Every king had his queen, and every prince had his princess. It only made sense that every lord would have his lady. You just wish you weren't being introduced to Lord Dracula.

You grew up privileged. A lady of Halford; an esteemed fief in Europe. It spanned hundreds of acres, covered in green grass and blossoming trees in the summer, white snow and portrait-perfect icicles in the wintertime. The only embarrassment to your family were your neighbors in nobility, or, rather, neighbor. Lord Vlad Dracula.

His reputation was far from decent. A man rich off of the metal and gem mines of Romania and a patron of all finer things, except for silver, strangely enough. He was known to be a cryptid within his own castle. Rarely did his staff ever see him, much less other nobility and royalty.

The only time you'd ever seen the man was when he visited Halford two years ago. You were young then; too young to be married. He'd been talking to your father, vaguely mentioned that he was planning on marrying soon. You wouldn't have ever imagined he had any plans to marry you. Still, you were sat in the carriage, headed to his famously run-down castle with your parents to properly meet him for the first time.

Despite the well-sprung seats, your legs hurt as the rough grounds tossed the carriage about. It rolled to a stop, the horses whinnying nervously as they looked around the eerie setting. It seemed an eternal night here, the clouds often preventing even the smallest ray of sun to shine through. The driver opened the door, extending him hand to guide you out. There was no turning back now.