The Duke's Passion

"This is why I hate playing their fucking game," Samael grumbled, cracking his fingers as he calmed down slightly. "It's never fun. I should've just piled up their bodies and made a throne out of them with Stefan's head on top of it."

Rufus, who sat on the opposite armrest, rested his jaw on his knuckles. "My lord, please don't forget your reasons you had betrayed your people." Rufus calmly spoke, stressing how he was one of those.

"Come on! I didn't betray you! I simply left out some details, and I already said I'm sorry, alright? We just know you won't like the idea!" 

"Of course. Why would I approve of such an idea that involves innocent children?" Rufus' eyes veered to the children, who were serving them some tea they had learned to make. "Of all capable adults you can scheme with, you chose five children and that child in the palace, Your Grace. How unspeakable."

"It's not like they didn't have fun, right, Dao Z?" Samael cocked his head to Dao ZD, who flinched while holding the tray.. She turned her head to him before a huge smile turned up on her adorable face, and then nodded.

"See?" Samael then shifted his gaze back to Rufus. "These children only participated in making the doll and they had fun with this friendly activity!" 

"They're useful subject —" 

"Fabian, you lived today because I plead for your life." Rufus cut him off, seeing Fabian wipe the remaining blood on the corner of his lips. "We will decide your death once this is all over. We're back to scratch once again, after all."

Silence followed, as what Rufus said was the truth. They were back to scratch, with Lilou not being in here with them. Samael closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair. His brows quirked upon sensing someone's gaze, so he opened his eyes only to see two children staring at him worriedly.

"Milord, are we in trouble?" Yasmeen asked weakly, fidgeting her little fingers anxiously.

Samael smiled, sprawling his arms towards her. The little girl shut her eyes, thinking he will slap her, but then flinched at the gentleness of his pats.

"You kids did great. It was that Fabian's fault, not yours." He pointed at Fabian with his thumb, reassuring his trusted and reliable allies no one would suspect. "Thanks. We're alive because of your help."

"But milord, we waited that night and still come to the place you told us to see an angel. No one came." This time, Dao ZD informed him as they still go to the border just in case Lilou would come. She didn't.

His eyes suddenly softened as a bitter smile resurfaced on his lips. "Of course, she won't go there. That's expected."

Rufus and Fabian stared at Samael and could instantly tell the building up rage their lord was currently suppressing. Fabian, who messed up the plan, gazed down, feeling sorry for his clumsiness. 

Fabian didn't mean to spoil the plan. It was just that, while he was chasing after Lilou, the illusion that concentrated around the palace got into him as well. In the end, he had fallen into Samael's illusion and believed it was real. Hence, instead of trying to catch up to Lilou, he headed straight to Rufus.

"So, how long had we've been sleeping and when did you two wake up?" Samael broke the stifling silence after telling the children to rest. 

"Eight months, My Lord," Rufus answered solemnly. "It's been eight months since we all died. I woke up a week ago and Fabian awoke hours before you, Your Grace."

"Eight months…" Samael ground his teeth, as that was quite a long time. It wouldn't worry him if Lilou was here, as he had been in slumber for centuries in the past. However, Lilou stayed behind.

"What happened to Lilou?" he asked, preparing himself to rush back to the capital once he heard anything wrong. "You've been awake for a week, Rufus. Don't leave any information behind. What happened to Lilou?"

Samael raised his head and set his pair of fiery eyes on him. Rufus stared at him for a moment, before a shallow breath slipped past his lips.

"You don't have to worry about the Duchess, Your Grace. For reasons unknown, they branded us as heroes who died honorably fulfilling our duties. From what I had heard, the royal family even held a funeral for you, and the Duchess returned to Grimsbanne." Rufus summarized everything from what he had heard as he investigated the second he awoke. 

"They did?" Samael's eyes narrowed suspiciously, as he didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Her Grace must've struck a deal with the current king. Whatever it was, I don't know, but for the king to do all this, it must be something worthy for a trade." Rufus' tone grew solemn as he studied Samael's expression.

"Also, I went to Grimsbanne," Rufus continued after a moment of silence, catching Samael's attention. "I thought that meeting Her Grace would be the best course of action."

Samael studied Rufus and could tell the latter's plans didn't happen. "Why didn't you do it?"

"It's not that I didn't want to, Your Grace. I just can't." Rufus' answer made Samael and Fabian furrowed their brows, so he continued, "Apparently, Grimsbanne became a fortress; one could enter but can't leave freely. Just looking at it from a distance, I knew meeting Her Grace in secret will be impossible — even approaching her will be impossible."

Since silence followed Rufus' voice, he used this time to speak more of his opinion. He was the only one who was informed, and these two needed to know how the tide had turned.

"Also, I thought that meeting her can spoil whatever plans you had and what pushed you to make such a decision as to deceive everyone." Rufus' eyes darkened, staring at Samael. "Your Grace, I think it's the time that you fill me in with your actual plans."

Again, silence ensued as both Rufus and Samael stared at each other. The atmosphere between them thickened as Rufus' lips parted.

"Who is the rat you're trying to catch?" asked Rufus, as he knew Samael more than anyone. His Lord wouldn't resort to such a meticulous scheme if things would get resolved in Samael's usual ways.

Samael glanced at Fabian and then back at Rufus. "Alphonse... and those bastards from the mainland."