LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Untold History

Lira gasped with horror and revulsion. Here standing in front of her, the prince of the vampires himself, confessing his crimes against her, against her mother. Hot tears streaked down her face. If it wasn't for this loathsome vampire, she wouldn't be orphaned right now! Philip and Nicholas were cut from the same cloth. Both betrayed the trust that was given to them freely. No wonder they were brothers; they share the same blood of traitors.

Philip fell on his knees and clasped Lira's hand. Lira pulled her hand away. "I loved your mother more than anything else in this world. She knew that as well. But she chose to marry your father. I was angry and hurt. Then my father told me of her schemes against my clan. And I listened to his lies! I gave the order to my Enforcers to kill your parents and the slayers. By the time I realized the truth, it was too late. I rushed towards her house, as fast as a vampire can. But I was still late. She lay on her own blood, barely breathing. I kept on apologizing and apologizing as if it could bring her back to life. Your mother stared at me, still trying to smile though she was weak. On her dying breath she was still kind and forgiving me." Philip lifted his gaze to meet Lira's eyes. Lira wanted to avert her gaze, but she saw the anguish in the prince's eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Before she died, she managed to tell me to look after you. I went to find you but you weren't there."

Prince Philip stood, walked towards the window, and gazed at the dark sky. "When my father fell into his vampiric sleep, I worked with Amara's family to continue the fight what your mother's family had started. That's why I built this school, to correct the wrong notions my father had implanted to the younger vampires, and with Amara's help, to also guide the young humans to see things in a different light. Of course, some of the lords from the noble houses objected this and some people in your government have made some restrictions with how the school should be run."

He shook his head, as if he realized that he had spoken too much. He walked towards his desk and extracted something from the drawer and handed it to Lira. Lira took what looked like a small book from his hands. "It's your mother's diary. I think it belongs to you now. I advise you to also read the books Nicholas gave you from my library. It will help you understand things."

Lira snapped her head towards Philip's direction. How did he know?

Philip gave Lira a warm smile. "I am a vampire who has a freakish obsession with books. Naturally, I know all the books in my library. I am bound to notice if any of my books would be gone missing. Nicholas tried to mask your scent. He forgot a vampire of my age cannot be easily fooled by a mere hundred-year-old vampire."

"Do you expect me to forgive you?" she whispered.

Philip shook his head. "No, I don't expect you to. I haven't even forgiven myself for what I did. We won't force you to help our cause. But allow your memories to arise and then decide if you will fulfill your role as the Dayanghirang or not."

After the meeting, Lira went back to her room after her aunt bade her goodbye. Before leaving, her aunt told her that the moment she was informed of the Diwata's rising, she quickly made her way to the Academy as part of her promise to Lira's mother to inform Amara and Philip about Lira. "But how did you get here so fast?" Lira had asked. Auntie May had given her a chuckle and said, "I am half an elf, remember. We use portals to travel." Lira was so going to ask Ian about portal travelling.

"I'll always be there for you, Lira. I may not be your blood relative but I have always loved you and I am still your auntie by heart," Auntie May had said before she left.

Lira sat on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Yumi was tucked in on her bed and was fast asleep. She tried to decipher everything that happened today. What was it that fate wanted her to do? She was just a regular seventeen-year-old girl from the Third, who aspired to attend senior year high, was accused of being a caste climber, and currently held the position of being a vampire's very own supplier of blood.