Prologue

It was a cold, stormy night. The heavy downpour drowned out the melancholy that plagued the vampire settlement. All across the land, vampires took shelter, avoiding the rain. It was during times like this that other creatures of the night could emerge from hiding and frolic in the open, unafraid of being hunted down by the apex predators.

Nestled in the middle of the settlement, surrounded by four large walls and a singular entrance heavily guarded by the elite vampire knights was the royal castle. Despite the rain, they stood firm and did their duty of protecting the royal family, plus, the rain never really affected vampires anyway.

Within the castle's walls, in one of the champers, there layed the emperor of the vampires, Julius Darkhaven, bedridden due to a dreadful ailment.

Though weak, he remained awake, his red eyes staring at the high ceiling, thoughts of his life and his duties as king playing in his mind in an endless loop. The feeling of death would creep into his mind like a lizard up a wall, though he remained unafraid even when faced with the possibilities of his life drawing to a close.

In the midst of his thoughts, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said weakly, and the next moment, the door was pushed open, and stepping in was a young vampire with short black hair parted to the side dressed in fine black fitted attire with golden trims pushing a cart carrying medicine.

"It's time to take your medicine, brother," Kael said with a concerned look, stopping the cart right beside the bed.

"Ahh yes. You always take good care of me, Kael," Julius said with a weak smile. "It's a shame father never saw the kindness you have in your heart."

Kael's eyebrows twitched at his brother's words.

"Well, it can't be helped," he mixed the medicine in a glass cup and brought it to his brother to drink.

"If...I don't make it, I believe that there is no one better to be king, than you, Kael," Julius said before drinking the medicine.

"Don't say such nonsense brother, you will live to see old age," Kael replied.

Julius let out a light chuckle once he had finished drinking the medicine.

"I...can feel that my time is almost up. Look at me, I have no wife, no children. My lineage ends with me. But you, you have everything I wish I could have sustained in my life. Moreover, you have the mindset needed to lead our people. You have everything you need to take my place when I'm gone," Julius felt the little strength he had begin to vanish, as the last embers of a flame would after burning for a while.

He raised his right hand up slightly and placed it over his brother's, the smile on his face remaining.

"Please, look after everyone, Kael..." His voice trailed off at the end as his last bit of strength vanished, leaving nothing but a corpse in it's wake.

Kael looked down at his brother's hand on his. He could see the effects of the sickness had caused his skin to dry up like an old man's despite him still being far younger than that.

His gaze then shifted to his brother's face, and the rapid aging could be seen all over his expression. The medicine he had been given for over a year was believed to revert the effects of the mysterious illness that had befallen him. However, it was apparent that they were ineffective in helping the king.

After gazing at his brother's state for a while, Kael got up from the chair placed beside the bed and stepped out of the room. Now that the king was dead, something had to be done. Someone needed to step up.

An emergency meeting was scheduled with the royal council, and upon hearing the news from the messengers, every member made an appearance within an hour that the message was sent out.

An official announcement had yet to be made to the general public, as the matter of the prince's coronation still had to be settled.

In the grand meeting room within the castle, all twenty representatives of the twenty noble families were assembled. The atmosphere was filled with chatter regarding the king's passing, as well as the fact that Kael would have to become the next emperor of the vampires.

"Would it really be a wise decision to let him ascend to the throne? Do not get me mistaken, although he is Ryker's son, I believe he doesn't have what it takes to be king," one of the representatives said. She was a woman who looked to be in her mid thirties with long black hair wearing a long flowing dark blue dress with red flower designs all over while carrying a feathered hand fan. Her name was Suzan Mayuri

"And why would you say that? In what way does he not embody Ryker's beliefs? Or are you just trying to say that he isn't as softhearted as Julius?" Another one of the representatives said. His name was Graham Zeng. He was a man who appeared to be in his mid fifties wearing a tailored suit and a black hat that covered his curly black and grey hair.

"Whatever the case may be, we should all look towards the future and accept the coronation of Kael Darkhaven as the next emperor. All this bickering is pointless since he is Ryker's only living son that can ascend to the throne," another representative said. He appeared to be the youngest of them all, looking to be in his mid twenties with messy black hair. He also wore an oversized white garment that went all the way to his feet and a black and white stripped hat. His name was Marcus Aurelio

The other representatives nodded in agreement, though many simply agreed out of reluctance. This was the first instance in vampire history where there was only a single heir to the throne from the previous emperor, and usually, the council would have to select the royal they believed was best suited to be king, but in this case, they didn't have the luxury of choosing.

In the midst of their discussions, the large double doors leading to the large chamber were swung open, and stepping in was none other than the man of the hour, Kael Darkhaven.

He walked into the room with calm steps as he approached the wide round table where all the representatives were currently seated and took his place at the largest seat at the table.

"I believe you are all aware of why you have been summoned," Kael started off. "The king has passed away, and the settlement needs someone to step up. I understand that many of you seated here today may not have the best impressions of me, and I can understand why, but this settlement, the people who live here need someone who can lead them like how my father and my brother did. I want to be the person that they need, the person that my family want me to be.

"So please, I hope you all will support me on my jouney to becoming that person," Kael finished his speech.

Everyone present remained silent for a while before someone finally said something.

"At the end of the day, it's not like we have a choice. You are the only one who can become king in this situation, so we will simply have to support you," Marcus said, and just like before, the others nodded in agreement.

And with that, preparations for his coronation were made, and within twenty-four hours, the vampire settlement had a new emperor.

The public announcement of Julius' death was made as well, and the vampires felt great sorrow for his passing, but they knew they had to remain strong and believe that Kael would be a proper king.

News of everything had spread like wildfire all across the settlement, and in a small house located near the outskirts, a fairly old-looking man was reading a newspaper relaying information on current events.

"Looks like things are about to get serious around here," he said with a look of concern on his face as he read the news article. "I understand that they didn't have a choice, but isn't he going to go against the former king's will?" He asked himself. His name was Kennedy Stormwing, a vampire on the lower end of the social and economic hierarchy living with his adopted son, Ezeikel Stormwing.

In the midst of his thoughts, he heard a loud bang go off in another room, and he immediately tossed his newspaper aside and rushed to see what was going on.

He pushed the door open and saw that the entire room was a mess. There were scratch marks everywhere and the room was turned upsidedown with pots, pans, and other cooking utensils sprawled all across the floor.

"Ezeikel! Who asked you to enter the kitchen? Look at this mess! You better clean this mess before I get back!" Kennedy yelled, slamming the door behind him on his way out.

"Raising this kid is such a pain," he muttered under his breath as he sat back on his chair in his room and continued reading the newspaper.