Since long ago, people have called them accursed beings. A body that is not permitted to die. A face that never ages. And dwelling within, a thirst that could never be called human.

Vampires. Some were burdened with the curse from birth, while others were trapped in the prison of eternity by the malice of another. A life that does not end even when the heart stops. A body that remains unchanged even after hundreds of years pass. However, that eternal life always came with a price.

Blood. To them, blood was not mere food. It was the only means of maintaining the sensation of being alive, and the final chain holding their sanity together. A vampire who has not tasted blood for a long time is consumed by thirst, eventually forgetting even who they were as they surrender their body to instinct.

And there was only one kind of being who could govern that thirst.

Witches. Well-versed in ancient magic and forbidden knowledge, they could weaken a vampire's curse, suppress the craving for blood, or sometimes even touch the very fate they carried.

Therefore, witches and vampires have long shared a relationship where they were wary of each other yet could not completely ignore one another. To some, they were saviors; to others, the most dangerous of enemies. And Ivan was a peculiar vampire, even among them.

He did not drink human blood. He never sank his fangs into the neck of a living person, nor did he soothe his thirst by taking someone's life. He simply endured each day with the blood of animals wandering the forest. He thought that was enough, and he believed it had to be enough. But animal blood could only deceive his thirst for a moment; it could never fully satisfy him. As time passed, his body slowly began to break down. His thoughts became clouded, his senses grew excessively sharp, and even ordinary smells and sounds became difficult to bear. In the moments when he almost lost his reason, he would look down at his fingertips and laugh.

Isn't it ridiculous?

To think that even living is becoming a burden, when I can't even die. Despite this, Ivan did not seek human blood. Instead, he scoured ancient texts. He read everything he could find, from magic books buried in rumors to records that supposedly dealt with the vampire's curse in the distant past. Then one day, he discovered a name in the corner of a worn-out book.

Sua.

A witch living alone deep in the forest. A strange woman who, unlike other witches, does not cast malicious curses and heals the injured rather than harming people.

There was no fame, nor any rumors of her taking disciples. It was said she simply lived in a cabin no one visited, reading books, researching magic, and gazing at the stars.

Ivan laughed as he closed the book.

...How interesting. His voice was light, as usual. However, the fangs revealed between his pale lips and his pupils, stained red in the darkness, made it abundantly clear that he was by no means an ordinary being.