Marquis Beaumont decided to come home after tidying up all of the reports that he needed to submit regarding the subjugation.

It's been a while since he last saw the face of his mother and younger sister.

He took out a beautiful bracelet he saw along the way when he was out traveling from his inner pocket. He wanted to give it to Eleanor. The intricate design that glisten when the sun shines on it would definitely suit his sister.

After bidding farewell to his knights, he immediately went to the palace stables to get his beloved horse 'Aklid'.

After a few moments, he had already reached their residence.

A servant opened the door for him and he was welcomed by their butler, Mr. Blackladder.

"Welcome back, My Lord." He greeted him respectfully and bowed.

He got down from his horse and another servant came to take it away.

"Is my mother and sister at home?"

The sudden change in the butler complexion was not missed by his keen eyes.

"That..yes. The Duchess is currently resting in her chamber. As for the young miss, she had been away for some personal business."

The Marquis threw a questioning look as if waiting for more specific explanation but the butler did not say any more words.

His eyes scanned their residence. The suspicious behavior of their butler along the avoidant eyes of their servants made him a hundred percent sure that something is going on.

"I see. I'll go and visit my mother then."

He didn't waste anymore time and immediately went in.

"My Lord, would you like me to prepare a meal for you first?" Butler Blackladder asked as he was going away.

"Later."

He quickly went to his mother's room located in the right wing of their second floor. After reaching the chamber, he carefully knocked thrice and announce his presence.

The door swung open and his mother smilingly looked at him as she hug him tight.

"You're back. Have you been well, my son?"

"Yes, mother. How about you? You seemed thinner than the last time I saw you."

When they parted the hug, he worriedly looked at his mother's face.

"I am okay. It must be because of the changes in seasons. Come on in."

When they entered the room, the Duchess sat opposite her son.

"Where's Elle? I heard that she was on some business trip. What was it about?"

"You..didn't heard anything yet?" Duchess Emali sighed and massaged her aching temple.

The Duchess was about to say something when a few consecutive knocks got their attention.

"Darling, it's me."

When the door opened, the Duke entered the room. When he saw his son sitting infront of his mother, he greeted him awkwardly that the Marquis couldn't help it anymore and asked again, "Is there something I need to know?"

The couple looked at each other and when the Duchess nodded, the Duke sat beside her.

The Duchess thought that it was better that they will be one to convey the news to their son rather than for him to find it out from other people.

She hold his hand while the Duke composed himself before speaking.

"Eleanor has decided to.." Duke Beaumont's voice became inaudible as he says the last part of his sentence.

The Marquis just looked at his father with a confused look.

The Duke sighed and repeated himself, but this much louder.

"Elle has decided to get married.."

When his father finished speaking, he felt her mither's hand squeezed his palm gently as if comforting him.

"Married?" He repeated again as if trying to analyze if he just heard it all wrong.

He looked at his parents but they just avoided his stares.

"My sister is getting married you say? How come I didn't know any of this?" His tone became much louder with a hint of anger in it.

"It just been decided.." The Duke answered him.

He can't help but scoffed in the air.

So this was the reason why all people in their residence are acting strange and the mansion look so dreary and bleak despite the flowers in the garden being in full bloom.

He could feel his blood rising but he chose to compose himself.

"So my sister suddenly decided to get married and all of the people knew except me.."

He combed his hair with his fingers as he tries to process it all in.

"With whom and when will she be getting married?"

The Duke and Duchess exchanged a knowing look.

"With the Eldest of the Vampire Elder son.. the date was the day after tomorrow." The Duchess was the one who answered this time.

"What...?" All of this was too much for him to process that all he could say was that.

His little sister getting married was sure a big shock but to know that

aside from that, she was marrying a dangerous stranger who had a lot of bad reputations following him.

After realizing what was going on, he rashly stood up.

Getting alarmed, the Duchess hold on to his arm.

"Where is she? I need to talked some sense to her."

No one answered him.

"Father!" He couldn't control his temper anymore that his tone raised.

"Ezra, your sister had finally made up her mind. No matter how much we hated this too, it was her decision and we wanted to respect it."

"How could you say that? My one and only sister was about to married some blood-thirsty beast because of a damn treaty!"

"Ezra! Watch your language." The Duke reminded his son.

"I am against this," said the Marquis, unclasp the hand of his mother holding his arm and walked out.

He didn't looked back despite the continuous calling of his parents.

After walking out, he immediately contacted his trusted personal foot man and told him to gather Eleanor's whereabouts.

He went to his studies and wrote a formal letter asking for an audience to the Palace. He tied the letter to the pigeon claw to send it.

He leaned back on his seat and sigh. He can't help but be worried about his sister.

Although he knew his sister well and he was not unaware that she could handle herself well but marriage was different. It was not as easy as just counting your fingers. It has certain responsibility. His sister was too young for this.

Even if a time would come that he had to get married to someone he didn't love like the Princess, he wanted her sister to be free from it. He wanted her to have the ability to choose who would she marry and not like this. He wanted her to be happy.

He hated the idea that his precious sister would become an instrument just to attain peace. Woman should be more than that. They should be able to do what they want and not just become some trophy or decorations.

Although he was angry, he knew that his father did all he could to prevent this. It's probably Eleanor who stubbornly decided to go for it because of her strong sense of justice and how she gives importance to he duties.

If there's anything they are similar about, it's their stubbornness and the urge to always do what they think what is right and think for the greater good.