Free Web NovelMatt shot up into the sky.
FWOOSH!
The wind hit his face hard as his black wings spread fully behind his back.
The terrace fell away below.
Eleonora fell away below.
"Matt!"
He heard her.
Of course he heard her.
But he didn't stop.
Matt's wings beat once more, lifting him above one of the castle's towers.
FWOOSH!
The air was cold at that height, even with the sun already nearly overhead.
Matt gritted his teeth and looked toward the dark mountains behind the fortress.
There it was.
The Forge Cave.
Or at least, the area where it was located.
He couldn't see it yet, but his body remembered the direction.
That was annoying too.
This castle, these mountains, this horrible city and everything connected to the queen seemed to have been burned into him like a stain he couldn't scrub out.
Matt kept flying, the wind moving his white hair.
That annoyed him again.
'Damn old woman.'
He thought about the queen.
Then about Iris.
Then about Eleonora.
And finally about what Eleonora had said.
"Last time you barely made it through that place."
Matt didn't smile.
Because it wasn't an exaggeration.
The first time he entered the Forge Cave, he was still one with Iris. His body was the one the queen had given him. But his mind was a wreck.
And yet the queen had sent him there anyway.
"You need an ego weapon," she had said in that soft voice she always used before ruining someone's life.
Matt remembered thinking the name didn't sound so bad.
The Forge Cave.
It almost sounded like a place there'd be fire, anvils, hammers, maybe some old blacksmith striking metal while saying profound things.
No.
It was not that.
It was worse.
Much worse.
The Forge Cave was one of the most dangerous places in the castle — and also one of the most valuable.
That was where ego weapons were born.
Not exactly made.
Not forged like ordinary swords.
Born.
That's what everyone said. Matt had never fully understood how it worked, and the queen hadn't explained it much either.
And that had been the most unsettling part for Matt, because the queen explained everything when she wanted to show off.
The blood.
The lineages.
The magic.
The absurd rules of her kingdom.
But when she talked about the Forge Cave, even she became more careful, as if the place didn't entirely belong to her.
Matt remembered the black stone corridors.
The doors that changed position. The rooms that made no sense. Monsters made of metal, shadow, and dried blood.
Matt clenched his fists.
'Last time I almost died.'
Not almost in the dramatic sense.
No.
Almost for real.
He had come out with broken bones, wounds his regeneration could barely close, his vision blurred — but with a great reward.
And that reward had been Eleonora.
Back then, he had just obtained her.
A light, elegant, dangerous sword. Incredibly unbearable, but unfortunately too powerful to throw away.
Eleonora amplified his magic, responded to his movements, and when she wanted to, was capable of cutting through almost anything.
Matt clicked his tongue.
'And now that sword is angry with me.'
Great.
Everything was going perfectly.
His life was working out wonderfully.
Matt lowered his altitude slightly as he approached the mountains.
From there he could already see the entrance.
It wasn't just a cave.
Not exactly.
There were installations built around it.
Small towers. Low walls. Stone bridges. Guard halls. Platforms with red runes carved into the ground.
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And guards.
Many guards.
Vampire women armed with swords, spears, and dark bows. Some patrolled in pairs. Others were stationed in the towers.
Several watched the cave entrance directly — a massive opening in the mountain, surrounded by black stone and red lines that looked like veins glowing beneath the rock.
Matt stopped in the air, at a considerable distance.
His wings moved slowly to keep him suspended.
There was no way in by fighting.
Not in his current state.
Not without Eleonora.
Not while hungry.
Matt studied the patrols.
The routes.
The distances.
The blind spots.
His mind started calculating out of habit.
He could descend from the west side.
Maybe use the shadow of a tower.
Perhaps they wouldn't spot him until he was near the barrier.
No.
There were too many.
One would detect him.
Another would sound the alarm.
Then they'd surround him.
And even if he could push through, that would draw the attention of half the castle.
Matt clenched his jaw.
'I can't fight them.'
Not head-on.
But he had another option.
One he didn't want to use.
Matt slowly raised a hand and looked at his fingers.
Royal blood.
That was the problem.
It was always the problem.
The queen's blood was still inside him. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
It gave him regeneration.
Magic.
Wings.
Authority.
And also an ability Matt hated even more than most.
Control.
Not over just anyone.
Not over ordinary humans.
Not over vampires outside the bloodline.
But over vampires who had temporarily received the queen's blood.
Matt swallowed.
The queen had shown it to him once, in the second year of living with her, when Matt still didn't understand many things about vampire royalty, and the queen, with her insufferable patience, decided to give a demonstration.
She had summoned a maid. A young woman, dark-haired and calm-faced.
Matt remembered that the queen had even asked her permission.
That was the part that stuck with him most.
The maid had knelt.
"It will be an honor, my queen."
Matt, at the time, had felt sick.
Not because of the maid.
But because of how normal it all sounded.
The queen pointed at her with one finger as her red eyes began to glow with greater intensity, and the maid stopped moving. As if her will had simply switched off.
Then the queen ordered her to stand.
To walk.
To sit.
To close her eyes.
And finally to forget the last few seconds of the demonstration.
The maid obeyed everything.
When the control ended, she smiled as if nothing had happened.
Matt remembered taking a step back.
The queen had looked at him then.
"It is a blood ability," she had said softly. "But it should not be used without need."
Matt had thought that was hypocritical coming from her.
Even so, it was true.
He had never seen her use it outside of that demonstration.
Not even when she easily could have used it on him during any number of his tantrums.
That was what unsettled him.
If the queen didn't use a tool like that casually, it was because there were consequences.
Matt looked at the cave entrance again.
'If I use this, she might notice…'
Matt felt a knot in his stomach.
The queen would be furious.
Very furious.
Matt stayed floating in silence, his wings moving slowly. Below, the guards patrolled without suspecting a thing.
For a moment, a doubt crossed his mind.
'Am I going too far?'
Maybe.
Maybe arguing with Eleonora and ending up flying toward one of the most dangerous places in the castle without eating or sleeping properly — and above all without an ego weapon — wasn't his best decision.
Maybe there were other options.
He could go back.
He could eat.
He could take more time to think.
He could try talking to Eleonora again.
He could ask Iris to—
Matt stopped.
No.
Not that last one.
Matt closed his eyes. Then he remembered Eleonora's words.
Soul contract.
If he completed that contract with her, it wouldn't be a simple thing.
Eleonora wasn't just any weapon.
She was an ego weapon of extremely high rank.
A complete bond with her wouldn't be like picking up a sword and calling it done.
It meant joining their souls. Being bound. Sharing more than he was willing to share.
And if he did that here, in the castle, under the queen's watch…
Matt slowly opened his eyes.
'I'll never go home.'
He knew it with a horrible clarity.
The queen wouldn't let him go.
Eleonora wouldn't either.
The contract would be another chain.
Matt took a slow breath.
'No.'
He couldn't do that.
Not if he still wanted to go back.
Not if he still wanted to see his mother.
His sister.
Clara.
Not if he still wanted to have a quiet life.
Matt looked down at the cave entrance.
"Damn it."
Then he folded his wings slightly.
And descended.
◇◆◇
The guards noticed him when he was already close.
Too close to be mistaken for a shadow.
Two vampires on a platform raised their spears.
Another, from a tower, drew back a bow.
Several more turned toward him.
"Halt!"
Matt landed in front of the main path leading to the entrance.
Thud!
The stone beneath his feet cracked slightly.
Several guards moved at once, surrounding him without getting too close.
They were disciplined.
That was annoying.
One of them, with dark red hair and black armor with silver details, stepped forward.
When she saw his face, his red eyes, his white hair, she tensed.
"Princess Matt."
Matt felt his eyebrow twitch.
He had no time to hate that.
The guard lowered her spear slightly, but not all the way.
"What are you doing here?"
Another guard looked at his wings.
Then his clothes.
Then the cave entrance.
Her expression shifted.
"Princess, this area is restricted by the queen's orders."
Matt slowly raised one hand.
The guards tensed.
"Clear the path."
The lead guard frowned.
"Princess, we cannot allow—"
Matt felt the blood move.
Not like ordinary magic.
Not like electricity.
Not like force.
It was something deeper.
More unpleasant.
A pressure that rose from his veins to the tips of his fingers.
His red eyes brightened.
The guards went still.
Matt spoke quietly.
"Clear the path."
The pressure spread.
Invisible.
Heavy.
Like an order written directly into the blood.
The guards within his range shuddered.
One opened her eyes wide, trying to resist.
Another gritted her teeth.
The lead guard took a step back.
Matt felt the pull in his head.
The control wasn't clean.
It wasn't comfortable.
It wasn't like moving pieces on a board.
It was like plunging his hands into a river full of living threads and forcing them to bend.
Matt swallowed.
"Clear the path," he repeated. "And distract the others without killing."
The affected vampires lowered their weapons. Then they turned.
One ran toward the nearby tower.
Another moved toward the farthest patrol group.
The lead guard gritted her teeth as her body obeyed against her will.
"Yes… princess."
Matt felt sick.
Not physically.
Worse.
Morally.
'This is disgusting.'
But Matt had no time to sit with that.
The guards outside his ability's range were starting to react.
"What are they doing?"
"Get back to your posts!"
"The princess is using blood authority!"
An alarm began to sound.
GONG!
GONG!
Matt clicked his tongue.
"Great."
There was no going back now.
That thought became very clear in his head.
No going back.
Matt started running.
The affected vampires intercepted the others — not by attacking them directly, but by blocking their path, pushing them, crossing weapons, generating just enough chaos.
"Get out of the way!"
"We can't!"
"She's interfering with us!"
"Alert the castle!"
Matt ran down the black stone path.
The cave entrance was getting closer.
It was enormous.
Bigger than he remembered.
Or maybe he just felt smaller now.
The opening descended into the mountain like a dark mouth surrounded by red runes.
In front of it stood a barrier.
A shimmering, translucent, red surface covering the entrance like a membrane of crystallized blood.
Matt stopped before it.
The air there was hot.
Very hot.
Like standing in front of an open furnace.
Even outside, the smell of burning metal reached his nose.
The guards' voices shouted behind him.
Footsteps.
Weapons.
Chaos.
Matt raised a hand and touched the barrier.
Hmmm!
The red surface vibrated under his fingers.
A shiver ran up his arm.
Matt closed his eyes.
"I want to take the trial."
The barrier responded.
Not with a voice.
Not exactly.
But words appeared before his eyes, formed by red lines suspended in the air.
[What difficulty level would you like to attempt?]
Matt stared at the message.
His breathing slowed.
Last time he had chosen a high level.
Not the maximum.
High.
Because the queen had recommended it.
Because he wanted a powerful weapon.
Because back then he was an idiot.
Well.
He still was.
Just a different kind.
From that attempt, Eleonora had come.
A light sword, incredibly powerful, capable of amplifying his magic.
But above all…
Capable of cutting through almost anything.
Matt felt the memory settle heavily in his chest.
Behind him, the guards who had been affected by his authority were beginning to regain control.
The ability was breaking.
"Princess Matt!"
"Step away from the barrier!"
"What are you doing?!"
Matt didn't look back.
If he looked back, he might waver.
If he wavered, he might think about Eleonora.
And if he thought too hard about Eleonora, he might admit that all of this was a terrible idea.
So he didn't look.
He just spoke.
"Maximum difficulty."
The air went still.
The red barrier blazed.
Too brightly.
The runes around the entrance lit up one by one, climbing up the black stone like veins catching fire.
The guards froze.
One of them shouted:
"No!"
Matt felt the light surround him.
Hot.
Heavy.
Like the world closing in around him.
[Confirmed.]
Matt clenched his fists.
'Great.'
Another guard shouted something.
Maybe an order.
Maybe his name.
Maybe the word princess.
Matt couldn't quite hear it — the red light covered him completely.
And then he was gone.
