Chapter dedicated to: Sweetypuffgirl

Violin instrumental of Yellow Flicker Beat above sets the mood and vibe I get from Weimos.

IMPRESS.

Ella's POV~

I was not going stand and watch Natalya take everything I had dreamt of having since birth away from me, she did not deserve nor did she want.

Natalya was my cousin and at the beginning of the competition she had reassured me she had no intention for the crown or Prince Zachary, that was hard to believe now, she seemed to spend a lot of time around him...

Of course, she had to since she was a competitor but I couldn't help but feel that she was beginning to want this, want Zach, the riches and the crown.

Prince Zachary didn't show nearly as much affection to me as he did to Natalya and that worried me, it annoyed me, it made me mad and I was not going to remain smiling like everything was okay when in fact it wasn't.

I was going to plot against my cousin.

I was not only going to beat Rose and Cassandra in this competition, I was going to beat Natalya which to me meant sabotaging her.

It was the only way to take her out, it was either that or to wipe her out completely but, thing is, I still loved Natalya, I didn't want to see her dead but I did want her out of this competition.

And hopefully, by sabotaging her, she would cause her own death.

Sabotaging was far better than exposing both her and Alaric's abilities to the entirety of the kingdoms especially Asten. I wasn't that conniving, there was a line which I knew not to pass.

I had been trying to distract Natalya in order to sabotage her by telling her lies such as that Anastasia Harris was after her when she actually just wanted to catch up with her old foe, Natalya.

However, it didn't work. There was always something that got in the way... Someone.

The black witch, some lord who goes by the name Hilbert whom always seemed to be lurking around, Xander the bastard son of the King, the other girls, Natalya herself or just her irritating human servants.

Anyways...

To keep both the prince and Natalya in sight, I was going to tag along with them to Weimos' yearly slavers' auction, an event which was longer than just a day and which all the rich and wealthy masters attended.

I plastered the fakest smile on my face as I jumped in front of my cousin and everyone she was surrounded by.

Except for Zach and Xander who had moved a fair distance away to argue over something that from my perspective, looked serious.

"Guess who is joining the fun?!" I hollered, lifting and dropping my shoulders in fake excitement

.

It pissed me off that she got so much attention from every attractive or ugly man, she was forever the centre of attention because of her undying beauty.

The six castle whippers, torturers whatever, were some the most feared and hottest vampires alive yet they all seemed to have eyes for Natalya. Even her personal guard Derek, even the sexy bastard Xander and even Cathryn had some kind of girl crush on Natalya.

It was like Natalya had hypnotised everyone around her but me, Cassandra, the Queen who from observation didn't favour her as much and the prince was on and off with her and sentenced her to receive a royal punishment.

A punishment she didn't look like she had recovered from, but, I chose to ignore and not sympathise with the competition whether it was my cousin or not.

Briefly, my eyes narrowed at the arm of head torturer Chris which was comfortably hugging Natalya's shoulders. I blinked away the envious feeling building inside of me and smiled again.

Natalya looked perturbed, very unsettled with the six boys' presence and mine at the same time but I brushed away her emotions from my shoulders and back onto hers.

"Oh Ella, yay... We can spend some time together like we used to," Natalya replied unsurely, attempting to cover up her uncertainty of the idea of me tagging along with enthusiasm.

I smiled like I bought her act, only to hear the same question thrown at us by Cathryn, Derek, Chris, Xavier, Terrence, Dario, Aaron and Douglas in unison.

"You know each other?"

I turned my head back to Natalya and both of us hesitantly laughed.

"Uhm yeah, now you ask, we may or may not be related..." Natalya crossed her arms and said confoundingly, with her left eyebrow arching up as she eyed everyone in order to cause more confusion than there already was.

So, when everyone still didn't seem to get the gist, I cleared the sense of bafflement.

"Both Natalya and I are related by blood, first cousins."

Leaving everyone raising their heads and humming low to high in surprise.

And that is how you drop the truth bomb, everyone.

7 hours later...

Cathryn's POV~

Angry?

No, that word was not enough to describe how I was feeling this current moment.

Infuriated was the word.

Sat opposite Derek and Natalya who had her head leaning against his muscular arm, my jaw slightly tensed.

Ever since entering the carriage we had only stopped three times, once for food and then twice for the bathroom, after each stop, however, Natalya grew paler.

Although her skin paled, that didn't mean Natalya was looking frail and sickly in fact she looked her best...

Angelic.

I had questioned Natalya continuously throughout the ride until the third time we stopped, she decided to tell me and Derek what my brother had done.

Natalya revealed to us a percentage of the cuts my evil brother was responsible for.

It worried me that Natalya had only shown us some of her cuts, and they were ridiculously evident and worryingly deep.

My brother was more wicked than he'd ever been with her. It concerned me.

At first, I thought my brother and Natalya were a perfect match but, the way Zac was treating Natalya was terrible.

He was abusing her.

Well, I thought that anyway.

He had put her through a royal punishment which was for the biggest criminals even though she definitely wasn't one and he had practically raped her although she denied that.

Natalya was afraid to say it and from what I see, she was compelled by my brother, to make her believe that she liked what he had done to her last night.

I really wanted to punch Zac in the face, annoying thing is, I didn't have any authority over him and it was best to stay on his good side as his sister.

He was soon to become King Of Asten and if I irked my brother in any way he would probably sentence my ass to death.

I won't lie... I am not a saint, God no, I am an absolute nightmare but I have never gone past a certain level of cruelty.

A human had never made it this far in the IMPRESS competition and had never lasted in the castle... Natalya changed history, and this was because, in past IMPRESS events, only two humans at max would be allowed to compete in the competition, we figured it would make the competition fairer if three humans went up against three vampires.

Natalya was strong, being a human living with countless vampires and a bloodthirsty bunch of royals, and somehow remaining alive? That was an accomplishment.

Both my brothers killed every human they interacted with whether it was their slaves or not, that was until Natalya arrived...

Xander completely flipped a switch and became a monster in disguise and Zac had just become worse, large doses of Satan shining through him.

Myself, on the other hand, I was always such a spoilt daddy's girl who got everything. Any boy I wanted, I got; any boy I hated, I killed.

Same went for the gossiping ladies if I heard any of their mouths flapping in places they weren't supposed to be then I would wave my hand, and wipe them out.

"Natalya, I'm going to give you some advice?" I started to speak for the hundredth time since leaving the castle this morning.

It was now midday nearing evening.

The advice I was going to give Natalya was from the bottom of my heart, I hated seeing someone I thought a sister, get hurt.

Over and over.

Especially by my self-conceited brother.

Derek was listening, hugging Natalya to his side as she faintly smiled at me, waiting for my advice.

"Zac, my brother... Don't let him manipulate you, instead, take control. Play hard to get, show him that you aren't a puppet on strings waiting to be played with... Put my brother in his place..." I advised her, feeling proud of myself for displaying such good sisterly skills.

Natalya lifted her head from Derek's arm as we all felt the carriage come to a bumpy stop.

Her lips had been a frown but as she digested my words, her lips tugged up into a mischievous smile... "you want me to be a maverick?"

"I think it's the best idea," Derek agreed with me and I vainly flipped my hair over my shoulder, "this is why Derek is secretly my favourite guard besides your brother, of course."

Natalya knowingly raised her brows up and then back down, "Derek, I feel like you might be the perfect guy to help me make Zac see what happens when you play with an Ascelyn..."

I pursed my lips and vindictively smirked, waiting to see if Derek was up for the mission.

"I am okay with whatever won't get me killed by Zac," Derek notified with humour and I rolled my eyes amusedly, "as much as my brother won't admit it, he would never get rid of you or Alaric, he considers you two family."

"Then I'm in," Derek rolled up his sleeves, clearing his throat big-headedly.

I laughed at his change of attitude, Derek was especially attractive when eager to do something and when I glanced at Natalya I saw a golden spark light up in her eyes as she laughed at him.

Drawing my eyebrows in, I squinted my eyes at the two and looked between them... mmmm... I wonder what the sudden spark was about...

Natalya's POV~

Mask the pain. Mask the pain. Mask the pain and follow the princess' advice.

Ashira repetitively echoed inside my mind and mentally I spoke back to her, "don't worry... I have it all under control Ashira."

Climbing out of our carriage after Cathryn and Derek who held his hand out and helped me down to the gravelly ground, I was met by a completely different scenery.

Buildings after buildings after buildings. Tall and wide ones at that, each of them spacious enough to fit at least five hundred people in at once.

Weimos was the region of architecture, there was no denying it unlike Icilia, Weimos didn't just have small bars and shelters but had carefully designed stone constructions.

It wasn't a land of much grass but there was a tree here and there.

The sky was dark and the streets were lit by fire torches.

Torches outside each of the building entrances, creating an aisle-like road which seemed to lead to a grand, busy and popular market.

Next to our carriage, four other royal carriages led by horses and drivers stopped.

I was glad I didn't bring any of my ladies to Weimos, it meant I didn't have too much responsibility on me, which meant I didn't have too many worries.

Ella, her servant and two castle guards came out one carriage... Xander, Douglas, Aaron and Terrence came out of the other carriage... Zac, Xavier, Dario and Chris exited out of the third and the fourth one carried four more castle guards.

We had seven guards in total including Derek, six torturers, a prince, a princess, a bastard, two IMPRESS competitors including myself and a single servant.

And we had the eight horses and four carriage drivers.

"The Slavers Auction is later tonight at around 11, so we have time to hit that famous hotspot we all know and love," Terrence clasped his hands, speaking loud and clearly as he bit his bottom lip, lifting his brows suggestively.

What famous hotspot?

Prince Zac nudged Terrence in agreement whilst chuckling, "you beat me to it, pal. Someone has some unfinished business with Iris Haven..." Zac glanced at Xander who rose his middle finger up in response.

What does he mean unfinished business?

Who is Iri-

Wait, Iris Haven?

I know that name, in fact, if I remember correctly Iris Haven was one of the people who had written personal letters to my mother when she still lived at the castle. (A/N: from chapter 25)

And if I rewind my memory back to the day I went through the file about my mother with Alaric, I remember one of the letters talking about a promise my mother had made to Iris.

Thing is, the letter did not clarify what promise it was my mother made with the Lady Haven.

And I was going to find out what it was.

"I love Madame Haven! We are no doubt visiting her whore house of seduction. Most of my friends live there," Cathryn gushed, grinning widely.

I'm worried and confused, what is she talking about, whore house of seduction... Where are we actually going?

"I guess we are hitting Iris' whorehouse..."

My eyes widened at the familiar word... whorehouse!?

All I know about that word was that we had a building with that name in Icilia and my parents told me to stay at least ten metres away from it at all times.

And I knew exactly why.

It was a brothel, a place where men went to pay walking prostitutes to sleep with them, a building disregarding all morals, where scandalous girls pranced about naked, throwing themselves at any man willing to spend for their personal pleasure.

I hated the idea of entering a brothel but I didn't want to ruin the mood, Derek looked happy with the idea, Cathryn was beaming about getting to see her so called friends, Xander was content, Ella didn't seem bothered where we were going she was too busy clinging onto Zac and the other boys including guards had full blown smirks on their faces.

Oh wow, I guess we were heading to a home of prostitution.

Great.

I hadn't an idea that Iris Haven would have possibly been a Madame, I thought she was a proper lady but, I jumped to conclusions way too early.

Everyone had a title in Asten, whether poor or rich, you were identified by that one title. Mine was village girl and my brother Alaric's was prince guard.

***

"If you are not comfortable with this, we can go do something else to pass tim-"

I lifted my hand up cutting him off and shook my head, "-Derek no. I don't mind, I am not going to be the one to drag you down, the other boys are excited about this, you should be too. Don't think about me, please just have fun..." I strained.

Derek had an expression of confliction, he didn't know whether to take my word for it or not. "Natalya, as your guard, I shouldn't be too far from you."

I sighed.

"You won't be Derek, we will be in the same building but, just doing completely different things. You will be you know, messing around with the other boys and getting to know girls far more inviting than I am... Just for both our sakes, although it's hypocritical for me to say this but... Let loose Derek, get drunk, lose control and don't think about me," weakly smiling, I glanced at the entrance of the brothel.

Everyone was already inside.

"That's the problem, it isn't easy to stop thinking about you," Derek admitted and my mouth slightly fell open into an O shape. Oh man, why is this happening right now?

It seems to be happening to me quite a lot lately.

With Chris, with Xander, with Xavier and even with Zac. They all had in some way confessed this attraction to me and it was hard to believe if their supposed love for me was real.

Mainly because I had this mentality that the only thing they were attracted by, was my beauty. Not my personality.

"Derek, stop..." I placed my hand on my forehead and turned away from Derek, squeezing my eyes shut frustratedly... "Okay, I will make this easy for you."

I waved my hand at Derek to follow me into the brothel.

I can't believe I was doing this.

When we entered Madame Haven's massive stone manor of a house, the atmosphere changed. From silent and eerie to busy, claustrophobic and raunchy.

It was like we had entered another dimension, a place with an interior that sure as hell did not match the outside.

The inside of this reckless household was dripping with dusty pick satin material, creme silk cushioning and black, red, pale pink and white lingerie scattered on the floor and worn by the girls.

Old, middle-aged and young woman were just shamelessly walking around without clothes on.

Breasts and lower bits were exposed by some and although I wanted to cover my eyes and bathe in a pool of holy water, I had to act mature and pretend this wasn't foreign to me.

I felt more and more misplaced as I walked further into the house, "excuse me?" I involuntarily called one of the lingerie-dressed ladies, in black lace, stockings and suspenders.

I say involuntarily because my words literally tumbled out my mouth on their own, like I was under control.

Maybe it was the Nixon? Or maybe even Ashira?

I don't know where the confidence came from but next thing I knew, I was speaking face to face with this fair-skinned, young and bubbly girl.

"How may I help you?" The girl put her hands on her hips and swayed side to side as she looked me up and down flirtatiously.

Uhmmmmm no.

"No, it's not how you can help me, it's more of how you can help my guard here, let loose..." I blindly grabbed Derek's hand behind me and pulled him forward towards the blonde-haired girl.

The girl pouted, pleased at how good looking Derek was, "for you, it would have cost but for him, it'll come free. Come here hotstuff..."

Before I could count to five, the blonde was already pulling Derek to the direction of the private rooms.

Derek momentarily turned around and sent me a wink which I responded to with a proud smile.

They don't call me problem solver for just anything.

Ok.

Maybe they don't call me that at all.

Realising that I was now officially on my own, I took this opportunity to try find the owner of this institution, Iris Haven.

But, first let me see what everyone else was up to.

I leant against a bar counter I was nearby, feeling nauseous when I felt a woman's boobs brush against my back.

I'm on the verge of screaming.

I scanned the four divided sections of the floor we were on since it seemed that this place had more than one floor, a staircase leading down to the basement and one upstairs.

In the section which seemed to be a grooming area, where there were several cushions piled on a large segment of the dark panelled floor, I spotted Xavier, Terrence and Chris.

The boys already each had girls, appearing satisfied as the tambourines and drums began to play, allowing each of them to receive lap dances from their naked girl.

My eyes diverted elsewhere as soon as I felt a growing uncomfort.

I had now shifted my eyes over to a corner which seemed to have one rule... No talk, just action.

Douglas, Aaron and Dario were there, each of them smooching any girl that they found interest in, pressing the girls against the walls of the brothel, kissing, biting and then wiping.

This is was a sight I didn't think I would ever clear from my head, god, I really hope the auction begins soon.

I focus my eyes on the most