Hell’s Consort

After the Empress Coronation Ceremony, the fairy messengers had moved towards the fields, floating in the air with their gleaming trumpets in hand.

Luna didn't understand why a man's pride for his woman's honor could be defended through a sword duel.

The Vampire King had claimed that he was doing this for her sake, but what if she didn't want anything to do with this?

Luna didn't want to include her name or play a part in this childish behavior.

Maybe, this was firmly common among Kings.

When she used to be an Amazon, the women in their tribe had to fight to the death to possess what they wanted if their rival had desired to covet the same thing.

Luna exhaled a heavy sigh as she shook her head in exasperation.

She would tolerate this playful 'show of power' between Apollyon and Panterra, but if the Feline King would go overboard and kill, she  wouldn't hesitate to jump between the sword duel even if it killed her, but she didn't tell her husband that.

Apollyon had been patient with her since he came back from the Dream Realms, so it was up to Luna to show respect to the Vampire King by hearing him out first, watch the events unfold, judge accordingly, and see if it was worth interfering.

Luna wouldn't act rash now because she had already learned from her past mistakes. 

  To see the sword tournaments clearly, the Six Kings were seated in their specific royal thrones at the battle arena on top of the hill at a higher elevation.

Luna had made a mistake of planning to create something seductively feminine and passive for her Coronation Ceremony--a mysterious masquerade for the six Kings from the other Realms to no avail.

These masculine creatures—barbaric warlords—had sought something more primal and a more savage activity other than courting concubines and courtesans.

It was hard to change the fact that the Kings were adrenaline-seeking majestic warriors at heart who enjoyed watching other brutes pummel and stab each other with swords.

Men are men, after all.

It was either sex or violence.

Every King from the other Realms had extravagantly garbed knights led by their chosen hero.

It was pretty obvious which was the selected hero to fight in the gladiator games because they had worn a fancy hood made of velvet along with the symbol of their flag at the back of their cloaks.

Aside from the hood, the gladiators only wore a simple tunic and light boots holding no weapons.

Each King had chosen their best heroes who had armed themselves to the teeth.

The chosen heroes' were only allowed to use the only sword of one kind modeled for all the gladiators.

The 'Sword of the Black Rose' will only be given when they entered the battle arena.

This rule was to test the gladiators on how fast they could pick up a unique weapon and gain its mastery in a short period of time.

The Vampire Realm was the host of the gladiator games today, so Cederic wouldn't be included in the event to avoid gaining an advantage over the other Realms because the 'Black Rose Blade' was made of the finest carbon steel by the best blacksmith in the Vampire Realm. 

As a woman who belonged to the Amazonian race, Luna was surprisingly looking forward to the sword duels of each representative from the other Kingdoms present in this gladiator games.

"At least, we chose to be merciful today as we didn't want to offend an Empress' delicate sensibilities." The Vampire King glanced at her as he caressed her arm exquisitely with his fingers.

After they had settled on their royal seats side-by-side, her gaze had skimmed the gladiator arena and the people below them: warriors, palace guards, commoners, villagers, maidens, servants, and the spectators from the other Realms.

The females from the Consortium were another story. 

Luna had noticed that every King's side had one chosen courtesan stationed near their elevated throne, which was a surprise to behold.

When she noticed Lady Catriona settled beside the Feline King Panterra, Luna was so taken aback, literally, as she had leaned backward to her elevated throne and almost fell to the ground.

She was lucky that Apollyon had gripped her hand before she fell out of balance and dropped fifty feet from her throne. 

Luna bent forward to squint at the lady beside King Panterra just to make sure that that raven hair and sparkling purple almond-shaped eyes belonged to Apollyon's former concubine.

She guessed it was true since that perfect caramel skin was too distinct for Lady Catriona's attributes. 

The Kings and their female courtesans had reigned over the tournament from their thrones atop the wooden gallery, including the Vampire King and her.

She wiggled on her cushions to adjust the petticoats of her ball gown.

Why did she have to wear a ball gown at this type of event?

Why did her maidservants make sure her skirts were full enough to layer the folds over the hoop?

The midday sun had beaten down on her tender vampire skin.

Her butt was starting to get itchy and uncomfortable and her breasts began to ache from being bound so tightly by the corset to make her flat breasts look bigger than it was.

Luna can manage this for a couple of hours, but she couldn't promise her bad mood that comes along with it.

She wasn't subscribed to suffering for the sake of fashion, but she guessed she could endure for a while.

She rested both of her hands on her throne's armchair and snorted, "I see the Feline King Panterra had chosen Catriona instead of me to make babies with, huh?" 

There was a long pause, and Luna had wondered why her husband hadn't responded.

She removed her gaze from the Feline King and Catriona when she could sense the invisible wrath coming off from Apollyon like intense waves of hellfire.

The Vampire King's husky voice was as sharp as a blade pointed to her gut. "Are you saying that you wanted to make babies with Panterra, wife?" 

Her mouth had opened in shock when the Vampire King had arched an eyebrow, giving her a savage smile that flashed fang.

Apollyon had tilted his head to settle his cold, blue gaze at her.

That one harsh look directed at her was enough to make her shiver as she had seen the violent depths of his disagreement.

  Nostrils flaring, his voice had deepened as he said, "Are you purposefully trying to make me jealous? Because I want to tell you now that I don't like it, wife." 

Luna held her breath in silence for a few minutes, giving the Vampire King some time to calm down.

She had only meant that as a joke.

Luna didn't expect her husband to be violently offended by her deprecating humor. 

"It was a joke, my beloved husband." Luna started laughing after that awkward silence, hoping to ease the rising tension between them. "Geez~"

Luna's fake high-pitched laugh had ended in an awkward note in the air. 

She kept her mouth shut because she knew what was better for her.

A whispered sigh.

Apollyon crossed his arms, and her husband was determined not to look her in the eye again.

Of course, Luna was possessive when it comes to her husband, but she didn't think that the Vampire King was much more prone to jealousy than her.

It was just a harmless joke but not really far from the truth.

Technically, the Feline King had told her that at the Acquaintance Affairs, so it wasn't really her fault for making fun of such a lighthearted matter.

Her husband came and ruined her joke with his stone-cold handsome face, sulking in his throne and staring at basically nothing.

It was Luna's turn to sigh.

Anyhow, this was better than Apollyon turning her green with jealousy that he would resort to using one of his hundred concubines.

The man had already claimed that he hadn't used any of the women while she was gone, so that was good news.

She was missing for two weeks, and Apollyon was as horny as a devil, so it was 'music to her ears' that her husband who owned a Harem was capable of proving his loyalty.

Of course, Apollyon might not know of this.

Still, Luna had also proven her loyalty by not fraternizing with the Archdemon of Gluttony even if he had tempted her to join him in his luxurious bed.

His tempting offer had later evoked disgust when she saw what Ravin had allowed his Archdemon sister to sacrifice in exchange for her soul.

Now, all she needed to figure out was how to cut their link together without any repercussions.

How shall she appease a jealous husband?

Luna hesitantly reached out her hand and smoothed the Vampire King's disheveled raven locks beneath her fingertips.

Apollyon didn't swat her hand away, but he pinned her with an icy glare that chilled her to the marrow. "Don't do that again, wife."

Thank the goddess!

Her husband had finally spoken.

"What?" Luna gave him a sincere smile and attempted another jest, "For touching your hair?"

"I hate that you could joke about this lightly. This isn't a laughing matter." Apollyon's expression slipped to reveal cooler darkness. "I don't like to be cuckolded, and it's not because of my pride as the Vampire King. My love for you had nothing to do with pride."

Luna was honestly flustered at her husband's confession.

He said he loved her, and he didn't want her to cheat on him.

How would the Vampire King react if he knew that her link with the Archdemon of Gluttony was very much alive?