Luna, with her face hidden behind the plain mask, strode along with the ladies from the Consortium following Apollyon and their guests as they proceeded towards the Royal Salon where guests of High stature were received.

Luna trailed behind them at the far back, away from Apollyon's notice.

If the Vampire King found out what she had been up to—spying and sneaking around--he would probably lock her in their bedroom for the majority of the event, and she didn't want that.

She prayed to the Goddess that Apollyon would never see her tonight in the crowd full of masked women nor feel the energy she had emitted through the Blood Bond.

Luna had been good at blocking Apollyon every time he attempted to probe her mind without permission.

She had been practising the skill recently, so she might as well relax for now.

The Vampire King had learned to respect her privacy when he couldn't access her thoughts anymore and just gave up.

It was a feat that was hard to accomplish, but she managed it through sheer willpower and constant vigilance.

Whenever Luna felt Apollyon's aura surrounding her, she abruptly shut her thoughts down.

Right now, Luna could see that the Vampire King was busy with welcoming the Kings instead of her, so that was a relief.

Luna wound around in the sea of consorts in their elaborate gowns, bypassing soldiers and servants.

The women from the Consortium had strolled as they murmured to themselves, gossiping about which King they have set their sights on.

Every King was handsome, ethereal and had their individual charms to offer, so she was confused about who really had the right to choose.

Luna had solely focused at her husband's back and which King he was conversing with, but he had walked ahead than the rest of them, quietly leading the way.

At the front door of the Salon, two armed guards greeted him.

Tall and hideously muscled, Luna couldn't believe that these large men were under Cederic's orders.

Hmm, Luna wondered why she hadn't seen Cederic and Jon around when these types of events were the sole reason for their existence--especially Cederic.

That ancient vampire who appeared like a kid loved the excitement the Acquaintance Affairs brought.

The double doors opened, and there were seven throne-like seats in a row—befitting for a Kingly Monarch--stretched out at the centre of the spacious Salon of silver, red and gold motif.

It was just a spacious room, and there was no other furniture—nothing else—not even for the concubines, consorts and escorts.

It was fucked up.

So they expect all the ladies in front of them while the Kings examine them one as they sat on their bejewelled chairs?

Good thing all the ladies wore masks tonight so they could at least hide from the King's intense scrutiny.

The Kings from the other Realms quickly occupied all the seats.

"King Apollyon." Zephyr, the King of the Shadow Realm, had abruptly spoken after he sat comfortably on his throne. "You had instructed in the letters I received last month that all of the ladies were masked, so I have expected to that we will choose our future brides and concubines through their bodies."

Choosing their pick of women through their bodies?

Luna's eyes widened at King Zephyr's words, and she knew that Apollyon was also taken aback.

The Vampire King didn't even flinch, but his composure appeared forced, somehow.

Apollyon had smiled in amusement at Zephyr, but Luna could sense his growing indecision at the back of his mind.

Luna and Apollyon had agreed that there would be no orgies, sex fest or nudity of any kind during the Acquaintance affairs.

Apollyon might have agreed with her plans as a sign of respect for his wife, but right now, Luna didn't think so.

"Hmm." The Vampire King hummed as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. He placed both hands on his hips in a commanding manner and spoke aloud, addressing every single one of the King.

"All of you know that I was already cured of the curse of the Blood Beast so it would make sense that I am an already changed man." Apollyon grinned at the other Kings as if he was humouring them.

"Now that I had a blood mate--my Empress--I could share an immortal life with; I already hold a different light in regards to viewing women. I am already giving away the Harem collection I had established for a very long time—the Consortium—, and I would make sure to respect these women just how I respected my wife."

Luna's heart beat faster from the happiness and exhilaration rushing through her veins when she heard about Apollyon's sweet words.

It was nice to hear that personally from him, especially in front of these people if she disregarded the fact that Luna had broken Apollyon's order not to leave their bedroom chamber during the Acquaintance affairs.

The Vampire King had trusted her and look at what she had done tonight.

Luna was breaking his trust despite his heart-warming words and praise for his Empress.

Apollyon had listened to her demands like a good husband, and Luna had commended him for that.

"Consent was essential for my wife, who have fought for these ladies' rights to gain their freedom." Apollyon continued as he pointed to the women with an open palm, addressing their existence behind him as they stood, waiting for the King's directives.

The Prince from the Faerie Realm, Aspen, interrupted the Vampire King.

He gave him a calculating smile before diverting his attention to the ladies.

"I would like to ask for their consent then. I don't want to disrespect the Empress."

The Faerie Prince said slowly; his husky voice abruptly turned wrong and hollow in her ears.

Luna couldn't miss the subtle change in it that it made the thin hairs of her skin rise in goosebumps.

Her inner ear canals blocked out by itself as if protecting her instinctively from the danger of the Faerie Prince's voice glamour.

"Ladies. Do I have your consent that you would undress in front of us so we could pick and choose amongst you?" The Faerie Prince Aspen called out in a whimsical sing-song voice which was wrapped with too much hypnotic frequency Luna found it hard to fight.

Luna clenched and unclenched her fists as she shook her head, no.

Luna wanted to say 'no', but she was compelled to say 'yes'.

The Consortium was already stripping every piece of their clothing provocatively before they even agreed to Faerie Prince Aspen's requests.

They murmured soft, sweet, seductive ', Yes, I will do whatever you told me to, my King'.

His voice obviously controlled the women.

Luna also had the urge to submit to the power of the Faerie Prince's will now that she had lost her imperviousness from this type of magic because Hecate had already taken her power back.

Luna was doomed.

Apollyon would kill her if he found out.

There was an increasing pressure inside her ears, and Luna could feel the cold blood trickling out of her earlobes.

All the ladies in the Consortium obeyed without question except her.

If she resisted more than a minute, she would be the only girl who would faint on the spot or worse die—or she would prepare herself for the worst-case scenario.

Luna would experience risking Apollyon's wrath if he found out she was standing behind the consorts at the back.

She had uttered a forced 'yes' because she had no choice.

Luna had started to strip her clothing along with the concubines, consorts and escorts.

Maybe, Apollyon wouldn't even notice it was her when she hid behind the escorts and consorts' dainty forms, far from the prying eyes of the Kings from the other Realms.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to calm her racing mind and heart.

It wouldn't do her any good to panic.

Apollyon had already fucked a lot of women in his lifetime, so maybe her husband wouldn't recognize it was her just by her naked form.

She wore a mask and maybe, Luna could refuse to take off the hood of her cloak as long as she had obeyed Aspen's commands to undress.

His demand had a loophole.

'Undressing' didn't mean she could remove her entire clothing until she was bare.

Luna will try to test that theory after she untied the laces of her corset, her skirts and the sleeves of her dress, leaving her body naked as the day she was born except for the cloak she had on.

It had worked for the meantime.

Luna was happy that she was able to keep the cloak to cover who she was.

Unfortunately, there was a catch.

She was able to conceal that she was the Vampire Realm's Empress, but in exchange, Luna had stuck out like a sore thumb in a sea of naked female bodies.

The six Kings were leering at the women's bodies instead because their face was hidden while the majority of the women who were interested in marrying one of the Kings were sizing men up.

There was more skin displayed here than usually found even in their bed-chamber.

"Please stand on the platform, ladies, for our perusal." King Panterra from the Feline Kingdom purred.

The snow panther was over six feet tall and built like a fighting machine, made of pure lean muscle and tensile strength.

His messy, silver hair made him look wilder.

Luna had already lost and if she sneaked out and got out of the room...

Ah.

What a bad night to lose her High Priestess' powers.