As it was well known, the seven elders could be beyond stubborn when they wanted something, and Mila couldn't refuse them outrightly either. Her status as a princess did not give her the authority to do so.

However, Liam didn't help her to avoid the old people. He thought that Mila should go to the elders to find out what they wanted.

​​

"Nothing they want would be good," Mila mumbled when Liam said that.

They walked down the corridors of the castle, while the sun was still shining brightly outside. This castle was actually a fortress for the lives of other vampires who didn't have royal blood like them.

During the day, the vampires would take cover in the shadow of the castle to escape the sun.

Yes, sunlight could slowly kill them.

"Do you have any idea on what they really want?" Mila asked Liam again. She had to be active in speaking, because if it wasn't just the two of them, the king would tend to keep his mouth shut.

Liam would only be talkative in front of certain people.

"I guess so," Liam answered bluntly. Of course he knew what kind of trouble Mila had to face because of those elders.

The seven of them were still not complacent with Liam's decision to keep Mila as the future queen of their people.

Since Mila had been held captive by the humans for a long time, they were worried that the mortals had done something to her.

"Is that a bad thing?" Mila frowned, not liking what she had to face later. During her stay in the palace, she had always tried to avoid conflict with any of them.

However, now she had to face all seven of them at once…

"You have to face them yourself to find out," Liam said and his words didn't help at all.

Mila grumbled when she got an unclear answer.

"Thank you for your help," Mila replied sarcastically.

Not long after, the two guards dressed in dark blue opened a large door in front of them and let the king and Mila enter first.

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

"How could you guys let them escape?!" Claire cried angrily, her eyes burning with fire when she heard their report.

"The car they were in crashed into the guardrail and sank to the bottom of the lake," a young man reported to his commander.

If they didn't know Claire's status as a commander in this special forces, they would have thought that this woman was an ordinary woman, but her appearance now seemed far from that.

"They can't just die from drowning at the bottom of the lake!" Claire hissed fiercely. She still couldn't forget what those astral beings had done to her.

She was unconscious when it all happened until the special forces team found her in the kitchen.

And then Claire got the news that her best friend, Ellen, had passed away and it was very likely that those bastard creatures had killed her. It was an indisputable fact, there were no other suspects in this case.

"Yeah, I guess so," said another man who was older and seemed to be of a higher rank than Claire. "I got reports that the vampires were spotted in the city center not far from where the car crashed."

Claire clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I want them dead. That bastard has killed my best friend." Claire's voice sounded low and dangerous.

"You know, don't you, that you can't mix personal matters with this?" the older man reminded Claire and waved his hand at the other man to leave the room.

And when there were only the two of them in the room, Claire said in a hateful tone. "Whether this involves personal matters or not, you know that we have to kill them all, don't you?" Then Claire turned and looked at the older man and added. "Father?"

The man Claire called father was Danny White, one of the seven higher- ups in the special forces.

"What is your plan?" Danny asked his daughter. He was furious because the savage creatures had touched Claire.

If it wasn't for luck or whatever it was called, it could have been Claire who was killed instead of Ellen tonight.

It's a pity that Ellen died in that way, because Danny had known her since they were little and didn't imagine that Ellen actually worked for a research center.

"I still haven't decided what I am going to do, but I found something interesting," Claire said. "Come here, I will show you that astral beings aren't just vampires."

Danny narrowed his eyes when he heard that. "There are more creatures?"

"Yeah, I didn't notice this at first, but there was something odd about her when I saw her," Claire explained as they walked out of the meeting room at the special forces center. "I ordered this little girl to be restrained."

"A small child?" The frown between Danny's eyebrows deepened. What did Claire mean by locking up a child? Why did she involve civilians?

But, before Danny could protest and criticize Claire's actions, she seemed to know what was on his father's mind. She raised her hand to ask Danny to stop, forcing him to swallow back his comment in the process.

"You should see this kid first before you jump to conclusions." Claire took out a special card from her pocket to open the automatic door that separated the corridor from the earlier room, while the guards on duty there saluted the two of them as they passed. "You will agree with me and I think this creature can lead us to the vampire hideout."

"What is this creature?" Danny did not get any information regarding the astral beings captured by Claire.

They walked through the hallway where the glass walls of the rooms showed the activities of the people inside, where they were testing and observing something out.

Claire led her father to the end of the corridor and stopped at a white door, outside which there were two guards waiting.

Claire nodded at the two guards and let them open the door.

"I don't know for sure, but I am sure she has the ability to enter someone's soul," Claire said in a calm tone and stepped into the room with iron bars, akin to a prison cell.

Some of the rooms were filled with vampires who had been their captives for a long time, but huddled in a sitting position in the corner of this small prison- like room, there was a little girl around seven years old, away from the iron bars that locked her up.

"Claire, what is this? Are you crazy?!" Danny cried in a muffled voice. Not only had his daughter detained civilians, but she had also detained a minor.

"Look at this," Claire said quietly.

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

As Mila expected, arguing with the elders was exhausting and during that long discussion, Mila felt that they had sucked out all of her energy.

It was only after the sun had shone that the tough discussion could finally end. That's also because Liam looked so angry that they had wasted his time, while he had already made it very clear; he chose Mila.

And the decision was not something that needed to be discussed again.

"I will see you after sunset," Liam said to Mila, as he ushered her into her room, which was not far from his own.

"No need to see me," Mila grumbled.

Mila was still annoyed that Liam was sticking with his decision, but also couldn't be completely angry with the king, as her options were so limited; between herself being queen or being the sister of a traitor, which was a death sentence for her.

Well, Mila didn't want to die yet.

"Have a good rest." Liam ignored Mila's curt words and stepped away to return to his room. He also felt very tired, as if he could no longer walk. Because since he picked up Mila, Liam hadn't got a single moment to rest, now his head felt very heavy.

But, he still had to confirm something.

"Andreas," Liam called him, as he entered his room followed by his loyal guard. "Watch the movements of the seven elders and report everything to me."

Andreas frowned. "Isn't spying on the elders against the rules?"

There was a rule that referred to this, wherein the elders and the king were not allowed to spy on each other.

"It's against the rules if you get caught," Liam said curtly, removing his robes and layers of clothing afterward.

Andreas had to avert his eyes when Liam took off all his clothes and put on more comfortable clothes for him to sleep in.

"Don't let them know what you are upto." Liam said in a tired voice, then he stumbled toward his bed.

However, that was easier said than done...

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Mila entered her room with an uncomfortable feeling and a mind filled with many problems.

It felt like her life in the research center was much better than here, at least even though her mind was blank and couldn't remember anything, her head wasn't troubled with so many headaches.

And one more thing… she missed Aaric… where was that silly guy now?

However, as soon as she thought of changing her clothes, her movements stopped because Mila realized that she wasn't the only one in the room.

"What do you want?" Mila asked, turning her body to face the two vampires who appeared from the shadows of the tightly closed curtains of her room. "What's this? The elders are still not satisfied with the long argument just now?" Mila snorted when she saw the color of the uniforms they were wearing.