The next morning, I received news of Joseph’s next move against me.

I was to be placed under house arrest for a month, with guards watching my every move. And I was to hand over all my ally contacts and their corresponding signets to Julia.

I walked to Julia’s new room. The door was ajar, and I could hear her giggling inside.

I pushed it open to find the room completely transformed. My tasteful oil paintings and lace had been replaced with vulgar velvet and gaudy gold trinkets.

Julia herself was half-dressed, straddling Joseph’s lap. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, their faces intimately close.

It seemed I had interrupted something.

The moment he saw me, Joseph froze.

He reflexively pushed Julia off him and hastily straightened his disheveled shirt.

A flash of panic crossed his face as he took a step forward. "Elizabeth, we were just—"

"I'm here to hand over the signets," I cut him off, my voice cold.

No hysterical tears, no humiliating questions. I was as calm as if I were looking at two strangers.

Joseph stopped in his tracks. He studied my face, as if searching for any sign that I cared.

There was none.

His expression darkened. He spun around, grabbed Julia by the waist, and right there, in front of me, crushed his lips against hers.

Julia let out a theatrical moan, shooting me a triumphant, provocative glance as she clung to his neck.

I stood there, silently watching their pathetic performance.

"Finished?" I asked, dropping the heavy file of ally dossiers onto the table with a loud thud. "Here are all the signets. Sign for them."

Julia pushed Joseph away, smugly adjusting her clothes.

"I need to know the specific preferences of Prince Archon of the High Council," she said in a commanding tone. "The Earl is about to sign a treaty with him. This is crucial for the future of the Nightwood Clan. There can be no mistakes."

"Prince Archon is eccentric, but there is one thing he can't refuse," I said, looking her straight in the eye. "He has an extreme preference for a rare blood found only in the arctic tundra. Conveniently, I have three vials left in my private vault."

Julia's eyes lit up.

"Then give me the key to your vault now!" she demanded, holding out her hand.

Her demand was exactly what I wanted. I handed over the key without hesitation.

A faint smile played on my lips. "Take it. I hope it helps you win the Prince's favor."

Julia clutched the key as if it were a ticket into the highest echelons of vampire society.

She had no idea the key was worthless.

Prince Archon was my great-grand-uncle.

Without my permission, that key was just a useless piece of metal.

The handover complete, I turned and left.

Fifteen minutes later, I dissolved into a black mist and reappeared silently at the underground entrance to my private vault.

"Your Highness," the guard captain, Robert, materialized from the shadows and knelt on one knee.

"Full alert, effective immediately," I commanded, my voice like ice. "No one is to enter this vault using my key or my name. If Julia, Joseph, or any of their people try to force their way in, activate the kill-wards. Leave no survivors."

"As you command, Your Highness," Robert replied, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.

That evening, the castle's grand hall was ablaze with light.

I stood in the dark corridor of the second floor, looking down.

Joseph and Julia, dressed in their finest, were about to leave.

Joseph wore a lavish velvet suit, paid for with spoils from battles I had won. Julia was draped in an extravagant white fox fur, like a common crow trying to flaunt peacock feathers.

"Oh, Elizabeth," Julia called out, looking up and spotting me. She raised her voice so every servant in the hall could hear. "We're off to a high-society gala. It’s such a shame you’re a disgrace now. You'll never set foot in a place like this again."

She clung to Joseph's arm, laughing, the pigeon's blood ruby necklace flashing under the crystal chandeliers.

I turned my gaze to Joseph.

He was calmly adjusting his cufflinks.

He never once looked up at me, giving his silent approval as his new paramour hurled cheap insults.

Finally, he spoke, his voice dismissive. "That's enough, Julia. It's time to go."

I watched them leave together. Then, I returned to my cramped guest room and retrieved a yellowed portrait from a hidden compartment.

It was a sketch he had drawn of me, blushing, a hundred years ago.

Expressionless, I tossed it into the roaring fireplace.

I watched the flames turn the portrait to ash. The fire didn't just burn the paper; it burned away the fool I used to be, the girl who gave everything for him. It was over.

For the next month, I was the perfect prisoner.

I adhered strictly to my confinement, staying in my room, never attending a clan council, and cutting off all contact with my allies.

But the world outside my door was far from peaceful.

Julia, flaunting her new role as Deputy Advisor, threw herself into the vampire social scene, desperate to build a reputation as a high-society figure.

She squandered the clan's funds on lavish blood-feasts and expensive jewelry.

But it was clear not everyone was buying her act.

Every raven she sent out was either returned unopened or shot out of the sky. Not a single ancient house would deal with a newcomer who had clawed her way up by sleeping with the Earl.

One night, my door was kicked open.

Joseph stormed in, radiating fury.

"Elizabeth! What games are you playing? Why are all our allies suddenly threatening to break their treaties? Did you contact them? Are you deliberately trying to sabotage Julia?"

I sat on the sofa, not even bothering to look up.

"My Lord Earl, you give me too much credit," I said, taking a sip of blood. "For the past month, I have been under the watchful eye of the four guards you assigned to me. I haven't even stepped out of this room. How could I possibly contact our allies?"

"You're lying!" Joseph's eyes were red with rage. "There's no other explanation for why they would suddenly betray their oaths!"

"Betray their oaths?" I finally looked up, my expression mocking. "They signed those treaties because of me. Now that you have me locked away, they have no obligation to help you. What's the matter? Without my protection, is our great Earl unable to handle something as simple as managing his own allies?"

My words struck a nerve, shattering his fragile, pathetic pride.

Joseph lunged forward, slamming his hands on the arms of the sofa, leaning over me.

"You think you're irreplaceable, don't you!" he snarled, his face inches from mine, spittle flying. "You're just jealous! You're jealous that I favor Julia, jealous that she took your place! Your petty mind is disgusting!"

I stared at the face so close to my own.

He had completely lost it, consumed by power and ambition until not a shred of reason remained.

"Think what you will," I said, leaning back to create distance. "If that's all, please leave. I'd like to rest."

"Rest? You think you get to rest here peacefully anymore?"

My calm indifference drove him over the edge.

He immediately summoned every servant and elder to the hall. In front of everyone, he made his proclamation.

"I, Earl Joseph Nightwood, hereby officially declare that Elizabeth is stripped of all titles! She is banished from the Nightwood Clan, forever!"

The hall was dead silent.

Joseph sneered at me. "You're so proud, aren't you? You think you're irreplaceable? Tomorrow, I will sign the treaty with Prince Archon himself! I will prove to everyone that I can reach the pinnacle of power without you!"

Faced with this sudden, public banishment, I didn't fight. I didn't beg.

I calmly wheeled out the suitcase I had already packed.

Under the shocked stares of every vampire present, I walked out of the castle gates without a second glance.

In the blink of an eye, I was back in my true home, my own castle—a fortress of House Valerius, ten times larger and more ancient than Nightwood's pitiful estate.

I went straight to my study, opened the vault, and retrieved a contract.

The lease agreement for the castle the Nightwood Clan currently occupied.

The expiration date was clearly written: tomorrow.

For a hundred years, I had charged him a mere three crates of common blood a month and covered all the maintenance myself. Now that he had banished me, the free ride was over.

I rang for my Lawkeeper.

"Have the Valerius Enforcement Guard arm themselves. Tomorrow, at ten o'clock sharp, they will march on the Nightwood Clan's stronghold and reclaim my castle. That is a Valerius property, and it will not be defiled by squatters." I paused, my voice dropping to a lethal calm. "If anyone dares to resist, kill them on sight. It's time they learned the price of angering House Valerius."

The reply that crackled through the stone was sharp and absolute.

"As you command, Your Highness Elizabeth."