Blood Contract with her Royal Villainess

♕CHAPTER 1♕

♕CANA ANNALIS ♕

It's the ninth time that I have read this story that caught my attention. However, here I am, still crying my eyes out as I sniff nonstop after reading the part where my favorite character named Kiera Deidamia Ceciro Romulus died. She's one of the ladies of the Romulus house and the second daughter of a wealthy and influential Duke.

Base on the book, Kiera is filled with hatred and jealousy towards the people around her since most of the people from their manor hate her because she's born from a commoner, her mother, a pr*stitute from the slums; plus the fact that the people favor more of the Duke's legitimate daughter, Keisha Antonette. Because of these, Kiera grew up without feeling any love or care from her father nor her stepsister, and so her negative emotions got more intense. She began to act like an arrogant b*tch who looked down on others, especially the poor, which made the people hate her rise. She spent most of her days with mean and hurtful words from the people surrounding her; Kiera thought that there's no one else who could understand her situation until she met Diana Athena Eckheart, the story's main character.

She's the only child born from the former crowned prince of the Lumire empire who died due to the recent war. She grew up in a small hut near the forest with her mother. Diana's mother was the youngest child of a low-income family, which means that she is just a commoner; however, when she met the kind yet playful prince, the two fell in love with each other, and Diana came into their lives. Due to war, the prince wasn't able to see Diana anymore. Diana's mother decided to keep her child's identity as a descendant of the royal family because she doesn't want Diana to get involved in the messy world of politics and royalty. When Diana turned seven years old, her mother died due to a severe illness, and since they are poor, they couldn't afford the medications required for her mother to get better. Diana's aunt took custody of her. And as Diana's mother told her, Diana kept her identity a secret, so she was treated as a commoner.

Since she's just a mere orphan, everyone thought she couldn't afford to enroll in a prestigious university without her scholarship as the one with the highest score on the entrance examination. With Diana's social status, she was bullied all the time, and that is when Kiera noticed her and befriended Diana. At first, Kiera thought that now that she's helping a commoner like Diana, the people around them will notice her beauty more and start thinking of her as a kind and helpful woman who loves the common people. In other words, she's simply using Diana as an excuse to give herself credit. But for Diana, Kiera is her only true friend, and that she's the only one Diana could trust.

The two of them spent most of their time together and started to consider each other as sisters. Kiera was so happy that someone finally understands her, someone who always got her back. But then, everything changes as the current emperor, Diana's biological grandfather, found out about her real identity. Not long after, Diana has crowned the princess of the Lumire empire.

Kiera was so devastated after hearing about the news. She was filled with jealousy towards Diana's fortunate life. Kiera thought that Diana will always be there for her and that the woman will always choose her side, but no, Diana left her all alone. As Diana enjoys her life as the newly crowned princess, Kiera became more hateful to others and decided not to trust anyone anymore.

As time pass by, Diana became known to the whole empire for her good deeds for the people of Lumire. She was admired by wealthy men all around the empire, and the woman aspires to be like her, a smart, kind, beautiful princess that will lead them to greatness once she was crowned as empress. On the other hand, Kiera became more miserable; she became the laughing stock of the people in their dukedom as she continues to bring shame to her family. Her father cursed her every day for being a useless child and gave the title of Duchess to her stepsister, Keisha Antonette.

Far from what Kiera thought to be, Diana still treats her as her best friend, which is why Diana decided to tell Kiera about her secret relationship with a vampire slave named Viggo, owned by Diana herself. Kiera, with her wicked mind, used this opportunity to ruin Diana's reputation. Kiera used all her resources and knowledge to destroy Diana's life and happiness. Kiera's hatred worsens each passing day until she made a terrible decision in her life: to kill Diana, her best friend, using her own hands, but she was the one killed instead. The vampire, Viggo, protected Diana and took Kiera's life without mercy.

"That is so unfair!" I uttered as I wipe my tears using my right hand.

"Why can't they understand you? You just wanted to be loved and accepted! Why would people be so cruel to you?" I questioned like a crazy woman asking herself. I, myself, could not understand why I'm reacting this way with Kiera's character. Everyone else will be happy with the end of Kiera because she's the villainess; she made a lot of wrongdoing in the story but, I can relate and understand why she did it. I'm not saying that my life is as miserable as hers, but I can't just ignore the pain I feel every time I read her story. I wiped my tears again and looked around the library.

If ever someone sees me here talking to myself, that will be so embarrassing. I thought to myself as I stood up and wiped my pants.

I better go to my next class. I thought as I closed the black book and walked back to the last bookshelf at the right corner of the library. I stared at the book in my hand again and wondered why the other students never even tried to read this one, especially the archeologist students; this book contains the remaining knowledgeable information about the Lumire empire. For example, this book discusses the first Empress Regnant, Empress Diana Athena Eckheart, the first-ever woman who reigns over an entire empire without an emperor.

I put the book back on the bookshelf and turned on my heels as I silently walk out of the library. Well, if no one is interested in that book, then I am lucky. I don't have to wait for the others to finish using the book. I smiled secretly. As an archaeologist student, I am so much into reading the history of the Lumire empire, which is now the country where I am staying. Aside from this, I'm also a huge fan of mythical creatures, particularly those connected with this country's history, like the vampires and the werewolves, which are very hard to find in other books in this library, that's why I am very pleased to find that black book. I feel like I have all the knowledge about the Lumire empire's history.

Speaking of werewolves, I remembered the scene about Kiera and a character named Grimm Hervaeux, which made me more irritated.

"Tsk! If only Grimm chose to love Kiera back, she would have had a happy ending," I scowled as I keep walking in the hallway.

I genuinely feel sorry for Kiera. She never felt love from her family or even from the man she loved. And that Keisha! I really hate her! She's the one who poisoned Kiera's mother! The only person who loves Kiera. I sighed as I remember how cruel that stepsister is.

"If only I could change your fate, Kiera," I uttered and sighed once more.

As I looked forward, I saw my classroom up ahead. I walked faster as I heard the bell rang, and as soon as I entered the room, I saw Darlene waving her right hand at me, so I waved back at her and smiled, then she pointed at the seat beside her, so I smiled again and went to the chair she's pointing at.

She probably reserved this spot for me. Now, that's my best friend.

As I slumped myself on the seat, I dropped my bag on the floor and looked at Darlene.

"You stayed at the library, did you not?" she asked as I sheepishly smiled at her and scratched my head.

"Ah haha, h-how did you know?" I questioned.

"Well, duh, I'm your best friend, and I know you very well, Cana," Darlene replied as she raised her right eyebrow at me while smirking.

"Yes, ma'am, you're right. I was at the library," I said, and she snaps her fingers in front of her.

"I knew it! I bet you're also reading that book you keep talking about again," she added, and I giggled at her.

"You bet," I responded as we both giggled.

"Good morning, class!" the professor suddenly came in, so I shifted my focus on listening to our lesson.

"Today, we will discuss the hierarchy of the people in an empire, since we all know that this country used to be an empire, right?" the professor asked as we, the students, agreed with him.

"The Lumire empire is known to have a peerage system where the aristocrats' ranks are based on their wealth," Professor Ang said.

"Let me explain it to you. First, the people at the bottom of the peerage system are the commoner or regular citizens of an empire. They're the ones working for the emperor and the empire itself," Professor Ang added as he wrote the word commoner on the whiteboard.

"Second to the last will be the title of a Baron. They are the ones who own a small business inside an empire," he discussed.

"They could also be a part of the people who work inside the royal palace; they could also be those with low ranking military titles, or they could be the owners of a small area of the empire itself like a city," I jotted down on my notes as Professor Ang proceeds with his discussion.

"The third one from the bottom is the title of a Viscount, a rank higher than the Baron. They might have the same job description, but the Viscounts holds more power than a Baron," He continued.

"The fourth is an Earl. Most of them are generals or leaders of a group of royal soldiers, and they are in charge of protecting the entire Lumire empire," I looked at Professor Ang and remembered the character of Grimm Hervaeux.

He's the son of an Earl too, so I guess that explains why he's assigned to protect Princess Diana. I thought as I listened more to the professor's discussion.

"The third rank from the highest hierarchy is the Marquess," the professor said as he looked at his students.

"With this rank, they are the close relatives of the pureblood royal family. They have greater power than the other four I just mentioned. They can use this power and wealth to increase their chance of ascending the throne," Professor Ang said.

"The closest one to ascend the throne aside from the pureblood royal family themselves is the Duke. They also have greater power and wealth over the empire; they can also join the military or lead a group of royal soldiers; they can also establish different kinds of businesses and have the emperor's approval in no time," Professor Ang continued his lessons.

"Also, the Duke is the one handling one or two provinces of an empire which can be called as Dukedom," he added, so I immediately took note of it.

"And lastly, the highest hierarchy in an empire is the emperor. An emperor is equivalent to the president of a country. He's the one handling an entire empire, and their words are laws that everyone must abide by unless they want to be hanged in public," I nodded my head as I heard the professor's description about the emperor.

"And only royal blood can be an emperor, which is why the chosen heirs or successors of the throne are either the son or grandson of the emperor," he added. As I keep scribbling down my notebook, I still focused on listening to the professor.

"But, we all know that there is someone who was crowned to be an Empress Regnant, right?" Professor Ang asked, and we all answered a yes in chorus. I know who he's referring to; it's Empress Diana Athena Eckheart, the first-ever woman who ascended the throne of the Lumire Empire.

"The empress was known to be an empress regnant because she remained unmarried and single until she died in the year 1695," Professor Ang reported. I'm afraid I have to disagree with that part of the history books they have because based on that black book that I found, the empress has a lover named Viggo. The only reason she can't introduce him as her emperor was that he's an immortal being and the fact that Viggo is a vampire slave, which is taboo for royal families to have a partner from the lower ranks.

"Miss Smith, do you have any questions? Your facial expression says, you do," I suddenly heard Professor Ang called out my surname, so I looked at him and immediately shook my head as a no.

"None, sir," I replied, and he nodded his head before continuing his lesson.

Well, I can't just say that I disagree with him in front of my classmates. I don't know yet if that black book's content is legit or not; also, I don't even know the book's title or the author since I can't see a single letter on the book's cover; it's just covered with a jet black ink.

I sighed and decided to put all my focus on the lesson till the bell rang.

"Alright, we will continue with our lesson tomorrow. You may have your break," Professor Ang said as he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the classroom.

"Let's go to the cafeteria, Cana," Darlene invited me with a smile.

"Oh, sorry, but I still have something else to do, so I'll catch up with you later," I said to her as I walked past her. I saw her pout her lips first before waving her hand at me. I decided to jog my way to the library, and just as expected, there's no one here except the old librarian.

"Hi," I greeted and smiled at her, but she stared at me without any response and went back to her duties.

"Why, hello to you too, Cana," I sarcastically whispered to myself as I went straight to the last bookshelf on the right corner of the library.

As soon as I got there, I scanned every book as I look for that black one. When I found it at the corner, I grabbed it and pulled it out of the shelf. I checked its appearance, and all I could say is that the book is an old copy already, and yet, once I opened the book, its pages still look like newly printed ones, there are no faded letters, no crumpled papers, no sign of its age.

Maybe the publisher used a different kind of paper for the contents? I hypothesized.

Oh well, what's important is the story written in this book. I added as I shrugged my shoulders and sat down at my favorite spot in this library. I leaned my back on the bookshelf and flipped the pages to the part where I stopped earlier.

If only I could borrow this and bring it home. I thought and looked up to the ceiling as I remembered that I already tried asking the librarian about borrowing the book, but she refused.

"If only I know the title of this story or even the writer, I could simply look it up on the internet and buy a new version or reprints of this," I mumbled, then sighed before resuming my reading.

Once again, I immersed myself in the beauty of this novel, and as I turned to the next page, I winced as I accidentally slit my finger with the book's page.

"Ow," I complained and checked my right pointing finger where fresh blood is coming out. As I was about to wipe the blood off, a drop of my blood fell to the book's paper.

"Oh no," I uttered and tried to wipe it, but then I noticed that the letters written on the page are starting to be covered with blood too. The white page started changing its color and became red.

What the hell? I thought as I looked at the book, dumbfounded. Then another weird thing happened—black smoke sprout out of the book itself.

My heart is beating so fast, to the point that I could no longer move nor speak a single word, as if I'm in a trance and with one wrong move, I will lose my life.

The black smoke spread out on this side of the library. There's no one else here, and the smoke is too thick for the light to pass through.

W-What is going o-on? I stupidly asked myself.

Then out of nowhere, the smoke suddenly rushed in my direction and circled me. As the black smoke thickens and blocks out my vision, I closed my eyes as tight as I could while covering my nose so I won't be able to inhale the mysterious smoke. Then, out of nowhere, I felt the smoke in my body as if it's trying to pull my soul out, and I couldn't move; I can no longer open my eyes and my mouth. I can't hear anything nor feel anything.

I'm scared. Is this it? Am I going to die now? The thought itself gave me horror; then, I felt the heat coming from somewhere, and even though my eyes are still closed, I noticed a light.

Even though I'm scared, I manifest my courage and slowly opened my eyes. Then I saw an open window; the fresh breeze of air blows in as the white curtain dance with it.

As soon as I realized that I'm not dead yet, I quickly sat up and noticed the big and soft mattress I was sitting on. The bed has four poles on each corner, lined with a thick maroon cloth.

I looked around, and I noticed my pale skin tone and the pure white nightgown, which I knew, I never had before.

Unknowingly, I touched my face and quickly ran up to the whole body mirror I saw at the corner of the room. As I approach the mirror, I slowed down, and with a trembling hand and crazy thoughts occupying my mind, I stepped in front of the mirror.

I gasped as I saw the reflection of a beautiful woman in the mirror. She has long chocolate brown hair that reaches her waistline; her eyes are like emerald gems, a pointy nose, and luscious red lips.

So pretty. I thought as I stare at her reflection, then I noticed tears falling from her eyes, and unconsciously, I touched my right cheek and realized who's the owner of the reflection in the mirror.

Am I going crazy or what? This body...is it Kiera Deidamia Cicero Romulus's body? That one character from the black book?

TO BE CONTINUED