The Duke's Passion

In the garden outside the banquet hall, Yulis wiped his mouth with a cloth. He cleared his throat before gazing at the handkerchief, seeing blood on it that made him clench his teeth. 

'She will really hate me,' he thought, thinking about Silvia and his little secret from her. 'I shouldn't have given in to her.'

His eyes softened with bitterness, feeling sorry for having these thoughts right now. Deep down, he didn't regret being selfish now despite knowing his circumstance. That night, when Silvia kissed him, his mind automatically erased the reasons he shouldn't be with her. 

Obviously, Yulis knew Silvia's feelings long ago. He simply pretended not to notice and acted like usual because he knew he would hurt her, eventually. But when she confessed and saw the look in her eyes, his defenses broke as if they were glass. And when they kissed... it felt right. 

Yulis crumpled the handkerchief while clenching his teeth. "You always come when people want to be alone, Fabian."

Fabian stopped two meters away from behind him. The side of his lips curled up into a polite smile, looking around only to see no one but Yulis. 

"Your Grace, I am simply taking a walk to make sure no suspicious individual is lurking in the dark," he explained, but Yulis knew that wasn't all. Fabian purposely let his presence known to him just to... tease him. 

"Drop the pretense, Fabian. Just say what you want to say." Yulis sighed, turning around to face the diabolical butler. 

Fabian pressed his lips together, glancing at the handkerchief in Yulis's hand and caught the blood on it. He slowly raised his gaze back at him, smiling, closed-lipped.

"Your Grace, I just want to say I tried helping you by telling her ladyship you to love Her Majesty. Why did you sabotage yourself?" he cocked his head to the side with a misplaced cluelessness in his eyes. "I always admired your determination and devotion, but this thing called love somehow made you stupid, Your Grace."

"So, you came here because you felt cheated? That your uncalled help went to waste?"

"I came here because I was taking a night walk and I care about you, Your Grace. You are an important piece in this empire and Her Majesty's brother."

Yulis let out a dry chuckle, sizing him up before shaking his head. "If I don't know what kind of person you are, I will surely consider you are trying to upset me for your brother's stead. But I bet you are also having fun seeing Rufus secretly agonize about this."

"That's right. I am having fun in seeing all of you agonize even though I am not trying."

"Fabian, is this because you feel wronged at how my nephew sees you as a pushover?" Yulis inquired. Fabian's silence was enough for him to understand Fabian's petty reasoning. Since Fabian was suffering, he wanted everyone to join the 'fun.' Yulis wasn't even surprised by this anymore because Fabian was always like this. 

Fabian took a deep breath as he sauntered towards Yulis. He stood beside him, gazing at the garden without a change of reaction. 

"Her Majesty will be saddened if she hears that you are dying, Your Grace," he said in a solemn voice, not casting Yulis a glance. "Even His Majesty is starting to take notice. I'm sure he is just waiting for you to confess your circumstance. If I were you, you should come clean to His and Her Majesty and tell the marchioness that you do not have a long life to live."

Yul gaze down and smiled bitterly. "That is easier said than done, Fabian. I still hadn't come to terms with my death yet. And I don't want to see them looking at me with sadness, nor I can bear to see them all trying to find a solution to keep me alive. I can't."

"Is that so?" Fabian rocked his head lightly while casting him a look. There wasn't pity in his eyes, nor there was happiness. If anything, Fabian only thought of this situation as... complicated. 

"People, be it humans or vampires, are all complicated beings,' he remarked, gazing up at the dark, starless sky. "I am starting to think I am the only normal in this world for not being too complicated."

Yulis let out a chuckle, pivoting his heel as he also faced the same direction as Fabian was facing. "Maybe you are, Fabian. I don't even know what normal is, but what I know is I wished I was as simple as you."

Fabian raised his brows and glanced at Yulis, simpering. People might assume Fabian was complicated. But, among all of them, he was the simplest person. His mindset was always straight. This was probably because he doesn't have those complicated emotions within him.

Love? He had a different meaning to that. Hate? Fabian never dwelled on hating someone. He disliked the feeling of hatred, so he would always dispose of the source. To him, anything that disrupted his nirvana deserved his undivided attention, and act accordingly. And then, goes back to his usual life.

Life and death, Fabian saw them the same. If he lived, he lived. If he died, then that's that.

Easy. At least for someone like Fabian.

"By the way, Fabian." Yulis broke the serenity between them as he cocked his head to him. "Why hadn't you said a word to Hell about this?"

"He didn't ask." Yulis chortled as he actually believed his answer. There was a moment of silence between them once again before he spoke.

"I'm certain you didn't approach for the sole reason of upsetting me. What is the other reason for this company?" Yulis batted his eyes lazily, setting Fabian shrugged indifferently.

"No other reason." 

"Should I assume it is to comfort me?" 

Fabian slowly averted his eyes back to Yulis. "Suit yourself, Your Grace."

"Alright, then." Yulis rocked his head, closed-lipped. "Strangely enough, I felt comforted. But I won't thank you."

"Thank you's are just another meaning for 'I won't reward you.' I'd rather hear you want my help in something else." 

"Help? What kind of help would I need from you?" Yulis remarked sarcastically, recalling he didn't need Fabian's help in anything. 

Slowly, Fabian set his eyes on him. He turned to face the duke squarely, peering at him from head to toe. 

"Once you go to the mainland, of course." Yulis' brows furrowed, as he didn't remember thinking of going to that place. No, it never even crossed him. So, where did Fabian get that assumption?

Fabian just smiled at him before looking up at the balcony above them. "Her Majesty seemed to be having fun with Marquess Cameron and Duke Noah. I always find her laughter pleasing in the ear and her cries as painful as a nail scratching a plate. She will cry a river if you die, Your Grace. And that would hurt my ears."

"Huh?" Yulis furrowed his brows even more while staring at Fabian, hearing the faint voices of the three individuals on the balcony above them. "Fabian, are you saying..."

"I'm saying I am disappointed that a genius duke such as yourself had to take a minute to understand my words." Fabian set his eyes back to Yulis and smiled until his eyes squinted. "We will go to the mainland once the world summit ends, Your Grace.. I won't let you die — not under my watch."