PROLOGUE

[ENTRIES 139]

[DATE: UNKNOWN] [DAY: UNKNOWN] [PLACE: VAMPIRE CITY, VALENTINE]

"I love you." The sweet voice comes from the woman standing on the bell tower. Her long straight black hair flows as the winds hit her. She is looking at the bleeding man on her feet.

Her crimson eyes stared at the blood that dripped through the man's heart. The blood on her hand was from the hunters attempting to kill her. Even so, she never expected to meet him here. She is the crown-the one who lives in immortality as she devours others.

She is the heinous creature who takes away human happiness. That is why she prays to God to let her leave happiness for this man. Telling him to resent her, but he offers his life for her.

"I know." He answers the statement with a smile as it tells her that he is happy. As if telling her everything is part of his happiness. His blue eyes stared at the woman. He laughs at their destiny.

"You know I'm going to kill you, yet you didn't dodge, are you stupid?" That man can dodge her daggers but accepts them like a gift. Just like her mother tells her before, love can change people. This foolish man will drink a poison cup happily if she is the one who gives it to him.

"Maybe I am." Holding out the blood from coughing out, he smiles and laughs happily. Looking at his lifeless comrade, instead of resentment, he felt grateful. This woman is now free. He is a fool that will sacrifice his entire soul for this woman.

"How foolish. We fall in love with each other despite our duty." The woman laughs with sadness as she falls to her knees. She doesn't know that she can shed tears. She thought she abandoned that side a long time ago. She smiles gently with tears-filled eyes as she caresses the man's cheeks.

"Duty? More like a shackle that suffocates us." He lets go of the silver gun in his right hand to reach the woman's touch. Despite its coldness, he can feel the warmth behind those beautiful eyes. Warmth blooms within his chest.

"I love you." The woman keeps repeating the words over and over again. She's telling him how much she loves him. They both know the heavy price of his beating heart for this woman. The cost of their love is despair. One shall live with immortality, while the other will live a short life. This is the fate that was written for them.

"I know." The man laughs until fear flashes in his eyes. The woman's tears turn into black blood. The man was aware of what the woman wanted to do. He holds her hands with the remaining willpower to stop that woman from uttering the spell. The woman's right-hand stays on his neck. Her forefinger stabs through his arteries as he struggles to breathe.

"That's why I hope you're the one who will live." The woman coughs out black blood as the man tries to break free. He is trying to understand her words. He can't accept this.

"Marianna, what in the world are you talking about?" He is hugging the woman. Acting like he doesn't understand, laughing and thinking it is an illusion, he struggles to get away from the woman's hands.

"..." Marianna smiles and laughs again. She accepts the embrace of the man. She lived long enough. She can leave the new world for this man. A man with pitch-black eyes approaches the couple. He wore a long trench coat with a black fedora. While holding his ash wood cane, he greets the woman with emotionless eyes.

"Astell, what is the contract that you wish to establish?"

"Marianna! Don't you dare!" Hearing the man's words, Dion struggled harder. She holds the man's coat and cries slowly.

"I love him, Andreas. I offer you my eternal soul for a change of heart." The man named Andreas tilts his fedora. He reaches out for her head as he intonates a spell. Andreas is a demon of exchange. For a new life, for a man whom she loved dearly, she wished for his eternal happiness.

"Marianna! Stop it! Do you think I can live without you? Do you think I will be happy with this?" Dion tries to break the contract. He struggles until the body of the woman turns to ashes. Holding her, he cries. How can she do this to him? She is the only person who looks at him properly. She is the one he shared his freedoms with, so why?

Why must she pay for his sin?

Why did she have to die?

Why can't it be him?

"I don't know. Compared to me, you need it more, right? From now onwards, the continents belong to you, humans." Marianna is a vampire. She was born from the ashes of human greed and wars. She is a monster that drained a living being's lifespan. She knew it from the moment she opened her eyes. Her duty and obligation are to become a ruler. Cold, calm, and calculating.

It was he who taught her the warmth of a companion. There is no reason for him to die. He has families, companions, and a fiance, a human. She knows he loves her, but she is being selfish. As long as this man is a vampire, no one can possess him. This man should be hers. This is her last gift, the last shackle she gives to him.

The smoke reached the sky. The town was filled with hunters with silver daggers. The vampires have fallen. The smell of vampire ashes filled his throat. One of the Greatest wars in human history ended with the death of the Vampire Queen, Marianna Hastia Valentine.

*****

[ENTRIES 457]

[DATE: UNKNOWN] [DAY: UNKNOWN] [PLACE: HUMAN CITY, XANDRA]

"Fate is cruel, right? Well, I think I deserved it. For everything that you gave me, I shall return it today." Standing on the bell tower, Dion smiled. He tries to reach the woman whom he loves. He pledges to let her go, but he can't. He's a greedy person.

"You! It was your existence that brought harm to humanity!" The girl screams as she runs towards the man. She held the silver gun and pointed it at the man's chest. Despite her screams and curses, Dion can see them.

The tears fall from her cheeks as she keeps chanting his name. She kept apologizing despite the happy expression the moment he pulled the trigger. Just like her, Dion laughs sadly and tries to stand straight. His mind is blurring. Everything around him looks hazy.

With the last willpower he has, he hugs the woman. After a thousand years of waiting, he will finally die at the hand of a woman he loves. " I love you, Marianna. Forever."

*****

[ENTRIES ???]

[DATE: UNKNOWN] [DAY: UNKNOWN] [PLACE: UNKNOWN]

"Are you going to rewrite their story again, Uvlios? Are you challenging The Order of The World?" A woman with blond hair is holding the man's arm. She looks dumbfounded as she realizes the man's true intention.

"Dosdite, I can't let their stories end with sad endings, you know?" Pushing away her hand slowly, Uvlios keep walking into the archive.

"Are you going to stand in her way of revenge?" As she tries to plead with him, Dosdite reminds him of the horrible memories.

"Revenge. Odis still loves my brother. But my brother was in love with a human being. He ends up accepting his punishment and becomes a human himself. That's why she cursed their destiny. Now, she's gone. I can still fix their fate."

Odis has used all her divinity to interfere with Evenar's fate with that human. Now, he can rearrange it—a new future for his fallen brother and his lover.

"By using your soul fragments, you will disappear, Uvlios." Dosdite finally gives up as she realizes the determination of this man.

"I have lived long enough. Look after them, Dosdite." smiling without worry, he walks into the bookshelf and reaches out the black book. A blinding light covers the entire archives as Uvlios disappears and turns into a particle of light.

"I will." Picking up the black book, Dosdite glances toward the starry night sky. She promises to give the child a happy ending.