In the morning she was summoned by the vampire king and forced to wear a red dress.

At that moment she prostrated herself before him, having lost all hope of a peaceful outcome. Not that she ever valued her life highly, but she was sad that she could not return to her family afterward. Life was so cruel...

"So confess already," the subordinate instructed again as the black-haired female glared up "I didn't do anything to deserve this treatment! I didn't do it!" Rose yelled furiously and flipped her hand to the side. Rose was aware that death awaited her later anyway. So why not die with some dignity?

"How dare you contradict me ..." he was interrupted by a calm but intimidating voice.

"You can all leave. I'll take care of her." the blond vampire declared as they obeyed.

'Great, now I've got the most powerful male in vampire society annoyed with me. It couldn't have come out better.' she rose to her feet in her beautiful red dress, wondering if this was part of some fetish he had. 'Dressing the food, because the dish had to be pleasing to the eye as well, huh' she sighed and looked into his dark red eyes.

Without saying a word, he pulled her onto the sofa and was now laying over her. Rose's face remained expressionless. She debated whether she should flee or not.... she could do it... most likely. No matter how powerful he might be...

"Not afraid?" he asked, which caught her a bit off guard, but she just sighed and answered.

"Isn't death the salvation in our broken world? An end to all the suffering?" she responded with an unfaltering expression, as he gave a slight smile as he leaned down. 'That was it. To die while having your blood sucked out. Just a few years ago, the vampire weebs would have murdered for this, and now look at me. Haha, goodbye again for this time. What a way to go...' she closed her eyes as he licked her neck before inserting his fangs into her flesh.

At first, she felt a little pain, but soon the aphrodisiac injected with each vampire bite began to take effect. It was supposed to keep the prey still and make feeding easier.

The more he sucked, the better it felt, she began to groan faintly. She was starting to feel light-headed when he abruptly stopped. Urd licked over the wound, sat down, and looked at her irritated face.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" she demanded to know in the quiet voice that lingered in her weakened body.

"Huh? When did I say I was going to kill you?" her eyes widened in surprise as he continued to gaze at her.

'What the hell!!! Do you think this is funny...? Well, you probably can't even feel that kind of emotion... But still, what the hell!!!' she tried to calm down.

"Wait... aren't you convinced that I destroyed the opera?" she tried to ask cautiously. There was a brief moment of complete silence before he resumed.

"To be honest, no. I saw you sing yesterday and also when you played the instruments alone from time to time. The way you handled them told me it wasn't you," he explained seriously as he continued to stare at her.

Rose was both glad and sad to hear this, but unsure if she should really believe him. "Then why did you call me here and feed on my blood?" she asked in a casual but suspicious manner.

'Come on, spit it out, Lord King!

"First, I want to find the true culprit and punish them. An assault like this is, in other words, directed at me; such insolence must be atoned for. Secondly, I am a vampire - do I need a motive to suck blood? Before you misunderstand again, I will tell you the real reason you are here," she began to find great interest in what he was about to say.

"I want to personally invite you to the first class. Your family may come with you, of course. You will have the opportunity to create a new form of musical entertainment. How does it sound? ", he offered earnestly.

"I..." It was all she could ever ask for, so she had no hesitation, "Yes! I will gladly accept your kind offer!" she attempted to bow, but was too weak as he held her back from doing so.

"You need not concern yourself with such formalities at the moment. Rest, but first, tell me who you think would try to frame you and your family," she already knew who it was. It was too obvious. The rival house from yesterday, she told him who it most likely was.

"Alright," he rose to his feet, "Don't worry, no one will enter this room without my permission, so get some rest," and walked out.

"Yes," she closed her eyes and actually fell asleep. It had been a long time since she had entered the land of dreams.

Something began to blossom inside her.

Hope.

-Chapter 2 END-

Next Chapter: Reality