Chapter – 01 Take Me In
The servants of the Lilith family were busy moving about early in the morning.
It was rare for them, who were usually unbound by time, to create such a commotion—but there was a good reason for it.
It was the day their master would return after three years.
For the clan of the night, three years was by no means a long time, but it was unusual for a precious pureblood to wander around for years without any contact.
And now, she was finally returning from that unfamiliar journey. The servants’ faces were subtly uplifted with anticipation.
Their master, as always, wore a crimson robe and returned alone, as beautiful and majestic as ever.
In her eternally noble and strong presence, the servants bowed deeply, showing infinite respect for their pureblood.
“Welcome home, Lady Camilla.”
Benn, the head butler, greeted her on behalf of the others, but Camilla, with an indifferent expression, handed him her robe and went straight to her room.
Benn stared back and forth between the robe and Camilla’s retreating figure, slightly bewildered.
The robe, once pure white, had now turned deep red, soaked with the unmistakable scent of blood.
Back in her room, Camilla sat at her vanity, resting her forehead on her clasped hands.
“Ha…”
A deep sigh escaped her.
Unlike the quiet of her room, her mind was chaotic.
“Insane! Insane!”
Not only had she attacked a man, but she had also fed on his blood.
It wasn’t something she could boast about, but Camilla had not touched blood even once during the ten years since she was possessed.
She had struggled to overcome the trauma of the accident, and yet, she could never bring herself to drink blood.
Even if she came across blood that smelled enticing, once she realized it was human, her appetite and thirst vanished.
But this time was different.
Even while fully aware that he was human, she couldn’t suppress the urge.
And that was shocking enough—yet there was another serious problem.
“Of all people, I had to drink the villain’s blood.”
If her guess was correct, he was the villain from the original story:
Leotiz Harker.
In the original, he was the main antagonist, a man who lost his companions to vampires and became a vengeful killer, mercilessly hunting countless vampires solely for revenge, and also the heroine’s tutor.
At first, Camilla had no idea who he was.
But after ravenously feeding on blood and regaining some clarity, a long-forgotten memory surfaced: the illustration postcards that came with a full set of the original series.
Among them was a clear depiction of Leotiz’s face.
Had she not seen that bonus in her previous life, she would never have known he was the villain.
And of all people, her first taste of human blood came from the original villain.
Before figuring out his identity, Camilla had even rashly said, “Want to come to my house?”
But when she remembered who he really was, shock gripped her.
She had left him collapsed from anemia, abandoning him on the spot and fleeing.
“Maybe I should’ve just killed him…”
Looking back, that might have prolonged her own life.
A strange sense of regret washed over her.
“No, wait.”
The Leotiz she saw in the forest seemed slightly younger than in the original story.
He was supposed to be in his late twenties, but now he looked like he was in his early to mid-twenties.
And he lost his companions at twenty-two.
“Could it be… I unknowingly saved the villain?”
If that were the case, Camilla had inadvertently interfered with Leotiz’s past narrative, removing the reason he would become a vengeful killer.
After all, he hunted vampires solely to avenge his lost comrades.
If his enemies were dead, he would have no reason to hunt vampires.
In other words, the threat to her life from him was also gone.
Camilla let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
She had always known she might die at the hands of the villain, but she never expected fate to change in such a ridiculous way.
With the problem she had worried over for so long suddenly resolved, she felt a decade’s worth of tension lift from her shoulders—but also a sense of emptiness.
She couldn’t understand why she had been so concerned over something that resolved so easily.
As she drowned her emptiness in self-deprecating laughter, someone knocked at the door.
“Come in.”
Benn, the head butler, entered.
Camilla, already aware of him by scent, deliberately avoided looking at him.
“Miss, is something the matter?” he asked cautiously.
“Why do you ask?”
“You seemed a little… unwell.”
“I had a problem, but it’s resolved now.”
“I see.”
Even after hearing her answer, Benn remained unconvinced.
Her expression didn’t seem all that cheerful for someone who had supposedly resolved a concern.
Still, he said nothing further and quietly left after telling her to call if she needed anything.
Alone, Camilla tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling.
The elaborate chandelier cast dizzying lights across the room.
‘Yes, this is resolved. This really is.’
Several days passed.
Camilla began taking care of tasks she had put off.
Yet, for work postponed for three years, the amount seemed unusually small.
“Mr. Blood handled the work on your behalf, Miss.”
Camilla felt her patience fray.
Blood was the head of the Chepeshu family, another pureblood clan like the Liliths. He had taken it upon himself to act as Camilla’s guardian.
Of course, Camilla refused.
But Blood ignored her rejection, constantly interfering with the Lilith family affairs.
Though she had not yet undergone the coming-of-age ceremony and could not officially inherit the title, Camilla was the acting head of the Lilith family.
And yet, someone else had done the work she, as head, should have handled?
Camilla clenched her fists.
“Disgusting.”
Benn said nothing, knowing that even though Camilla, as a pureblood, could use such words, it was still unthinkable to call another pureblood “disgusting.”
At that moment, urgent knocking broke the silence.
A servant burst into the room, trembling.
“What is it?”
Camilla’s sharp tone made him nervous.
“Miss Camilla… you should come… now.”
Creak.
As she opened the entrance to the underground, the damp, acrid smell hit her.
The stench, which she had been subjected to endlessly in the past, threatened to bring back old memories, but she maintained her composure as she descended.
Following the servant, she arrived at the underground prison.
‘I never thought I’d set foot here again.’
Upon opening the door, she found a familiar place, but with a stranger inside.
“!”
Camilla’s eyes widened as she recognized the unexpected visitor.
‘Why the hell is he here?’
Leotiz, the villain from the original story, whom she thought she would never see again, was chained to the wall.
And he was in a terrible state.
His shirt and pants were torn to rags, covered in blood stains.
“A human?”
Benn muttered in disbelief, adjusting his glasses repeatedly, trying to confirm the reality before him.
It was only natural to be shocked. It had been a very long time since anyone had seen a human in vampire territory.
Camilla composed her voice and asked:
“How did a human get here?”
Vampires placed powerful wards across their territories, especially in areas where they vastly outnumbered humans.
The domains of purebloods, whose lives depended on their protection, could not be entered without permission—even by other vampires.
So how did a human get in?
“According to the guards, he was wandering near the forest of the castle.”
Shock spread across Benn’s face.
“Then the ward was breached? That can’t be…”
Unlike Benn, who was still reeling from the shock, Camilla remained calm.
Then it happened.
“You said it first, didn’t you?”
A husky, low voice echoed.
“You said we should go to your house.”
Despite his ragged appearance, his golden eyes glimmered with a strange light.
Camilla closed her eyes gently.
So he had been listening, even while unconscious.
“Miss Camilla… what is the meaning of this? Did you really ‘invite’ a human?”
Benn’s eyes bulged.
To a vampire, an invitation was a type of permission.
It meant allowing someone into their domain.
For a proud vampire to invite another being signified interest, acknowledgment, or even affection.
For a pureblood like Camilla to extend such an invitation was an unprecedented honor.
For a mere human to receive it was a monumental event in vampire history.
“Are you saying that’s why he came here?”
Benn was ready to faint, but Camilla didn’t even flinch.
Rather, she smiled, clearly entertained.
“That being said, it seems you want something. Shall we hear it first?”
At her words, Leotiz’s eyes sparkled.
“Take me in.”
