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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"What if there was a chance to turn them back to normal?" Terrified, Luna's voice was raw and small when she asked, "What if it was a mistake on their part because they had been pressured to join this cult, or they were blackmailed, and they had no choice?"

Exhaling a heavy sigh, Apollyon replied patiently. "You can't blame me for this, wife. They brought it upon themselves for killing the unicorns. Consider it as their punishment, and let's end this discussion."

From the scowl on his face, Luna knew that her husband didn't like it when she moved away from him.

Let's return to our bedchamber, wife." He grabbed Luna's arm and pulled her back towards him.

Apollyon murmured huskily, " I want to have sex."

Luna flinched, taken aback at how casual that sounded.

Her eyebrows had almost reached her hairline in surprise.

How can her husband say that to her in front of King Zephyr, Prince Aspen and Cederic and keep a straight face?

Luna almost laughed, but she fought it because that would be inappropriate.

She shook her head at how absurd and scandalous her husband was acting.

She knew Apollyon didn't feel shame at all if he wanted it but was it right to say that while all these dead bodies were huddled in the basement?

Did he dismiss her pity and sorrow with an attempt at dark humour, or did he desire to have sexual congress with her at this moment?

She didn't want to dwell on her thoughts for too long, or else Apollyon would be successful in distracting her.

"Are you sure that all of them are evil because if not, what made you different from them?" Luna shrugged his hold on her and glared at her husband, "Mass murder is evil, husband."

"First of all, the conjurer did it for her sacrifice in exchange for her freedom." Prince Aspen said as he glanced around the chalk-white skin of their pale cadavers. "--so technically, she was the one who killed all of them."

"Second, every sin carries its own punishment. This is their punishment." A cold blade of anger filled the Faerie Prince's words. "Third, go back to the first, sit with it and let it sink in."

Swallowing hard, Luna watched Apollyon with wide eyes. "Unbeknownst to us, you might be forced to pay for this crime in the future."

"Someone had to." She was bombarded with the image of blood and death, and her brain fought the past terrifying visions converging with the present. "I'm afraid when that time comes; I will lose you, Apollyon."

"If we didn't kill these demonic faeries for the conjurer's sacrifice, I would lose you too." Apollyon raised a hand on her face, blocking her eyesight with his freezing palm. "Don't dip your eyes down, and just keep your eyes on me."

"These corpses will disappear if you kept them out of your sight." Her husband murmured as if he was casting a spell, his deep baritone fading in her ears. "Out of your mind."

As she turned her head away, Luna circled Apollyon's wrists with her fingers and placed his hand down.

"Apollyon." She forced her gaze back to the shredded neck of these demonic faeries and whispered, "Keeping the dead bodies out of sight and out of my mind will not erase this ruthless crime against creatures."

Prince Aspen ran a frustrated hand through his long auburn hair, "This argument is going in circles, and the Empress wouldn't give up."

"My argument is, you only have to punish and kill the demonic faerie that deserved death." Luna had gritted her teeth. "I bet not everyone who had been drained of their life force in this basement had deserved this fate. Some of them were forced to play the cards they have dealt with."

"I'm afraid the lack of justice for their lives would backfire on you—on us. Divine retribution might chase us to the ends of the world." Luna warned them, but they acted like they didn't care. "This is why a public trial is important. Why didn't you seek help from the nobility of the Spring Courts?"

"Trust me." Prince Aspen smirked. "We don't care about anything unless things have gotten out of control."

"You know how Spring Faeries are." Apollyon shrugged. "They keep sweeping their problems under the rug."

Prince Aspen frowned at him. "Hey!"

"That's why the Spring Faeries are the first Faerie Court that I have tricked." King Zephyr added.

"Are you sure that it would be alright for you to share that in front of a Faerie Prince from the Spring Court?" Her husband asked King Zephyr, his lips curving in amusement.

" Apollyon," She didn't understand why they wouldn't listen to her concerns. "I just don't like that you have taken matters into your own hands!"

They call her an Empress, but they didn't treat her like one.

How easy they have dismissed her like she was some servant who didn't deserve to be heard!

"We have to take matters into our own hands for the sake of the greater good," Apollyon replied without apology.

"A rotten apple spoils his companions. We are merely getting rid of bad apples." He held both of her hands and playfully caressed her fingers in a soothing motion. "Nevertheless, you and the safety of the Spring Courts is our priority."

"When you are asking questions like this makes me doubt your identity as the Empress of the Vampire Realm once again," Cederic said, and Luna's head jerked up at him.

She wasn't used to his height.

Cederic was almost as tall as her husband as he watched her face warily like a hawk.

"Luna." She went absolutely still at Apollyon's glacial tone. "Are you happy now that you have returned to me?"

"Of course, I am."

"But why are you asking questions that didn't matter?" The rage was obvious behind those cold words. "Are you purposefully making me jealous?"

"Making you jealous of what?" Luna's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Of the corpses?"

"The way you are defending them sounded like I have killed one of your lovers or something."

"No!" Luna waved both of her hands in dismissal.

As he crossed his arms over his chest, Apollyon gazed at her with suspicion. "Perhaps, you didn't wish to return to me because you had gotten used to cosying up to your Archdemon husband."

"Apollyon. Don't be ridiculous." She swallowed hard, horrified, wondering if he subconsciously knew what had happened with her and Luxen. "Don't even try changing the subject."

"Do not suffocate the moment under an avalanche of words." Apollyon's eyes moved over her. "Leave King Zephyr to return to his wife, and we shall go back to our bed-chamber. Nobody will disturb us since we will be busy. Cederic and my soldiers will aid Prince Aspen and his Faerie Sentinels to get rid of the corpses.'"

"Why do I have to be left behind to deal with the disposal of these dead bodies?" Prince Aspen complained. "I also have a fiancé who needed—"

Apollyon faced his cousin and blinked, "Who needed your what, cousin?"

There was a pause filled with tension.

Clearing his throat, the Faerie Prince rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly, "I forgot that she needed nothing from me."

"Alright. It's my Manor's basement, anyway." Prince Aspen turned towards the military general. "Let's deal with this, General Cederic, so I can rest peacefully tonight."