Rosangela: The Half-Blood Princess

I looked up and found a man standing in front of me. He offered a hand to me to help me up.

I froze in administration. I knew I ever said that Prince Maximilian was the most handsome man I had ever met. But on second thought, this man was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.

The man looked young. He seemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He was tall, lean, and muscular. He had fair complexion. But it’s quite weird that his skin wasn’t as pale as other vampires.

His hair was brown. His brown eyebrows were thick and bushy. He had twinkling blue eyes, sharp nose, and thin lips.

'Oh God, he is so handsome. I don’t know why I become so attracted by him this easily. Could it be love at the first sight?' I thought.

“Are you okay?” I was brought out of my reverie when the man waved his hand in front of my face.

“Oh yes, I’m fine,” I answered shyly.

“Let me help you up!” He extended his hand to me.

I took his hand and he quickly helped me to my feet.

“Thanks,” I beamed.

He nodded and gave me an engaging smile which caused a dimple appeared on each of his cheek.

I was dazzled by the warmth of his smile.

“Wait! You’re Princess Mirabelle, King Bellamy’s granddaughter, aren’t you?” He asked in astonishment.

“Yes, I am. Sorry, but who are you?” I asked back.

“My name is Ivan Wolfgang. I’m invited to attend this ball.” Ivan held out his hand to me.

I shook his hand. “Oh hi Ivan. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you too, Your Highness,” he said politely.

“Please don’t call me that! Just call me by my name, okay?” I said.

“As you wish, Mirabelle,” he said.

'My name is not Mirabelle, but Rosangela,' I wanted to shout it out, but I chose to bit my tongue. I had just met Ivan. I didn’t if I could trust him or not. Thus, I didn’t want to share my life story with him.

“By the way, what are you doing here, Mirabelle?” Ivan asked curiously.

“I should ask you the same,” I went with a grin.

“To be honest, I was bored at the party. That’s why I decided to look around the palace. You know, it’s been ages since the last time I came here, and I want to see the changes they had made here while I was gone,” he told me.

His answer took me by surprise. “So you have been here before?”

He nodded. “Yes, but it’s a long time ago.”

“Oh, I see,” I commented.

“What about you, Mirabelle? Why are you here instead of in your own party?” he inquired.

“Actually, I intended to go to the bathroom, but I ended up getting lost instead,” I answered honestly.

He chuckled. “I can’t believe it! You are lost in your own home?”

“Don’t blame me! I just arrived here a few days ago, so I don’t have time to explore the whole castle yet,” I reasoned.

'The fact is I don’t have time to explore the castle because I have to spend most of my time locked up in my bedroom,' I added in my mind.

“I see. So what do you want to do now?”

“I want to return to the ballroom before my fiancé and bodyguard freak out and tell my grandfather about it.”

“Your fiancé? You mean Prince Maximilian?”

“Yes.” I nodded my head.

“And who is the bodyguard that you meant?” he asked.

“Sigmund,” I replied.

He looked startled. “So Sigmund is your bodyguard now?”

“Yes,” I answered, Why?”

“Nothing.” Ivan shook his head and gave me a smile.

“Could you show me the way to the ballroom, Ivan? Because I completely forget it,” I asked for his help.

“Sure. Let’s go!” he said.

We started walking down the corridor. Ivan led me through many hallways and several turns. But the route we took looked unfamiliar. I didn’t remember that I passed this way when I left the ballroom.

“Ivan?” I tapped him on the shoulder.

His steps came to a halt and he turned to look at me. “Yes?”

“I think it’s not the right way to the ballroom. Don’t tell me you get lost too!” I said suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, Mirabelle! We aren’t lost,” he reassured me, “I just want to take you somewhere first before we go back to the ballroom.”

“Where are you taking me?” I asked cautiously.

“Just wait and see!” He winked at me.

I had a feeling in my guts that something was wrong. But I didn’t want to get suspicious with Ivan. He was so nice and good looking. I didn’t think someone like him would have an evil intension.

We continued walking. Apparently, Ivan took me to the back yard. To my surprise, there was a beautiful garden here. The garden was laid out with lawns, flower beds and fountains. The garden blazed with colour and it looked very wonderful.

“It’s so beautiful!” I exclaimed in admiration.

“Yes, beautiful,” Ivan murmured.

I turned my head to look at Ivan. Instead of staring at the scenery before us, he gave me an intense gaze.

“Ivan, why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, frowning.

“You bear a striking resemblance to her,” Ivan answered, didn’t take his eyes off me.

“Who?” I narrowed my eyes confusedly.

“Your mother, Claribelle,” he explained.

“Do you know my mother?” I inquired.

“Yes, we went back a long way,” he replied.

“Do you know my father too?” I blurted out.

I didn’t know why his face was suddenly drained of colour at the mention of my father.

“Um...” he hesitated, “Yes, I used to know him.”

“What is his name?” I asked.

His eyes widened. “You don’t know your own father’s name?”

I shook my head. “Unfortunately no, I don’t know. Nobody had ever told me his name.”

“Not even your grandfather?”

“No. My grandfather always talked about my mother. Never once grandpa told me about my father.”

Ivan was silent for a moment before he finally said, “Your father’s name is Donovan Grandville.”

“So my real name is Rosangela Grandville?” I mumbled.

“Pardon?” he asked because he couldn’t hear what I just said.

“Nothing.” I shook my head with a grin.

“You know, Mirabelle, your mother was very keen on gardening. She told me that she planted all of the flowers here by herself,” he told me.

“Really?” I asked.

He nodded his head.

“It seems that you know my mother well,” I commented.

“Yes, we were close back then,” he responded.

“So you’re a friend of my mother’s?” I posed another question.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Were you close to my father too?” I asked again.

“Of course,” he answered.

“You have to know, Mirabelle. Your father loves your mother and you so much. You both are everything to him.”

“I am glad to know that I meant the world to my father,” I said tearfully.

Didn’t know what else to talk about, I chose to avert my eyes from Ivan, and enjoy the magnificent scenery in front of me.

“I’m sorry, Mirabelle,” Ivan suddenly said.

Confused, I turned to look at him and asked, “For what?”

“For this.” Before I could react, Ivan produced a handkerchief from his pocket and clamped it over my mouth and nose.

The strong smell of chloroform hit my nostrils. I tried to hold my breath. But it didn’t last long, because just in a mere seconds, my lungs desperately needed for oxygen and I was forced to breathe in through the cloth.

My vision began to be blurry and my eyelids felt so heavy. I tried to struggle, but it was useless. My whole body felt so weak.

'Grandpa, help me!' was the last thing I thought before the darkness engulfed me.