In Abyss City, a black barrier kept the sun at bay, making it the most comfortable environment for the vampires.
Lonia didn't know yet how much she would come to hate this city.
But in truth, even at six years old, Lonia already disliked it.
It was too dark, too stifling. Just like everything else she had ever seen.
She didn't have a concrete concept of the sun, only that there was something in the sky that hurt terribly if you were exposed to it.
When the carriage stopped in front of Gloom Castle, a servant pulled back the curtain, and a cascade of ink-black hair spilled out.
“Don’t wander off.”
Eliza, Lonia’s elder sister and the Head of the Vampire Royal Court, dropped that phrase before entering the main gate with the servant.
She had told Lonia that she was going to discuss a sword, a Holy Sword, with the Demon King and the other Court Heads.
A sword created to kill the Demon King.
Every person who drew the Holy Sword became a Hero, just like in the stories.
Every Hero would kill the Demon King, just like in the stories.
The previous Hero was slain by the Demon King, which wasn't quite like the stories.
The current Demon King, who proclaimed himself a pacifist, once pulled a Hero into a small room and lectured them for three days and three nights, only to be stabbed by the Hero with the Holy Sword.
Then the Demon King broke the Holy Sword with a single kick.
Ten minutes later, the Demon King, holding the Hero's head, tossed it like a shot put before the Human Alliance Army, telling them, “You lost. Now get out.”
Hundreds of years passed after that, and no new Heroes appeared among humanity. The Demon King also never initiated war.
And then, today's meeting about the Holy Sword began.
But this had nothing to do with Lonia, or so she thought for now.
After all, she wasn't even a Court Head; thinking about things like the Demon King and Heroes felt too far removed from her.
No matter how fearsome a Hero might be, she had no real concept of it.
The maids led Lonia into a side hall.
The room was large and dimly furnished. On the table sat a stemmed glass filled with warm blood, a snack the maids had prepared for her.
Eliza had inherited the authority passed down from their ancestors, capable of creating a vintage that could addict any vampire.
Although Lonia had only tasted that rich concoction at family banquets, it was enough to make her find the inferior blood before her utterly tiresome.
She sat on a chair, her long black hair tied into two small buns with ribbons by her sister, making her delicate face look even more like a porcelain doll.
“So boring…”
Lonia jumped off the chair.
The maids had already left, and the side hall door was ajar.
She poked her head out.
The corridor was empty, and Lonia stepped out of the side hall.
She had no destination, just walked straight along the corridor, as if on a harmless adventure.
For a child, wandering around a large, empty building was inherently fascinating.
When she passed a spiraling staircase leading downwards, she paused, her blood-red eyes gazing below.
Then she went down.
No particular reason, she just felt it had a certain atmosphere.
It was like a protagonist in a game walking a very long path, only to find a boss behind a fog gate.
The further down she went, the colder the air became, and the phosphorescent lights grew sparser.
When she finally reached the bottom, all she saw was a half-open iron door, behind which was a space she had never seen before.
It was Gloom Castle's old library.
She stepped through the door, imagining what she would see.
Like an unnamed man riding a dragon, glowing century eggs, or a fan club of knights fighting each other...
But all she saw was a small figure curled up in the center of the library.
Lonia's attention was first drawn to the hair.
A solitary little girl with soft, silver-white hair tied into low twin ponytails sat in the corner, hugging her knees, with a book larger than her upper body spread open on her lap.
Lonia scrutinized her from bottom to top.
Dusty feet, a slender black tail with an arrow-shaped tip, a patched black dress, and two small, transparent, crystal-like horns.
Finally, her gaze settled on the girl's eyes.
Crimson eyes intently fixed on the pages, lips subtly moving as if silently reciting the words.
She was so engrossed that she didn't even notice someone standing nearby.
Lonia watched the girl for a long time.
She had never seen a demon race like this before.
Both similar and dissimilar to vampires, succubi, or devils.
A hybrid.
Although Lonia was only six, she had heard that word many times in the Vampire Royal Court.
When Eliza mentioned hybrids, her tone always carried undisguised disgust, as if she were discussing livestock in a blood farm.
But that girl was just reading a book.
Lonia took a step forward, making a faint sound.
The girl's head snapped up. Two pairs of eyes met in the dim library.
One blood-red, one crimson.
The crimson eyes instantly widened, reflecting Lonia's image.
The book slipped from her lap, hitting the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
The girl instinctively shrank back into the corner, clutching her dress with both small hands.
“I’m sorry… please don’t hit me…”
Lonia tilted her head.
“...Who are you? Why would I hit you?”
The braces in her mouth, used to correct her teeth, made her pronunciation slightly indistinct.
The girl in the corner froze for a moment, not answering.
She just looked up, like a terrified Jimmie who had been invaded but dared not hiss.
Lonia took two steps forward.
“How rude, I’m asking you a question.”
“...Ra... Rafina.”
“And your last name?”
Lonia took a few more steps.
“...Thun.”
“Hmm?”
A question mark appeared over Lonia's head.
“Thun? Never heard of it. Do you live in one of the courts?”
No answer.
“Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Lonia cleared her throat and, in her most serious and deepest voice, declared, “My name is Lonia Catori, Princess of the Vampire Royal Court, and sister to Lady Eliza.”
Rafina bit her lip, showing no reaction, just nodded, her gaze subtly flicking towards the book beside her.
Seeing Rafina's lack of reaction to her grand introduction, Lonia couldn't help but feel a little deflated and followed her gaze.
“Aren’t you going to pick it up?”
Rafina paused, as if remembering something, then shook her head vigorously.
“You’re a weird one.”
Lonia mumbled, picked up the book, and glanced at it on her lap.
A hand-drawn map. Not of Abyss City, nor the Demon Realm.
The image depicted vast green plains, rivers winding through golden wheat fields, white castles with spires in the distance, and a huge, golden circle drawn in the sky.
Lonia stared at the golden circle for two seconds.
“This is…”
“The sun.”
Rafina’s voice suddenly became a little clearer. She leaned closer, extended a dust-stained finger, and pointed at the golden circle.
“The book says that outside Abyss City, there’s a very bright thing hanging in the sky called the sun.”
Her fingertip slowly traced the light rays on the illustration, stopping at the spire of the white castle.
“This is the capital of the Church of Radiance. When the sun shines on this spire, it refracts the phantoms of the Church’s past saints. It is said that the Pope of the Church of Radiance is a Child of God born in accordance with the sun’s will, which is why the capital of the Church of Radiance was specifically built in a place that could be completely enveloped by light…”
Lonia looked at Rafina’s profile.
There was something in it that Lonia had never seen on anyone in the Vampire Royal Court.
Longing.
It was like the feeling Lonia had when she wanted her sister to look at her more, but not exactly the same.
She felt that what this Rafina person longed for was far greater than a mere glance.
Something grand enough to hang in the sky and illuminate the entire world.
“Why are you making such a fuss? Haven’t you seen the sun?”
Lonia couldn’t quite understand this excitement.
Pure-blooded high-ranking vampires didn’t die upon contact with sunlight like ordinary blood slaves, but they would certainly feel uncomfortable. Like turning the bathwater too hot.
She had seen the sun; it was hot, it was painful, and that was it.
In response to Lonia’s question, Rafina merely shook her head.
“I’ve always lived here.”
“...Are you the librarian here?”
“No... Uncle Librarian said I was... his assistant…”
“Assistant? Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Lonia closed the book and tucked it back into Rafina’s arms.
Her movements were a bit rough, but not out of malice.
She stood up.
“You’re cooped up reading in a place like this without a proper light, won’t your eyes get ruined?”
Rafina, hugging the book that had been thrust back at her, looked up at Lonia blankly.
The girl stood before her, hands on her hips, chin slightly raised, striking a condescending pose.
She had learned this from her sister, but she didn’t do it quite right. Her sister never put her hands on her hips; she crossed her arms instead.
But Lonia thought putting her hands on her hips looked much more imposing than crossing her arms.
“...No.”
Rafina replied softly, hugging the book tighter. Its spine pressed hard against her flat chest.
“I can see. Even in the dark.”
“Oh, right, you’re a hybrid.”
“...You... don’t mind?”
Rafina looked up slightly, her eyes flickering with confusion and something Lonia didn’t quite understand.
“Huh? Mind what?”
She didn’t answer; her gaze just swept around the old library.
“This place is so dirty. Doesn’t that librarian ever clean it? What a terrible fellow.”
Lonia huffed, then squatted down again, reached out, and pinched a strand of Rafina’s hair.
“And you’re dirty too. Aren’t you going to take a bath?”
Rafina’s ear tips turned red.
She lowered her head, burying her face in the book's spine, her tail wagging uneasily from side to side behind her, its tip tapping the ground rhythmically.
“Doesn’t matter. Rafina, do you want to be my friend?”
The silver-white head peeked out from behind the book's spine, revealing half a face and a pair of moist, crimson eyes.
“...Why me?”
“Why not you? If you absolutely need a reason... it’s because I can’t stand your timid look, is that enough?!”
Rafina simply watched her for a moment.
“...Then, just call me Fina.”
Lonia tilted her head.
“You too, just call me Nia.”
“Mhm.”
A tiny arc formed at the corners of Rafina’s mouth.
“Nia.”
...
“Listen carefully, hybrids are impure beings, unworthy of approaching purebloods.”
As she uttered the name Nia, Rafina recalled what Uncle Librarian had told her.
But she still spoke the name.
Many years later, Rafina would understand the true meaning of that choice.
The girl who would become the Hero, and the girl who would become the Demon King, met for the very first time that day.
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