They said death was peaceful.
They lied.
The last thing I remembered was cold metal, blood, and a blinding flash of light. I thought that was the end. But when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in a hospital… or even alive, really.
I was lying in a velvet-lined coffin.
"Good morning, princess," a voice purred above me.
I bolted upright—my heart hammering—and stared into a pair of crimson eyes glowing in the moonlight. A girl, impossibly beautiful, with snow-white hair that reached her waist and a black uniform clinging to her elegant figure, stood beside the open coffin. Fangs peeked from her lips as she smiled down at me.
"I was the one who woke you," she said with a tilt of her head. "Do you remember your name?"
"M-My name…?" I blinked, still dazed. "It's… Airi. Minazuki Airi."
"Airi-chan," she repeated softly, her tongue dancing over the syllables like they were candy. "That name suits you."
I didn't know where I was. Everything was dark except for the glowing stained glass and moonlight filtering through an enormous window. Rows of coffins stretched across the room like a chapel for the dead. My hands trembled.
"W-What is this place…?"
"This," the girl said, stepping back and spreading her arms wide, "is Nocturne Academy. A school for elite vampires, nobles, and bloodbound humans. You've been reborn into our world, Airi-chan."
Reborn? I looked down at myself—small hands, pale skin, soft fabric of a uniform I'd never worn before. My chest rose and fell quickly. This wasn't my body.
"W-Why me…?"
The girl stepped closer, her fingers brushing my cheek. "You were chosen. Or perhaps… cursed. You carry within you the soul of the ancient Blood Rose Maiden—a human girl who once brought the vampire clans to their knees. And now, all of us… want you."
Before I could protest, the heavy chapel doors slammed open. Three more girls stepped in—each more dazzling and terrifying than the last.
The first had fiery orange curls and wore her uniform jacket off-shoulder, a whip coiled at her hip. She sniffed the air. "I smell something sweet… Is that the new prey?"
"I saw her first," the white-haired girl snapped.
"Oh, you're always so greedy, Lady Lys," the second girl drawled—tall, with ash-blonde braids and cold, calculating eyes. "But I admit… she is adorable."
I shrank back as all eyes turned to me. My heart thudded in my chest. I didn't know who I was anymore. Why I was here. But I knew one thing: I was surrounded by dangerous girls… and every one of them was looking at me like I was dessert.
"I-I don't want to cause any trouble…" I mumbled, lowering my head. "I-I'll do whatever you say…"
Lys's eyes gleamed. "That's a dangerous thing to say in this academy, little flower."
She stepped forward and knelt beside me, her gloved fingers gently touching my throat. I shivered as her lips brushed close to my ear.
"I'll protect you, Airi-chan. But in return… you belong to me."
"No fair," the redhead said with a grin, cracking her whip in the air. "She can choose all of us, can't she?"
The tall girl smirked. "Poor thing won't last a week in this school if we don't train her properly."
I didn't understand anything—why I'd been reborn, who the Blood Rose Maiden was, or what these girls really wanted. But I knew one thing for certain.
This wasn't heaven.
This wasn't hell.
This was Nocturne Academy.
And I was its newest—most desirable—human girl.