Due to the plague, the common people were living in abject misery.
No one knew where the rumor had originated, but it said that because the royal family was heartless and had wantonly killed the innocent, they had incurred the wrath of a powerful witch, which had led to the spread of the plague.
The people demanded that the royal family commit suicide to atone for their sins and shouted protests.
Since the royal family refused to do as they asked, they launched an uprising and overthrew the royal rule.
Now that the royal family had fallen, the assembled crowd had invaded the palace.
It was then that Count Charlie realized he had been in a deep slumber for a full six months.
None of his siblings had survived, and his parents' bodies were beyond recognition.
Those who had once been loyal to the royal family were either dead or injured.
In Count Charlie's memory, the days of frolicking in the garden, having endless wealth, luxurious clothing, and the adoration of countless people seemed like just yesterday.
But in the blink of an eye, his home was gone, his country was gone, and his relatives, friends, and lovers were all gone.
He became a homeless and helpless stray dog.
But that wasn't the worst part. The worst was that Count Charlie found that his body had changed greatly.
He began to hate sunlight and preferred to come out at night. He had no appetite for food but was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood and craved it.
He managed to escape from the palace and wandered alone. His once - magnificent clothing was now in tatters. Despite walking day and night without eating or drinking, he didn't feel like his life was coming to an end.
He just felt weak and uncomfortable.
During that period, his mind was always hazy, and he couldn't remember things.
Sometimes he was lucid, knowing what he was doing, aware that his home was gone, and even thinking about revenge.
But most of the time, he was in a state of extreme confusion.
Another six months passed, and in a moment of clarity, Count Charlie transformed into a bat and flew into the sky.
Only then did he feel the most obvious change in his body.
It turned out that during those hazy days, it was because he had become a bat. He returned to his human form when he was lucid.
Count Charlie was extremely terrified and didn't understand why he had become like this.
But the starting point of all this was the snow - covered mountain.
Count Charlie decided to return to the snow - covered mountain again to find the woman who had whispered in his ear.
This time, it didn't take much effort to find her.
But when he found her, she was already dead.
There was a letter beside the woman. He was extremely familiar with the handwriting.
It was the same as the handwriting on the mysterious letter that had appeared on his bedside that day.
The two letters must have been written by the same person.
This letter was also addressed to him. The dead witch was certain that he would come back again.
The letter told him the whole story.
The ugly man who had died because of him was the witch's father.
Since his daughter was born with special abilities, the man didn't dare to live with her among people.
The father and daughter had always lived in this desolate place.
Occasionally, they would enter the snow - covered mountain to sell the prey they had hunted to exchange for daily necessities.
They didn't need many daily necessities, and the man would only go down the mountain once every six months. Unfortunately, he had met Count Charlie.
After the man's death, the witch had been waiting at home for her father's return. But since there was no news for a long time, she finally couldn't bear it and went down the mountain to inquire.
That was when she learned that her father was already dead.
After finding out the cause of her father's death, which was just a single word from Count Charlie, the witch was filled with hatred.
The witch thought that simply killing Count Charlie was not satisfying enough. So she decided to overthrow the entire dynasty, making Count Charlie lose his beloved ones and everything he had, just like she had, and making him live alone in solitude.
The witch paid the price of her life to spread the plague and curse Count Charlie.
She turned him into a monster from the legend of Eileen: a vampire.
Finally, Count Charlie learned the whole truth about why he had become like this. He was both annoyed and regretful.
But what could he do since the deed was done?
The witch had paid with her life, and he didn't even know where to seek revenge.
The outside world had changed beyond recognition. Count Charlie became depressed and could only wander aimlessly in the world.
At first, he didn't want to suck human blood or be a monster. He tried to commit suicide, but his body was immortal. No matter what method he used, he couldn't find relief.
As time went by, his craving for blood grew stronger. Finally, one day, he sucked human blood, taking the first step towards becoming a complete vampire.
Although no one died, Count Charlie still couldn't accept the fact that he was no longer human.
For a long time, he alternated between loathing himself, starving, and finally losing control and sucking blood, repeating this cycle.
He tortured himself for a full century until he met a woman.
A woman of noble birth but with a heart of a snake and a scorpion.
The woman was married but loved to date young men.
Count Charlie was good - looking. By chance, he wandered into the woman's backyard and was taken a fancy to.
She was the first person to give him warmth after he became a vampire. Count Charlie was inevitably immersed in the gentle embrace she created for him.
But problems soon arose.
The longer they were together, the more likely his secret of immortality would be exposed.
Finally, when it was no longer possible to hide it, Count Charlie had to harden his heart and leave.
After he left, the woman went crazy. She captured innocent young girls everywhere and took blood - baths.
She said she was pursuing immortality and eternal youth.
Count Charlie knew that the woman was doing all this because of him.
He had been with the woman for more than a decade, and his appearance hadn't changed at all. He had also accidentally revealed his blood - sucking habit.
The woman cared extremely about her appearance. Perhaps she thought that Count Charlie's unchanged appearance over the decades was because he had sucked human blood, so she imitated him.
Count Charlie tried to persuade the woman.
The deaths of those young girls reminded him of the beginning of his tragic life.
But when he went back, the woman cried and insisted that he help her achieve eternal youth and wouldn't listen to anything else.
Count Charlie was at his wit's end and had no choice but to flee.
That woman had a famous name in later generations: Bloody Mary.
It was also from then on that Count Charlie finally realized that he could never live a normal life like a normal person.
He accepted his identity as a vampire and the fact that he was no longer human.