The sudden clattering of knives wakes Bianca from her sleep.

With eyes wide open, the first thing she sees is darkness; like there’s no one in the room with her. However, her ears tell her the exact opposite— she’s not alone in the room the servants prepared for her.

Bianca breathes in and out as she tries hard to calm her heart rate. At this point, she may be developing a heart problem since her heart keeps racing every second.

“Who is there?” She yells into the dark, gripping the sheets of her bed.

Sweat runs down her forehead as her heavy pants fills the room.

The next second, light illuminates the room. Hastily, she turns her head in every corner of the room, searching for the intruder with the support of the fire torch that has been turned on. Then, her heart skips a beat when she sees Prince Alec standing by her bed.

A piercing scream escapes her dried lips, seeing the tall boy standing like a statue beside her. Reactively, she quickly jumps on the bed. Attempting to move away from him, she hits her head on the metal bar above her bed in the process. She then crumbles back onto the sheets, holding her throbbing head as she wails in pain.

“Quit trembling like a disowned cat and follow me.”

She jumps again when he throws a blade at her.

Trembling in shock, she eyes the sharp blade laying on her torso. Bianca then lifts her gaze to the dark-haired male in front of her.

“Get dressed and follow me.”

She grimaces and whines, still in need of sleep. “Follow you? It’s still dark out. What are you talking about?”

“You have to speak to me with respect.” He orders, glaring at her. “I am the prince.”

At his statement, Bianca bites her lips, slowly replacing her frown with a forced smile.

She still despises him ever since the market. She still wants to knock some senses into his head. But she cannot; he is the Queen’s second son.

Reluctantly, she bows her head. “My apologies, young master.”

He stares at her, giving her a repulsed look before responding. “Get dressed and meet me at the throne room. We have work to do.”

With that, he exits the room.

“What work do we have to do at this time of the night?” She scowls in the quiet of her chambers. “Look at him ordering me around when he’s not the crown prince.”

Bianca clenches her fists, falling back onto the bed. Frustrated, she hits her fists on her bed, wiggling her legs in the air.

It has only been a few hours since the queen announced the reason for Bianca’s visit. And it seems her second son is intent on making her life a living hell after the incident at the market.

Slowly dragging herself out of bed, she walks to the far corner of the room.

She has never been in a big room as this before.

No one at the Academy dares spend their time and effort building a perfect home when they all know that one day, the Vampires will attack and destroy their homes. So, she and her grandmother has lived in a small, bamboo house for 20 years.

Now, she is stood in one of the biggest rooms in the entire Other-world.

A huge door instead of old curtains; a queen-sized bed with a soft mattress and warm covers; a huge window that has the perfect view of the sky; floral curtains are hung over every window, thereby decorating the room; a massive wardrobe with variety of clothes the Queen has provided her and a rack that holds multiple weapons which is supposed to be wielded by her.

However, she cannot wield any.

The sight of the weapon rack makes Bianca’s throat run dry so she faces the mirror.

With a sigh leaving her lips, she quickly throws on a cream-colored tunic and pairs it with loose-fitting breeches. She winces when her hands touch her belly— the pain from the dress she wore last night still hasn’t subsided.

Tying her hair into a bun, she grabs the two blades laying on her bed and exits the room.

Once she enters into the hallway, she sees that all of the fire torches have been lighted. The lights from the hallway casts colors on her skin as she looks around for the prince. Soon, she realizes that the whole palace is dead silent— it’s literally as quiet as a grave and the realization instills fear in her.

Suddenly, the sky rumbles with thunder and she jumps a foot in the air. Shocked by the sound, she holds her hand against her chest as she takes in deep breaths. She walks to the window, gazing out at the sky from the hallway of the palace. The stars in the sky have disappeared, and is now covered with thick, dark clouds—it’s clearly going to rain.

“Let’s go.”

She jumps again when the voice comes from behind her. Twirling around to see the face of the prince up close, she places her hand on her chest.

“Shit, you scared me.”

His forehead creases at the profanity. “Follow me.”

“I’m not going to follow you.” She stands her ground, sensing something fishy in the air.

Prince Alec stops in his track, turning to face her. “You’re already dressed and you’re out of your room, what do you mean you’re not following me?”

“I’ve had a change of heart since I walked out. Everyone’s still asleep. What could you possibly want from me this night?”

He smirks at her comment, brushing a hand through his black hair. “Would you get your dirty mind out of the gutter and follow me?”

“No.” She sticks to her decision. “For all I know, you could be bringing me out to kill me. You didn’t seem all that pleased with me after the incident at the market yesterday.”

He huffs and turns away from her. “Just follow me. I won’t kill you.”

Seconds later, they both arrive at the entrance of the castle, the same second it starts to rain heavily. Bianca purses her lips at the dark sky pouring down rain. She’s glad that whatever plan he cooked up won’t be executable because of the weather. She may even get to go back to bed since they can’t go anywhere in the rain.

“Oh well.” She claps the blades together. “It’s raining. We can’t go anywhere now. Goodnight, sire.”

She turns back into the palace’s hallway but the prince quickly grips her by the arm before she can move from her spot.

“Real warriors fight under any weather.” He tells her.

“What?”

“Wield your weapon and follow me.”

Bianca watches with wide eyes as he walks out of the castle and into the heavy rain. Just then does she realize that he has a sword in his hand.

“You brought me out here to fight?” She scoffs.

This has to be because of what happened at the market. Apparently, the prince is one to hold a grudge. Bianca had no idea that she had hurt his pathetic ego just by saving a boy from being assaulted.

“You have three seconds to stand in front of me!” He yells over the roaring thunders.

Bianca glares at him.

“He wakes me up at midnight just for this? I hope he catches a cold and dies here.” She murmurs before bucking her shoulders and embracing the cold.

She runs into the rain, only wincing when it slaps against her skin. Her hair becomes wet in a matter of seconds and it falls out of its bun, covering her face. Frustrated at the situation, she puts both blades in her left hand and brushes her hair back with the other. Once strands of black hair have been pulled out of her vision, the first thing she sees is the prince wielding his sword.

“Are you being serious right now?” She raises her voice. “Just because of what happened earlier?”

He keeps his menacing gaze on her. “I could care less about that. This is for something else.”

“As if.” She snorts.

“You are the first to kill a Vampire.”

She swallows, the cold evading her the second he says that.

“I want to see how you did it.” His black hair is plastered over his forehead, making him look like an egg and the visual makes Bianca chuckle. That is until she hears his next words. “Fight me.”

“What?” She questions and the next thing she knows, he is running towards her with his sword. Reactively, she raises both knives and blocks his attack, the clanking sound echoing in the night. He doesn’t stop as he quickly redirects his sword and cuts her on the arm.

Bianca cries out, slapping her hand over the cut on her left arm. She watches as the rain washes the blood down onto her clothes.

“What the hell was that for?” She yells angrily, tears pricking at her eyes.

“Is that how slow you fought the Vampire?” He takes several steps back, watching her carefully.

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Her emotions start to pour out. “This is a waste of time.”

“No one tells me what to do.” He arcs an eyebrow. “Now, wield your weapon properly and attack like I’m the Vampire.”

“I won’t do that.”

“If you don’t, then I’ll just end up cutting all over your body.” Something glistens in his eyes that tells Bianca that he has other intentions about this night.

Giving her no time to prepare, he wields his sword in the air and strikes at full speed. Bianca puts everything she has learnt from the Academy into use as she dodges. She almost slips on the mud but catches herself just in time to block his sword again. However, she fails to grip her weapon tightly and he uses that to his advantage— he connects his elbow with her chin and then knocks the blades right out of her hands.

Bianca stumbles back in pain, gripping her jaw. She swears he’s doing this because of the scene at the market. The maid from last night definitely wasn’t bluffing— he’s the exact opposite of his brother.

She squints her eyes close in pain but when she feels a cold item on her neck, her eyes fly open in fear. The aggressive look in the prince’s eyes makes Bianca gasp. He tries pressing the sword against her skin but she takes a step back only for him to walk closer. Soon, she slips on the wet grounds and falls down on her back.

Under twenty seconds, she has been defeated. She’s not surprised. It happens every time at the Academy.

“You are unskilled and you get tired easily.” Prince Alec assesses her.

Heavy pants leave her wet lips as she squints to prevent rain drops from entering her eyeballs.

“You fight like you’re not even from the Academy. I was told they produce great warriors and you’re not it.” He keeps his sword to her neck. “You fight slow and inexperienced. Your moves are sloppy and unprofessional.”

Her ears turn red from his words, suddenly feeling exposed. It seems he has already found out the secret she has been keeping for the past 24 hours and the lies she has told.

“Did you really kill that Vampire?” He asks. His tall body looms over her as it blocks some of the rain drops.

Even if it feels like he has figured it out, she won’t confirm it. She knows the consequences. Now, her crime isn’t just lying, it is now paired with the offense of being an imposter— she has taken the praise and the royal treatment meant for the true savior.

If she gets caught, she may die.

She scoffs. “Of course, I did. Why would I be here if I didn’t?”

He squints at her. “I gave you full authority to fight me but you didn’t.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“No,” he says. “That’s not how you fight when you don’t want to hurt your opponent. You fought like you didn’t know what you were doing.”

She inhales sharply, feeling catastrophic in an open environment.

“I’m going to ask you one last time and I want the truth.”

She swallows when his dark-green eyes turn darker with intent.

“Did you kill that Vampire?”

Once again and through her teeth, she lies. “I did. Your mother wouldn’t have asked for me if I didn’t.”

Nodding, he takes his sword away from her neck and sheaths his sword. Bianca’s heart rate begins to slow down, feeling relieved that his questions have stopped. She tries to stand back on her feet but the prince knocks her onto her back once more.

With that one action, she makes up her mind that she hates him.

Slowly, prince Alec lowers himself down to the ground. Bianca’s heart skips a beat when she feels the warmth of his skin as he gets closer. The prince angles his head to her face, his lips brushing her ears. Bianca can feel herself sweat which is impossible since she’s under the rain.

She then shivers when his hot breath fans her earlobes.

“Do you know what I smell whenever I come close to you?”

She darts her eyes over the huge castle as she wonders what he’s doing to her at the moment.

His hot breath fans her neck when he opens his mouth to speak again. “I smell lies.”

The next minute, he gets up on his feet and walks back into the castle.

Bianca sits there for longer than three minutes, shocked by what he has said. Does this mean he knows she lied? Will he tell his mother and get her in trouble? It’s obvious he doesn’t like her, so she won’t be surprised if he exposes her.