The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (BL)

Lucius woke up to a knocking sound on the door. He rubbed his eyes, feeling disoriented and nauseating from all the wine he had consumed the night before.

“Lu, open the door!“Came a contralto female voice.

Lucius knew the voice. It was his big sister, Amelda. She moved out of the manor after married Marquess Sheridon, and Lucius hadn’t seen her for almost a year.

Amelda was ten years older than him and Julian, and sometimes she was like a mother more than a sister to the twins. Growing up, she was the only one in the household that Lucius was willing to confide in because she cared about him. His parents probably called her here to talk some sense into him since the day for him to depart was getting closer, and they couldn’t risk Lucius blowing their truce with Eternia.

Lucius didn’t answer. Did she come to persuade him into “performing his duty and sacrifice for the country” as well? The thought gave him a bitter taste of betrayal in his mouth.

“Lu, I swear if you don’t open the door I will kick it down!”

Lucius groaned in annoyance and dragged himself out of bed and opened the door. Amelda was two steps away from the door about to give a roundhouse kick, and she gasped as she saw the state Lucius was in.

“My goodness! You look like shit!”

Lucius rolled his eyes, “good, then Ashdown can just dissolute the engagement and send me back.”

Amelda’s expression softened, and Lucius saw pity in her eyes. She passed him and entered the room. Lucius glanced venomously at the two guards standing outside, sent here to prevent him from escaping, and shut the door forcefully.

Amelda was in her mid-30s and yet still looking in her early twenties. She had the same strawberry blond hair color as their mother, porcelain skin and blue eyes, and a covetous body accentuated with a tight red blouse and black leather pants. She settled on the couch, lighted her cigarette, and drew deeply, exhaling a long white mist, “I didn’t know about this until last week.”

“So? Don’t act as if you were going to be against it. It’s too good a deal.“Lucius poured himself a cup of water and gulped it down, feeling slightly less miserable.

Amelda gaped at him, “it pains me that you think I would choose to sacrifice you over the so-called peace. This is not peace. This is surrender. And now we will have to pay tribute to those sadistic monsters, sending defenseless people to them as pets or blood bags and watching them enslave humanity.”

Lucius scoffed bitterly, “it’s all settled. Did you know our mother came to see me the other day, begging me to do my part perform my aristocratic duty and pretend to be Julian and be a pliant sweetheart so Ashdown would be pleased? She said it in a very compassionate way, as if she felt sorry for me, but still, she chose to send me so her precious Julian won’t be defiled. And father...he got angrier as time passed, and one day he just yelled at me that I should be happy about the arrangement since I like cocks more than vaginas anyway, that I can finally go somewhere I belong to.”

Amelda was quiet for a long moment, and then she said, “it’s not your fault, Lucius.”

And that broke the young man’s barely keeping veneer. Lucius buried his face into his hands, “I kept wondering if I’m more like my brother, would they still agree to this?”

“But you are not. And you shouldn’t be. ”

“But you still agreed to come and talk me into it.”

“No. I agreed to come because I want to ensure you are not doing stupid stuff, like shutting yourself in and not eating, which is exactly what is happening.”

“I didn’t lock myself in. They locked me in so I can’t escape.“Lucius spat, “didn’t you see all those guards at the door and around my windows? They are sent by the crown to ‘protect me’. They even took my phone, laptop, and tablet, so I can’t contact someone for help.”

Amelda pressed the cigarette into the ashtray, sat next to Lucius, and wrapped her arm around her little brother. Lucius laid his head on her shoulder, taking a deep breath to take in the scent of her perfume to quell his nerve.

“You can run.” Amelda said quietly, “and I will help you.”

Lucius paused and sat straight, peering into her eyes to see if she was serious.

Amelda’s gaze was steady and calm, “I’m serious. I know some people. They can get you a new name, identity, and documents and get you out of Anthor. You won’t be able to come back after this, but you will be safe as long as you keep your heads low for a while, at least until everything is settled. I’ve already made some inquiries on your behalf before I come. You just need to tell me if you want to go.”

Lucius blinked, “for real?”

Amelda nodded, “if I make a phone call now, at 3:45 am, all the electricity of the manor will be cut off, and all alarms will be disabled, all locks open. Someone will create a distraction to make it looks like theft, and you just open the window, and someone will come to pick you up. By tomorrow 8 am, you will be on a plane to Estos.”

Lucius gaped at her incredulously, “just what kind of people have you been mixing with?”

“Let’s just say mom and dad will have a heart attack if they know.“Amelda grinned.

Lucius felt like he didn’t know his big sister at all. He had so many questions, but now was not the time to ask. He had a huge decision to make, and he didn’t have enough time to contemplate.

“What will happen after I leave?” Asked Lucius.

Amelda shook her head, “you don’t need to worry about it. This is your life.”

“But I have to!” Lucius stood up and paced around the room, all kinds of thoughts swirling in his tempestuous head. He didn’t think he’d had choices, but now that he did, it all became even more complicated, “this is something all parties agreed to. It’s an order from the Crown and the Churches. What will happen to mom and dad? Hell...what will happen to Julian?”

“You are only torturing yourself to think about these. They are beyond your control.“Amelda said morosely, “if you want to avoid that fate they arranged for you, this is your only out. And you shouldn’t look back. It may sound cruel, but in this crazy world, what is not?”

Lucius was not a saint like Julian. He never wept for homeless people, never pitied those who suffered in famine on some distant lands, and never worried about the world’s future. In his view, those were not his problems to solve, so why bothered? But his was different. This was about his families and many people’s lives.

If he was gone, then they couldn’t fulfill the compact with Eternia unless they sent the real Julian. His father and mother would be severely punished, and Julian would probably have to go to Eternia as the price of continuing the war would be too big.

But could Julian survive it?

The vampires were the predators. They used to hide in the darkness of the night, but since their number rapidly grew and the first vampire king Edward Ashdown sat on the throne of Eternia and claimed that it would be a vampire nation, they no longer needed to hide and grew much more powerful than any human nation. They were immortals who were stronger and richer, and some even had supernatural abilities, and they could quickly produce more scions compared to the traditional primal and slow human reproduction. They also had no morality or religious baggage and ventured into many scientific areas that humans failed to conquer, including DNA engineering and body alteration.

Nowadays, the human beings living in Eternia were slaves, pets and live stocks. They were murdered, eaten, raped, and tortured every day just for some vampire’s amusement.

And Julian...he was well sheltered all his life, and his soul was too soft and gentle. Besides, he was too pious and also probably not gay (Lucius wouldn’t know for sure since Julian had never had any romantic relationship before he entered the seminary, but the Churches condemned homosexual activities). Asking him to marry the very incarnation of evil and serving him sexually would be a fate worse than death. He couldn’t survive Eternia.

Lucius might be jealous of the affection Julian received from their parents and pretty much everyone else, but he still loved his twin brother, and he didn’t want him to suffer.

And Lucius? He might be frivolous, troublemaking, and drank too much, but he knew he was tougher. Besides, how many people would miss him if he was gone? He had no boyfriend, and no significant others. All his “friends” would sell him in a blink of an eye.

He could stop a war and save his brother from a terrible fate... it was a good deal. Could he really live with himself if he chose to flee, knowing he was sentencing Julian to a horrifying death?

Lucius cursed loudly, knowing he didn’t really have a choice. He collapsed into the armchair, resigning, “no. I’ll stay.”

Amelda didn’t appear to be surprised, “are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You are a fool, you know that?“She sighed profoundly.

“Maybe...” Lucius gave her a wry smile, “but at least now I feel like it is a choice I made...Thank you...I know the escape plan is probably not real, and you are just tricking me since you know me so well. You knew I would have chosen to stay. But still, you make me see the whole picture better.”

Watching the color gone on Amelda’s face, Lucius knew he guessed it right. Amelda might be caring for him, but she would never risk sacrificing Julian.

There was never any escaping plan.

“Lucius I...”

“It’s ok, sister. ” Lucius closed his eyes, suddenly feeling even more exhausted than before, “I will eat and learn the etiquettes and play my part. Is there anything else? I’m really tired.”

“I didn’t lie to you when I said I didn’t agree to this... It’s just...we don’t have a choice.“Amelda’s sorrowful voice would have moved the hardest heart, but Lucius just couldn’t process it anymore.

Ere long, Lucius heard the sound of the door opening and then closing, he opened his eyes. He looked around, feeling a bit cold.

He was all alone once more.