lost track of him at the crossroads to the rear area.

"What ... ? I'm sure he comes this way." She muttered in confusion.

When she stood up idly in a shadow where moonlight couldn't reach her, a chilling sensation was swiftly crawling up from her toes as a deep and guttural voice that seemed to come from the darkness greeted her from behind with a hot breath brushed against her earlobe.

"What are you looking for, my lady?"

***