I Will Protect You

Where is the Prince of the Sea? Or rather, the vampire duke called Duke Carson, as she heard?

Venera looked left and right, but she just could not spot that beautiful dark blue hair in the dim red lighting of the blood moon. She only saw the common brown, blonde, and gray in the crowd.

Where could he be?

But just as Venera was about to give up, she spotted a figure with familiar-looking, luxurious blue clothes quite a distance away from the altar. The elegant man just stood aside as he watched the ceremony. There was a small arch at the ends of his lips as he caught Venera's eyes.

"Shh," he mouthed to her with a playful smile, placing a white-gloved index finger over his mouth.

"Shh," Venera hushed in reply, following the man's actions. She pressed an index finger to her lips and flashed what she thought was a sneaky smile, then let out a soft giggle.

When she smiled, her thin eyebrows were curved, and her big eyes were bright and radiant, which was extremely infectious. And extremely cute.

It was a smile that could even warm the chilliest hearts.

The man, who had been watching her reaction silently from the sidelines, found a soft smile creeping its way to his lips.

Was it because the little human girl was so cute that she could get Caius' favor so easily?

Hmm, probably so. It was most likely so, right?

The ethereal rays of the moon and the red glow it provided tinged the man's pale skin pink, and the twin green glares of his eyes gleamed like glistening emeralds. It was especially striking in the red lighting, seeming to hold precious starlight. Very pretty.

This man is Micah. Micah Carson, the vampire duke of the vampire race.

Micah's emerald eyes held a faint glow of curiosity.

Venera and Caius have only known each other for a short time. And Caius, as the vampire king, doesn't like to be close to any woman, whether one from the vampire race or the human race, but he can actually go so far and do so much for a little human girl. To gain such a deep favor, what kind of power could a little girl of the human race have?

How curious.

Feeling the quiver of the little figure in his arms, Caius reached out a hand to pat Venera's head. He thought that Venera was frightened by the huge change in the environment. Moreover, the blood moon would look especially menacing to children who looked straight at it, right?

And thus, although Caius didn't know how to comfort children, he still gently stroked Venera's head to help her feel much more at ease.

On the contrary, Venera was not afraid at all. The quiver of her body was only apparent when she let out a light giggle because of Duke Carson's hush.

She was sure that everything she had seen had happened because of magic. As a normal human of the human race, Venera has never been exposed to magic nor known of its existence until today.

Although Venera was curious, she still stared at the big red moon atop her head with big, round eyes. She still habitually kept silent, like a perfect model of an obedient child.

In just a minute, the vampire nobles stopped chanting in unison, and their bloody hands were retracted from the air. All of them lowered their heads. Only deafening silence filled the hall.

Micah, on the side, stared at Venera intently, only to see her questioning gaze. It was almost as if the words "Is that all there is to it?" were written all over her face. He almost let out a chuckle. Thankfully, he was able to hold on, and only a choked cough filled the hall.

All the vampire nobles crowding around the altar dare not raise their heads, but Caius' midnight black eyes fell on Micah. Just a short glance was enough to advise Micah to keep quiet.

Just when Venera was disappointed because of the lack of action, the vampire nobles once again raised their bloody hands and made some strange movements in the air.

Is something going to happen again?

With that thought, Venera watched those odd gestures attentively.

Caius softly pressed on Venera's little hand.

He didn't know why he decided to protect this little human girl under his wings the first time he saw her. This little human girl's features somehow overlapped a little bit with the girl in his memory, and he felt an odd trace of emotion. Like a little tug on his heartstring.

He tried to think further, but there seemed to be a curtain of thick fog in his mind, and he could not remember the past so clearly anymore. What did he seem to forget?

Caius narrowed his eyes and gently pushed Venera's head to his chest.

What did he seem to miss?

Venera didn't notice Caius' change, and she let out a little struggle from Caius' light hold to look at the interesting-looking gestures of the crowd.

Almost halfway through, they suddenly stopped their actions and formed a line. They slowly walked up the short stairs and stepped toward both Caius and Venera's current positions.

Afraid that the little figure in his arms would be afraid, Caius whispered, "Don't be afraid, I am here," in Venera's ear to make her feel at ease.

Venera let out a soft "um" in response.

"This process will only take a while," Caius added softly.

"Uh-huh," Venera nodded. "I understand."

"Good girl," Caius said, rubbing her soft cheek dotingly.

Venera smiled and covered Caius' big hand that covered her cheek, which helped comfort the vampire king, who looked more anxious than her.

"Don't worry, brother; I won't be afraid. If you are afraid, you can just hide behind me; I will protect you."

Hearing the little girl's words, Caius pursed his lips, trying hard to press down the smile that was about to turn up from the corners of his lips.