My Vampire Prince..-Chapter 120: Disgusting.

Elyria moved through the bustling marketplace with barely contained panic. Even though it was night, the streets were still very much alive.

Her steps were light, almost floating above the dusty ground so as not to draw attention to herself.

Elyria knew how beautiful she was and how many times, the human men had tried to have their way with her. She loved to have fun with men who made her feel like a woman but there were limits to that.

Ever since she landed, she had been walking for hours, scanning faces and asking for directions, hoping to meet the person Elder Zephyr had spoken of.

But this particular side of the human world was too big, too chaotic, too loud even for someone like her who had spent centuries frolicking in the sins of the world.

As she went, her mind kept replaying Zephyr’s words.

"You will find him. He owes me a life debt after I helped he and his brother escape from mad man. If anyone can help us with magic, it’s him."

Zephyr had said nothing about how dangerous the place she was going to would be. Nothing about the way men treated women or even behaved made her want to stay a second.

She didn’t know why, but it all just seemed too much probably because she hadn’t gone to the human world in a long time.

There were street fights, prostitution and brothels literally scattered everywhere in the town. For God’s sake, wasn’t there a king in this place?!

This world that smelled of stale beer, rotten pleasure, and disgusting, cheap perfume should be burned forever in hell.

She had crossed into a distant human land, far from where Zerathane or any other country in that continent was.

Here, buildings sagged as if tired of standing.

"I’d take Zerathane under that wicked Cassian guy any day other this hell hole." Elyria muttered to herself.

She kept on walking, trying to not let her eyes clash with any of the red ones that she thought were staring at her.

Garbage littered the corners, men loitered, drunks slept on broken crates, and smoke drifted from pipes and cigarettes like a curse hanging over the town.

Elyria hugged herself over her black cloak and walked faster.

A man whistled at her from a doorway but she ignored him and quickened her steps.

A while later, another reached out as if to touch the hem of her dress. She turned sharply to avoid it and caught the same man being kissed to death by another man.

These men were worse than Sodomy!

A rowdy group of men sat outside a low, brothel, the women with their half-naked painted bodies inside, leaned on the windowsill like wilted flowers. Elyria kept her gaze low, her steps even and her breathing controlled.

She knew the laws too well: The elders had made it clear after the reconcilation with the humans, never to let any human witness their use of powers. Or to even know that they were dragons in the first place.

Humans were fragile and anything mystical around them risked shattering their minds and causing another war that no one wanted to happen ever again.

She needed to find this Zephyr’s friend. Nothing else.

To escape the noise and the crawling eyes, Elyria turned into a narrow alleyway, keeping her wings tightly concealed beneath her cloak. The compass in her hand was doing a terrible job helping her find her way. She had to hold it out a bit just so she could read it properly. That made it even more difficult for her to stay hidden.

The street she had entered was loud by not as the one she has just come out from. Just as she relaxed for a moment, she bumped into someone...hard.

"Watch it, you whore!" a gruff, drunken voice barked.

Whore?!

Elyria felt anger bubbled in her. She enjoyed her body being pleasured but not to the extent of being obsessed with it!

’Calm down Elyria. she said softly to herself’. ’This bastard isn’t worth your spark’

"I am sorry." The apology tasted bitter than the roots Lio forces her to drink and tried to step around the man. Elyria whispered and stepped away from the man

The man caught her wrist. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

His hairy hand’s grip was rough, hot, and unbearably tight. Elyria froze, still trying not to break any rules, though instinct screamed at her to lash out. She was the least patient dragon and her normalcy was far below the average rate even for humans.

She attempted to pull back gently, but he only tightened his hand and dragged her closer.

"Pretty thing like you shouldn’t walk alone," he said bending down. His breath reeking of liquor whooshed over her face. Elyria scrunched her nose. If Lio had seen her this patient, he would be surprised for decades to come.

"I must go," she replied firmly. "Release me."

Her politeness only emboldened him. His other hand slid across her waist, squeezing, then moved lower. Elyria stiffened in shock. Her heart thudded as anger began to rise. She twisted her arm, trying to break free.

"Stop," she demanded. One thing she hated the most was when men saw women as nothing but a pleasure tool.

A woman had every right to let any one do to her whatever pleases her body if and only if she consents to it. Anything asides that was just a revolting sight.

The man did not release her. His fingers on her waist then suddenly grabbed her behind and Elyria acted on pure instinct. Her hand flew across his face in a sharp slap. His head jerked to the side, but before he could recover, she bit hard on his shoulder.

"Ah! You little—"

Elyria did not wait before she dashed away.

The man cursed loudly, and his footsteps thundered after her, joined by others who had been watching from the alley. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, turning one corner, then another, then another. Her cloak fluttered behind her like a frightened bird but she held onto it.

On normal circumstances, running from humans should be a huge disgrace to any one that wasn’t human. But because they had to baby them according to divine law, she had no choice. Tsh!

This country was famous for indulging corruption and whatnot. The only reason why a normal person would even think of coming there was for pleasure.

Distorted human voices echoed behind her as she ran faster and faster.

"There she goes!"

"Catch her!"

"She scratched me! I’ll fuvking kill her!"

Her breath came in ragged pulls. She already hated this place. But what she hated the most was that she could not use her wings or even stop to fight because of time!

She made a silent promise to herself to come back there and see who would be killed.

She stumbled out of the twisting alleys and onto an abandoned road. The place was deathly quiet. Most of the houses there had collapsed or been swallowed by overgrown vines.

One house stood half upright, its windows were shattered with a roof sagging low. It looked haunted, cursed, and utterly unsafe. Perfect. Humans were scaredy cats after all.

Elyria did not think twice.

She sprinted toward it, jumped over the towering, rusted gate. Once inside, she leaped onto the low tree beside it, grabbed a sturdy branch, and hauled herself toward the open window. Her palms scraped against the bark, her breath burning her throat but she didn’t care. A few seconds would clear it away.

Elyria pulled herself inside just as the men’s footsteps echoed down the road.

She crouched low against the dusty floorboards, forcing herself to breathe quietly. Her heart hammered in her ears. Shame struck her hard for hiding. The fact that it was from humans made the shameful sting worse!

"She must’ve gone in there," one man said as they stood at the gate of the abandoned house.

"Impossible," another replied. "Nobody goes into that house. Even the rats avoid it."

"Then where did she go?"

"Forget her. Let’s return."

Elyria heard their voices fade down the road and exhaled shakily.

She stood slowly, intending to peer outside and once she saw they were gone, heaves another sigh of relief.

"Alright then!" she breathed out. "Let’s go find that—" Elyria was cut short by a sound coming behind her.

Her nose immediately picked up the scent. It was strange and foreign unlike any breed of creatures she had enocountered.

The sound behind her made the blood drain from her face.

Another low growl followed again.

Suddenly, a massive, hard hand clamped around her waist and lifted her as if she weighed nothing before pinning her to the wall. Elyria gasped as her back hit the cold, broken down wall. She felt the coarse texture of old wood press against her back, making her wince.

Her long hair fell forward, revealing her slender, white neck. It didn’t take long before a large hand seized her chin and turned her face forcefully.

Her breath caught.

She found herself staring into eyes darker than the void. Slit pupils, gleaming darker than a black hole. They studied her with a chilling intensity, neither surprised nor impressed by her presence.

Before she could speak, the stranger’s voice rumbled.

"What is a little fairy like yourself doing here?"

Elyria swallowed. She recognized this presence but couldn’t quite place it.

The memory hit her harder than a boulder.

"P-prince Severin?"