It was the start of their semestral break. Most of the students went home to spend their two-week break from school. Lira decided to stay in the academy since her aunt said she needed to visit a place that was called Kingdom of Elfiro to make some official elven business. Wherever that was. Ian also said he would be going back to his place and might be returning a few months late at the academy but he made a promise to send Lira words about his whereabouts. Yumi would be staying as well, saying that she wanted to avoid Lavinia and her possible colorful vengeance the latter might bestow upon her poor and helpless self. Mari decided to stay then, since her best friends would be staying behind and they might get lonely without her.

Miss Amara took the opportunity to discuss with Lira about the current on goings with the secret uprising and the illicit activities of the evil vampires and their current marionettes holding seats in the government. They were in the green office and Miss Amara had gathered some of the slayers, including Matt. Matt was surprised to find her. He was more astounded to know Lira was a Dayanghirang who housed the deity his clan had sworn their loyalty. He began calling her 'My Lady' to which she threatened she would never speak with him again if he called her my lady one more time.

"The joined forces of the slayers under my leadership and Philip's personal Enforcers have already destroyed the camp of newly turned Crazed vampires. We were able to secure some documents. Apparently, there are other camps as well, scattered around Northernland and Middleland. Southernland remained safe.

There had already been movements in some parts of Middleland; with the help of some people in the Government, they had built walls around certain cities, made up of the lower castes, and used the people as their workers and slaves. Some... some were used as blood suppliers—they harvest people's blood. We suspect they are targeting the lower caste community now since their defenses are low. But soon they will be targeting the higher castes community as well, especially those who are in opposition with the current administration," Ms. Amara said.

Lira was appalled to hear such things. How monstrous they were! Those beasts! How could they do this? And some humans aided them. But she was relieved upon hearing that Southernland remained safe. She was worried about Claire and her parents. She even sent Claire an e-mail that morning telling her to be safe and all, hoping Claire would read it soon. "How could some of our people join their cause?"

"We have suspicions that a powerful vampire lord used compulsion to manipulate the president to do the vampire's biddings. That vampire lord might be using the Government to cover for their dirty tasks. That remained a theory until now since the only ones who can use such powerful compulsion are Lazarus and Magnus, both asleep in their tomb.

Others were driven because of fear. The majority were offered rewards for their betrayal to the human kind. The vampires who attacked the humans were merely trying to get Philip's attention about some of the nobles' actions. Those noble lords created a separate vampire council that they called the Dark Court. Philip thinks they are preparing the land for Lazarus. Once he has risen, he will complete what they had started and they might possibly wage war with the other vampire kingdom. We are still trying to investigate who the members of the Dark Court are, since they remained in the shadows and the ones who do their dirty works are the commoner vampires."

"What can we do now Miss Amara?" Lira asked. She wasn't sure if she was indeed ready to fight the vampires. Her dilemma lies with the fact that her boyfriend was a vampire, and a prince to top it all! Was she going to have to fight Nicholas as well? Were the slayers and Miss Amara expecting her to fight the entire Dark Court?

"For now, I want you to keep yourself safe. They are still unaware of your existence. We want to keep it that way. As for the slayers, we will continue to disassemble every camp they built and later we will try to free the trapped people from the walled cities."

Miss Amara mentioned again that they have already identified another Dayanghirang who she kept anonymous since it was vital for them to remain hidden for their own safety. As of now, the other princess was sent to another area for training.

"Lira how's your training? Can you fully use all your powers?" the head mistress asked.

"I can, but not all of them."

"Then I guess we also need to train you for combat." She turned and addressed Matt. "Matteo, I want you to train Lira the basics."

Matt nodded and gave Lira a wink. Lira groaned.

After the meeting, Lira had her first lesson with Matt. He thought her some blocking and defense moves since she would be using her own abilities instead of weapons to subdue her future foes. Once the lessons were done, Lira went to meet with her friends. They started the 'Phase 1' of the 'Operation Mariella v. 2.0' by rummaging Mari's closet to look for suitable attire a.k.a. the 'plain Lira' look as dubbed by Yumi.

"Hey!" Lira grumbled. "And its Plain Jane; not Plain Lira," she added, crossing her arms.

Yumi chuckled. "You know I'm just teasing you Lira."

Since Mari had none of the long skirts or even the knee length ones (most of what she owned were mini to micro mini), they decided to invade Lira's closet instead. Later that evening, they went to have their dinner at the mess hall. Since most students opted to go home, the mess hall was almost empty except for some slayers, elite guards and teachers having their meal.

Lira and her friends were joined by the Imperial brothers and Elisabeth. Matt, who saw them from a far, frowned at Lira and went the other way. Although the Imperials and Elisabeth weren't eating, they each held a glass containing crimson liquid that Lira had suspicions as what it might be. She heard Stephan asked disgustingly to Yumi, "What's that you're eating?" to which Yumi snapped, "What's that you're drinking?"

Lira chuckled. If they kept that going, they'd end up as a couple someday.

Nicholas noticed her chuckling and asked, "What are you so amused about?"

"Wouldn't it be nice if my friend ended up dating your brother? They look cute together."

Nicholas seemed to ponder that thought. "Well, if they learn how not to constantly bite each other's heads off, I guess they're fit for each other. I wouldn't count on that ever happening, though. So don't put your hopes up."

"And why is that? Is it because of the vampire law that you said?"

"Partly yes. But it's more than that. You'll learn about it soon enough, I guess."

Lira spent her remaining week confined within the Academy as per Miss Amara's orders since the latter could not risk Lira facing any danger. Most of her mornings, she had her lessons with Matt. Lately, though, he seemed to be distant and aloof towards her. He only gave her instructions during the lessons, showed her the proper techniques, while his conversations with her seemed calculated. As if he didn't want to talk to her and yet he was forced to do so since he was in charge with teaching her self-defense. Lira found it odd but held her tongue.

The classes resumed after their two-week hiatus from school. True to his word, Ian was absent. There were also rumors that Clara was missing, but was later explained by Miss Amara that Clara remained in the south due to her sudden ailment. Mari had also been frequenting the infirmary. Lira suspected its more than dysmenorrhea as what Mari always explained the cause of her sickness. Meanwhile Yumi was acting weirder and weirder every day. Her sleep walking and talking turned for the worse. She advised Yumi that she might need to seek help before it'd cause her any further harm. Yumi brushed the idea away again, saying she was just fine. Lavinia, well Lavina was still her same old self, although Lira noticed her group became visibly smaller than before.

A month had passed and Ian still hadn't returned. He only sent her a letter telling her he was okay and he'd be visiting her soon enough. Lira was worried for Clara, too. She asked Matt how Clara was, only to be answered by Matt in a curt tone saying "She's fine."

Lira spent some of her time with Nicholas as well. Usually they stayed in the rec room. Nicholas had invited her to his home for a visit, to which Lira declined saying she wasn't ready for that yet. Lately though, Nicholas became busy most of the nights. He explained to Lira that he'd been attending vampire council meetings since his presence was 'highly needed'. There was a high alert within the council since a marquise vampire, one of Philip's trusted allies, was brutally murdered nights ago. Since then, Nicholas had been attending the meetings with Philip.

Lira's dreams were no better. She constantly dreamt of Lazarus and his evilness. One morning, she woke up covered in sweat, as if she herself was running in the woods to flee for her life while being chased by Lazarus and his henchmen. This time, there was a faceless female with flaming red hair running beside her.

Lira gathered her courage and asked Nicholas if she could borrow some books in his library. It was the first week of December when Nicholas escorted her to the library. Nicholas sat on the couch while Lira began her hunt for any book containing about Lazarus. She found several only to find that the information was like the rest: a minimal description of his reign and glory, both written by point of views from his vampire supporters and the detractors.

She almost gave up searching. If she would be standing in a heated battle, she should at least learn who her enemy was. She made a quick glance towards Nicholas, who was sitting on the couch. Should she ask him? Could she even ask him?

"What is it, Lira?" Nicholas asked who couldn't stand any longer of Lira's glances.

"What's what?" she asked innocently.

"You keep on staring at my face. Unless your stare is directed at my lips and you wanted me to kiss you, tell me what it is that bothers you so I could help you."

Lira sat beside him. "Well, I've been researching actually, but I couldn't find the answers. I was hoping maybe you could help me? Since you're all-knowing and more mature than me considering how long you have existed."

"Are you implying that I am THAT old?" he asked grouchily.

Lira kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. "Considering that you are already a hundred and eighteen years old compare to my tender years of seventeen, yes you are that old for me."

Nicholas gave her a glare. Lira gave a soft chuckle. Then he added in a low tone, "I told you vampires have different lifespan. I am considered eighteen in our vampiric years."

"Aw. Nicholas is bothered with our age difference!" Nicholas gave her an impatient look, and Lira knew he was trying to bite his tongue from delivering any macabre threats. Lira giggled and said, "I was just teasing you. Besides, I could be a reincarnated goddess who had lived a thousand of years ago for all we know. So that would make me older than you." That was half-true, actually. "So I was wondering if you could help me with some history. But promise to hear me out first before you all go ballistic on me."

Nicholas merely frowned.

"So are you going to hear me out?"

"Go on."

"Well, okay, here goes. I want to know about Lazarus."

Nicholas raised a questioning brow. "And why would Lazarus be an interest to you?"

"Uhm... I read in my mom's journal about his name. Your brother must have had mentioned his name to her and she wrote it down," Lira lied.

Nicholas fell silent for a moment. "Lazarus is... the true leader and king of our clan and the others as well who had sworn their fealty over him. He was among the very first Imperial ever existed; the strongest and recently I've heard the cruelest. During his time, the vampire world was constantly at war with each other, vying for supremacy over the other. Their constant killings caused the decreasing numbers of vampires so during the 20th century they divided the world into several vampire kingdoms so each would have a land to rule over. The Imperial chose to remain here and rule the nearby Asian countries."

"Why here?"

"Lazarus seemed to be attached to this country, so my father chose this land," he answered with a shrug. "However, I knew during that time of negotiations, he was already in deep slumber for several centuries. But his words were still the back bone of the vampire law in this kingdom."

"He's really that scary and mean?"

"A vampire becomes stronger as he ages and if he possesses a royal blood. He had both. Yes, he is... mean, as you put it. But he has his own reasons. It's for the greater good for all vampires in this kingdom."

Lira stared at Nicholas, looking slightly disappointed. "Is that what you believe? Do you agree with what he did in the past?"

"Some of his ways were a bit overrated based on my standards. He made bad moves and bad choices. If my father is the spawn of devil, Lazarus is the devil incarnate. That's why there has been some disagreement within the council. Some wanted to renounce Lazarus and my father as their king. They wanted Philip to rule. They disagreed with the way things were run under my father's leadership."

"Oh. So where do you stand?"

"I'm not sure, actually," he admitted.

"Just remember, Nick, that sometimes what we think is right might not be right at all. Those vampires may think that ruling a kingdom by force and violence is right for them, where in fact it is not. Open your eyes and truly see what's around you."

Nicholas looked at her. "It's hard really on my part. I might choose evil, who knows?"

"Nicholas! Don't say things like that!"

Nicholas bowed his head and said solemnly, "You see Lira, Lazarus is my father."

Lira gasped, her eyes wide opened. "What did you say?"

Nicholas sighed and explained. "He's my real father. Everyone knows it's Magnus but I recently found out that Lazarus is my sire. The vampire council members, my father and Philip are the only ones who knew about this. A hundred and nineteen years ago, Lazarus' took my father's body—I suppose you can call it possession. Then he made a visit to my mother's chambers and that's it. A year later I was born. That was why I am the heir and not Philip."

"Are you even sure? Why would he do that? How could that be possible?"

"Anything is possible in the vampire world, Lira," he said gloomily. "Many older vampires fall to what we call their vampiric sleep to conserve or renew their strength. Some would rather possess the body of a younger vampire and use their youthful strength instead. It is strange, I suppose, but that is how things work in our world. That is how we survive."

"But why would he possess your father, I mean King Magnus?"

"He wanted to have his own heir, I guess."

They both fell silent for a moment. How was she now going to explain to Nicholas about her role? About her duty? Things just got a bit complicated now.

"How... How do you kill a powerful vampire like Lazarus?" she asked.

Nicholas eyed her suspiciously; nevertheless, he still gave her an answer. "Like how you kill the rest of the vampires: beheading them and burning their body. Even while he sleeps, Lazarus' body is heavily guarded inside a tomb underneath our house. He can't easily be killed."

Lira let that thought ponder for a moment. Could she really fulfill what they expected her to do? She was sure of one thing: Nicholas would be her future enemy.