The mysterious disappearance of the King of Riliya has raised a new wave of concern. Spies were sent to different parts of the world to find him, but everything turned out to be in vain.

Since then, the Queen of Riliya began to wear mourning for her husband, despite the fact that many assured her that the king might still be alive. And only her heart gave her the answer to the unspoken question that there was no point in looking for any more, as well as starting senseless wars without having accurate evidence. She could only silently accept this fate and relentlessly see everyone as an enemy.

After the successful engagement of the eldest daughter of Princess Jasmine, the queen decided to give all her strength to the upbringing of the youngest child, on whom she pinned her hopes, after the throne of Riliya would pass to him.

Little Horel Rivaldi was an exact copy of his father in appearance and character. He grew up a very ambitious boy, strong and unwavering, one who could continue to lead Riliya to prosperity.

By the way, there were no complaints about Rochester. No, of course, he was also checked and his estate was searched, but everyone remembered how loyal the king was to him, and therefore he had no reason to kidnap or kill the king. Not to mention the fact that a strong magician, which was the king, could not be killed by a simple person.

But where were they wrong? He really didn’t kill him. And the one who did it did not even reproach himself with the pangs of conscience.

When Rick became a vampire, he behaved completely differently from other vampires. He did not withdraw into himself and did not lead a solitary lifestyle, but on the contrary.

He began to attend absolutely all social events, even those where he was not invited, and thanks to the power of persuasion, he was able to win over almost everyone with whom he dealt. Even the queen herself took a liking to him, which was not the case before.

Rick quickly became a member of the royal family and the future king grew up before his eyes, and then his baby daughter.

And it was this knowledge that made Raphael return to Raswell again after so many years.

However, there was something else that he couldn’t forget. It was a memory of how they quarreled with Rick the last time they met. It would be more accurate to say that Rick completely cut off all contacts with Rafael, who did not see a problem in what he did.

And the problem was not big from the point of view of an ordinary observer, but Rick thought otherwise, because he was so imbued with the vampire that he began to trust him as himself.

But one day, when Rick was absent, Rafael made a mistake and turned his stepbrother into a vampire, who came to visit without warning. It was Derrick who considered it an oversight, who could not come to terms with it in any way.

He couldn’t believe that his dear younger brother, who still had his whole life ahead of him, suddenly became a blood-sucking killer.

Of course, Rick did not think that his newfound essence made his life worse than it was, but he could not deny the obvious fact – an endless thirst for blood.

He had to restrain himself a lot so that as few people as possible died at his hands, but it was still very difficult to do. That’s exactly what he didn’t want his brother to do. And that’s why he hated Raphael so much, who always did what he wanted, without thinking about the desires of others.

He was so angry at that moment that they had another fight. But it wasn’t the first time and Rafael always made allowances for him in strength, however, this was the first time Rick fought with him with all his newfound strength. He wanted to hurt him.

So their friendly relations came to a pause and Raphael did not appear here anymore, leaving everything as it is.

And now, after such a long period of time, he is walking through such familiar corridors again, whistling some melody and remembering those fun days that he once spent here in the company of a young, a little boring guy.

He stood in front of the massive wooden door that separated him from Rick and clearly heard his moaning, which found unity with the rhythm of his heart. He closed his eyes, listening as if enjoying himself, then touched the door with his hand, feeling the strong prison spell on it.

Lillian’s sorcery was powerful and could easily seriously injure anyone who tried to open this door instead of her, but could she have known that Raphael would be the one to break her barrier?

He began to concentrate a clot of darkness in the center of his palm, which spread through his skin onto the tree of the door, as if entangling it with a spider web to the ceiling, until the witch’s witchcraft dissipated and he heard the click of the lock.

- You know, I find myself thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have come. - Raphael said in a barely audible voice, and a ragged cough was heard outside the door, as if someone was choking on water.

He kicked the door with the toe of his boot, walked slowly inside and stopped right at the very base of the bed, on which Rick lay sprawled, tied with magical ropes.

- As I said, maybe I shouldn’t have come, I see you don’t look as bad as I could have imagined at first. – clicking his tongue, Rafael stated, walking around the bed and pulling the curtains.

Massive burgundy curtains fell to the floor with a booming sound, pulling the metal cornice behind them and exposing the bright sunset sun to his vampire eyes.

Rick was lying on the bed with his arms and legs spread out to the side, to which magic ropes were tied. They forcefully squeezed his skin with every movement, delivering excruciating pain and if not for the gag in his mouth, he was screaming and calling for help.

Now, in the bright light, you could see with the naked eye how much Rick’s body had shrunk. Without proper nutrition, he looked like a living mummy.

Raphael grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it towards him, making a terribly creaking sound of wooden legs on the parquet. He set up a chair and plopped down comfortably in it, throwing aside his raincoat, and throwing his legs on the bed.

- It’s been a while, Rick. How are you? - Raf drawled the words in a singsong drawl.

Rick was shaking his head from side to side like a madman, trying to get rid of the gag, but to no avail.

- To put it mildly, you look lousy, did you pick up some kind of infection from your endless sexual relations? - He clicked his tongue accusingly and shook his head. – You need to be more careful, you need to watch your image.

Raphael continued to talk some nonsense that annoyed Rick, but he could do nothing but accept and listen. As a result, he just fell off on his back and stopped trying to throw off the gag, because it didn’t seem to reach Raphael that he needed to help a friend.

- And I’ve been walking around your city, I’ve been visiting... The people you have here are so unfriendly, unpleasant. How can you keep lying in bed when your subordinates are completely out of hand? Do you have no conscience at all?

Raphael took a deep breath and pulled the stiff muscles of his back.

- And you know, I killed one of your people, but if you hadn’t been resting here, it’s likely that he would have survived. – concluded Raphael. – But don’t worry too much, I’ve already forgiven you.

Rick just rolled his eyes at this pointless chatter. However, he couldn’t help but wonder who Raphael had killed after all.

- Here I look at you and I can’t understand what kind of games you played here with Lillian? - He rested his chin on his hand, tapping his fingers rhythmically on his own cheek. – Your taciturnity really pisses me off.

He leaned closer to Rick and punched him hard in the stomach, causing him to writhe and groan in pain.

- Well, that’s quite another matter. Even alive... Well, let’s get this over with.

He slapped his knees and stood up abruptly, grabbing one of the ropes that was tied to Rick’s arm. The magic crackled in his hands as if trying to push him away, but instead he held on even tighter, absorbing stream after stream until there was nothing left but simple jute ropes, which Rick himself was able to break by throwing them to the floor and pulling the gag out of his mouth.