"Princess! Princess Andromeda! Please come back!" A lady dressed in a flowery gown tried to run after the Princess.

It was the middle of a bright and sunny day but, inside the castle walls, it was dark. Only illuminated by a few torches and little candles. 180-year-old Andromeda, thin heels clicking, breezed through the halls of Cruor Castle. She dashed in a straight line, the poor servants doing their chores scrambled to not get in her way and earn her wrath.

"Where in the glorious kingdom of Aurum are you going, Princess?" Shouting, the lady-in-waiting was a few feet away from the royal.

Without looking back nor slowing her pace, Andromeda answered, "I'm not going back to stitch another flower, Olivia. Father cannot hold me hostage inside the castle. I am no bird inside a cage. With or without his permission, I will participate in the Great Hunt."

"But that is only for the men, Princess."

"All in Aurum knows I could hunt better than any man."

"Well, you've only hunted a few times and unofficially--"

"Oh, hush!" Andromeda was tired of her kin not seeing her true worth. She wasn't just some jewel to be displayed nor a meek, weak vampiress to be controlled and forced to be obedient. She was about to tell this to Olivia when something or someone caught her eye. She suddenly stopped. "What is that filthy creature doing in here?" In one of the dark corners of the hall, a young male vampire sat on the floor, drying his unending blood tears. Snot fell from his nose and he had mud all over him.

When they were young, vampires aged like humans. However, when they reached 20, they started to age very, very slowly. The boy looked only 17. A very young vampire.

"That is Proteus, Princess. The son of Lord Augustus' servants. Lord Augustus has adopted him as one of his sons. The women say he is very intelligent and attractive. My, we've never seen a vampire with beautiful hair so white!" Olivia was gushing.

Inside, Andromeda agreed. The boy's features were certainly striking. But he looked like a wimp. A coward crybaby. The Princess walked toward this Proteus and asked, "Tell me, why do you cry, Proteus, son of Augustus?"

The vampire stirred at the sight of her. He stood up and bowed at her, realizing that she was a princess. "Forgive me for showing you something unsightly, my lady."

"You did not answer my question."

The boy froze but he did respond. "I-I want to participate in the Great Hunt but I couldn't. If I do, it will bring honor to my adoptive father."

"Then take part in it." Andromeda crossed her pale hands over her chest.

Proteus hesitated. "But... I cannot ride a horse."

The Princess cocked her head. He was crying because he could not ride a freaking horse?

"I tried," the young vampire was suddenly defensive. "Look at the state of me! I look worse than a dirty human. I've tried hundreds. No, a thousand times! But... I still fall from the mares."

"Hm." Andromeda started walking away as she commanded, "Follow me."

The three went to the stables where the stench of horses and dung was strong but Andromeda didn't mind inhaling. She readied her favorite horse, a big white one with long black hair. So like her. The princess sat on the horse's back and told Proteus that he would ride with her.

"Princess! To ride with a man!" Olivia gaped.

But Andromeda said, "He is no man. He's a boy and he needs to stop being a wimp."

"I am no wimp!" The boy protested.

"Then prove it." The vampiress held the rein as Proteus climbed the horse and sat in front of her. "We'll go fast." And they did. The horse ran with so much speed it felt like they were flying. For long minutes, Proteus squealed and screamed. Andromeda shouted against the gusts of wind, "This is your problem. The mares can sense fear. If you are scared, your horse will be scared, too. Calm your heart. The only way to ride is to be confident that you can."

At last, the boy had stopped screaming. His grip on the rein was still tight but at least he seemed more relaxed. When they had returned to the stables, Andromeda climbed down her horse and dusted her red gown. She looked up and saw Proteus beaming at her, extending his pale arms as if wanting her to catch his young body. The image would be stuck in Andromeda's mind for a long, long time.

However, that smile wouldn't last long. Because, right after that, as they both participated in the Great Hunt, Proteus learned how cruel the vampires of Cruor Castle were. Fifty humans were set loose in the forest behind the castle and hunted by the royals. They drank their blood, tore their bodies, and yanked out their hearts to be presented at court. Of course, Andromeda won. With 17 human hearts, she was declared the winner of that year's Great Hunt.

While basking in her glory, she saw Proteus, again crying like a fool in one corner of the courtroom. "You look worse than before. Is that your blood?"

The vampire tried to hide the wounds on his arm. "I tried defending Erik."

Andromeda furrowed her brow. "Erik? Is there someone in court with that name?"

"He's a human."

Proteus tried to defend a human? A cattle? How preposterous. The vampire princess shook her head. She told the young boy, "You're wasting your tears. No human is worth it. Remember, Proteus. Humans are nothing but food. Their nothing but blood bags." She took the boy's arm and dragged him to where the fresh hearts of the humans were displayed. "Do you smell them? Their thick, luscious blood? Don't they make you hungry? Don't you want to bleed them dry? We are the mighty vampires, the predators, and the humans are our prey." Then, she took a heart and smelled it.

A fresh blood's scent...

Yes...

It was all too familiar.

It tickled her nose.

Overflowing blood.

And the smell of something burning.

And screams... cries...

What?

Andromeda opened her eyes. She was back to the garrison in the unknown world she was exiled to. Her dream had shown her a distant memory. She remembered the betrayal of Proteus, the wimpy kid she met hundreds of years ago, and her fists clenched. Oh, how she wanted to kill him with her bare hands.

Wait.

Again, that smell... Was it fire?

The vampiress sprung up from bed. There was a veil of smoke entering her room, followed by one of the human soldiers. He was covered with soot and his eyes were bulging. "Andy-san, the garrison is on fire. We need to get out!"

What in Aurum's name?

She got on her feet and followed the man out of her room and onto the smoky halls. The cries of the humans echoed within the cemented walls.

"What is happening?" she asked.

"There's a fire."

"I can see that," she clicked her tongue, irritated. "What I meant was what happened and how are the soldiers?"

"I heard someone deliberately started the fire in the West Wing, where most soldiers were resting. You're lucky you chose a room near the East Wing. The West Wing's like hell right now."

Hell? What was that? Anyway, the soldier didn't answer her second question so she repeated it, "What about the soldiers? Is everyone alright?"

The man's face turned grim. "Almost a quarter were trapped inside their rooms. The fire is blazing and we're certain they're already unconscious because of the smoke. But, don't worry. We'll get them out. The others are trying to put out the fire."

That wasn't good news. "Take me there," she commanded.

The soldier stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "Andy-san, you need to stay out of the building and stay somewhere safe. Let the soldiers do their job."

He meant, let the idiotic humans handle such a difficult and urgent task? In Andromeda's world, that was unheard of. And she didn't doubt that the humans here are the same as those in Aurum. "Take me to them, soldier. I will know what to do."

"Well... that's a bit..."

Damn, she had no time to argue. So she decided to switch tactics. She batted her beautiful eyes, leaned closer, and gently touched the soldier's arm. She let her eyes glisten with all the amount of water inside her and pouted her lips while saying, "Please. And don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing." Lightly, she squeezed the muscular arm.

The man tensed and blushed. He even stuttered. "I-I don't-- Not sure..."

Another squeeze. "It'll mean a lot to me if you do me this favor."

"But..." He was transfixed by her beauty. She knew it. So she continued staring at him. She waited. Finally, he gave in. "I think... Yeah. I think it's fine. Come on, I'll take you there."

Ah.

Andromeda thanked the fates who made her so pretty.

They reached the West Wing and saw that it was gobbled by the raging fire. The soldiers were busy pouring bucket after bucket of water onto it. But it was already late. The fire was just too big now.

The smell of burnt flesh and blood was everywhere. Many of the soldiers have been injured before and more have become injured now.

The vampiress squinted and with her vampire eyes, looked into the fire. She could make out the shadows of a couple of soldiers and many of them were females. There must be at least one female virgin there! Her favorite blood! These stupid humans starting a fire, lessening her food, and might be burning her virgin to a crisp!

Damn.

She needed to do something and not risk losing more food. She didn't know when they could reach a town and when she would be hungry again. For now, she must save these humans.

Quickly, she took a pail from one of the soldiers, poured the water on herself, and ran straight into the fire. She barely heard the screams of the soldiers telling her to stop.

The humans within the fire were, indeed, unconscious, huddled together by the hall.

With her supernatural strength, she picked up the first female she saw and carried her out to safety. Despite their earlier protests, the soldiers clapped and cheered when she emerged from the fire, their comrade in her arms. She went back into the fire again. The blaze was hot on her skin and she felt like she was being cooked. But she needed to rescue as many humans as she could.

"Hoi," called a male voice.

She looked beside her and saw Levi, shielding his nose and mouth using his sleeves. His gray eyes bore into hers. She had noticed even before that they have a certain intensity that could pierce and intimidate others. Not Andromeda, though.

"I'll help," the man said.

Andromeda nodded and in quicker steps, they carried one soldier after another to safety. The other soldiers were too happy some even cried.

Enjoy your days, fools. I'll bleed you dry. Every single one of you, the vampiress thought.

Levi and she went into the fire again to rescue the last two humans. When they were passing by a room, the big door made of wood and steel collapsed and dropped right over Andromeda. There was no way she would be crushed by a measly door, but Levi didn't know the truth about her strength. So he panicked, shouted something, and pulled her out of the collapsing door's way.

They stumbled to the ground with Levi on top of her. He was heavier than he looked. Must be because he was packed with muscles.

Then, she smelled something.

The scent was unlike any other. Floral... like the scent of a thousand sweet-smelling flowers.

Andromeda looked up and saw that Levi's cheek was wounded by the collapsing door.

Could it be?

The vampiress leaned closer.

Could it be that the wonderful scent was coming from his wound? It was blood? His blood? Never had she smelled a blood this good. Damn, it smelled better than female virgin blood!

She felt electricity jolt her nerves and she was suddenly hungry. She needed to drink. To feast. And not only common human blood. She wanted his blood.

Andromeda inhaled the wondrous scent once more. The blood on Levi's cheek looked about to drop, but the vampiress could not wait. Without thinking, her head inched closer to the man on top of her and she licked his cheek.