Irina ran out of the luxurious villa without caring where she would go. Still in her bare feet, the young girl slammed her feet painfully on the grassy terrain, bringing forth numerous cuts and bruises from allowing her delicate flesh to make contact with the rough ground. There might have been blood flowing down her calves, but the girl didn’t care.

She didn’t know how long she ran, nor did she care.

Irina hated her current life.

Everything around her had changed so rapidly. Ever since she awakened her Vampire Aspect, Irina had been thrust into a life she didn’t want to live.

Ironically enough, her life of isolation was much better than her current one. Not a day goes by when ambitious adults would either attempt to flatter and sway her to their side or even… outright eliminate her.

Family members she didn’t even hear about a year ago would show up at her doorstep, issuing threats or even sending assassins. Fortunately enough, Matriarch Innocence had placed enough guards to protect the young girl should anything happen, but that didn’t stop the mental trauma that Irina was placed under.

Contrary to what she portrayed, Irina was much more mature for her age. No, she was forced to mature at this young age. She could tell who the wolves were and who the angels were. And alas, there weren’t any angels in the Vampire den.

Even the Matriarch, who had given her an outward display of protection, only wanted Irina because of her Vampire Aspect. Irina wouldn’t even fly under the Matriarch’s radar if not for the Winter Sovereign Aspect.

Irina was all alone, and she knew that very well.

None of her immediate family members cared for her. Even her blood-related older brother never once came to visit her before. In fact, Irina only found out she had a brother after she awakened the Winter Sovereign Aspect.

Irina’s parents went into hibernation the minute she was born. Her brother didn’t care for her well-being at all, only caring about the benefits he could reap from her. Matriarch Innocence only cared about securing the future line of the family, and she didn’t give any form of familial affection to the young eight-year-old. And finally, the rest of her extended family was all out to either exploit or murder her.

And now… She was forced to attend this stupid retreat she wanted nothing to do with.

It was all too much for Irina to bear.

If only she had been born into a normal family. If only she had loving parents that would care for and nurse her. If only… She had an older brother that loved her.

“It’s all because of you!!!”

Lost in her anguish, Irina raised her left hand up and gathered magic power into her arm. Particles flowed through her veins and onto the back of her palm, creating the highly-recognisable emblem that every Everwinter was familiar with.

“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this position!”

Finding a nearby rock, Irina grasped it so hard that her fingers started to tear and bleed. Her knuckles began to shake as her face, which was full of tears, broke down into a helpless sob. Irina wanted to rid herself from this destiny she was given. She wished to break free from the Everwinter House’s god-forsaken fate. And most importantly…

Irina wanted to be loved like an average child.

Just when the rock in her hand was about to clash violently with her flesh, a strong hand came down from the heavens and grabbed her wrist.

“W-What?!”

Turning with a mixture of confusion and fear, Irina was about to yelp out in complete fright. Since she was too emotional and focused on her Vampire Aspect, she didn’t even notice someone approaching her.

Could it be an assassin sent by her family? If that’s the case, she didn’t have any protection right now, given that she had just ran away from the safety of the villa. The girl was utterly helpless if the assassin wished to kill Irina right now.

With the fear for her life clearly reflected in her eyes, she turned around to identify her assailant.

But to Irina’s complete surprise, it wasn’t one of the Everwinter assassins. Heck, the person holding her hand wasn’t even a Vampire!

It was just… a regular human boy.

“Hey, are you okay?” The boy released Irina’s hand and gently patted her forearms. “You should be careful with that stone. Look at how pretty your hands are! You shouldn’t ruin them!”

“…”

Still cautious that someone had sent this boy to kill her, Irina kept silent. She intricately observed the young boy, trying her best to whip out clues about his true identity. With a full head of pure-black hair, the boy could be part of the Blackburn House. Though, his mesmerising blue eyes indicated otherwise.

A thick whiff of sweat purged through Irina’s nostrils, indicating that the boy had just been training. He possessed well-toned muscles for his age, though not to the extent of any bodybuilder. His face was free of any blemishes, and his well-crafted features made him look like an entity straight out of a fiction .

The boy was handsome, no doubt about that. So much so that Irina had dropped her guard somewhat, and unconsciously, her mouth moved:

“What do you want?”

“Hmmm? Nothing, actually.” The boy let out a radiant smile that could power up a few solar panels. “I was training my martial arts, and you came into my yard. And… You were crying. I can’t just leave a crying girl alone, now can I?”

“H-Huh?!”

Irina instantly shrieked and was finally made aware of her surroundings. She looked far into the distance and saw a rather large country home. It wasn’t nearly as massive as the Everwinter Estate, but it was quickly the size of four or five basketball courts grouped together.

The house seemed modest on the outside, yet one could tell that it was a luxurious holiday estate.

Evidently, the place she ended up in wasn’t some random part of the villa but someone else’s private property! And it was a human’s property no less!

“I-I’m sorry! I need to go back!”

“No need to be anxious.” The boy chuckled at Irina’s sudden change of tone and looked down at her tiny, little hands. Grabbing them with both of his, the boy continued: “If you’re worried about my parents, they’re gone for a mission. And even if they were here, they wouldn’t scold you for trespassing.”

“N-No, that’s not it. I…”

“Haha, besides. I can’t let a cute girl go back into the forest all on her own. Why don’t you come in, and I’ll lend you my phone so that you can call your parents?”

“C-Cute? D-Do you mean me?”

The boy placed his pinky in his ear, not knowing how to react to the white-haired girl’s question.

“Of course? Why do you say that? You are one of the cutest girls I’ve seen in my life, you know?” ????????n????ℯ????????. ????om

“I-I am?!”

Irina’s body jerked violently as she watched those crystalline blue eyes sparkle with sincerity. Over the years, she had gotten a sense of when she was being lied to. Whether it was her brother coming to curry her favour or adults trying to manipulate and use her, Irina could vaguely tell when she was being lied to.

And as she peered into the young boy’s eyes…

There was nothing but plain honesty.

And that made Irina flustered. Every girl wished to be called pretty, and Irina often got that from the adults who wished to manipulate her. Yet, none of them possessed the same candour as this young boy. He didn’t even flinch as he called Irina cute once again.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know that you’re cute… That’s impossible! You’re like a porcelain doll! So beautiful and fragile. Wait, you do look kind of thin… Are you eating well?”

The young boy grabbed onto Irina’s stick-like arms and gently caressed her biceps. That sudden movement could be considered sexual harassment, but as children, they had no notion of that yet. Therefore, Irina could only blush as he continued to stroke her tender arms.

“P-Please let go…”

“Ah, sorry!” Seeing her distress, the boy instantly let go of Irina and leapt back into a bow. “I tend to do that often… Whenever I see cute things or people, I lose my senses. My parents have scolded me often because of that.”

“Y-You called me c-cute again!”

“Huh? What’s wrong with that?”

The boy replied with an honest bob of his head. Seeing his clueless reaction, Irina’s shock turned into speechlessness. This kind of sincerity was something that Irina was completely unfamiliar with. He was completely wearing his thoughts and emotions on his sleeve, unlike the Everwinter House people.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why were you crying just now? Did someone hurt you?”

“T-That… Why do you care?!”

“Of course I care! I don’t understand how someone could bully such a cute girl!”

“A-Again with your cute!!!”

Irina stomped her feet angrily on the floor, sending blades of grass and dirt flying everywhere. Her earlier distress gradually faded away, and her mind started to calm. For the first time in her life, Irina realised something sad.

This was the first time someone had genuinely asked about her well-being.

Not because of her identity as an Everwinter, not because they wished to gain some benefits from the heir of Matriarch Innocence… This was the first time someone was genuinely curious about herself.

And for some reason… Irina felt compelled to answer the boy.

“I… got abandoned by my family.”

“Your family?”

“Yes,” Irina sobbed as she recounted her past experiences to the boy.

From the fact that her parents left her the moment she was born to her brother, only seeing her as a tool to be exploited. Although she left out the fact that she was a Vampire, the girl simply sobbed everything out, giving the boy a chance to properly sit and listen.

“I’m all alone… A girl with no family. So what’s the point?”

“I see…”

The boy folded his arms and started to think. He focused his eyes on the weak and feeble girl, who seemed powerless to stand up to a single fly. This cute girl was abandoned by her family? If that’s the case…

“Then I’ll be your family!” The boy declared with the most dazzling smile that Irina had ever seen in your life. “If you don’t have a family, then I’ll be your big brother!”

“B-Brother?! What do you mean?! You don’t even know me; we’ve just met!”

“Even so…”

The boy brought his hand onto Irina’s cheek and tenderly cusped her lower jaw. Looking straight into her eyes, the boy’s face showed no signs of falsehood or deceit. All that it was was one boy looking at a young girl with a beaming smile that could light up the darkest nights.

“I can’t let a cute girl like you continue crying, now can I?”

“!!!”

The boy’s smooth voice broke down the last barriers of Irina’s wariness. Like floodgates being torn apart by a tsunami, the shackles on Irina’s heart fell apart, completely defenceless against the boy’s sincerity.

“You… What’s your name?”

“Ah, silly me! How could I forget to introduce myself?!”

The boy slapped his forehead, bemoaning that he’d forgotten such an important detail. Grabbing onto the young girl’s hand, the boy tidied up her dishevelled hair and said in a loud and proud voice:

“My name is Jin Valter! The man who will be the strongest Hunter in the world!”