The Abandoned Vampire is a Blood Queen

"Oh, my dear sister? I never expected to see you here."

"After being kicked out by Father, you actually managed to hook up with a nobleman like Corbin. That's really... quite the unexpected talent."

Morgana wore the latest haute couture gown, dramatically covering her mouth with a manicured hand, her eyes gleaming with undisguised contempt.

She was my half-sister, the golden child of the Defro family.

And I was the disgrace, cast out and disowned.

"If you came here just to gloat, then mission accomplished. You can leave now." I stood in the hallway leading to the study, still holding the coffee I had prepared for Corbin.

Morgana's lips curled into a smile, clearly unwilling to let me off so easily.

"Father just celebrated my birthday a few days ago," she twirled a strand of hair around her finger, her voice dripping with false innocence. "He gave me a crown inlaid with the rarest Star's Tears from the Eastern Territories. I remember your birthday is the same day as mine, right?"

"But he seems to have completely forgotten about you. You know what, sister? Father said the Defro family only has one daughter—me."

I clutched my skirt hem, my knuckles turning white, but remained silent.

She mistook my silence for anger and giggled. "Oh right, do you remember why you were driven out? I told Father you stole his favorite collection. Actually, I broke it. But Father didn't even question you—he just believed me."

"God, it was so entertaining watching you get whipped and thrown out like trash."

Her words washed over me without leaving a mark. Not even a ripple disturbed the stillness of my heart.

That snowy winter night, when they stripped me of my fine clothes and threw me barefoot through the manor gates, I had already given up on the illusion of family.

I just watched her quietly, performing her little show like a desperate clown.

Seeing my lack of reaction, Morgana's smile faltered. This wasn't as fun as she'd hoped.

But soon, her eyes lit up with a new idea.

She turned toward the study, painted a coquettish smile on her face, and pushed open the door.

"Corbin, darling, what are you working on?"

Through the crack in the door, I saw Corbin immediately look up from his documents, his face brightening. "Morgana, you're here."

His gaze was so tender it could melt ice.

Corbin had once sworn he reserved such tenderness for me alone.

But now, that tenderness belonged to someone else.

I stood frozen outside the door, coffee in hand, feeling like a fool in some tragic comedy.

Morgana had achieved her purpose.

Her boasting, the old wounds she'd reopened—none of it cut as deeply as Corbin's reaction in this moment.

In that instant, my last shred of illusion shattered like fine crystal.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open wider.

Corbin was smiling at Morgana. At the sound of the door, he frowned in displeasure. When he saw it was me, that displeasure morphed into impatience. "Lia, haven't I told you? Don't disturb me when I'm in the study!"

I laughed coldly inside. Afraid I'd interrupt your little affair, aren't you?

"Corbin," I placed the coffee on the table, my voice surprisingly steady, "I want to sever our blood contract."

The air instantly crystallized.

Surprise flashed across Morgana's face, quickly morphing into barely concealed excitement.

Corbin froze. He blinked, as if he'd misheard, then forced a laugh. "Stop being ridiculous, Lia. This isn't the time for one of your tantrums."

Typical. He always dismissed my feelings as mere tantrums.

I didn't argue. I simply raised my eyes and stared at him with a resolute gaze he'd never seen before.

A flash of panic crossed his eyes, quickly overwhelmed by anger.

"What do you think a blood contract is?" he snapped. "Some child's game you can break on a whim? Get out!"

"Fine." I turned and walked out without a backward glance.

If not now, then later. He'd eventually agree for the sake of marrying Morgana.

I wasn't in a hurry, but someone else apparently was.

That night, I curled up in the most secluded attic room of the castle, trying to find a moment's peace.

"What does it matter if Corbin doesn't agree?" A voice sliced through the silence.

It was Morgana.

She looked down at me, her eyes glittering with barely suppressed jealousy. "Men are all the same. Even when they no longer love you, they still want to own you. So don't think his refusal means he still cares."

"Besides," her tone shifted, becoming almost friendly, "if you really want out of that contract, I know a way."

When I didn't immediately reject her, she leaned close to my ear and whispered about an ancient forbidden ritual—a method to unilaterally force the dissolution of a blood contract.

"However," she straightened up, her concern obviously fake, "the backlash is severe. You might die."

"Fine," I agreed without hesitation.

In this world, my only relative has abandoned me, and the man I love is marrying the woman I despise. After hundreds of years, I've lived long enough. Death might actually be a release.

Seeing my decisiveness, Morgana dropped her fake smile.

She pulled a ring from her finger and contemptuously tossed it to the floor. "Take it. Consider it severance pay for two hundred years of service. At least you won't starve when you crawl back to human society."

She meant buying blood plasma.

I didn't even glance at the ring. "You're picking up the man I'm rejecting, and you're proud of it? How pathetic."

With that, I strode past Morgana's contorted face, heading alone toward the forbidden ground where blood contracts could be broken.