Europe, 1894

A marriage of convenience alarmed no one. It would have been far more scandalous to marry for love—and for a pauper—than for the colossal dowry the Rengokus offered for you.

That should have been flattering. Leaving your luxurious, newly-built home to travel to the other side of a world you knew nothing about, with your eccentric and disgustingly wealthy husband: Kyojuro Rengoku.

His pallor and any hint of his vampiric nature were dismissed as distinguishing marks of his lineage. Who would object to a marriage pact sealed in the dead of night? Exactly: no one. Not when your father was drowning in debt after being betrayed by his business partner.

Yet, no one in all of London understood why a family of nouveau riche had become the focus of the Rengokus' interest. The answer came at a winter ball. A palace erected upon marble columns, carved with intricate figures that accentuated every detail of gold around them. You knew the routine: the Dukes would whisk away half your sisters before nine, and the Lords would take care of the rest after ten.

Close to midnight, gliding with utter control and gallantry, that man with intense eyes ensnared you with just a few words. You followed his lead, dance after dance, spinning beneath hundreds of lights that seemed to melt over the two of you. Burning with every laugh, every touch, every compliment. He had to be the most beautiful creature you had ever seen outside of a painting.

How easy.

The difficult part for Kyojuro had been finding you, finding you and your blessed essence. He was accustomed to hiding his vampiric nature from humans, but being near you provoked a primal urge that irritated him immensely. Seducing the feeble minds of your family so they would let you go without even the promise of your return one day… he found that hilarious. But his mission was no game.

In the past, his family had ruled much of Europe, but now, with their species in decline, they had to hide. They searched relentlessly for that one human whose essence—yours—would grant his family the power not only to conquer the sun but to control the other vampiric families vying for dominance. You were not merely a wife; you were the key to a new vampiric empire, and you didn't even know it.

But the fairy tale ended the moment you set foot outside London. The journey to Transylvania was long. Entire days on a train to the coast, more days swaying on an ice-cold ship, and finally, a sinuous carriage ride through mountain passes as dark as the night itself. You had never seen a sky so gray, pierced by the baroque towers of the Rengoku castle.

And Kyojuro was no warmer than that. Every trace of that pleasant gentleman had vanished, leaving only the suffocating stench of extinguished candle wax. It was like waking from a spell, seeing everything with perfect clarity: you were alone, far from home, the family you loved reduced to a bargaining chip. A bartered object, trapped with a host of people who looked at you as if they might pounce at any moment.

That very night, you awoke from a feverish dream in the immense bedroom. You couldn't stand another second there! You rushed down the stairs looking for your husband. He would have to listen to you, wouldn't he? He had sworn eternal love to you, hadn't he? He wasn't… feeding right in front of you in the middle of the hall, was he?! Vampires aren't real, are they?!

Caught in a power struggle between vampiric families, you were at the very end and yet at the very center of it all. And he couldn't despise you less. Kyojuro smiled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"My, my… you should have stayed in bed… darling."

[Desliza para encontrar el saludo en español] (It's all fiction)