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"If you won over these prisoners..." 

The gatekeeper laughed, kneeling down to be on the same level as the young boy who was tackled to the ground, glaring at him. 

"You're fearless, aren't you?" He chuckled as he slapped the dirtied boy on the ground repeatedly. "Glaring at me like you can kill me." He stopped laughing midway, pointedly looking at the boy.

"I'd like to see you try." He laughed once more, slowly getting to his feet. He eyes his troupe that surrounds him, sharing a mocking laugh. 

"unhand him." The pair tackling the prisoner to the ground 

"Win over them, and I'll let you leave the dungeon." 

His deep voice resonated in the underground dungeon. 

"That is, if you can. Myeong-ah." 

Laughter erupted, and cheers followed after Myeong stood up, dusting his clothes arrogantly. 

"Have any last words?" 

The youngest in the dungeon stared at him plainly, before letting out the his last words. 

"My name's not Myeong..."

"It's Jaemin."

〰〰〰

"You're right. We need to talk."

Taeyong spoke right after Jaeil finished talking. She nodded. "We sure do." She looked down as she mused awkwardly. 

Right then, The events from earlier made its way inside the young general's mind and he unconsciously fisted his knuckles at her sweet interaction with the prince. 

"I really wanted to say thank you." She looked up insecurely, shyly peeking through her lashes. However, the sight of her childhood friend gritting his teeth confused her. 

But she continued anyways. 

"And I'm really sorry for what I said before." She looked down in embarassment once more. 

"You're sorry?" Taeyong's scoff prompted the lady to gape at him in shock. 

He had a smirk on his face as he stared at Jaeil, hard. 

"Y-yes. Y-Yes I am." She muttered confusedly, worriedly looking at her friend. "I-I'm sorry I doubted your loyalty towards my brother—"

"So you believed telling me 'you're sorry' will fix things?!" The man uttered in disbelief. 

Jaeil blinked at him, numerous times. "Wouldn't it?" She asked uneasily.

Taeyong let out a cackle, turning around to stare at the vast river in from of them. 

Finally getting on her nerves, the noble lady asked, "What's your problem, Lee Taeyong?" 

"It's you!" the young general turned back around, shooting her a menacing glare. "You think degrading me and judging my decisions would be easily forgiven by apologizing?" Taeyong gritted his teeth in anger and the lady grew nervous at the amount of hate in his stare. "An eye for an eye, Moon Jaeil." He announced. 

"What do you want?" 

"Marry me." 

"What?" She scoffed.

"Marry me," Taeyong laughed. "Simple. I saved your brother's life, and you mocked my way of thinking and the way I live." He glared at her walking towards her. Once close enough, he yanked her arm closer to him so he could whisper in her ear.

"The Moons are honorable, aren't they? And you wouldn't dare dirtying that legacy, right?" He moved away, allowing a meter distance away from their bodies. 

Jaeil looked at the ridiculous guy with wide eyes, her hands balling to fists. "A life for a life, Moon Jaeil. I saved your brother's life, and you said you will never ever offer your loyalty to me. So just offer your whole life in exchange of your brother's. You will spend the rest of your days by my side until you die and nobody could speak otherwise, unless they want my blade in their throats." 

Once again, He drew the female closer to him. "I'm not taking no for an answer, my lady." With that being said, The youngest general walked past the youngest daughter of the Moon Household, not forgetting to bump his shoulders with her. 

Once left alone, Jaeil stole a glance from her disappearing friend, her eyes trembling as tears pricked on it. Breathing heavily, she cursed the things that happened for her to end up in this kind of situation. 

〰〰〰

"He's dead?" Minhyung eyed the night walker beside him, who glanced at him sensing that he was looking at her. 

She nodded. "Yes, he's dead."

The young man nodded in understanding, growing quiet after. He was mentally weighing his options;

Should he trust this vampire and ask her about his father? because she seemed to know things he didn't?

or...

Should he run away from her? After all she mentioned things about the others like her wanted to kill him?

However, the statement that she had a promise to fulfill seemed promising to the guy. 

"What is my father, exactly?" He asked. 

Gin smiled. "You're opening up to me finally, aren't you?" She smiled even wider upon seeing him averting his gaze away from her. 

She chose to continue the conversation. "Well, you're father's a notable man. He was a scholar that was left with no other choice but to join the military when the country had to fight in the war at the borders. The opponent had a conspiracy with my kind, and we were considered weapons before. But we consider ourselves a superior being, so how did we ended up, agreeing, right?" Gin's lips formed a thin line. 

"It's simple." She continued. "The opposing country promised to serve the vampire clan in exchange of helping them win with this country. True enough, this place fall to the hands of the enemy in no time." 

"That's it?" Minhyung asked when she faltered for a long time. She eyed him plainly, "No. Now this is where I entered the story."

The guy raised his brows, prompting the girl to continue. "Unlike most of the vampires, I wasn't pure blooded." She smiled softly, eyeing the grassy ground. "I was once a human, and because of that, I promised not to feed on human blood, because I can't take it. And because I'm not feeding on humans, I was extremely weak compared to the others. I was supposed to get killed but you're father helped me survive in the middle of the war. As a token of my gratitude towards his kindness, I promised him I'd protect his only son until my last breath."

She explained, looking up at the night sky as if reminiscing the past happenings. 

Minhyung eyed the vampire intently. He took his time observing her skin that was obviously lacking nourishment, basing from the scaliness and the dryness of it. He also took note of the dark circles under her eyes, and her chapped lips that lacked redness. 

It wasn't hard to believe that she never once devoured a human being before. 

At that moment, The guy remembered the wandering storyteller that was found dead few days later. 

"What about the happening in the capital?!" He stood up in alarm. Who knows she might just tricking him into believing her and would later on prey on him. 

Gin eyed the young guy suspiciously, a frown on her face. "What happened at the capital?" 

Minhyung blinked. He shouldn't let his guard down. "The crime at the capital. An old man was found dead at the plaza a few days back. he had two holes on his neck and obviously, it is a night walker's doing." 

Gin curses under her breath, averting his gaze from the boy. The stable boy frowned at her unusual behaviour. "They are on the move finally." She muses. 

"Who are?" he asked. 

"The others." She answered his inquiry immediately. 

"Nothing is safe for you anymore. Specially now that you had your birthday." She warned him, standing up. 

Minhyung gave her a look. "Are you perhaps telling me I'd be safe if  I stick with you?" 

"No? Yes? I don't know." Gin shook her head slowly. "But because I promised, I'll make sure to protect until my last breath." She explained as a matter of fact. 

"Until your last breath?"

She nodded, eyeing him plainly. "Yeah. Until my last breath. But for now, go back to the stables and I'll be on the watch to make sure you won't be attacked in your sleep."

Later that night, as he was tucking himself to bed, his eyes unconsciously wandered outside, at a certain tree where he knows the girl was hiding at. 

"Where will you stay?" Minhyung asked with a frown, his walls building once more. "I'm not letting you in our house, The people will freak out when they see you!"

Gin arched one brow at him. 

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to spend a night with inferior beings," She deadpanned, crossing her arms.  His frown deepened.