EPILOGUE: BAD ENDING.

      Izumi had always been the most important person in Ayato's life from the moment he met her. Giving him a smile, comforting words and a faith in him that no one had ever shown before, it was impossible for the red-haired man not to fall at her feet. Especially when the girl who supported him so unconditionally seemed so pretty to him.

      For this very reason, Ayato always strived to be the best with the prospect that she would also fall in love with him. And now, being chosen and recognized in front of his father only gave him the confirmation he needed. Insecurities were erased, his jealousy of his siblings vanished, and he no longer felt terribly pressured to be perfect. Knowing that his feelings were reciprocated led him to unleash his emotions, soon turning his love into an obsession.

      His persona changed drastically: he became possessive, obsessive and domineering. While Izumi was no stranger to his mania for making it clear to his siblings and everyone else that she was his, it was reaching extremes she could never have imagined. It even got to a point where Izumi saw no one but him: she would wake up with his face by her side, he would help her change and bathe, they would have breakfast together in his room, they would go to school together and, there, she could never get away from him. They already shared most of the classes, but in the exceptional cases when they didn't, Ayato had learned the schedules so that he could be waiting for her as soon as she left to catch up with her at her next class. During breaks it was the same way, side by side and looking like the perfect couple in front of everyone. Once they got back to the mansion, they would proceed to lock themselves in Ayato's room except for their eventual outings when he felt like it.

      It didn't take Izumi long to realize that he wasn't treating her as an equal, but almost like an object or a pet. Or rather, the evidence he needed to prove he was the best.

      "You don't look at me as your girlfriend," she had exploded one day, "You think I'm proof that you're better than your brothers!"

      "And what's wrong with that?" Ayato replied with a frown and gritted teeth, "Clearly that guy recognizes whoever you choose as the true heir, so yes! You're proof that Ore-sama is number one!"

      Izumi shook her head, unable to believe her ears. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, but she continued steadfastly, "Who cares who the heir is? I'm talking about how you treat me, Ayato. You won't let me leave your field of vision as if you're afraid someone's going to steal me from you."

      "That's because-!"

      "I didn't finish speaking," she stated sternly, and the red-haired man reluctantly shut his mouth again, "I chose you, Ayato. I'm not going to leave with any of your brothers or anyone else in this world as long as we're together. You have to trust me."

      Ayato snorted and, when he spoke, he lowered his voice, "It's not that I don't trust you..."

      "You either trust me or you don't," Izumi resumed speaking, "And if you keep acting like this, I'll know it's that you don't."

      After that, everything went back to normal (or, what they considered normal). Ayato and Izumi were no longer glued to each other all the time, but had their space and their own world.

      Too bad that didn't last long.

      Izumi had started calling these problems "accidents." The first was one afternoon when they had been out shopping, she didn't even remember why the argument had started, but soon the words escalated and reached the physical. Ayato had grabbed her by the wrist forcefully, Izumi had hit him and Ayato had hit her back. In a matter of seconds, the vampiress didn't notice when she started running down the street with the intention of getting away from him only to be cornered in a dark alley.

      Pressed against the wall, she had no escape. Ayato's eyes had turned dangerously dark, and the sadistic smile stretched across his face sent a shiver down her spine. Without warning, the redhead bit her hard on the collarbone. Her eyes widened: they had made an agreement that he would no longer drink to prevent him from becoming addicted, but apparently this had been forgotten by him.

      The next day she received a nice red bracelet that matched his. Since then, neither of them had taken them off, and they always intertwined their hands so that the red bands were next to each other. That present managed to cloud the previous event, turning it into a memory of their union.

      However, it wasn't long before another accident happened.

      This time it was at school, and apparently Izumi had asked her teacher too many questions. It didn't help either that the man called her when class was over to recommend a couple of books that talked more about the subject. Much less that the pinkhead looked so happy about it and dragged Ayato to the library to get them all.

      "I didn't think books were that long," she mumbled as she looked up all the books on the list she had jotted down. With a pout, she looked at them in a tall stack, "I'm going to be reading for about a month."

      Ayato slammed the books down on the floor and, without giving the girl time to react, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the shelf. The piece of furniture shook. The murmuring on the other side ceased, and soon the footsteps moving away sounded like a sentence against the vampiress' ears.

      "What the fuck are you doing?" She shrieked.

      "What do you think you're doing?" He scolded, slamming the column behind her and sending a couple of books crashing to the floor, "You tell me to trust you, but you go and flirt with that fourth-rate man in front of my eyes. Have you no shame?"

      "I was just asking questions about the subject! How is that flirting?"

      "Do you think I'm stupid, Izumi?"

      "Right now, yes."

      Ayato looked at her, his face emotionless, "What did you say?" His voice had lowered. Now it was dry and low, dangerous.

      But Izumi did not relent, "I said you're stupid, Ayato. You're acting stupid, you're doing stupid things, so there's no other conclusion than that you're stupid."

      The next thing she felt were his fangs tearing at the skin of her neck. She didn't fight his grip, nor did she move. She was too tired to do so. It didn't take long for the darkness to swallow her whole.

      The next time she opened her eyes, she discovered she was in his room. Her body rested on the comfortable bed, and she barely moved when the red-haired man already reacted, attentive to her. Ayato sat down on one end of the bed, his face in an expression that showed he was sorry for what had happened.

      "Izumi, how are you feeling?"

      "I'm fine now," she replied, but quickly gave him a stern look, "No thanks to you."

      "I'm sorry," he murmured, his head lowered and his tone reflecting his regret, "It's just... I always think you're going to leave me. That you're going to realize I'm far from worthy of you, and you're going to leave with someone who is. When that idea poisons my head, I can't help but get angry and-" He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

      The girl took his hand and, with her thumb stroking his knuckles, the fist softened.

      "You should stop thinking that. I won't leave you," she assured, her eyes connecting with his, "I promise, Ayato. I love you just the way you are, you don't need to compare yourself to anyone else or compete with anyone else. I chose you," she repeated the words she had said many times before.

      "I know, I know but..." His hands slipped into his pocket and then resurfaced with a ring, "I want you to wear this, please? That way, whenever I think you're going to leave me, I can see this ring on your hand and remember that you're not going to leave."

      Izumi nodded slowly, "Does this symbolize that we're together?"

      Ayato denied, "It symbolizes that you are mine, and mine alone."

      The girl pursed her lips. Of course that's what it means. It couldn't be any other way when she was dating him. Then she smiled at him and raised her hand in front of her face, spreading her fingers apart.

      "Could you put it for me?" She asked and, once the vampire did so, she rested her hand on his neck so he could feel the coldness of the ring, "I'm yours, Ayato. Only yours."

      The redhead smiled and threw himself on top of her, making her lie down on the bed, to join their lips in a sweet kiss. This time it wasn't possessive, because it wasn't necessary to show that it was his when they were alone, but it was full of love and affection. A kiss that he could only dedicate to her.

      However, so lost in her moment of happiness and infatuation, Izumi was unable to realize that that ring was not just that. She did not notice the magic it held, much less the spell it had placed on herself.

      And it was thus, with that simple act of empathy for the person she loved, that she had condemned herself.

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      Thanks to the spell, Izumi didn't realize how monopolized she was being by Ayato. She didn't find it strange to be with him every minute of the day, nor that she couldn't even bathe by herself, let alone that the boy always appeared wherever she was. Simply put, Izumi found it all charming. Justifying it all with the fact that they were in love and that's what love is supposed to be like.

      The rest of the siblings noticed, but didn't say anything since the vampiress seemed fine with it so they didn't think they had the place to intervene. Rather, it would be getting into trouble that would be useless, since they would not change anything just by mentioning their opinion when they both seemed to be fine with this arrangement. Regarding the Mukamis, they had long since disappeared from the place and there was no sign that they were going to show up again to bother them.

      In short, everyone thought everything was fine. Even boring, at least according to Laito.

      That's why the triplet decided to sneak into Ayato's room one day while Ayato was making breakfast and lay down next to Izumi while she was still half asleep.

      "Hmm?" The girl murmured as soon as she sensed a new presence, and the scent immediately informed her who it was, "Laito, what are you doing here?"

      "I came to visit you, princess, it's been a while since I've seen you," the brunette purred, leaning sideways with his head resting on his hand.

      Izumi stirred on the mattress and clung to the sheets to cover herself better since she had no clothes on. She made sure to wrap the fabric around her chest, leaving her neck and shoulders bare as she sat on the mattress.

      "Well," she replied, her eyes still squinting from sleep, "You know what I'm having for breakfast?"

      The vampire denied, still sitting down across from her and moving a little closer, "No, Ayato didn't tell me, but he was kind enough to invite me to have breakfast with you. That's why I came."

      The pink-haired girl smiled, "Great! I hope it's pancakes."

      Laito frowned, "Are you feeling well, Izumi?"

      "Yes, why?"

      With suspicion flooding his mind in consequence to her strange behavior, Laito downplayed the matter and moved even closer. Thanks to the light coming through the curtains, he could see the bruises decorating her neck. His index finger slid along her jaw to go down to the beginning of the sheets.

      "My brother has been having a feast with you, hasn't he?"

      The girl's cheeks flared, "Well.... Ayato-sama says my blood is his favorite."

      "Sama?" The brunette repeated in disbelief, "Izumi, seriously, did you hit your head?"

      The girl twisted her head to the side, her face reflecting her confusion as she gave a small pout. Laito was caught off guard by how much she reminded him of the Izumi of ten years ago, it was almost as if she had regressed back to being a child.

      "Laito, I'm fine, I've just told you that," she argued like a child insisting to her parents about something but they wouldn't believe her, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine."

      "Okay, I got it," the vampire mumbled, but the girl kept repeating it over and over again. Tired, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back, standing over her and leaving her with nowhere to escape.

      "What are you doing?" Izumi asked, her eyes big and frightened.

      "It must be his poison," Laito thought aloud. His eyes studied the girl's fearful face and he smiled, it only made him want her more. His fangs glistened in the moonlight, and he leaned close to her ear to whisper, "Don't worry, princess. This is going to feel good."

      Izumi protested, struggling against his grip, but to no avail. If she had already never had more strength than a pureblood vampire, she was now much further from being an equal when she was so weak from the lack of blood in her system.

      Thanks to Ayato's lack of control, Laito managed to pierce the girl's neck with his fangs and tasted the blood he had longed for so long. Izumi shrieked at first, but soon the vampiric poison took effect and a moan escaped from between her lips just as the door opened.

      She barely managed to notice Ayato's unhinged face before she lost consciousness.

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[THREE YEARS LATER]

      The dungeon was dimly lit by the torches, but Izumi's slender figure on the floor was easily identifiable. Chains encircled her ankles and wrists, and her naked body was covered with bruises and bite scars. Motionless, she looked like an old doll abandoned years ago. Already broken and without an owner to care for her.

      Nevertheless, the door opened, just as it did every day.

      The rattling of chains was the only thing heard in the room, and she crawled over to reach Ayato's feet to kiss them. The redhead smiled, enjoying the sight of the girl on her hands and knees desperate to prove her devotion to him. Knowing that she had thrown away her dignity so she could treat him like the king he is was erotic to him.

      Then, his hand came to rest on her head and he stroked her as if she were a pet.

      Izumi looked at him and smiled, happy with just that.

      "Tell me, Zu, are you still faithful to me?" He asked, to which the girl nodded effusively, "Are you still devoted to me? Obedient?"

      With each question, the girl nodded. This was her routine.

      "Do you still love me?"

      "I will always love you, Ayato-sama," she finally spoke. Her voice was low, coarse, but to Ayato, it was music, "You are the best, and I will always remain faithful, devoted and obedient to you. That is why I chose you."

      Ayato smiled approvingly, and gave her an extra head caress that left the girl ecstatic.

      "That's my girl. Very good."