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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Luna was taken aback.

Was this the reason why both of them were making flower crowns made of desert roses in his gazebo because Ravin would like to give them to her so that… what?

She will love him?

The Archdemon was clueless.

Luna needed to educate him, or else he might come across as a fool.

She stood up and fixed her gown, brushing invisible lint on her skirts if there even was.

Sitting back on her chair, Luna glanced up at Ravin before staring at the bright flower crown in her hand, not knowing what to do with it.

Based on the hopeful smile of the female imp beside Ravin, Luna guessed that the demon was proud of herself for teaching the Prince how to make this gorgeous wreath.

Ravin and the imp stayed in their position along with their frozen beams, waiting for her joyous praises.

Sighing, Luna started. "Rav--"

"Do you like it?" The Archdemon cut Luna off as the corner of his eyes crinkled.

Leaning back in his chair, Ravin placed his hands behind his head with masculine confidence.

When he brushed a hand through his ink-blank curls, Luna realized Ravin was similar to a peacock preening in front of its mate. "Is it beautiful?"

"Where did you get this foolish idea, Ravin?"Luna's speculations were correct. The Archdemon was fishing for compliments, and of course, Luna would never give what he wanted.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "You don't earn the love of a lady if you give her a flower crown."

"I had seen it happen before when I was in the Vampire Realm as the Vampire King." As lines marred his forehead, Ravin glanced at the flower crown to check if something was wrong with it, but he found none.

Now, he stared at Luna as if something was wrong with her.

"A lady from the Consortium had a secret affair with a shepherd from a nearby village. I didn't let such a lowly creature touch one of mine because I don't want a lady from the Consortium to be sullied on by another man's grubby hands." Ravin told her.

Luna sucked in a cool breath of air when she realized how that sounded exactly like what the Vampire King would use to say.

Sometimes, Luna forgot the fact that Ravin was the Blood Beast.

"I ordered the castle guards to hunt the missing concubine, and they told me that she was frolicking with the poor man at the grasslands. When I arrived at the site to deliver their punishment, I caught the shepherd professing his love for the woman by bestowing a flower crown in her head." Ravin continued.

"So, you based your view on love based on that scene alone?" Without holding back, Luna laughed out loud with unrestrained mirth.

Shaking her head, Luna slapped the table in hysterics, wishing it was that easy to love someone.

She burst into another fit of giggles.

Gasping for air, Luna wiped the tears coming down from her cheek.

Every Archdemon in Hell had gone insane.

Ravin cleared his throat awkwardly, "The concubine was giggling while the shepherd whispered sweet nothings in her ear, promising her the moon and the stars."

He shrugged. "After that, I killed them with my touch and ate their souls."

Luna stopped laughing and paused.

She kept her face blank. "Well, that escalated quickly."

"Anyway, I forgot to tell you something." The blackness of his dilated pupils now covered the Archdemon of Gluttony's brilliant stars on his eyes. "Did you know that the only one Archdemon I know who returned from the Grand Torturer unscathed was Sloth?"

Was this valuable information?

Perhaps, she could learn something from her 'brother-in-law'?

"Hmm~Let me guess. " Tilting her head, Luna hummed, speaking in undertones. "He did not remember anything about his torture."

The Archdemon of Sloth was obsessed with other people's memories, storing them into his books at the Library of Congress, so it would probably make sense if he could erase his own memory, right?

"Nobody knew what Sloth had done. No Archdemons would be brave enough to tell anyone what happened during their time at the Torture Chambers." Ravin stared at her with an intensity that could melt the ice before shifting them to to the crushed desert roses in his hands.

He was unconsciously destroying them again.

"We can't afford to show even the slightest weakness here," Ravin added. "Mayhap, if you had trained with Satan after a while before you got punished, you might figure out how to tolerate the punishment."

There was an awkward pause.

"What's your weakness, Ravin?" Luna asked quietly.

It was his turn to be perplexed. "What?"

"If it's not me, then you don't love me enough."

"You aren't my weakness. Of course, I don't know how to love because you refused to teach me." Ravin tapped the table in a distracting rhythm. "As much as I don't like to see you hurt, if you can survive the Torture Chambers, you might come out as a stronger Archdemon if you don't let your monsters break you." There was a rising tension in the air, and it felt like there was a growl building at the back of his throat.

For a second there, Luna thought Ravin had cared, and he was toning it down to give her courage instead of making her cower in fear.

'Yes.' Luna thought. 'It must be wishful thinking on her part.'

He demanded, "Do you understand?"

Luna nodded in agreement, and Ravin exhaled in relief.

"Rules in Hell might be stricter compared to other Realms, and He-who-must-not-be-named had placed full restrictions on us. Even Archdemons have rules to follow despite being Monarchs." Ravin elaborated."

"My father and uncle are pretty lenient about what demons and Archdemons can do in Hell when it came to chaos and destruction, but the primary decree must be followed strictly." He added.

"Hell is a loveless Realm, but our reptilian brain can recognize respect to those who are powerful. God is love, and there is no room for that in here." Ravin growled as he told her. "God is our enemy."

"You said that there is no room for love in here, Ravin," Luna asked, and this time, she was prepared for whatever his answer might be. "Why would you want me to love you when you claim it is from the enemy?"

"I want to know how it feels like, even if it's just a taste. They say love is a moving force that controls everything. People can do anything for love. Some people destroy themselves for it." The Archdemon answered the truth, not even bothering to sugar coat lies. "I just want to see it for myself how love can make someone powerful."

'"So you want to love so that you can learn how to control, and I was just the unlucky lady who was your first target." Luna said, clapping her hands in applause to an Archdemon's fuck-up reasoning.

"Wow," Luna said in mock amazement. "You were similar to what my husband used to be before he found that as his mate, I was irreplaceable. Your Archdemon traits as the Blood Beast must have bled out into his. Poor Archdemon!" Luna exclaimed. "Love can make you strong and weak at the same time. You must know by now that you couldn't control me with anything because I already love someone and that someone also loves me."

"Why does love insist that the loved loves back?"

"That's a tough question." Blinking rapidly, Luna dropped her exaggerated expression only to glance down at her skirts awkwardly as she tucked some stray hair strands behind her ear. "I don't know."

Your husband." Ravin began. "Are you sure he loves you, or was he just using his love to control you as well?"

"You were just a mere maiden when you became the High Priestess-- the epitome of innocent arousal, naïve sensuality, and precarious purity—a beauty so addictive due to your flawless, youthful glow along with the dark magic you wield. Once you had a taste of the forbidden fruit--it had made you riveted and curious--and it drew you to shadowy Kingdoms and dark royalties."

"I know the Vampire King had come in your room that night, Amare." The Archdemon's tone was harsh in her ears, echoing in her mind full of doubts. "But are you sure that's him and not someone else pretending to be him?"

The tiny hair on Luna's nape stood on its end as goosebumps broke all over her skin.

Luna fought to keep her breathing even as her hands flexed on the flower crown, so close to tearing Ravin's gift into pieces.

"Do you love him enough to recognize the difference between the real and the doppelganger?"Ravin smirked, shooting her with a quick look. "Because there is no way in Hell--"

"Do not test me, Archdemon!" Snarling, Luna's real voice split into creepy high and low registers that made it sound like an Archdemon had possessed her in her rage.

Luna forgot she was already an Archdemon.

Furious, Luna's claws were out on their own as she slashed the table between them into two with her bare hands.

The flowers and the shrubs the imp had gathered were thrown away.

Closing her eyes shut, she breathed in and out as she retracted them with effort.

There was no way the man who had sexual congress with her that night wasn't Apollyon.

She refused to acknowledge it.

Ravin was doing this to make her doubt herself and she wouldn't let him.

"Ah~" Not dropping his smirk at Luna's loss of her temper, Ravin shifted his gaze from her to something behind her back. "Speaking of the devil!"

He rose from his chair and walked around the broke. table. "My brother is here."