The Vampire Empress: Blood Queen & Her Kings

Jiang Ying Yue slowly let her eyes fluttered open when she finally felt the world around her returning to a standstill and as her gaze roamed over her surroundings, she realized that they were not only in a different place but also a different realm.

She had no idea how she guessed it but there was something about the new place where Qing Shan had brought her that gave a different vibe from the mortal realm. Whether it was the trees or flowers growing around them that seemed more lively or the ground under her feet that seemed to hold a call of elemental essence. Even the night sky that she was seeing seemed different but also similar. 

There was a white fog that was hovering over the ground but it didn't rise above one foot. Besides all these, she also found a similarity in the essence of Qing Shan's powers and the energy flowing through the air of the new realm where she currently was.

"Is this the Heaven Realm?" She asked curiously while turning to face the First Prince. She still had to find out the real identities of her three destined soulmates. Were they Immortals from the Heaven Realm? But then why did they call themselves special cases?

A small twitch appeared on Qing Shan's lips as he let out a deep breath before looking around the garden-like area where they were currently standing. 

Jiang Ying Yue watched in amazement as hundreds of fireflies suddenly appeared out of nowhere along with a soft breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees, creating a nice environment. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that the fireflies were glowing in several different colors, something that she had never seen or heard of before.

"This... isn't the Heaven Realm..." Qing Shan spoke as he watched the fireflies that seemed to be there to welcome his arrival. "This place is a hidden realm and only a few elders from the Heaven Realm and the Heaven Emperor are aware of its existence. This is the fourth realm of our world. A hidden realm." 

Jiang Ying Yue wasn't expecting to hear such a big revelation. However, if the realm's existence was supposed to be a secret then why he was telling her about it? She questioned herself but didn't ask it out loud.

But it seemed like Qing Shan knew what she was wondering because when he turned to face her, there was a knowing look in his eyes. "This realm belongs to us. Ah Shu, Wu Xie, and I've been ruling this realm for thousands of years. This realm was a wedding gift that our father created for our mother. After they left, the three of us brothers were the only ones who lived here along with our spiritual beasts."

Jiang Ying Yue was suddenly finding it very hard to digest all the information that the man was suddenly revealing. She wasn't expecting to suddenly appear in a secret realm and learn about the real identities of the Princes.

"This realm is pretty small. Just the size of a small village. There's a palace, mountains, a river, and a lake, fields of spiritual herbs, and farming lands. Mother was the Goddess of Seasons and Father was the youngest brother of the previous Heaven Emperor. They left this realm as the last gift for the three of their sons." Qing Shan told her as he kept his eyes trained on the fireflies that were still flying around.

Jiang Ying Yue remained silent for a couple of seconds as she watched the First Prince. The way he talked about his parents, it seemed like they were no longer there. What happened to them? 

Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer to her mate and stood next to him as she too watched the fireflies. "Your parents... what happened to..."

"They left." Qing Shan answered even before she had a chance to complete her question.

"Left?" She asked while turning her attention towards the Prince. She could not understand what he meant by 'they left'. They left for where? 

"Even I want to know why they suddenly decided to leave and where have they gone. We have been searching for centuries, looking for them through all three realms, but there's no sign of either of them. It's like they have disappeared from this world. Before we thought that they can't disappear all of a sudden but now looking at you who ain't from our world, there are indeed chances that they too have left this world for real. Maybe they are out there in some other world leaving together while exploring new things." 

Jiang Ying Yue could clearly see the hopelessness in his eyes. He so badly wanted to believe that his parents were really out there in some other world enjoying their lives. It was way better than believing that they had just disappeared from his world.

She stepped closer to her mate before she slipped her hands around his waist and rested her head against his chest, trying to give him some comfort through her touch and their soulbond.

"I'm sure that they are safe and happy wherever they are. Your parents sound like very powerful people, there's no doubt they know how to deal with things." She told him before she pulled her face back to look up at him, only to find him looking back at her with soft eyes that were filled with countless emotions.

Qing Shan slowly nodded his head before he pulled her face back against his chest and moving his hands to pull her closer into his arms. "Thank you." He whispered next to her ear before resting his cheek on the crown of her head.

Jiang Ying Yue could feel their soulbond filling with sparks and positive feelings as for the very first time, the two of them embraced each other with their barriers lowered. Neither of them was trying to keep anything from the other. Their emotions were real and sincere. She was there to comfort him because she wanted to comfort him and he was letting her do that because he wanted her to care for him.

A small smile made its way to her lips as she got a glimpse of his thoughts through their bond. She tightened her arms around his waist before closing her eyes to enjoy the beautiful moment. It no longer seemed impossible to start liking the moody First Prince.

The thought made her suddenly pulled away a little to look up at him as she asked, "Is Qing Shan your real name?" 

She watched as a beautiful smile appeared on his lips as he slowly nodded his head in response while one of his hands moved to rest on her nape.

"That's good then." She mumbled while thinking about what more she needed to ask him about. "You told me that you guys are special cases. How?" She asked after a few seconds, not knowing if she would receive an answer this time or not.

"We are like the other Immortals of the Heaven Realms because the three of us are the children of a God and Goddess from the Heaven Realm. But we are unlike them because we don't belong to either of the three realms. We have always stayed in this realm away from all the bustling of the other three realms." He answered her question while pulling her back close to him. She didn't even realize that she had stepped away from him at some point.

So what he meant to say was that even though he and his brothers were Immortals, they were neither the Gods of the Heaven Realm nor the abandoned Immortals from the Heaven Realm who were living in the Mortal Realm. That's why they were special cases.

"Anything else that you are still curious about?" He asked her while letting both his hands circle her tiny waist. He seemed to be in a good mood, otherwise, he wasn't one of those people with such patience to answer anyone's questions. He was more like someone who would get irritated just after a few questions.

"Yeah! There's another thing I'm curious about." She replied and watched as he raised one of his eyebrows while waiting for her to ask what she wanted to know.

"What are you guys doing in the mortal realm? Since you don't care about the other three realms, why are you caring about Empress Dowager's plan? Is it because her plan will destroy your realm too?" She asked and noticed him slowly nodding his head in response before he started shaking it in denial, making her confused about what he meant. 

"It's true that her plans will destroy our realm too and that's the last thing we want. However, that's not the reason why we are in the mortal realm." Qing Shan told her when he noticed her confused look.. It seemed like his answer only made her more curious.