2

“ Her blood must be prime quality . “ said Daria wanting to tease her brother a little .

“ Keep your fangs away from her Daria . We have a peace treaty with the humans . Now is also not the time for troubles .  “ said Damon with a scary look on his face making Daria smile nervously as she sat down on the couch .

“ I prefer boys with sweet fragrances , thank you . “ said Daria as she went through the magazine of handsome men in her hands.

Damon sighed as he continued to look at Daphne from afar .

She went in , following Ana and Lion . Two guard and maids accompanying a man came downstairs .

“ Welcome to the Chandan castle of the ducal Nigrescent family . I am the head butler and right hand man of the duke , Arnold Frost . “ said Arnold .

All the girls were taken aback by how handsome he was , especially Ana .

“ He is soooo my type . “ said Ana .

Lion peeked at Daphne to check whether she thought the same as Ana .

“ Do you find him handsome ? “ asked Lion .

“ He is handsome but what picks my interest is the fact that he is young . Normally butlers are in their forties or fifties . “ said Daphne .

Lion smiled relieved while Ana sighed in disbelief at her .

“ The first and second floor of the castle will be at your disposal . There are also portraits of the previous ancestors at your right and the library is located at your left . Your rooms will be shown to you by the maids . Each of you will be having their own rooms . " said the butler .

“ We thank the Duke for his generosity . “ said the professor with a polite tone .

The maids showed each of them their rooms and they settled in . Ana and Lion’s rooms were right next to Daphne’s making the three friends high five in excitement . Everyone was tired because the trip was so early . All of them went to sleep the moment they entered their rooms , except for Daphne . She felt tired but she couldn’t sleep .  She continued to look at the ceiling , the shiny chandelier in her room then tuned her head towards the window .

“ The sun is about to rise in an hour or two anyway . I better go to the library since I have no intention of sleeping . “ said Daphne in her nightdress .

She was planing to come back in an hour so she didn’t find it necessary to change her attire .  When she went to the library , she remained stunned by how big it was .  The corridors were illuminated by the wall lights .

The library was still dark so she decided to taker the little lamp she found at the library drawers in the entrance . When she turned the lamp on , she saw a big portrait handing on the wall . A handsome man with pale white skin , silver white hair and deep blue eyes wearing a a jet with all sorts of golden medals , making it clear enough he was an important figure .

“ The Nigrescent family surely is a distinctive one . All direct descendants of the family have white hair and blue eyes . A gene so strong and unique that continues to live to this day . “ said Daphne looking at the portrait of the previous Duke .

While staring at the portrait , she checked the date and decided to get a book relevant to the date of the period when he lived . As she checked the books , she noticed the book she was looking for was on the third row which was too high for her .  Luckily for her she found a ladder and while holding the little lamp on her hand she climbed the ladder and got the book .

“ Who’s there ? “

The male voice in that quiet library startled Daphne making her lose her balance . She closed her eyes waiting to fall on the ground and feel pain but contrary to that she felt two cold arms holding her , one around her back and one around her thigh .

“ You should be more careful and watch your step . “ said the male voice .

He was so close to her that she could sense his breath on her skin . He had hugged her in his arms as he held her tightly . Daphne’s hands were holding his shoulders . From the strong and muscled shoulders , she could tell he was well built . Her little lamp had fallen on the floor and she couldn’t see his face clearly .

“ ….You startled me and I lost my balance . You should be careful of your surroundings . “ said Daphne .

“ Oh , I startled you ? What are you doing at the library at this hour ? “ said the male voice again .

“ I can ask you the same thing . What are you doing in the library at this early hour ? “ said the male voice .

“ I saved you from falling and getting hurt yet I don’t even get a thank you . “ said the male voice with a surprised yet slightly annoyed tone .

“ I told you that I fell because you startled me . I believe you owe me an apology first then I will thank you . Now , let me down please . “ said Daphne .

He placed her down , with the light coming from the little

“ You have quite the guts to say something like this to me . “ said the male voice with a serious cold expression .

When she looked at him better , Daphne froze . She couldn’t believe her eyes .

‘ ….It can’t be…..He…is that man in the portrait…..Did the portrait come to life ? ‘ thought Daphne feeling slightly frightened .

“ What ? “ asked Damon .

Daphne gulped wondering to herself if she really was hearing him right . If he was speaking and was really in front of her in physical shape .

“ Are you scared of me ? “ asked Damon when he saw her face .

“ Depends…….Are you a ghost ? “ asked Daphne stepping away from him .

Damon looked at her dumbfounded . He had heard all typed of names before . He has been called a demon , a devil , a monster , the evil itself but he had never heard someone call him a ghost before .

He laughed a little then looked at the portrait .

“ Maybe… “ said Damon with a smirk .

Daphne felt a cold chill down her spine that made her shiver . She could see his pale skin but couldn’t look away from his blue eyes and handsome face . Seeing the fear she had in her eyes he couldn’t help but laugh .

“ What makes you think I am a ghost ? “ asked Damon .

Daphne shook her head and tried to move away from him .

“ It doesn’t make sense at all . That painting is clearly old yet the person is the same . “ said Daphne .

“ ….Just as you said . It doesn’t make sense at all . “ said Damon approaching her .

She had a sweet scent that kept drawing him near . Daphne realised that he was approaching her and , without making sense of the situation , she ran away from the library as fast as she could .

“ Lack of sleep sure makes humans even more foolish than what they already are . “ said Damon looking at her running away with a confused expression as he grabbed the book that had fallen on the floor .

“ I came to ask you if you wanted to go out since the humans will be staying here but looks like you are already enjoying yourself . “ said Daria appearing suddenly from a purple electric aura .

“ Is this your doing ? “ asked Damon with a devilish smirk .

Daria looked at the painting , smiling .

“ I thought they would feel suspicious if they didn’t see an ancient portrait in an ancient castle like this . “ said Daria .

“ From all the portraits you had to take the one from two hundred years ago and place it right at the library where those humans will spend most of their time . “ said Damon annoyed .