Rosangela: The Half-Blood Princess

“But you’re my mate, Maxim,” I said, “Please—”

“Mate?” King Ignatius burst out laughing as if I had just said something funny.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked confusedly.

At my question, the king’s laughter died down. Lastly, he replied me with a sneer, “You know, Princess, Maximilian isn’t your mate.”

“What?!” My jaw dropped in astonishment.

‘Is this some kind of joke? Why did he say that Maximilian wasn’t my mate? Whereas, he’s the first who told me that Maximilian was my mate. I have to confirm it now,’ I thought.

“Your Majesty, you told me yourself that Maximilian was my mate, right? And my grandfather also said the same. But now, why do you say that he isn’t my mate?” I enquired of King Ignatius.

“Because he indeed isn’t your mate,” he answered icily.

I stared at Prince Maximilian in disbelief. “Is that true, Maxim?”

Evading my gaze, Prince Maximilian remained silent.

“Why won’t you answer me, Maximilian?” I asked in an exasperated voice.

Prince Maximilian hung his head in shame. “My father is right. You’re not my mate, Rosanne.”

After I heard Maximilian’s confession, my knees buckled and I fell onto the floor. I was gobsmacked to know that Prince Maximilian wasn’t my real mate. All this time, they told me lies, and I was stupid enough to believe them.

“Are you OK, Rosanne?” Prince Maximilian asked me solicitously.

“I’m fine,” I replied brusquely as I picked myself up.

“Why did you tell her, Dad?” Maximilian complained to his father.

King Ignatius talked to his son, “Even if I didn’t tell her, sooner or later, she would eventually discover the truth by herself, Maximilian. That’s why we’d better tell her everything before she finds out from someone else.”

The vampire king was right. They could try their best to conceal the fact that Maximilian wasn’t my true mate, but in the end I would definitely be able to get at the truth one way or another. And I would probably never forgive Maximilian if I heard the truth from someone else.

“But Dad—”

Prince Maximilian barely started speaking when I interrupted him, “I’m really disappointed in you, Maximilian. I trusted you, but why did you lie to me like this?”

I thought I had known the answer to my question. They deliberately told me that Maximilian was my mate in order that I was willing to marry him. So, on our wedding day, they could make me become a sacrifice. But I wanted to hear the truth from his own mouth.

Before Prince Maximilian could give me a reply, King Ignatius cut him off with a smirk, “Why don’t you ask your grandfather? Because he’s the one who ordered us to tell you lies.”

‘Of course! King Bellamy was behind all of this,’ I thought furiously.

I still found it hard to believe that Maximilian wasn’t my real mate. And now, there was another thing that bothered me. Thus, I quickly voiced my curiosity, “If Maximilian isn’t my mate, so whose mate is he?”

“He’s the mate of your mother’s. But your mother rejected him. And she preferred to marry your father, the pathetic human, rather than my son, the vampire prince.” King Ignatius’ voice was full of venom when he talked about my parents.

The fact that Maximilian’s true mate was my mother came as a shock to me. I still couldn’t believe that Maximilian was supposed to be my father. Wait! If my mother had mated with Maximilian, I would never have been born. This whole situation was very confusing and I needed an explanation right away.

“Maximilian, I want you to explain to me everything now!” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.

Prince Maximilian let out a long sigh. “Okay, I’ll explain everything to you.”

He then turned to his father and requested, “Dad, could you please leave us alone? I need to talk to Mirabelle privately.”

King Ignatius disagreed, “But Maximilian—”

“Please Dad!” he pleaded.

Without a word, King Ignatius stalked off.

After the vampire king disappeared behind the dungeon door, Maximilian drew nearer to me. So now, the only thing that separated us was the bars of ‘my’ cell.

“Like my father said, I’m not your mate, Rosanne, but your mother’s. However, Princess Claribelle didn’t want to accept me as her mate because she told me that she had fallen in love with another vampire,” Prince Maximilian explained sadly.

“Who was the vampire she fell in love with?” I inquired out of curiosity.

Maximilian’s fists clenched slowly until his knuckles were white. I could see the anger that bubbled up inside him. But he tried his best to suppress it.

“I can’t tell you who he is,” he finally answered.

His reply didn’t satisfy my curiosity, but I didn’t want to urge him to tell me who the vampire that my mother used to love was because I was afraid I would upset him even more.

“Okay. And then what happened next?” I decided to moved on from that subject.

“When King Bellamy found out that Princess Claribelle had rejected me because of that vampire, he was so furious. Then, he sent her to human world. He thought she would forget that vampire there and she would eventually be able to accept me as her mate,” Maximilian told me.

“Unexpectedly,” he continued, “she met your father in human world. They fell in love with each other and decided to get married. However, King Bellamy was against their marriage.”

“Why was my grandfather against their marriage?” I questioned.

“Because right from the start, King Bellamy had known that Donovan is a descendant of werewolves,” he replied.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Descendant of werewolves?”

“Yes. You know, only human with werewolf genes can be turned into a werewolf. Your father can become a werewolf because he’s a descendant of werewolves,” he explained.

I bobbed my head in understanding.

“If your father were ordinary human,” Maximilian carried on, “he and Princess Claribelle could still get married after King Bellamy transformed him into a vampire. But the problem is, your father has werewolf genes running in his veins. We can’t turn a human with werewolf genes into a vampire. That’s why King Bell was against their marriage.”

“Did my mother know the truth about my father?” I posed another question.

“Of course,” Maximilian responded, “King Bellamy had told Princess Claribelle about it. But she just didn’t care because she loved your father so much.”

‘So that’s why my grandfather killed my mother? He killed his own daughter just because she got married with a werewolf’s descendant?’ I thought tearfully.

At that thought, a realization suddenly dawned. “Wait! If my father is a descendant of werewolves, does it mean that I have werewolf genes inside me too?”

“Technically, yes,” Maximilian rejoined.

I gasped. “So it means that I am not a half-vampire and half-human, but a half-vampire and half-werewolf?”

He shook his head. “Oh no, you’re not a hybrid.”

“Hybrid?” I asked, didn’t understand.

“Half-vampire and half-werewolf is called a hybrid,” he explained.

“Oh I see!” I exclaimed.

“For now, you’re just half-blood vampire, Rosanne. Because you were born when your father was still a human,” Maximilian stated.

I tilted my head in confusion. “What do you mean with ‘for now’?”

“Well, since you’re one third human, one third vampire, and one third werewolf, you’re going to be a hybrid when a werewolf bites you. But it can’t be done by a random werewolf. You can only be turned into a hybrid if the one who bites you is your father or siblings, or your mate,” he elaborated.

“My mate?” I frowned.

“Yes, your real mate,” he replied with a sad smile. “If you had a werewolf mate, when he bit you, you could be turned into a hybrid.”

His answer took me by surprise. “So there is a possibility that my real mate is a werewolf?”

Maximilian nodded. “Yes, possibly. But, God forbid! You know, vampires and werewolves can never be united.”

His words baffled me. “Why? I know vampires and werewolves are different species. But if they love each other, I am sure they can work it out.”

“You don’t understand, Rosanne. Vampires can’t be mated with werewolves because they are our enemies,” Maximilian said contemptuously.

I slapped my forehead lightly. “Oh yeah I forgot. My father too has told me that vampires were their enemies. But I wonder, why do vampires consider werewolves enemies, and vice versa?”

Maximilian gave a shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know the history behind it. All I know is, since I was born, I was taught to hate werewolves.”

“Oh I understand. So my mate is probably a vampire?” I was wondering.

“Yes, I hope so. And I wish that vampire would be me,” Maximilian said hopefully.

“But you already have a mate, my mother,” I scoffed.

“I had a mate, but not anymore, because your mother is gone now. That’s why I consider you as my second chance mate, Rosanne,” he stated.

I didn’t know why I was suddenly green with envy when he said that he considered me as his second chance mate.

“So that’s what I am to you? You only want to be with me so that I can replace your dead mate? You never really love me?” I bellowed.

“It’s not what I meant. For me, you’re not only someone to replace my dead mate; you mean the world to me. I love you so much, Rosanne,” Maximilian seemed sincere when he said that, but I refused to believe him.

“No, I don’t believe you! You must be lying to me again. I know you don’t love me. You’re just using me for your own ends,” I accused.

“I’m not telling you lies, Rosanne. I do love you. You have to trust me, okay?” he tried to convince me.

An idea suddenly struck me. “If you really love me, you have to prove it by getting me out of here, Maximilian,” I challenged him.

“I’m so sorry, Rosanne, I wish I could help get you out of here, but I can’t do that,” Maximilian said regretfully.

“Then it means that you don’t love me,” I said angrily.

“That’s not true. I do love you with all my heart, Rosanne,” he insisted.

“So prove it! Get me out of this dungeon now!” I demanded.

“I’m sorry. I can’t,” he apologized.

Without saying anything else, Prince Maximilian walked away.

“Maximilian, wait!” I shouted after him, but he ignored me.

I gripped the bars of my cell, rattled it, and let out a scream of frustration.

I knew it was no use screaming, so I decided to go to the corner of the cell and took a seat on the cold floor.

“Dad, you promised me that you would come to save me. Please hurry up! I’m afraid,” I sobbed.

I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around myself. At last, I cried myself to sleep.