Chapter 1

I was the only human at the vampire banquet, and the fiancée of the Prince's heir, Lucien.

As a child, I once saved Lucien from vampire hunters, and the Prince and his wife chose me for him, sealing our engagement.

Everyone envied me. I was merely the daughter of a human nobleman, yet I had the fortune to marry above my station into the Prince's family.

To be worthy of him, I worked to make everything perfect.

But among vampires, I always seemed slow and clumsy.

They moved faster than me, heard far more than I could, and even the simplest vampire customs took me longer to memorize.

Every time I reacted a step too slow, Lucien would remind me with a frown.

"How are you ever going to be a proper wife like this?"

He always said that compared to the girl he grew up with, his former fiancée, I still fell far short.

Every single time, I was laughed at without mercy.

Lucien would never let anyone hurt me, but he never once defended my dignity.

Eventually, I broke off the engagement and decided to marry someone else.

Lucien's face darkened. "You're really going to marry this human?"

"Yes. Because he has never once called me stupid."

Lucien scoffed. "That's your reason?"

I nodded.

"That's my reason."

Chapter 1

Evelyn's POV

I was the only human at the vampire banquet, and the fiancée of the Prince's heir, Lucien.

Everyone said the greatest fortune of my life was saving him when I was a child.

That year, Lucien had been chased by vampire hunters to the edge of human territory.

I didn't know who he really was. All I saw was a blood-covered boy collapsed in the woods, with the sound of hunters' footsteps closing in behind him.

I hid him in an abandoned wine cellar and deliberately pointed the hunters in the wrong direction, leading them away.

Later, the Prince and his wife came to our home in person.

They thanked me for saving their son, and because Lucien had refused to let anyone but me near him during his recovery, they decided to cancel his existing engagement to Selene and chose me as their future daughter-in-law.

I was too young then to understand what an engagement to the Prince's heir truly meant.

All I knew was that Lucien depended on me completely.

He told me that whenever I wasn't there, he had nightmares.

He told me we were destined to be together forever.

Lucien was too young then to grasp the weight of that promise.

And I was still too young to know that such words should never be believed so easily.

From then on, I spent most of each year living in vampire territory, learning their customs, accompanying Lucien to banquets, preparing to become his wife.

Only for a brief stretch each year could I return to the human world, spend time with my parents, and do what I loved.

With just one month left before our formal engagement, I accompanied Lucien to yet another ball.

The ballroom was filled with vampires.

They spoke in barely audible voices and moved so quickly they were almost impossible to follow. One moment they stood by the long table; the next, they had appeared at the far end of the dance floor.

I had practiced for a long time for tonight.

At human balls, I never missed a step.

But the vampire dance was too fast, with almost no pause between turns and position changes.

I had to memorize every step while constantly watching for anyone suddenly closing in.

Lucien's hand rested at my waist.

"Stay with me."

I nodded, doing my best to match his movements.

The first half went smoothly.

When the music suddenly quickened, I was a beat late on a turn.

Lucien had already stepped back half a pace, but I failed to follow in time.

A vampire happened to be cutting swiftly across the dance floor behind me. I couldn't hear his footsteps.

By the time I felt the rush of air, it was too late to dodge.

A hand seized my waist.

Lucien pulled me into his arms and swept us off the dance floor.

The vampire brushed past without even realizing he had nearly collided with someone.

My heart was pounding, and my fingers instinctively clutched the front of Lucien's shirt.

He looked down to check my arms, confirming I wasn't hurt, but his expression didn't soften.

"How long have you been learning this dance?"

I slowly let go.

"I just didn't hear the person behind me."

"That's exactly why I told you to check before you turn."

His frown deepened.

"Why are you always so slow to react?"

People at the edge of the dance floor were already looking our way.

Lucien didn't stay. He took my hand and led me through the crowd to the quieter terrace.

The night breeze washed over me, but the heat and shame on my face refused to fade.

"I'm sorry."

I spoke first, as I always did.

"I'll practice more."

Lucien glanced at me.

"The engagement is one month away. You can't keep waiting for me to remind you."

"I know."

"You say that every time, and you still make the same mistake."

His tone wasn't harsh, yet it kept me from lifting my head.

I had practiced for two solid weeks.

My ankles were blistered from all the turning, and that very morning, my maid had re-wrapped the bandages before I left.

But I couldn't tell him that.

It would only make me seem more pathetic.

A dance that any vampire could master after a few attempts had taken me half a month, and I still couldn't get it right.

"Lucien."

Selene's voice came from behind us.

She had left the dance floor with a glass of wine in hand, looking as composed as if that impossibly fast dance had been nothing more than an ordinary stroll.

She and Lucien had grown up together.

Before I came along, everyone assumed she would be the one to marry into the Prince's family.

When she first learned the engagement had been changed, Selene didn't take kindly to me.

She once deliberately sped up her speech in front of me, and she had told me the wrong customs so I would embarrass myself in public.

Eventually, she must have realized I wasn't even worth seeing as a rival.

The hostility faded, replaced by a lofty sort of pity.

"Don't be so hard on her."

Selene walked up to us and glanced down at my feet.

"Evelyn is human, after all. She can't hear footsteps from that distance, and she'll never have a vampire's reflexes."

She seemed to be speaking on my behalf.

But my face burned even hotter.

After Selene's words, Lucien's expression eased slightly.

"That's precisely why she needs to be more careful."

"She's already trying her best."

Selene smiled.

"Though this kind of dance really is too difficult for a human. When we learned it together, even I needed two tries to memorize it completely."

Two tries.

I lowered my eyes to my feet, hidden beneath the hem of my gown.

Lucien didn't notice my silence. He turned to Selene and said, "If you have time, teach her again. You know better than I do where she's likely to stumble."

Selene nodded.

"Of course."

She turned to me, her voice gentle.

"You don't need to be so nervous. Even if you can't learn it now, it won't matter. Once you marry Lucien and you're turned, all of these problems will disappear on their own."

Lucien squeezed my hand.

"She's right."

"You don't need to rush to learn everything."

"Just stay by my side this next month and stop causing trouble for yourself."

His palm was ice-cold, yet he held my hand firmly.

From anyone else's perspective, he was still the devoted fiancé who would do anything to protect me.

When I nearly got knocked over, he was the one who immediately pulled me close.

When I couldn't keep up with the vampire dance, he was willing to have Selene teach me herself.

Everyone would envy how well the Prince's heir looked after me.

But all I heard was that same underlying message.

Nothing I did now mattered.

I just had to wait. Wait to marry him, wait to be turned, wait for this slow, clumsy human to disappear entirely. Then everything would be fine.

I looked up and gave Lucien the same smile I always wore.

"Okay."

He took my hand, satisfied, and led me back to the ballroom.

Along the way, he deliberately slowed his pace.

Even so, I still had to walk faster just to barely keep up with him.

Selene walked on his other side, discussing the Prince's political affairs with him.

They didn't need to pause or explain. They understood each other effortlessly.

I followed quietly beside them, and my mind drifted to the Lucien who had hidden in that wine cellar all those years ago.

Back then, he was the injured one, and I had slowed my steps to stay with him.

Now I was the one who couldn't keep up, and all he thought was that I was stupid.

Chapter 2

Evelyn's POV

With twenty-seven days left until the engagement, several vampire noblewomen invited me to help prepare a banquet.

This event wasn't hosted by the Prince's family. It was simply a gathering organized by a few aristocratic ladies.

They knew I had studied painting in the human world, and they proposed turning the banquet hall entrance into a gallery, asking me to create a series of new works for them.

One of the ladies held my hand and smiled warmly.

"The Princess always says you're so clever and capable. We'd love to see human art for ourselves."

I agreed almost immediately.

Since coming to vampire territory, I rarely had the chance to paint.

All anyone cared about was whether I had memorized the customs, whether I could keep up with Lucien, whether I could become a worthy wife to the Prince's heir.

Painting was the one thing I was truly good at.

I also hoped Lucien would see that even without a vampire's sharp hearing and speed, I wasn't entirely useless.

At first, the noblewomen only asked for six paintings.

I spent half a month painting the themes they had chosen. Just as the first batch was nearing completion, they suddenly changed their minds.

"The banquet hall has been redecorated. The original colors don't quite match."

I had no choice but to redo the palette.

A few days later, they decided six paintings weren't enough to fill the entire wall and asked me to increase it to ten.

I agreed.

As the banquet drew near, they said two of the paintings were too small and wanted me to paint them over from scratch.

On top of that, they had me revise the patterns on the invitations, select the flowers for the banquet, and even handed me several undecided seating charts to organize for them.

Each time I showed the slightest sign of exhaustion, they would smile and say, "You're going to be the Prince's heir's wife. Surely this isn't too much for you."

I didn't dare refuse.

I had already given too many people reason to question whether the Prince and Princess had chosen the wrong daughter-in-law.

If I couldn't even handle my one true talent, Lucien would only see me as more useless.

During that stretch, I painted until late into the night every day.

During the day, I still had to attend etiquette lessons and accompany Lucien to necessary functions.

Only after everyone else left could I return to the studio and continue the works that kept being changed.

My fingers trembled from holding the brush for too long, and my eyes ached constantly.

My maid urged me to take a night off, but I looked at the unfinished paintings on the wall and shook my head.

"The banquet is about to start."

"But they've already made you change things so many times."

"Maybe this will be the last time."

I knew I was pushing myself too hard.

But I was even more afraid of Lucien finding out that I couldn't handle even this.

He had told me before that I was always too foolish to see through people's real intentions.

I didn't want to hear those words again.

The night before the banquet, I finally finished every piece.

The noblewomen sent people to collect the paintings in the middle of the night, and even pressured me to hand over the last one that hadn't fully dried.

I looked at the empty studio and, for the first time, felt that perhaps I had actually accomplished something.

The next day, I arrived at the banquet hall early.

Walking through the front doors, I had already planned how I would introduce each piece to Lucien.

But the walls of the hall displayed only the original collections belonging to those aristocratic families.

Not a single one of the paintings I had spent a month creating was there.

I stood in the doorway, thinking I must have walked into the wrong place.

Several of the ladies in charge of the banquet were sitting inside, drinking. They saw me, gave a casual nod, and went back to discussing the evening's guests.

I walked over and asked quietly, "Excuse me, where were the paintings I sent over placed?"

One of the ladies paused, then laughed.

"Those paintings."

She raised a hand and pointed toward the end of the corridor.

"We decided in the end that human artwork didn't quite fit in here, so we put them away."

"But you had me finish the last one just last night."

"Plans change."

She picked up her glass, her tone light.

"You'd already finished them. We couldn't exactly tell you on the last day that they wouldn't be used. That would've been such a waste of your effort."

The others laughed.

That was when I finally understood.

They had decided long ago not to use the paintings, yet they still made me stay up all night finishing every last one.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"

My voice came out tight.

The lady's smile faded slightly.

"Miss Evelyn, you were just helping out."

"Surely you don't expect us to explain how we choose to arrange our own banquet?"

Another woman looked at me and added lazily, "Besides, getting early exposure to how vampire noblewomen prepare a banquet is a rare learning opportunity. Most people don't get that kind of chance."

I stood there, unable to form a single word of protest.

This banquet had nothing to do with the Prince's family.

I was merely Lucien's not-yet-official fiancée. I had no standing to demand they use my work.

If I lost my temper here, the story that would spread would be of a human throwing her weight around with vampire noblewomen because of her connection to the Prince's family.

The only one who would lose face in the end was Lucien.

All I could do was answer quietly, "I understand."

After the banquet began, I stayed at Lucien's side.

The noblewomen wore exquisite gowns, chatting with guests as if the past month of dumping every task onto me had never happened.

I noticed the door to the corridor hadn't been closed all the way.

Several canvases were propped carelessly against the wall, one corner already smudged with dust.

I looked away and didn't look again.

Lucien noticed my silence quickly.

"What's wrong with you tonight?"

"Nothing."

"You haven't said a single word since we arrived."

"I'm just a little tired."

Lucien studied me for a moment, then led me directly to a quiet sitting room off to the side.

After the door closed, he tilted my chin up.

"You're going to be my wife."

"If something has upset you, there's nothing you can't tell me."

I looked at his face, and my eyes suddenly stung with heat.

For the entire month, I had been looking forward to the moment he would see those paintings at the banquet.

After all I had endured, all I truly wanted was for Lucien to acknowledge me, just once. To see him smile at me.

I wanted him to know that I had something I was good at, something that could make me shine.

I had been ready to swallow all of it. But he was being so attentive, so caring.

Looking at his handsome face, that slight furrow of concern between his brows, I suddenly couldn't keep it in.

I told him everything.

How they changed their demands again and again. How they pushed me to hand over the last painting the night before. How today, not a single piece had been displayed.

As Lucien listened, his expression grew colder and colder.

"Over something like this?"

I froze.

"They tricked me on purpose."

"The daughter of that family was once a candidate for my fiancée, too."

He frowned at me.

"They suddenly invite you to help, and you didn't suspect a thing?"

I had no answer.

Lucien let out a cold, derisive laugh.

"Evelyn, how can you be this stupid?"

"They played you for a fool, got a month of free labor out of you, and you actually thought they admired your paintings."

The color drained from my face.

"I just wanted to help."

"And what did it get you?"

He cut me off.

"Everything you did was for nothing."

"You're going to be my wife, and you let a few noblewomen push you around. Demeaning yourself like that doesn't just make you look bad. It makes me look bad."

I stood before him for a long time without speaking.

I had thought he noticed my sadness because he cared that I'd been hurt.

But what he cared about was still the same thing. That I was too stupid. That I had embarrassed him.

I looked at Lucien's face. I couldn't even cry. I just felt a crushing weight on my chest, like I couldn't breathe.

Those noblewomen would never stand up for me.

Neither would Lucien.

In this place, no one would ever be on my side.

Because I was just a useless human who couldn't hear what they could hear and couldn't keep up with their pace.

Lucien must have realized his tone was too harsh. He reached out and gripped my shoulders.

"Don't do anything like that again."

"After we're married and I turn you, your senses and judgment will sharpen."

"Then you won't be so easily taken advantage of."

He comforted me with the same words he had said countless times before.

But for the first time, the thought of that future turning filled me with fear.

All these years, he had always said that once I became a vampire, everything would be better.

But it seemed he had never liked who I was now.

I looked at him, and a question rose to my lips. What if the turning failed? What if I was destined to stay exactly as I was, nothing more than a human?

Would he still choose to marry me?

Had he ever truly liked me at all, all these years? Did he regret being saved by a mere human like me?

The words were right there, but I didn't have the courage to say them.

I was afraid of his answer.

And I was afraid that once I finally heard the truth, I would no longer be able to stay by his side.

Chapter 3

Evelyn's POV

Seventeen days until the engagement.

After that banquet, I packed all my painting supplies into a cabinet.

Lucien asked me once why I had stopped painting.

I told him the engagement was approaching and I didn't have time.

He didn't press further.

After that day, I spoke up less and less.

Before, when I dined with Lucien, I would tell him amusing stories from the human world or talk about what I wanted to paint next.

Now, before I opened my mouth, I would rehearse every sentence in my head, making sure I wouldn't sound foolish or say anything that would irritate him.

More often than not, by the time I found an opening, Selene had already moved him on to the next topic.

They had grown up together, familiar with each other's habits, well-versed in every relationship between the vampire families.

This was supposed to be my wedding with Lucien, yet nearly every decision was made between him and Selene.

They spoke quickly, never needing to stop and explain.

I would often still be processing the previous sentence when they had already jumped to something else entirely.

Sometimes Lucien would notice I hadn't made a sound and ask offhandedly, "Couldn't keep up again?"

Eventually, he stopped asking altogether.

The Princess asked us to discuss the engagement banquet arrangements together.

I had prepared many ideas in advance, but I sat there in awkward silence for a long time, never finding the right moment to speak.

Lucien and Selene first settled on the guest list, then began arranging the seating.

By the time the seating chart reached me, it took me a while to find my parents' names.

They had been placed in the farthest corner of the banquet hall, far from the Prince and Princess, surrounded by lower-ranking distant relatives and attendants.

I assumed the person in charge of the chart had made a mistake.

"Are my parents' seats wrong?"

Lucien glanced up.

"No."

"But they're my parents."

"I know."

He looked back down at the list in his hand.

I held the seating chart, my voice dropping involuntarily.

"On the day of the engagement, I'd like them to sit closer to me."

The room went quiet for a moment.

Lucien finally looked up at me.

"Seating at a vampire banquet is arranged by status."

"They're nobility in the human world."

"That's the human world."

His tone was matter-of-fact, as though this wasn't even worth discussing.

"Everyone attending will be from vampire families. Allowing them into the main hall at all is already more than generous."

I thought for a long time before I gathered the courage to say, "But this is my engagement banquet, too."

Lucien frowned.

"Evelyn, don't be unreasonable about this."

"I just want them to sit where I can see them."

Selene, seated nearby, spoke up gently.

"Your parents won't mind."

"Being able to watch their daughter marry into the Blackwood family with their own eyes should already make them very happy."

She paused, her gaze settling on my face with her usual gentle pity.

"A human life is so short. Attending the Prince's heir's engagement is a rare honor for them."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

If I kept pushing, I would look ungrateful and difficult.

When Lucien saw I had gone quiet, he let the matter drop.

The next topic was my engagement gown.

I had originally chosen a light-colored dress.

The cut was simple, the hem didn't trail too long, and the waist had minimal embellishment.

It was the kind of dress human noblewomen typically wore for engagements, and my mother had picked it out for me.

Lucien took one look at the sketch.

"It looks cheap."

My fingers tightened.

"Mother said this one suits me."

"You're getting engaged to the Prince's heir."

He set the sketch aside.

"Wearing something like this will only make people think the Blackwood family couldn't even provide you with a proper gown."

"But I love it."

This was the second time today I had voiced my own opinion, the second time I had mustered the courage to speak up.

Lucien already seemed impatient.

"All you've ever been exposed to are human noble gowns. You don't understand what this kind of occasion requires."

He looked at Selene.

"You choose for her."

Selene quickly selected a dark gown from the sketches that had been sent over.

The collar was high, the skirt heavy, covered in gemstones that symbolized vampire status.

After my maid helped me put it on, I could barely walk naturally.

I stood before Lucien and said quietly, "This one is too heavy."

He looked me up and down.

"On the day of the engagement, all you need to do is stand beside me."

"But I can barely walk."

Selene came up behind me and adjusted the high collar.

"It's perfectly normal to feel uncomfortable wearing a gown like this for the first time."

Her movements were gentle, her tone patient.

"Human tastes tend to be simple. Once you've been at Lucien's side long enough, you'll come to understand what suits a princess."

Lucien looked at the gown and finally showed a satisfied expression.

"You always know best about these things."

Then he turned to me and said, "From now on, ask Selene first before making these kinds of decisions on your own."

I stood there, the heavy skirt pressing down on my feet, the bodice squeezing the air from my lungs.

This was my engagement banquet.

My parents couldn't sit beside me, and I couldn't even wear what I wanted.

But Lucien and Selene had already moved on to discussing the decorations, and neither of them asked me another word.

I listened as they quickly settled on the colors, the music, and the schedule, and it suddenly struck me that nothing about that engagement banquet belonged to me.

I wanted to go back to my room, but I was afraid that leaving would make me seem inconsiderate.

So I just stood there.

They discussed for a long time.

Several times I almost spoke up, and each time I swallowed the words.

When they were nearly finished, I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"At least let my parents change seats."

Lucien didn't answer.

He was looking at another list Selene had handed him.

I thought he hadn't heard me, so I said it again.

"Lucien, please. I just want them closer to me."

He finally turned his head.

"This has already been decided."

"Don't bring it up again."

With that, he went back to confirming other guests' seats with Selene.

Selene picked up the conversation seamlessly.

As they talked, they sat close together without even noticing, completely unaware that I had been shut out. They moved on to the next matter almost immediately.

My objection hadn't sparked a fight. It hadn't changed anyone's mind.

It was simply set aside.

Along with me.

I returned to my room alone and asked my maid to help me out of the gown.

She saw the redness in my eyes and asked carefully, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?"

I shook my head.

"The gown is heavy. I'm a bit tired."

I said nothing more.

Even if I did, who would think I had been wronged?

Here, everyone believed it was perfectly natural for my parents to sit in the corner. Everyone believed I had no right to decide what I wore.

All I had to do was stand quietly beside Lucien on the day of the engagement.

That evening, my mother sent a letter.

She said Father had already prepared his outfit for the engagement banquet, and he was worried about whether his unfamiliarity with vampire customs might cause problems for me.

Mother also said she couldn't wait to see me in the light-colored dress.

I held the letter for a long time, unable to put pen to paper.

I couldn't bring myself to tell them they would be seated in the most overlooked corner at their own daughter's engagement.

I couldn't say that the dress had already been dismissed by Lucien as worthless.

In the end, I wrote a single line.

"Mother, Father, everything is fine here. Please don't worry."

After I finished, I folded the letter and sat alone until dawn.

Lucien didn't come to see me that night.

He probably hadn't even noticed when I left.

Chapter 4

Evelyn's POV

The next morning, my maid delivered a complete set of new art supplies.

Paints, brushes, and canvases covered the table, every piece finer than anything I had ever used.

"His Highness said that if you still wish to paint, you may do so in your room," the maid relayed carefully. "But please don't show your work to others, and don't agree to do favors for people again."

I stood by the table without reaching for any of it.

Lucien probably thought he was comforting me.

He remembered that I liked to paint and was willing to spend money to give me the finest supplies.

But he still believed my paintings were only fit to be hidden in a room, a private pastime.

As long as no one else saw them, as long as they didn't cause him trouble, it didn't matter what I painted.

I looked at those supplies, but all I could think of was the past, when I still lived in the human world.

My parents used to look at little me and say that one day, I would become the greatest artist, the proudest heir the Valerie family had ever known.

In the end, I told my maid to put everything away in the cabinet. I didn't touch a single thing.

Sixteen days until the engagement. I still had to attend the ceremony rehearsal in the banquet hall.

My parents' seats had not been changed.

The dress I had chosen had already been sent back to the human world.

The dark gown Selene had picked for me hung in the dressing room, its heavy skirt spreading across the floor.

My maid spent a long time securing all the gemstones and ornaments.

When I walked into the banquet hall wearing it, Lucien and Selene were already there.

They stood at the end of the long carpet, discussing the ceremony's proceedings.

"You're late."

Lucien looked at me.

"I'm sorry. The gown takes some time to put on."

"On the day of the engagement, the guests won't wait for you."

I lowered my head.

"I'll get ready earlier."

The etiquette instructor told me to stand at the banquet hall entrance and walk along the carpet toward Lucien.

According to the plan, I would stop in front of him, recite the vows, and then we would receive the guests' blessings together.

I lifted the hem of my skirt and began walking forward.

The heels were high, and the skirt kept dragging at my waist. With every step, I had to make sure I wasn't stepping on the fabric trailing behind me.

"Faster."

Lucien called from ahead.

I could only speed up.

Halfway there, my shoe caught the hem. My body lurched, and I nearly fell, barely catching myself on the back of a nearby chair.

The banquet hall fell silent.

Lucien was at my side in an instant, steadying my arm.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

Once he confirmed I was steady, his brow furrowed.

"You can't even walk this distance without something going wrong?"

I looked down at the heavy skirt.

"This gown doesn't suit me."

Lucien's expression hardened.

"How long are you going to keep arguing about this?"

I didn't answer.

Selene came over and knelt to straighten the skirt I had stepped on.

"Evelyn has tried very hard."

She looked up at Lucien, her face carrying that familiar pity.

"She's only human, after all. Her strength and balance can't compare to ours. Asking her to wear a gown like this is a bit much."

I didn't feel any relief from her words.

Lucien looked at me, his impatience now unmistakable.

"Selene has been wearing gowns like this since she was a child. She has never tripped over her own skirt."

"I'm not Selene."

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Lucien paused. "Of course I know you're not her."

"Then why do you compare me to her every chance you get?"

His frown deepened.

"Because she does everything better than you."

The servants in the banquet hall said nothing.

I stood before Lucien, the gown pressing tighter and tighter against my chest.

"This is my engagement ceremony."

"Which is why I need you not to make mistakes."

He turned to Selene.

"Walk it for her."

Selene looked surprised.

"Me?"

"Let her see how it's supposed to be done."

Selene glanced at me and said softly, "I'm only demonstrating for you. Don't read too much into it."

She went to the banquet hall entrance.

The etiquette instructor announced the ceremony's start once more.

Selene lifted her skirt and walked effortlessly along the carpet. Her pace was perfect, each step soundless.

Lucien stood waiting at the end of the carpet.

She walked up to him and, following the procedure, extended her hand.

Lucien took it naturally.

Then came the bow, the turn, the receiving of blessings.

They were so perfectly in sync.

Lucien didn't need to remind her to slow down, and he didn't need to catch her when she stumbled.

Selene knew exactly when to look up, when to face the guests, and even when Lucien would place his hand at her waist.

The etiquette instructor nodded with satisfaction.

"That's how it should be done."

Lucien turned to me.

"Did you see?"

I stood at the side of the carpet, suddenly unable to speak.

This was supposed to be my place.

Selene, in that lavish gown, had walked toward Lucien and completed the entire engagement ceremony with him.

Everyone thought it was perfectly normal. No one even realized how absurd the scene was.

Or perhaps, in their eyes, this was how it was always meant to be.

Selene was the one who knew vampire customs, the one who truly matched Lucien.

I had merely happened to save him as a child, and it placed me in a position that was never mine.

When Lucien saw my silence, he added, "Walk it again. This time, don't step on your own skirt."

I looked at him.

"Since Selene can do it so well, why do you even need to marry me?"

His face changed.

"What are you talking about?"

"The seating for the engagement was decided by the two of you. The gown was chosen by her. And now even the ceremony can be done by her instead of me."

My voice was quiet.

"Does it really matter whether I'm here or not?"

Selene came over and reached for my hand.

"Evelyn, you're misunderstanding. We're just trying to help you."

I stepped back.

Lucien frowned immediately.

"Selene is trying to help you. Why do you always assume the worst?"

I looked at him, and the last trace of hope in my heart died completely.

All these years, I had believed that if I just tried harder, Lucien would recognize me someday.

But the dance I couldn't learn, Selene could do in my place.

The customs I didn't understand, Selene could demonstrate for me.

When I caused him trouble, she was always right there beside him, speaking softly, soothing him, then looking down at me with her generous, lofty pity.

I truly was expendable.

If I had left sooner, if I had known my own limitations sooner, everyone would have been so much more at ease.

"I'm tired. I want to go."

I gathered my skirt and turned toward the door.

Lucien called out coldly from behind.

"Evelyn, are you running away again?"

I stopped but didn't turn around.

"Yes."

It was the first time I admitted it.

I didn't want to try anymore.

And I didn't want to stay in a place where no one wanted me as I was, where everyone was just waiting for me to become someone else.

That evening, I had my maid pack all my belongings.

I didn't cry, and I didn't write to my parents.

The next morning, I went to see Lucien alone.

He was in his study, looking over the engagement proceedings. Selene was still by his side.

When Lucien saw me, his tone was as cold as before.

"Have you come to your senses?"

"I have."

He set down the papers, probably expecting me to apologize the way I always did. His expression softened slightly.

"Come here."

I stayed at the door.

"Lucien, let's call off the engagement."

His face darkened instantly.

"Say that again."

"I don't want to marry you."

The study was so quiet I could hear my own breathing.

Lucien stared at me, anger slowly surfacing in his eyes.

He stared for a long time, then slammed the papers onto the desk.

"All because of a few things I said yesterday?"

"It's not about yesterday."

"Then is it the paintings, or your parents' seats?"

His voice grew colder with every word.

"Evelyn, the moment one thing doesn't go your way, you want to call off the engagement. Is this what you've learned after all these years?"

I didn't argue. I just looked at him calmly.

"Since you've always thought I only cause you trouble, isn't it better that I disappear?"

Lucien shot to his feet.

"Evelyn!"

I didn't apologize for his anger the way I had before.

"I want to go home."

"If you can't handle life among vampires, then go home and cool off."

His voice was ice, utterly devoid of warmth.

"When you realize what it means to lose my protection, you'll come back and beg."

I looked at him one last time, a faint smile crossing my face.

So this was our goodbye. I shouldn't have expected anything better. He couldn't even let me leave with a shred of dignity.

"Alright."

He expected me to come back.

But the moment I walked out of that study, I had already decided I would never set foot in this place again.