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00:07I died this morning. They haven't noticed.
00:15Good night, sister. I had been dead for hours. The last thing I remembered was the white ash
00:22stick splitting my chest open. The battle on the snowfield was over. Vampire remains lay
00:28scattered everywhere. Father, mother, and Damien stood around Isabella. Isabella sat in the corner
00:35with a blanket dripped over her shoulders. She was trembling. Mother was checking her wrist.
00:40The blob bond opened on Damien's end. Where did you go? Isabella is this family's future. You
00:47abandoned your post. Isabella was left to face too much alone tonight. Get back here, kneel,
00:52and apologize. Otherwise, your blood right ends tonight. If I'd still been in my body,
00:57I would have thrown the ink bottle at him. Doubt he did not know I was dead.
01:02A red mark sat on the map at the western pass. That was where I died. No one in the
01:09room knew it.
01:10She still hasn't shown herself. She's not responding. Father did not look up at the report.
01:18Of course not. The attack was aimed at Isabella. She left her post out of spite.
01:24Mother gently wiped Isabella's tears away. In the middle of Isabella's battle. After everything we've
01:32done for her, she couldn't even do this much. It was laughable. Making myself into a shield protecting
01:41Isabella forever. That was a small thing. But mom, I was your real daughter. The one used as a shield.
01:52Send men to the western watch post. If she's hiding there, drag her back.
01:56Isabella walked over to her father's chair and knocked down.
02:03Father, please don't be upset with her tonight. Maybe she was just scared. It all happened so fast.
02:11Let me speak to her. She's always listened to me most.
02:21I float above the table. Whispers come from the channel. Soft and faint.
02:28Serafina. An hour ago, House Valeris sent me your finger. I burned it. This is just a small lesson.
02:35Just stay quiet tonight. Don't come back. House Valeris will take very good care of you.
02:42She choked out.
02:46Serafina said she said she was safe. She said she was sorry for running from the battlefield.
02:53She said, please tell father not to wait for her.
03:03My poor child. I know that's not what she really said. She's jealous of you. And yet you're still covering
03:11for her.
03:12That coward. After 300 years, her thin blood is still tainted. She deserves no forgiveness.
03:22This is the last time.
03:25Tainted? Coward? Deserter?
03:29A trace of silent smile rose from the depths of my soul.
03:34It had taken me seven years to win that council seat. The first woman in centuries.
03:40I had thought father might finally look at me the way he looked at her.
03:46This afternoon, I went to ask for reinforcements. Only a sitting council member could do that.
03:52Before I left, I told only Isabella and asked her to tell father to wait for me. She promised.
03:59Then she sold my root to House Valerius. All the love in this family belonged to her.
04:05I had never once thought of fighting her for it. That included Leander.
04:10House Feldren had not produced an heir of noble bloodline in 200 years. Year by year, father's
04:17seat at the round table had become more precarious and more marginal. Leander was the heir to House
04:22Valerius of third generation, pure blood. A marriage to him would keep House Valerius at the
04:29table for another 50 years. But father, mother, and Damien Jinn all knew it. His bloodline was too
04:36exalted. I was not worthy of him. So when Isabella began sitting beside him, resting her head on his
04:42shoulder, no one said anything. I witnessed all of it, and I said nothing. This afternoon,
04:49I went alone to seek help from the other vampire houses. Five riders from House Valerius were already
04:56waiting at the Western Pass. The moment I saw them, I triggered the emergency blood oath.
05:02Father, they're lying in wait for me. Save me.
05:06Enough. Three hundred years, and still you never stop. Isabella wins one battle, and you fake an ambush
05:13just to drag this family back to your side. Do you know what I prayed for the night you were
05:17born?
05:17I prayed wrong. I should have prayed for you to be born dead. A clean grave would have suited me
05:24far
05:24better than three hundred years of you. If you crave that much attention, then stay out there and die.
05:29Do not come back. Then the thought cut off. The blood bond faded, then vanished. Look at this thin
05:36blooded trash. A mongrel masquerading as a Valdron noble. You're just a dog someone bit by mistake.
05:42No fangs. No pride. No right to walk among us. Die in the mud where you belong. He put holy
05:48water over
05:48my face. The skin on my cheeks split open. Black smoke rose from my jaw. Wash her first. Then let's
05:55see
05:55whether there is even a shred of purity underneath. Vampires do not bleed to death. So they took me
06:02apart. Bit by bit, I was torn from myself, and I stayed awake through it all. Until a sharpened white
06:09ash stick pierced my chest and pinned me into the mud at the bottom of the ditch. At last, I
06:16died. In 10
06:17hours, the sun would rise. There would be nothing left of me. Below me was the underground hall,
06:24at the bottom of the Valdron castle. Tonight, the entire family was holding a victory celebration.
06:36Sepathina did not appear before the council to receive her seal. Where is she? She rode out this
06:41afternoon. She has not returned. By law, if more than six hours pass, the head of the house may name
06:46a
06:46successor on the spot. Isabella. She held the western pass through the final wave tonight.
06:54That honor belongs to her.
06:58Mother, this should be Serafina's. A bloodline like hers deserves it. In 300 years,
07:07has she ever once made this family hold its head high at the round table? That seal would be wasted
07:15in her hands. Then I'll keep it for her for now. When she returns, I'll give it back to her.
07:24My poor child, you are this family's only hope.
07:29All of this should have been yours. Seven years. I won that seat, the first held by a woman in
07:36centuries. And all it took was one sentence. A bloodline like hers deserves it. Not one person
07:43in that entire hall spoke for me. The doors were thrown open. Leander had arrived. He crossed the
07:49hall and dropped to one knee directly before Isabella. This was the gift I had prepared.
07:53Tonight, I give it to you. No one fought more beautifully in this battle than you did.
07:58Leander, this should go to Serafina. No. She will have other gifts, but this night
08:02belongs to you alone. He's lead the ring onto her finger. Mother clapped her hands. Isabella has
08:08already received more gifts tonight than she can carry. Serafina's resting chamber is standing empty
08:13anyway. Burn those mildy old records and clear it out for her as a second private room.
08:18Serafina still hasn't returned. Do you think she could have been hurt out there?
08:23Soso's wept too. Only then did the three of them seem to remember there was another daughter
08:28named Serafina. If she were truly hurt, the blood bond would have sounded by now. It didn't.
08:35That means she ran. She is nothing but a spoiled child. Mother, please don't say that. Serafina worked
08:42so hard for that seat. And in the end, the honor still came to me. The crimson eyes gleamed with
08:47barely hidden triumph. The servants were moving things. My records were carried out bundle by bundle.
09:00My wardrobe stood open. The robes inside folded one by one into wooden chests.
09:13Mother, Serafina's room is this large? It is wasted on her. Anything that can be moved,
09:18move it. Anything that cannot, burn it. Clear it out for storage. Isabella turned in a slow circle,
09:25then went to my bedside table and pulled open the bottom drawer. She took out a palm-sized wooden box.
09:32Inside was a lock of silver white hair coiled into a ring. The hunter's silver hair ring passed down
09:40through generations. Every strand was cut from a beheaded pure-blood noble and steeped in sacred
09:46fire for a hundred years. Any vampire who touched it would have their flesh rot at once.
09:52Article 7 of the Old Covenant. To secretly keep such an object is punishable by eternal sleep.
09:59I had taken it 200 years ago from the body of a dead hunter in the hunting grounds. I never
10:05turned it
10:05in. I kept it. I wanted to know whether, if that day ever came, I would have the courage to
10:11use it on myself.
10:15Mom, look at this! At the very instant they exchanged it, Isabella let go. The ring of silver hair just
10:26happened to graze the back of mother's hand, then bounced back into Isabella's own palm. Black smoke burst
10:33from her entire palm, and her flesh began rotting inward, inch by inch. Mother, it hurts!
10:45What is that? A hunter's silver hair ring. Seraphina! She hid this in her room!
10:55Article 7 of the Old Covenant. To secretly keep such an object is punishable by eternal sleep.
11:02Damien slammed his fist onto my desk. The corner split open, and my journal fell to the floor,
11:08exposing the number 99. Damien glanced at it once, then kicked it away.
11:14Three centuries of Valdron purebloods, only to spawn a walking stain like her.
11:25Father, please don't speak of Seraphine that way. She was probably only curious,
11:29she's always had a fascination with things like this, and I'm sure she never meant to hurt me.
11:36Being thin bloodlined is no excuse for harming her family.
11:40I drifted beneath the ceiling, hearing once again my family's disgust for my bloodline. My mind went
11:47back to the bloodline awakening rite, 300 years ago. That was the day that determined the rank each child
11:54of House Valdron would hold. Damien stepped onto the platform first, and awakened crimson dominion.
12:00The pride in father's eyes was not concealed in the slightest. When Isabella's turn came,
12:05she awakened the rare blessing of holy blood, soothing the bloodlust of every low-ranking
12:11bloodthrow around her. Mother held her and wept through the night, calling her a treasure not seen
12:16in a hundred years. Then, I stepped onto the ritual platform, full of hope. I wanted so badly to make
12:22father smile. But the instant my bloodline revealed itself, the entire ritual hall fell into deftly silence.
12:34At the time, no one told me, and no one knew, which ancestor, that so-called atavisan, had returned to.
12:47Deanda arrived at two in the morning. He did not look at anyone else. He went straight to Isabella,
12:53half-kneeled before her, and took her bandaged hand into his own. How is your hand?
13:00Leomin, please don't blame Serafina. She probably didn't realize it was a hunter's relic,
13:06with a bloodline like hers. She wouldn't even be able to sense anything holy.
13:17Serafina, I didn't think you could be this vicious.
13:21Are you so jealous of her? You'd put a hunter's relic in her hands?
13:29On the other side of the crystal, I had already been dead for hours.
13:33Our engagement had not yet been sealed by blood oath, so there was no death bond between us.
13:39He did not know. I had planned to give you the Valerius family heirloom ring tonight,
13:43but I've already placed it on Isabella's finger. I think you understand what that means.
13:47He walked up to Isabella, dot his eyes, which had just turned cold, softened at once.
13:54Don't cry. I'll stay with you. He had never once half-kneeled and held my hand that way. He had
14:00never
14:00even remembered that I could not drink high-concentration pure blood. Every time he came,
14:06he had the servants bring Isabella a cup of blood, warm to the perfect temperature, and me a goblet of
14:13pure blood, I could not absorb. I've argued with him time and again. Every single time,
14:19he'd say the exact same words.
14:22Serafina, you're overthinking it. I only see Isabella as a younger sister who deserves respect.
14:27And back then, I believed him. Leander really does care for her.
14:33Such a shame the Valerius bloodline is too exalted. He and Isabella are the true perfect match.
14:41Once Isabella's affairs are settled, we'll find an excuse to break off Serafina's engagement.
14:46And what about Serafina?
14:50With blood like hers, some mid-ranking outsider will do.
14:55Damien, she has been running wild all night. Enough. Take two blood thralls and go to the
15:01western watch post. If she is hiding in the tower, bind her and bring her back. If she has crossed
15:06the
15:06border and fled, then she has cast herself out of this house. That was the road I had to take
15:12when I
15:13rode out this afternoon to seek reinforcements. Just a little farther west, from the watch post,
15:20was the ditch. If he went that way, he would find my body.
15:24Father!
15:30Father, please don't send him.
15:33Why?
15:33Serafina has always been like this. For 300 years, she lowered her head. She always comes back when
15:40she's done making a scene. Tonight will be no different. Damien has just returned from the
15:45battlefield. Let him rest tonight. And besides, Serafina has always been proud.
15:54If Damien finds her hiding there, she'll only resent me more for it. Let her come back on her
16:00own. Give her a little grace. This child. Serafina has harmed her this badly, and still she speaks for
16:10her. Forget it. Tomorrow then. Damien looked at Isabella. He said nothing. Something flickered
16:18across his face. But he sat back down. My poor child. For House Valdren to have a daughter like
16:30you is the greatest blessing this generation has been given. At half past three in the morning, Isabella
16:37finally cried herself to sleep. Only then did the father's blood bond come crashing into place.
16:44He called for me three times in a row. I gave him nothing back. But he had forgotten. When I
16:49begged
16:49him for help, he had blocked me completely. His face darkened as he kicked the table over in one
16:54violent motion. Damien! Come with me to the western watch post. Wherever she is, drag her back.
17:02Mother started to stop him, but father cut her off with a single look. She swallowed her warts and
17:08followed behind him. Leander came out of the healer's chamber, said nothing, snatched up his cloak,
17:16and followed as well. When they reached the watch post, there was no sign of me anywhere. On the wind
17:22lingered a scorched trace of holy water, mixed with a blood stench, sharp as a rust.
17:31Who was careless enough to leave a blood thrall's body lying out here? He pushed through the brush. A
17:38ditch opened before him, and in it lay a torso with only its back exposed. Its face was submerged in
17:45the filthy water. The dark crimson robe, it was the one I had worn when I went out this afternoon.
17:55Enough! Get up! You'd even pull something like this? To lie and play the victim? You even dared use a
18:04stake? A sharpened white ash stick had been driven through from the back, pinning the body to the
18:10bottom of the ditch. It swayed gently with the current. He crouched and grabbed the stake in my chest.
18:19The instant his hand touched it, he stopped. It was a vampire hunter's stake soaked in holy water.
18:29Get up! Stop this! He turned the body over. Half my face had been burnt by holy water,
18:39the flesh charred black. My limbs had been torn off at the roots. At the edge of the ditch,
18:45mother let out a short scream and covered her mouth. Leander stood, nailed where he was.
18:53Her blood. There's no echo. Damien staggered backward against the ditch wall. Mother dropped
19:00in the mud by the ditch. Leander's knees struck the earth without a sound. Father collapsed into the
19:07ditch, water rising to his waist. He crawled toward my body on hands and knees, as though he could not
19:14believe what his own eyes were seeing. Sarah Puffina really has met final death.
19:22Father would not let anyone touch my body. He carried me back to my resting chamber,
19:29his movements clumsy. A man who had held a scepter for 300 years was lifting his own daughter for the
19:35first time. He did not even know where to place his hands. He laid me on the velvet chaise I
19:42had hardly
19:43ever slept on. When I was alive, I preferred sleeping in my coffin. He had never known that.
19:50There, beneath a paperweight, lay a black leather-bound journal. On the cover, in my own blood,
19:58created, I have written two words. The Crimson Letter.
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