"Friend" was a luxury of a word.
Humans and humans, other races and their own kind, humans and other races...
No matter how many friends Annan made among other races, he couldn't pretend not to see one fact: his friends ate his fellow humans.
It was an unavoidable fact. Unless they saw things the same way, one side had to accommodate the other. Usually, it was the weaker side that yielded to the stronger.
And once one side yielded, cracks would follow.
But to those inclined toward the Chaos Alignment, it hardly mattered: humans slaughtered one another, so what difference did it make if other races killed a few?
Fortunately, Annan didn't have to tear himself in two over it. The Crimson Princess was gentler than other vampires, and that was why he was willing to stand beside her.
But he couldn't change the others. Annan didn't want to stand by and do nothing, yet if he acted on impulse, he would only jeopardize the Crimson Princess's return to the Blood Council.
Annan pressed his lips together. The Crimson Princess saw the sorrow on his face. He stayed in the lounge while she washed up and followed a servant to the gathering.
It was just as she had said. Alongside the red wine and ordinary food laid out for the banquet, many beautiful human girls knelt naked in a pool at its center. Blood flowed from their bodies and gathered into a crimson spring.
The vampires elegantly raised glasses filled with the deep-red liquid and chatted beside the pool of blood.
The Crimson Princess's arrival drew many eyes. Some watched discreetly; others made no effort to hide it.
Lena clearly wasn't comfortable around so many people. She could only put on an air of haughty composure, but the moment anyone