“What happened?” her father asked.

Ungern’s face was shaken and his movements became clumsy. The other nobles, the most curious among them, approached the vampire’s body to examine it. Some started screaming, others had the tenacity to touch it with the heel of their boot.

“We were attacked by…” Aria reached out to indicate the dead creature.

“My God…” Ungern gasped, and he approached his daughter to hug her.

“It was terrible, Father.”

“I know, but I’m here to protect you now.” Ungern’s height, compared to Aria’s, was colossal. Even in the crowd, his size stood out among all the nobles. The hard expression on his face identified him as the leader of the situation: he had to do something to reassure the nobles and secure the mansion.

He pulled away from Aria and, with a quick wave of his hand, gave directions to the policemen who began to inspect the surroundings of the garden for other possible threats. He also asked the head guard if he could double the night patrol in the streets adjacent to his villa.

In the next moment of pause, his gaze slid towards the vampire. He remained staring at him for several seconds, muttering indistinguishable words.

“How did you kill him?” he asked his daughter. He touched the vampire’s hard muscles with a stick and took a good look at the sword wound on his chest.

“It wasn’t me.” Aria replied. Seeing her father’s expression as he tried to put the pieces together, he continued: “It was a huntress.”

Ungern continued to poke the vampire’s body with the stick and continued to mutter something.

“Damn hunters.” the man stood up and kicked the vampire’s head, sending it spinning against the wall. There was a dull thud as his head hit the ground.

“They think they can do whatever they want, but they’re wrong.” the stern gaze slid to the girl this time, “But,” and there was a snort, “she still saved your life, yours and the prince’s, that’s what matters. So she’s forgiven, this…”

“Liza.”

“Liza.” he repeated her name to memorize it.

Speaking of the prince, Aria noticed that he was recovering from the impact. His bodyguards were offering him water and special salts to revive him, and Sergey helped them make some sort of concoction to drink. At first, the prince kept one eye closed and the other open, scratching his head between sips and wiggling his fingers to fight the numbness. His suit was ruined, and the fall had also torn his cloak.

“It’s time to go, prince, it’s not safe to stay here.” one of the two guards said, taking the prince on his shoulders to carry him towards the carriage.

The prince said nothing, simply walking under the watchful eye of all the nobles. Ungern apologized several times for what had happened, walking with them to the carriage and thanking them for their presence. He also promised himself to stop by the King’s palace the next day to greet and check on the prince. The latter, still with his head bowed and his gaze sleepy, said several inconsistent words between them, and then looked up in search of something.

“Aria!” he exclaimed, but he was now too far away for the girl to hear.

“The party is over!” Ungern exclaimed this time, “I thank you for coming in such large numbers and I hope you had fun.”

The head of the family’s smile was one of those forced ones, the fake ones that were required on those occasions. And Aria knew well that her father, at that moment, was feeling such anger that he could no longer contain himself. This reception was all for him, having to make a good impression on the prince and the other nobles. At court, reception battles were fought to gain more fame and prestige.

Because of a vampire, all of this had been compromised. The greatest harm was the wounding of the prince who, most likely, would never set foot in that villa again.

So he went around in circles several times, holding his hands behind his back and waiting for the nobles to leave. His boots filled with mud but his legs did not give out. Then, when even the last nobleman had gone home, he approached Aria and Sergey.

“Go inside the house, barricade the doors and windows. Get help from Madame Doroteya, if necessary. We don’t know if there are other vampires, so don’t stick your nose outside the walls. Aria, you stay still. Quiet. Don’t move. Hidden.”

“Father… do you really think another vampire could attack us?”

Ungern didn’t answer, just snapped his fingers to summon the housekeeper.

“Come, my dear,” Madame Doroteya said, eavesdropping on the conversation from upstairs, “Let’s go back to our rooms. Are you thirsty? Would you like some hot tea?”

“Tea.”

The two women left the hall. Aria turned one last time before going up the stairs, seeing her father dictating something to Sergey and the latter still nodding. In the meantime, more policemen had arrived who would be guarding the mansion that night.

When they reached the rooms, Aria dove into bed, but Madame Doroteya quickly pulled her up.

“Drink this, it will do you good.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Aria took a sip of the strange orange liquid. She spat it out immediately.

“What did you put in that!?”

“Tea.”

“And?”

“Rum.”

“But I’m sixteen!”

“Shut up and drink! It’ll do you good.”

The housekeeper spared her all those stories about rum forging the spirit and being able to revive even a bear. In Korotsk, they used every type of alcohol the city could create. Soldiers drank it extensively to stay awake during their often stressful and tiring guard shifts, merchants loved to drink because they thought it brought good luck to their business, and workers, on the other hand, would down entire bottles during their lunch break to avoid feeling the exhausting pain of their bodies.

Aria drank it all in one gulp, holding her nose so as not to pass out. She coughed twice, but then immediately felt better. Or rather, she felt a strong heat in her stomach and her head began to spin.

“Your father must be very angry.” Madame Doroteya told her, looking out the window.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I’m afraid that he might be removed from the title of duke.”

“I wouldn’t want that to happen.” the governess said, “I’ve served this family for many years now, I’ve seen you born and grow up and I’ve always taken care of you. There’s not a day that I don’t feel happy living here. But knowing that all this could end because of a… a vampire…” she made a sort of broken scream, the anger was so great for her too.

And she, like Aria, was afraid.

“Who would have ever thought that a vampire would attack this house! Why, I say.”

“Liza told me that vampires hadn’t attacked the city in years. Is that true?” Aria asked as she crawled back under the covers and rested her head on the pillow. The heater was blowing hot air and the numb feeling soon disappeared, making it almost pleasant to have gone to bed early that night.

“Yes. Forty years.”

“If it weren’t for her, I would be dead by now. And yet, my father seems to hate her for some reason. He should be happy that she was hunting a vampire… but he’s not.”

She waited for an answer from the other, but the governess didn’t say anything, just watching her as she sat down in the armchair.

“Madame Doroteya, at least talk to me.”

“My dear, what can I say… I swore not to.”

“Swore?”

“Swore.”

The governess folded her arms, huffing and watching Aria. She continued to stare at her while the other girl stared back, and whenever they made eye contact, the older girl would look away towards the bookcase. Then, after tapping her foot several times on the floor and running out of air from her huffs and puffs, the woman stood up and headed towards the door that led to the hallway. She opened it just enough to look through, checking that neither Ungern nor Sergey were within earshot. She closed the door and walked back to Aria, sitting next to her.

“You see, there’s a reason your father hates hunters so much.” her face was tormented by memories, “During the last attack, Mr. Ungern was at the university with his brother. They were in the same class, they were so happy together.”

“Did you know them before?”

“I was a janitor for a few years and I was only a little older than them. At the time, I didn’t think I’d work for your father, but then he remembered me and offered me the contract. Anyway, that day the university was one of the vampires’ targets. I remember years ago it was normal for the city to be attacked and in those years there were a lot of hunters and police patrolling the streets.”

She took a sip of tea to clear her mind.

“I felt comfortable walking around alone because no one I knew had ever been attacked. Mostly, the vampires only attacked the outskirts because the hunters managed to stop them before they advanced towards the center.”

Another sip.

“That day… something must have happened and one of the vampires broke into the university, during recess. Your father and his brother were in the garden with a few other kids. The vampire decided to attack them.”

“Madame Doroteya…” Aria interrupted, her eyes darting from side to side, “Now that I think about it, my father never told me he had a brother!”

“That’s right. And do you know why he never told you? Because the vampire, during that attack, bit his brother.”

The governess approached, keeping her voice low and covering the side of her mouth with a hand.

“Do you know what this means?”

Aria nodded. Although they didn’t teach anything about vampires at school, one of her classmates had managed to get a lot of information about them. His father, in fact, worked for the government and had access to secret files. He was one of those people who told stories about vampires and, coincidentally, they turned out to be true. So, Aria tried to answer the question with the knowledge she had.

“The vampire bite turn a human into a… vampire?”

“Exactly. That’s what would have happened to Mr. Ungern’s brother.”

“Would that have happened?” the girl was surprised, “Why… what happened? Did he manage not to transform and remain human? Or maybe they found a way to keep him from becoming a vampire? Maybe by killing the vampire they managed to…”

“No, Aria. None of that.” the housekeeper sighed, finishing her drink and running a hand through her hair. “There was a hunter nearby who helped the university kill the vampire.”

“And then?”

“And then, even though Mr. Ungern begged for mercy, the hunter said that it was too late for his brother to become human again… once you were bitten, you could never go back. Do you understand what I mean?”

Aria looked at her with wide eyes and a mouth in disbelief at the words she was hearing. Madame Doroteya sounded so serious that she almost didn’t recognize her as her housekeeper.

“The hunter had to kill him.”

Even though she had never met him, a tear ran down Aria’s face. After all, he was a member of her family and the story was sadder than expected. Aria was also a sensitive person and this sensitivity was also her weakness.

“I don’t know what to say…” she sniffed and Madame Doroteya handed her a handkerchief.

“Now you know why your father hates hunters so much. The other nobles hate them too and in general they are not well regarded by the population. Me? I don’t know what to think. They’ve protected us in the past, and I think a little extra help is good.”

“They don’t have to have a good reputation.”

“Not at all. They’re known for using questionable methods. It’s better to have nothing to do with them and live your life, but that’s not why I’ve been able to live all these years.”

Madame Doroteya stood up and turned off the light, “It’s time to sleep, it’s been a tough day.”

Aria watched her walk around the room and tidy up the closet a bit. She put the dirty clothes in a basket that she lifted with both hands and carried out into the hallway. Then, she went back into the room and made sure the windows were closed one last time.

“But she saved me!” Aria exclaimed, screaming. “I mean, how can I not trust someone who saves my life?” she asked the housekeeper genuinely, who approached Aria one last time.

“Today, my dear, today she saved you. Tomorrow? Only the good Lord will know. Oh, woe betide you if you tell your father that I told you the story of his brother. I could be killed for it.”

“Don’t worry, Doroteya, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Good.” it was one of the few times that the woman got seriously angry, making her voice take on an authoritative tone.

Ungern, being part of the King’s council, could afford to bypass some basic laws such as that of assuming the right to incriminate someone. And for such a betrayal as an oath, the least intrusive penalty would be life imprisonment.

“Then I’m off, good night.”

“Good night, Madame Doroteya.”

This time, the housekeeper left Aria alone in her room, completely dark. She remained under the covers for almost a minute, being kissed by the moonlight. She had purposely chosen thinner shutters to allow its rays to pass through without too much effort, but after thinking back to the threat she had suffered a few hours earlier, the first thing she did was to turn the light back on.