Sincerely,
Your pet
Dear Rhapsody,
Just when I think there is nothing you can do to surprise your Master, you prove me wonderfully wrong.
When I say that I wish for more details, it is not of the murder which I speak of. I wish to know how you, my heartkeeper, are faring.
Sincerely,
A still-worried vampire
Dear Master,
I am not troubled. I did not do it.
Sincerely,
Your pet
Dear Rhapsody,
I should have known that is all you have to say about it.
Sincerely,
A Master who has forgotten your talent for brevity
Dear Master,
I once again apologize for disrupting our regular schedule for correspondence. I write to inform you that Lady Zari has succeeded in clearing my name of murder.
Sincerely,
Your pet
Dear Rhapsody,
Do inform your friend that she only has to ask for any reward she so wishes, and if it is within my power to grant, then it shall be done.
Sincerely,
Your Master
Dear Master,
It appears that Lady Zari wishes to transfer to another school, but she is worried that her Master, Lord Alexandru Gheorgiu, might not give her permission to do so. Would you be able to do something about this?
Sincerely,
A pet who believes her Master is as all-powerful as he says he is
Dear Rhapsody,
It was originally my plan to keep my identity a secret for as long as possible and reveal it only when necessary. But to continue doing so would prohibit me from fully keeping my word to your friend, and that is something I do not believe my pet shall look kindly on.
Enclosed with this letter are several documents for Lady Zari. One is from a school based here in Chalys, which is ready to welcome her as a student if she so wishes. The second is a note I have personally penned for your friend, and which you have my blessing to read. Indeed, by doing so you shall be consequently informed of the truth of my identity, which I hope you will not find undesirable in any way.
Sincerely,
Your concerned Master
To Sir Isaac
Knight of Sangre
Has my heartkeeper confided to you of any troubles lately? She has been noticeably withdrawn in our last few exchanges, more so than her usual.
Sincerely,
Lord Mihail Gheorgiu
Marquis of Sangre
To His Lordship
Marquis of Sangre
I have reached out to milady as soon as I received his lordship's letter, and it is with the deepest regrets that I must say we have an unfortunate situation.
Milady has apparently been harboring certain misassuptions about his lordship for some years. She appears to have been under the impression all this time that his lordship's physical countenance and, er, interests would be commensurate with what is normally expected from one who's had lived for centuries. To further elaborate, milord, her ladyship has assumed that your age would leave you disinterested in engaging in activities that are physical in nature. Instead, she believed that her primary responsibility as both pet and heartkeeper would be to provide his lordship with a healthy supply of high-quality blood through intravenous means.
Pray command me as you will on this matter, milord, and until then I remain your humble and loyal servant,
Sir Isaac Booth
To Sir Isaac Booth
Knight of Sangre
Correct me if I am wrong with this, Booth.
Are you saying Rhapsody believed she had been exchanging letters with a wrinkly old man all these years, and that being my heartkeeper was simply being on call for blood transfusions?
And now that she knows none of those is true, and that she has ample reason to assume my dick is still in working order, this is what has made my heartkeeper suddenly cold towards me?
Mihail
To His Lordship
Marquis of Sangre
I'm afraid that is entirely correct, milord.
Respectfully,
Sir Isaac Booth
To Sir Isaac Booth
Knight of Sangre
FUCK.
Part Two
Glossary of Terms,
Names, and Places
Academia Nu Exista (ANEX) – A self-governing school that officially does not exist; it is dedicated to aiding human students with special abilities to develop their full potential. Its administration is known to disapprove of relationships between humans and demons. Recent circumstances have also caused human-run management to severely minimize interaction with otherworlders of all kinds.
Alexandru Gheorgiu – The younger brother of Mihail Gheorgiu, the Marquis of Sangre, and acknowledged as the most skilled hunter of rogue vampires and other types of otherworlders. His heartkeeper is Zari Baltimore, a soul seer.
Asphodel – The only territory in the kingdom of Chalys that is open to non-citizens. A technology ban has been implemented in the last 200 years or so to limits its carbon footprint. This prohibits the use of the Internet and mobile phones among others as well as making any modern mode of transportation unavailable. Generally speaking, citizens of Asphodel as well as the rest of the human population are unaware that inhabitants of the other territories in the kingdom are otherworlders.
Aquarius – An island territory located at the west of the kingdom's mainland and primarily inhabited by Ceti (singular; Cetus), a race of otherworlders that holds dominion over water. This territory is nominally ruled by The Demon Duke of Aquarius, whose son is one of the Galeré.
Brimstone – The only territory in the kingdom that is under the absolute rule of a half-demon, Silviu Draghici. It is home to most otherworlders with mixed bloodlines.
Chalys – A kingdom secretly inhabited by otherworlders; only one of its territories is open to human travelers. Access to other territories, namely Aquarius, Brimstone, Ciel, Lunare, Sangre, and Sulphur, is severely restricted. Both the otherworlder and human citizens making up the kingdom live and dress according to the customs and times of the Regency period.
Charles Orpheline – A former soldier, Charles is now the Baron of Woodmere and father to three adopted daughters. All women have been saved from certain death, having been thrown away as infants because they were discovered to be ludifia.
Ciel – The only territory that is permanently closed to all other territories of the kingdom. It is inhabited by a race of earth-bound angels and is under the nominal rule of the Duke of Ciel. Angels and demons are the only living races of otherworlder that are immortal. All others, however, possess longer lifespans than humans.
Enforcers – A secret government agency of Asphodel that employs fighters to defend humans from otherworldly threats of all types. Certain missions or assignments may also require deployment of enforcers outside the kingdom.
Galeré – The collective term used to refer to the three powerful half-demon marquises that had made a blood bond to devote their lives to protecting Silviu Draghici, the Duke of Brimstone. This consists of Mihail Gheorgiu of Sangre, Adrijan Vasilache of Aquarius, and Ilie Marcovici of Lunare.
Georgina McCartney – The human future duchess and heartkeeper of Silviu Draghici, the Demon Duke of Brimstone. She is one of the fated potential heartkeepers for the Marquis of Lunare. The last verified sighting of Ms. McCartney was in one of the back roads leading out of Brimstone.
Heartkeeping – A union that enables a demon or part demon to share the soul of his or her heartkeeper, thus preventing him or her from being completely chained to the demands of Hell. There may be more than one fated heartkeeper for a demon, but it is also possible for a demon to forcibly create such unions. Little is known about heartkeeping as most of the information is guarded zealously in Sulphur, one of the ducal territories making up Chalys and inhabited mainly by land-dwelling demons.