Lady Dhampir
Bonus Epilogue 2

"Your Highness, access to this area is forbidden."

"You are talking to your prince," retorted a cold voice.

"I regret, my Prince, but as per your father's orders-"

"I will discuss this with my father when I see fit. Now, move out of my way."

There were a few seconds of tense silence, then the soldier did step away, unable to say no. The prince's tall figure was impressive, and despite not having a big build, his charisma was intimidating on its own. Once the path was cleared, he resumed walking. He had come alone, unarmed, but he didn't need to be. The long alley was silent and almost empty, so empty his steps resonated on the walls around him. They were underground, with barely any light. Most cells were even empty, a handful of forgotten souls raising their eyes as he walked by. There was no pity in his eyes for them. As the Prince, he already knew the identity of every prisoner here, of course, and didn't care much for their fate, as he found it fair. No, his destination was the furthest cell, and he kept going, unbothered, hands behind his back, until his shoes finally stopped.

"...Good evening, Uncle."

Nothing moved in the cell, no one answered. The prince tilted his head.

"This is our first time meeting, but I suppose you'll have a rough idea of who I am, so I will spare us both the introductions."

"...What have you come for?" A hoarse voice answered.

"Curiosity, mostly. Won't you show yourself at all?"

"Did they take down all the pictures of me?" The captive scoffed.

"No. But I have seen my father's face only, and heard about your resemblance a thousand times. As his human son, I cannot help but be curious."

After a short while, the man finally moved. He stood up, with heavy chains dragging on the ground as he took each step. Finally, he appeared out of the dark, close enough for the young prince to see. His green eyes looked nothing like what they had before. The man looked decades older than his twin, the King. His hollowed face seemed tired, hidden under a long beard, long greyish blonde hair, and long wrinkles running down every line of his face. However, the young prince was still taken aback by the striking resemblance with, indeed, his father. And himself. "...You're her son."

Prince Elizio flinched. His parents had spared him the details of their complicated, still raw and painful relationship with this man. Most of what he knew was actually from dark rumors that had surrounded him his whole life, and the conclusions he had to draw for himself after seeing his parents' and their close friends' reactions. He had no certainty, however, and lots of questions he hadn't dared to ask. So, his next best idea had been to come here, to this dark place, to look for them, and for the man who had wounded an entire Kingdom with his foolishness.

"They were right," he muttered. "...You look a lot like my father."

"Did they all tell you?" The former king chuckled. "What truly happened? What he did to me?"

"I know what he had to do."

Ellias scoffed, and turned around, leaning his back against the bars and sliding down until he sat, his back turned to the only light coming into his cell. The young prince didn't move, still standing at a safe distance. He was looking down on this man with his sapphire-colored eyes showing no emotion.

"...Was it worth it?"

The man answered with a groan.

"You see where I ended!"

"If you had succeeded, then. What was that all for? From what I saw, you were quite a pathetic King. You reached your goal, but did poorly with it. You married a woman you didn't like, embraced a cause you didn't care about either, all to become the King, to beat your twin... What did you think, the day of your crowning? Ah, this is it?"

The man suddenly chuckled.

"So this is what it is... The young prince is thinking of upstaging his sister. Of course. You are a pair of twins too... It's impossible that you never thought about it, isn't it? She was born before you, but a woman, and a vampire too. In many ways, aren't you more like me than like your father, young Prince?...Curiosity brought you here. I always wondered why your mother had named you like that... a name so close to mine. There's no way a woman as smart as Milena De Crescent didn't think about it. I bet she still had some regrets... She didn't choose me, but-"

"You're the one who betrayed my mother," coldly retorted the prince, squinting his eyes. "Do not turn the narrative around, I am old and smart enough to know better. I've read enough of the events. You got engaged to my aunt without blinking. You valued your relationship to the De Winter House more than getting my mother's hand...You were quite the i***t, to miss that opportunity, in my eyes."

"You know nothing of what happened at that time!" The man suddenly jumped to his feet, grabbing the bars to suddenly glare at him. "Things weren't peaceful; the Kingdom was ready for civil war! We all knew we were pawns to this future, our parents' pawn in building the Kingdom's future! Rayan was nothing but the selfish bastard who ignored all that, and pretended to choose your mother! He only wanted the House De Crescent's support, when no other house would have agreed to follow the vampire prince! The House De Nova wasn't doable for him, so the House De Crescent was his only choice! You may not know, young Prince, how truly vicious the vampires are. Our kind could have been reduced to s*****y!"

"... I hear your fears speak louder than your words, uncle," muttered the Prince, impressively calm. "...You were simply a coward. You feared your parents, the vampires, the pressure of doing the wrong thing, didn't you? You never considered my mother because she was too much of a risk for you... So you hoped to tie her to you without the risk."

"You have no idea the sacrifices I had to make!"

"I only know I won't be making any."

Prince Elizio sighed, and looked around.

"You said my mother named me after you, that she couldn't have done any other way. I do believe her when she said I was named after my grandmother. But I also believe she did know it would bind me to you. The human twin... Perhaps there is some truth in that. If I were my parents, I wouldn't want to forget you either. I wouldn't want to forget how someone of my own blood betrayed me, used me, and tried to murder me for their ambition."

"Don't you pretend you've never thought about it," chuckled his uncle. "If you're at least half as smart as your mother, you can't say you've never thought of becoming the King!"

"Of course," He replied without batting an eyelash. "I was born the younger twin. I was always compared to my sister. She's a vampire, she's brilliant, and as a child, she was healthier than I am. She is stronger too, naturally. Of course I grew to be jealous of her. I often wonder how I could be a better King than she'll be a Queen."

"There is that voice, in the back of your mind, telling you you have to be better than your twin," muttered the former human king. "You have to prove your worth and you can't lose."

For a while, the young prince didn't say anything. He only stared at his uncle, with a strangely relieved expression. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Ellias frowned. "What?!" He asked, annoyed.

"...I think I'll be alright," Elizio muttered. "See, I came here, wondering how the rumors could compare the two of us, but... In fact, all I see is how different we are. Mother and Father did things right." "What do you mean by that!"

"Nothing I owe to you to explain, Uncle."

Elizio took a little step back, looking more broadly at the cell.

"You've held on for a long time for someone who hasn't seen the sunlight in so long. They think Father was too kind to let you rot in here for life, but I think this punishment suits you perfectly."

"You could take me out of here," muttered Ellias. "...I could be of help to you. If you ever wanted to go against your sister! I still have allies. People who want a Human King, not a Vampire Queen..."

"I don't doubt that," chuckled Elizio. "Which is the best reason to keep you here, as an example. See, uncle, your allies have now turned their hopes to me. A lot of people wonder if you aren't already dead, as no one is allowed to visit you. Thanks to you, I get a lot of unnecessary attention, and thanks to their foolishness, I get to use our enemies like little pawns in the palm of my hand. Unlike you, however, I don't really care for that crown. I love my sister, and my parents. I won't make your mistakes, and thanks to you, I just confirmed that."

"I was mistaken!" The former King begged. "I know I was wrong! I know what I did to your mother, I know how wrong I was! Tell Rayan-" "My dad?"

This time, the Prince's smile was gone, and instead, he looked down on the man as if he had to look at some loathsome being. He sighed.

"...Uncle, of all people, the one person you'd ask for is my father?...You're only ever thinking about yourself, aren't you? I didn't hear you say your own child's name even once."

Ellias' face sunk. Elizio sighed.

"... My cousin is an amazing young woman. She and my aunt have to live with your mistakes, yet they are adored by our people, and do good every single day. I would have grown up a much more twisted man if it weren't for these two being part of our family. I only feel sorry they were ever tied to a man like you." "P-Philomenie..."

"Did my father never tell you? She was granted the divorce. She's now living as a saintess, and even tried multiple times to renounce the titles my parents bestowed upon her for her doings...I guess there was no use in you knowing." "Tell Rayan to get down here!" Ellias shouted.

"No. You'll meet my father once a year if he feels like it, as always. You should be lucky to even still be alive, but it looks like there's nothing that can be done for you. Goodbye, Uncle. It was nice meeting you for a short while."

The prince then turned around, ignoring his uncle calling him. The echo of his voice diminished as he went back to the entrance of the underground prison, walked past the guards, and kept walking. The further he got from that man, the more that sensation of weight on his shoulders got lifted. He had always hesitated about coming down here, but now, it felt like the right decision. His worries were gone, and no rumors could get to him anymore. Once back into the sunlight, he stopped and took a deep breath, letting the sun kiss his skin. He smiled faintly, a rare sight for the people around. Then, he went back to his horse and got on it, riding back to the Royal Castle. He didn't stop until he was in the courtyard. He got down, letting a stablegirl take care of his mount, and walked inside. Many servants greeted him, curious to see the usually aloof Prince come back from God knew where, but he barely greeted them back.

His feet took him to the fifth floor, where the servants, surprised to see him, nodded but didn't stop him. He walked inside a large, red-themed room. It was still in the dark despite the sun being high in the sky, thanks to the thick and heavy curtains. He walked all the way to the canopy bed, took off his shoes, and climbed on it until he found a human figure. With an amused smile, he grabbed the silhouette still wrapped in the covers, and hugged her.

“Mh... Liz?”

His sister wriggled a bit until her thick dark curls and her head were out of the covers. She was a mess, her red eyes glaring until she confirmed it was her brother. Then, she sighed, and nestled her face onto his shoulder with a sigh. "What is it?" She whispered. "I'm usually the one to sneak into your room."

"Nothing. I just felt like doing this all of a sudden."

"You should do it more often," she chuckled. "It reminds me of when we were kids..."

He smiled at the memory too. The twins were nothing short of inseparable when they were children. Despite having their own bedrooms and different sleeping schedules, they would always be found together by the servants, sleeping in one or the other's bedroom depending on the time of the day, such that it had become a habit for their servants to check both bedrooms anytime one of them was missing. Although, when they were children, Elizio was the needy one, whilst Maria had grown more spoiled once they had reached their teenage years. Her brother was the only one granted unrestricted access to her apartments when she was in a bad mood. If she truly was mad, she would go to his bedroom, so as to not be bothered until her brother came to comfort her. While a lot of parents would have tried to break this habit between two young noble people of opposite genders, their parents did nothing about it. On the contrary, their mother always emphasized that they should be allowed to do whatever they wanted together, and be free to have their alone time as well. What he didn't know as a child was that she was trying hard not to reproduce their grandmother's mistake.

"...I went to see our uncle."

"Which uncle?" muttered his sister.

"Father's brother."

His sister stiffened, and suddenly sat up, throwing away the blankets, now completely awake.

"...For real?"

He nodded.

"I was curious."

"...Father's going to be mad as hell," she gasped.

"He won't know."

"My as he won't know, Liz... How was he?"

"... More pathetic than I thought. Not in a good way. It's true Maelie looks like him."

"Why did you go to see him?"

Elizio shrugged.

"Just because."

"...It's that stupid rumor, isn't it?" His sister frowned. "It got to your head. I told you not to listen to it!"

"I know, but it still got me curious. Anyway, I'm glad I cleared that up. I'm nothing like him."

"Of course you aren't... Father should just get rid of him. He's only letting him live out of concern for Maelie, but she said many times she doesn't want to meet him. She'd be better off without that man."

"Who knows..."

Her brother laid on his back, staring at the top of his sister's bed.

"He asked if I'd be tempted to try and become King," he chuckled.

"Oh, you're so welcome to try," Maria sighed, lying back with her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "You know I'm mostly doing this because it's my duty. You can have it whenever I get sick of it anyway, then I can have all the fun. ... It might be fun going against you, though. For once you wouldn't let me have an easy win."

"Maybe one day I'll play you for real," he chuckled. "For now I'm still happy to let you win all you want. Just leave me the fun parts."

"Sure..."

He heard his sister sigh, and soon enough, she was right back asleep. He grabbed the cover to cover her a bit, and then stayed there with her, lying wide awake while she slept. In a sense, he felt a bit sorry for his father. Perhaps things would have been easier if he had other siblings... Elizio didn't want any other sibling than his sister, though. He wasn't sure he'd be able to love them nearly as much as he did Maria. Their bond was so special, another set of twins would have to be born to even have anything alike. Chances were probably insanely low now, anyway.

He breathed slowly, and closed his eyes for a nap. He decided that next time he played chess with Maria, he'd play for real.