In the next moment, everything happened so quickly that no one could even immediately understand what had happened. Raphael`s scarlet eyes flashing in bewilderment, picked up the girl’s sliding body, almost simultaneously, when Eugene stretched out her arms to her.

They stared at each other for a moment, until finally Eugene whispered a spell that created a barrier between her and the vampire.

She pulled Thea’s body further away and began to whisper a healing spell, applying at the same time one of the herbal infusions that she took out of her bag hastily. The barrier was solid, but the vampire king could break it if he wanted, however, he did not make any attempts to invade. Instead, he just stood there and looked at the bleeding girl, brave and stupid.

After a couple of seconds, he disappeared into an open portal, which closed only after Amanda and the Dekster stepped over it.

The courtyard of Abion was still silent. A thick layer of snow covering the frozen ground left a bloody trail that stretched from Raphael’s cloak. His bitten shoulder was already beginning to regenerate, but still quite slowly, since the absence of a part of the flesh forced him to compensate for it with living blood.

- How clever. - he chuckled.

- What exactly? – his sister threw after him.

- If you wanted to hide something, where would you hide it? - he turned his head toward her.

- I don’t know, maybe in the dungeon? I don’t know... depends on what it’s about. Are you still thinking about the stolen crown? Do you think the witches have it? – she gave out a stream of questions.

- There is nothing better than hiding a thing in plain sight. - He replied with a grin and walked away, leaving Amanda puzzled.

- It’s so strange that he just left there. Don’t you think so? - Her question was addressed to Dexter, who, like her, caught himself on this thought.

- I was sure he was going there for Lillian’s head. – he said dryly.

- Yes, I also thought he wouldn’t leave the witches alone today. - Amanda nodded in agreement. – I hope that this girl will survive, after all, she was so brave to stand up to my brother. It was interesting to see the sequel...

Amanda deftly turned on her heels and rustled the skirt of her dress past Dexter, lightly brushing his shoulder, as if on purpose, but the duke did not dare to attach importance to this.

The internal bloodbath had already been left behind, but in the memory of many it was as fresh as ever. The few who remained alive tried to put the castle in order.

Mrs. Rose was a competent worker, but she did not have enough workers to cover such a large territory. There were places where the blood had not yet been removed, which now coagulated and dried, leaving dark spots as a reminder of that day.

First of all, the bedrooms of the king and his sister were put in order, as well as the throne room and the dining room. The courtyard was the most forgotten place, the height of the snow cover in places reached up to 16 inches, and all because neither the gardener nor even the groom could survive that night.

A carnivorous vine without proper supervision began to weave its branches around nearby territories, breaking out of the maze. No one dared to come closer, so the courtyard area was in such a deplorable state. Everyone was waiting for the King to finally regain his sanity.

Margaret Rose sighed deeply and sadly, especially mourning in her heart for the young boy Oliver. And although she was attached to many in this castle, he was like a son to her, so his death caused her heart to lose half of its vitality. Seeing through the open window of the second floor the approaching figures of her king and their lordships, she hurried away to clean up so as not to fall under the hot hand of the ruler. The rumors of his insanity were no longer rumors.

- Margaret.- the housekeeper paused for a second.

Exactly at the moment when she reached the stairwell, the voice of the princess called out to her.

- Your Grace. - She bowed as low as her age would allow. – How can I help you?

- There’s something wrong with this place. - she made a graceful wave of her hand in the air. – Don’t you think so?

- It’s become desolate and deathly quiet here, Your Grace. -The housekeeper whispered darkly.

- That’s right. So why don’t we fix it? - her face lit up with a dazzlingly kind smile, exactly the kind that a princess with her kind heart was always capable of.

- What about His Majesty? Will everything be all right? - The fear in her words tried to be veiled, but it did not escape Amanda’s attention.

- We must try to do everything to bring life to this place again. Maybe then the king will cheer up. And while this fetid smell of old dried blood reigns here, I don’t think it will help him restore his mental state.

- I’ll do whatever you say. - Mrs. Rose bowed.

- Great. - Amanda clapped her hands happily. – Then let’s start with hiring staff.

- B-but... After all, we can’t...

- I’ll talk to my brother about the barrier, and in the meantime, you make a request for employment.

- Yes, Your Grace. - The housekeeper nodded in agreement.

Amanda did not put the matter on hold and plucked up the courage, on slightly shaky legs, trudged towards the throne room. She thought a lot in her head about what she would say to her brother, but every thought was swept aside, since she already had a presentiment of his negative answers.

Raphael has always been a difficult person, but it was she who could manipulate him to some extent so that he almost always went along with her, if it did not endanger her life and health.

But now she was determined to make him remove the magical barrier that had been protecting Abion from the outside world all this time. After all, elementary, there are no more mortal people left here who would be defenseless by themselves. And those few vampires who are still more fortunate, on the contrary, would be happy to have freedom of movement, and not be confined in this kingdom.

She walked up to the massive door decorated with gold monograms and wrought-iron patterns and knocked softly. She could feel his presence there, behind the door. There was nothing to confuse this heavy aura with. But he was in no hurry to answer or invite her in, and this made her swear under her breath, cursing her negligent brother.

In the end, she couldn’t think of anything better than just entering.

The throne room didn’t look as creepy now as it had on the last visit. Everything was cleaned, washed, polished to a shine and shone with cleanliness. There was a fresh, invigorating air here and it was the place that I didn’t want to leave until the rest of the rooms and corridors were thoroughly cleaned.

Apparently, not only Amanda, but also Raphael was attracted to this, because he arranged an ordinary flophouse with drinking alcoholic beverages in this large royal hall.

Raphael was sprawled out in the throne chair, with his feet on one armrest, while his head was lying on the other armrest. Amanda’s sharp gaze caught a fully finished bottle on the side of the floor, while the king had another bottle in his hands.

- I think you’ll be more accommodating when you’re drunk. – she began, wanting to go straight to an informal tone.

- I heard your conversation with Margaret. – he answered harshly and Amanda tensed a little, already picking up arguments in her favor in her head.

- Then you should understand why I’m here and why I want a positive answer from you.

- This barrier has always protected Abion from any intrusion and encroachment, and you just want me to remove it ... - he grinned, taking another sip. - My answer is NO.

- There is no one else to protect! – slightly raising her tone, she replied. – Thanks to you...

Amanda turned her head to the side so as not to see her brother’s withering gaze. The day of the bloody massacre was still coming up in bright colors in her head, and she kept all her strength in order not to fall into depression and not succumb to provocations to tears that wanted to gush out of her eyes again.

Biting her lower lip, she took deep breaths, calming down so as not to spoil Raphael’s more or less calm mood.

- Do you think I’m a monster? A monster? - he asked, changing his position and rising from the throne. - Look at me, Sister.

She looked up at him, but all she saw in front of her was not her brother... He was an immortal vampire, consumed by his own hell, which he could not control. Or didn’t want to?

- We used to be different. – she replied, lowering her eyes to the floor again.

- I’m not talking about earlier. - he roared. – Tell me, what do you see in front of you now?

A wave of nervous goosebumps ran over the smooth skin of her back at the volume of his voice.

- You’re afraid of me... - he grinned, rubbing his eyes and temples with his hand.

- I’m not afraid of you, but of what controls you. – she retorted.

- And what controls me? Raphael asked sarcastically.

- Madness. Can’t you see what’s happening to you? You killed everyone who was once loyal to you, who served you and hoped for your protection. And in the end, you yourself became a cutting sword for them, from which they had to defend themselves.... 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

So many innocent people... What for? Why? Just because of this girl?

The darkness around Raphael did not disappear, but it seemed to have become softer, not so suffocating, not so deadly. He looked at her with piercing attention, listening to every uneven beat of her heart, which was more honest than her words. This caused his own heart to contract with an unpleasant feeling. He should have been the one who promised to protect her, who didn’t want to see her cry, but everything was exactly the opposite.

- Let me bring life back to this place. - Amanda asked with a soft sob. – Even if it suits you, then I’m not like that, I don’t want to live like that, Raf. Everything that’s going on is driving me crazy. Do you really want me to go head first just like you?

Her momentary anger evaporated with the sound of Raphael’s laughter. Warm fingers touched her cheek, lifting her head so they could meet eyes.

- That’s right, you shouldn’t live like this. - he put his arm around her shoulders, tightly and even a little painfully, and touched his forehead to her shoulder. - I’m sorry, Mandy.

She stood rooted to the spot, not wanting to disrupt this moment, which revealed a glimmer of something bright in her brother. Maybe he’s as crazy as they thought he was? What if the remnants of the light mind are still preserved in it?

- Talk to me and I’ll think about forgiving you. - She whispered in his ear, stroking his back.

- What do you want me to say? - he sounded like a wounded animal, exhausted and abandoned by the whole world.

- Did you do all this because Thea left?

- She promised to trust me...

- It’s not always so easy... Trust must be earned. Moreover, did you tell her about your essence? Did you tell her about the magic of illusion? Why didn’t you let her know about everything in advance? You hurt her heart, so what kind of trust do you expect from her?