“Irina, what are you doing here?”

“Brother…”

A small girl hid behind a pile of rocks with crystalline tears dropping from her gorgeous, winter-grey eyes. She seemed no older than ten which made her falling tears all the more adorable. Holding onto her cute little hands, the girl looked up to the young boy who came to find her and softly said:

“The adults… They are coming to get us next week.”

“Oh,” the young boy blinked twice before showing a sombre smile. “I see, so you’re returning soon.”

“Brother! I don’t want to go back!”

The white-haired girl leapt straight at the black-haired boy, torpedoing him down as she did so. The meadow that they were in was soft enough to cushion his fall, but that didn’t exempt him from the pain of the girl’s tackle.

“You can’t be selfish, Irina. We talked about this before, right?”

“B-But… I can’t bear to leave you! I’d rather turn into a human and stay with you than return to that stupid clan!”

“Hah… You’re probably the only Vampire in the world that would say that.”

Finding the girl’s reactions amusing, the young boy used his index finger and gently touched her red, swollen nose. After playing with the girl’s adorable face for a while, the boy took a handkerchief from his pocket and lightly rubbed the snort off her face.

“I’m telling the truth! I would rather live a dozen years with you than live forever!”

“That’s very touching, but…”

The young boy continued to wipe the girl’s face with a look of tender love. He then brought his hand up her forehead and gently brushed down her snowy-white hair.

“I don’t want to see you die, Irina.”

“Brother…”

“Besides, didn’t I promise you that I would find you once I become strong enough?”_-.

“You did…”

“So, are you doubting my words?”

“O-Of course not!!!”

“See? So there’s no need to worry, am I right?”

The young boy played the girl like a fiddle, calming down her rampaging emotions. Pressed against each other, the two younglings enjoyed each other’s embrace, ignoring the nice breeze that kissed their fair skin.

“Still, it’s too soon… Those stupid old farts! They only know how to train, train, train! Why must I go back to that stupid clan?! I don’t want to do drills anymore! I don’t want to fight anymore! I don’t want to be an Everwinter anymore!!!”

“Irina…”

The young boy looked down at the sobbing girl with a tinge of sadness. Words couldn’t express the misaligned childhood that the girl had suffered through. Rather than playing like an ordinary human girl would, this young angel had to endure years upon years of suffering.

Never once had she experienced the love of a family. The one family she had only sought to abuse and use her. The people that were meant to love and care for her saw her as nothing but a tool.

The young boy knew that, and he knew how tragic the girl’s fate would be. And so, as he held her deeper into her arms, the boy whispered:

“How about this? When we meet again, I’ll give you a prize.”

“A prize? What for?”

“For being such a good and obedient girl, of course!” The young boy laughed as he rubbed on her head. “Anything you want, your older brother will do for you!”

“Really?!”

“Have I ever gone back on a promise?”

“Nope, never!” Finally, the young girl smiled for the first time. Hugging her elder brother like a koala bear, the girl nudged her head deeper into his chest and said: “Brother is the best brother in the world!”

“Hehe, of course, I am!”

Gone were the tears of the young girl. Instead, what replaced the sadness within the secluded area, was the joy and laughter of two children playing in a meadow of flowers.

❖❖❖

‘A dream?’

My eyelids flickered wildly as I slowly rose from my sleep. The first thing that came to my mind wasn’t my current physical state or how sore my body felt. But the images that had played in my consciousness just seconds before.

‘No, that wasn’t a dream… It’s a memory.’

Somehow or another, I was able to distinguish that the image of me from the past was no mere dream. It felt like a piece of a massive jigsaw puzzle had been put in place, and my broken soul was slowly coming back together.

If I had any doubts before due to my amnesia, this one memory was the final nail in the coffin.

Irina and I did meet in the past. There’s no disputing that now. In fact, we were far closer than I’d ever imagined. It wasn’t a ploy by Irina to brainwash me, and neither was there some nefarious scheme behind Irina’s actions.

The girl genuinely wanted her brother back…

“Mmmnnn…”

A seductive moan came from under my sheets as I was lost in thought. Looking under the blanket, I could see a young beauty lying near my waist, her arms stiffly grabbing onto me like how a bear would. However, unlike a killer bear, the girl showed a face full of satisfaction, as if she had been experiencing a pleasant dream.

Ah, how could I forget? Yesterday, Irina and I feasted on each other’s blood.

I was able to hold my own for the first few times we traded blood, but after an hour, my mind completely blanked out. Lost in my instincts, I fed like a beast starved for months, immensely enjoying the physical pleasure that came with the bloodsucking. It was possibly the most orgasmic experience I’d ever had, and it didn’t help that Irina’s blood was far more delicious than anything I’d ever eaten.

I looked down at the sleeping girl, and my eyes immediately zoned in on that tender, white neck. It was the spot where I frequented the most and sucked on it so much that the smell of my saliva overtook her natural odour.

It was all so mesmerising. Irina was still dressed in her lingerie-cum-nightgown, with the only difference being that it was much looser than yesterday night. Probably in our struggle for dominance, Irina’s seductive nightwear was unable to handle the heat and lost much of its elasticity.

Honestly speaking, it was so baggy that if I wanted to, I could look down her cleavage and all the way down to her secret garden. But what kind of brother would I be if I lusted over my sister?

Luckily, I was able to somehow control my carnal desires last night and focused primarily on feeding my hunger. But if we were to continue this impure method of satisfying our hunger…

“Hmmm? Brother, you’re awake…”

“Ah,” I pushed aside that thought and quickly greeted the sleeping beauty with a firm smile. “Good morning, Irina.”

“Good morning!”

Irina gingerly rose from the bed, and unknowingly, one of the straps holding onto her already racy nightgown fell down from her collarbone and onto the side of her arms. Still groggy from waking up, the seductive young woman rubbed her gorgeous eyes and slowly willed herself to sit squarely on the bed.

However, even though she was sitting upright, her perfectly sculpted body was slowly slouching back down as her head reached for the soft pillow by her side.

“Haha, you aren’t a morning person, are you?”

I reached out to the sleepy girl and adjusted her clothes back to their proper state. At the same time, I fixed some of the loose bed hair that was sticking out from her head. I’ll be honest, it did feel odd at first, showing such intimate contact with a girl I’d met just a few days ago. But after everything we did last night, helping Irina put her clothes back on was nothing special.

In fact, if I truly wanted to accept her as my little sister, doing stuff like this should come as second nature to me.

“Mmnnn, my body feels heavy… And I feel so full…”

“Yeah, you did drink quite a bit of my blood.”

I didn’t know if it was because of my bigger frame, but Irina seemingly sucked the life out of me last night. There were many times when I felt completely faint as my regenerative abilities couldn’t keep up with Irina’s incessant desire to milk me dry.

“I couldn’t help it… Your blood was so delicious…”

“Really? What did it taste like?”

“Hmmm, I guess the best description would be like a dense soup that had been stewing for over fifty hours? It felt like a combination of all of the world’s best meats, vegetables and fruits brewed into one pot. It was such a deep and mature taste… and it was all so… enticing.”

Is that so? It was such a different experience than mine. I guess each Vampire would have their own distinct flavours.

“Brother, I know that it might be selfish of me to ask, but…” Irina tugged on my arm and shot me a needy look with her delicate puppy eyes. “I don’t think I can return to drinking normal blood anymore… Do you think that we can… Feed again tonight?”

Looking at Irina’s adorable expression made me feel like I had been shot in the heart. Was this why they said that beautiful women ruled the world? Against those fucking eyes, there was no way I could say no.

“Sure,” I chuckled and happily rubbed her head. “Anytime you want to drink my blood, just call for me. Even if I’m on the other side of the world, I’ll give you your favourite stew.”

“Yay!!!”

Goodness… Why is my little sister so cute?! No, no, no. I can’t get distracted. While I would love to stay on the bed and continue feasting on Irina’s delectable blood, I had more pressing matters to attend to.

“Irina, please call Variel for me.”

“… Are you beginning your training already?”

“Time waits for no man, Irina.”

Ever since I’d entered the Everwinter Estate, it had become painfully obvious how weak I was. Matriarch Innocence was one thing, but I wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against any of the Vampires that roamed these icy lands. Heck, I wouldn’t be able to defeat the servants of the clan, let alone Irina’s bastard brother.

Forget becoming the strongest being in the world… I had to train if I wanted to survive in this labyrinth of Vampires.

❖❖❖

“It’s good to see that you’re eager to train, Jin. However, don’t you think that you should rest a bit more?”

“Thanks, Variel. But I don’t want to waste any more time.”

It didn’t take long for Irina’s personal butler to arrive at our doorstep after her call. Apparently, it wasn’t just the bungalow that was under Irina’s private property. All of the other buildings surrounding this luxurious villa were all under her name. The servant quarters, the personalised training chambers, the many buildings to receive guests…

Irina owned about two to three football fields worth of land, if I were to guess. And that was just the structures above! Being in a country that constantly snowed all year round, the Everwinter Estate had an array of underground facilities to help the Vampires with their regular daily activities.

And one of those underground facilities was this humongous training ground that seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. It had white walls that seemed taller than most buildings themselves, and there was nothing but blank space between each wall. No, to say that there was nothing would be a lie. After all…

“Hah… That little chap. After facing that monstrous existence, he actually wanted to begin training right away? I wonder who he takes after?”

“… Don’t look at me; I hadn’t trained him since he was ten.”

“Yeap, he definitely got that training freak gene from you! I remember in the past-…!”

My two parents stood approximately fifteen metres away, with Irina standing that too far away. While they were relatively far, the emptiness of the training quarters, topped off with my enhanced Vampire senses, allowed me to hear every detail of their bickering.

“Alright then,” the butler held back a chuckle and walked right before me as Irina rushed over from her position. “Before we can begin your training proper, let’s discuss the core functions of Vampires, shall we?” Once again, Variel looked at me and asked: “What do you know about how True Vampires use magic?”

How do True Vampires use magic, huh? I think I’d read it in a book before.

Humans used magic by utilising their magic source, which was located within their body, to alter the information of the world. For example, to melt an ice cube, a human magician would use the power within their magic source to construct a spell which loosened the bonds between each water molecule.

The information from the spell came from the human’s knowledge. The magic power came from their source. And the catalyst for it all was a wand, grimoire or anything that could help with the casting.

True Vampires, however, didn’t have that restriction.

“You don’t use catalysts, right?”

“Yes, very good.” Variel nodded in satisfaction. “But that’s not all of it. As much as we don’t want to admit it, True Vampires were originally elves that turned due to the Progenitor’s influence.”

Ah, the Progenitor of Vampires… His tale was a story that even five-year-olds knew about. Many years ago, in an age before the Outer Demons invaded, there was an Elf that was obsessed with immortality. He rejected the traditional method of Elf immortality, which was turning into a tree to protect the forest once they reached the end of their lives, and chased continuously for a solution to live forever.

In the end, he got his answer through obsessive magical research and formed a new race. One that would prove to be history’s apex predator.

The Vampires.

“Taking from our roots as Elves, us Vampires are as close to magic as they come. We don’t need a catalyst because our entire body acts as one. Of course, there is one other factor…”

Variel walked up to me and faced me eye-to-eye. Slowly, he removed his white suede gloves, elegantly putting them away in his jacket pocket. The old man’s hands were heavily wrinkled, but I didn’t dare underestimate them. I knew that if the butler wanted to, he could slit my throat before I could even blink.

Still, that didn’t deter me from scrutinising his hands, particularly the heavy magic signature appearing at the back of his right palm. It wasn’t long until a white mark tattooed itself for all to see. It was in the shape of an icicle with numerous patterns protruding out from its sides. It felt oddly simple but at the same time, brutally elegant.

“The real difference between human magicians and True Vampires is… Our Vampire Aspects.”