Evie pulled herself up to her maximum height, straightened her back and clenched her jaws. Pulling her hood over her head, Evie bravely stood before the approaching army. Her silvery hair had been drenched by the cold rain, but she could barely feel the cold at that moment. Her focus was all on the army before her and how she could achieve her aim with them.

Now that she had a close up look at the army, Evie was glad about standing firm on her decision in being the one to meet and talk to them. From what she can see now, all the ones in the frontlines were humans and it seemed as though that the vampires were all lined up behind them.

Evie gritted her teeth. Was this the emperor's plan? Was he actually planning to sacrifice the humans in this battle while he and the vampire army stayed at the back and just watch? Does he think of her father and his army as his mere pawns?

A flash of anger crossed Evie's eyes. 'I am not going to let you use my father, Lorcan.' She vowed inside her head. Her eyes blazed with a fierce fire that was not there before.

When Evie could finally see her father's figure as he rode forward on his iconic white horse, Evie felt her hands tremble. But she quickly got ahold of herself and clenched them tight before she took a deep breath and yelled as loud as she could.

"Father!"

Lucius immediately halted at the sound he had heard. His eyes scanned the horizon before him and when he saw that the woman standing alone before them was actually his very own daughter, his eyes widened. What had happened for her to be out here?!

He urged his horse, and it immediately trotted forward and halted right before Evie.

"Evie!!" he called out in surprise and then jumped off his horse before it could even stop. "My god! What are you doing here?!" he asked as Evie rushed into his embrace and hugged her father tight. She had missed him so much.

"Father…" Evie could not help but began to feel emotional. She could not believe she was hugging her father again. How long has it been? "I missed you so much." She breathed in deep, and his familiar sandalwood scent comforted her heart as her muscles which she did not realise was tensed finally relaxed.

Lucius returned his daughter's embrace lovingly. "My dear daughter. It's alright now darling. Your father is here now. Are you alright?" he pulled away to check on Evie, checking over her body with his eyes from top to bottom, as if Evie had just come out from a dangerous war zone.

Before Evie could respond, she saw a group of vampires landed next to them. Caius looked obviously surprised at the sight of her there with her father.

"Lady Evielyn, what… what are you doing out here?" the vampire prince asked curiously, and Evie could already see suspicion in his eyes as his gaze fell towards the fortress' opened gate. "Where is Gavriel?"

Evie forced fake tears to fall from her eyes as she clung on to her father, turning her head so that half her expression could not be clearly seen. "He's gone. When he heard that my father is coming, he escaped and left me behind. He must be afraid that father would come after him if he took me along with him." Evie worked hard to make her voice tremble and sound faint as she spoke, as though she were distressed even at the thought of it.

"What?!" Caius voice came out very loud, anger already flashing fiercely in his eyes as he stared at the wall. He literally exploded on site and Evie grinned wickedly in her mind. "Fuck. These f*cking Dacrians will pay for this! They will face the punishment for helping that traitor and letting him escape! Get ready men! We will destroy them all!" Caius yelled and panic immediately surged in Evie's heart.

"Wait!" Evie's sharp call made the prince halt. At that moment, the emperors had also joined them. "The truth is," Evie started, her arms clinging tight to her father, but her voice and face was serious and was looking scared. She was throwing her all into acting as best as she could. Many lives depended on it. She had to show them that she was still her usual self, that she was still scared of the vampires. "I was… I was the one who stopped the duke when they tried to stop my husband from escaping. Since… since I know that they cannot stop him anyway. I was scared that Gavriel will take me with him again against my will once a fight occurred…. So, I stopped them." She made her voice small and as frightened as she could, playing her part of the little damsel in distress.

Everyone fell silent. Evie hid her face on her father's chest to act like the scaredy cat that she once was, so she could not gauge what the vampire's reaction were on the matters that she had told them.

"The duke and the duchess had been so nice to me. They and the citizens are the reason why I am still sane right now. The children there gave me flowers when I am so homesick and being imprisoned in the castle. Father, tell them this is all Gavriel's fault. He threatened the duke when we arrived here. He held all of us hostage and made the duke order the soldiers to support him in the previous war that happened here." She mumbled as if she was telling it to her father alone. She knew that the vampires could hear her whispers loud and clear. "I don't want to see any more bloodshed father. I can't… I don't want to see any blood anymore." She cried as her body trembled.

Lucius soothed his daughter. "Alright, darling Don't worry… I don't think there is a need for a fight to break out here now since the real enemy had already escaped, right emperor Lorcan?" Lucius turned and asked the vampire emperor. Lorcan was silent for a moment. His gaze was sharp, and Evie did her best not to let any fear grow as she waited for his answer.