"I didn't know that you could turn out to be reliable enough," Mila said as she walked over to Aaric who had taken care of the last guard and was taking some keys from the waist of one of them.

"Of course I can be relied on," Aaric said, glancing at Mila mischievously. "You can count on me whenever you want."

​​

"I will agree with your statement once you remove this thing from my ankle." Mila again pointed at the anklet which was still wrapped around her ankle, and still made a very annoying noise.

"For that…" Aaric laughed wryly, stuffing all the keys he could find from each of the guards' bodies. Those keys would surely come in handy later. "As for that one, you will have to wait a little longer until I come up with a better idea than cutting off your leg."

"Aaric!" Mila shouted while hitting the man's arm hard enough, making him wince in pain.

"Okay, okay." Aaric raised his hands, indicating he gave up. "Let's go now, before the remaining guards also notice that something was wrong here."

Mila wanted to grumble and remind Aaric that they had to worry about the noisy anklet first, but then she gave up and followed Aaric, running into the darkest part of the corridor.

"I hope you know where this corridor will take us," Mila said suddenly. She looked around and it seemed that this was part of a neglected research site, as the place seemed to have been abandoned and forgotten for a long time.

"I know, I have passed by this place a few times,"Aaric answered with certainty. Now, with the keys that Aaric had, he was confident that he could get Mila out of the research area, but as Mila said, their real problem was with the anklet on Mila's ankle that would quickly give away where they were.

Damn! Aaric should have thought of this first. He had forgotten about it completely and only remembered the damn thing after the alarm went off.

================

A man stood under the moonlight, watching the smoke billowing from the distance and the commotion in the courtyard of a seemingly simple building with a pair of sharp eyes.

His eyes that were dark and as jet black as a new moon night's sky glinted with the hint of emotion he still had in their depths.

"She is in there?" the man asked the woman beside him, a woman who appeared from a shadow.

"Yes, I saw her myself," the woman answered with absolute certainty.

"Together with the soul possessor." It was not a question, but a statement and was spoken so coldly that it made anyone who heard it tremble with fear.

"Yes," the woman replied again.

That woman was none other than Arabella. She immediately alerted the vampires after escaping the research center and confirmed that the woman they had been looking for, for fifty years was confined in there. The long lost vampire queen.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't be in this place." A young man approached the first man carefully and reminded him in a low voice. "You can wait for the results back at the palace."

The man who had just been called 'His Majesty' stood unmoved. He didn't answer the suggestion right away, but he didn't ignore it either. "If that woman is indeed here, then I have to welcome her when she comes back to me."

Hearing this answer, the man backed away. He couldn't find a way to persuade his king to wait in a safer place if that was his decision.

Liam Dageus.

A name that not just anyone could call. He was the king of the vampires. He rarely appeared outside, especially when he was always surrounded by danger. And, he had to be in the palace at all times, because it was the safest place for him.

But, tonight was an exception.

Liam decided to get out of his safety haven and witness with his own eyes this whole process to get the woman, who would become his queen.

Fifty years.

For them, fifty years was just a number, for they would not age. Even so, fifty years was a long time.

And Liam had been waiting for this moment since fifty years ago.

"Make sure she doesn't get hurt at all," the king said and it was an order that had to be obeyed.

Seeing how the humans were still trying to fight the sudden attack, as well as the explosions that left half of the building to be burned down into ashes, it was very likely that Mila would also be injured in the rescue process.

"What about Aaric?"Arabella asked. "What will His Majesty do if Aaric is caught?"

Aaric was a soul possessor who was given the task of bringing back Mila when she fled fifty years ago, but not only did he disappear with the future queen, but Aaric had been negligent enough until Mila was caught by these humans.