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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"You killed a lot of possessed faeries at Ostara, and you didn't seem to have a problem with that, nor did you hesitate."

Blinking rapidly, Luna clutched the horse's mane in panic as she stuttered, "I-I was p-protecting the children from that time."

"So, what you are saying is, the lives of children are more important than the tainted faeries at that moment, just like how I considered you more important than the corrupted faeries of Lilith's cult," Apollyon whispered in her ear as he caressed her throat the way he would pet a cat, the warmth of his palms sending chills down her spine. "So it's alright to kill to protect others than sacrificing the demonic fairies to protect my wife. You have done it on Ostara, and you still argued with me the night I summoned you back."

Astounding silence.

"Ah~" Giving her a sardonic grin, he murmured, "The hypocrisy is astounding, beloved."

Gritting her teeth, Luna scowled as she pulled his wrist and, shoving them away from her, "Two wrongs will not make a right!"

"You sound defensive." Apollyon chuckled, and Luna elbowed his ribs in annoyance. He didn't react. Maybe, it didn't hurt. Perhaps, she should have elbowed him harder. "The look on your face when you frown with those protruding green eyes spikes up my amusement."

Luna cleared his throat, "The death of the demonic faeries is still my fault, and I already amended the dangerous situation for the benefit of the Spring Courts."

"The end." Jutting her chin, Luna shrugged. "Problem solved."

"Are you, by chance, a masochist?" Apollyon asked, and his mischievous smile switched into an impenetrable mask in a span of seconds.

"As much as I would like to prove you wrong because it turns me on when you get so fired up about our arguments, I don't want to hear you blaming yourself ever again." He continued.

"Everything isn't your fault, devil's advocate," Apollyon said grimly. "You know I did the right thing. You want to prove I'm wrong because I lack the morals you require of me, is that it?"

"I know enough to figure out that you have lack morals ever since I met you." Luna replied with a grudging conviction before wincing. "—but I would have expected you to be better now that you have changed."

"Ah~" Apollyon snapped his fingers in front of her face in realization.

Luna squinted, shifting her narrowed eyes from the horizon, away from the grey mountain peaks with the set blue and silver-white shades in the background to look over her shoulder in a glower.

"I think this is dé·jà vu, but I forgot the exact moment…" Apollyon trailed off in recollection before adding," I knew you had told me something like this before when we just married at the Vampire Realm. You even made that speech during your coronation in front of the Consortium as the Vampire King's Empress, encouraging the ladies to do what they want."

"You wanted to annihilate the foundation of a Patriarchal Kingdom because you believed that it is the right thing to do." Apollyon sounded like he spoke through his teeth with forced restraint. "--so it all comes down to your expectations of me."

There was a deadly pause before her husband spoke again. "Please make sure that you are realistic with them as well, Luna. As your husband, I can't be dancing to your tune all the time. I am my own person with my own set of beliefs that are different from yours."

"You will lose all your respect for me if I do everything you wanted like I'm your servant. Did we already agree to this before? " Apollyon said drily, and his lips curved upward in a sardonic grin. "You can only treat me as your servant in bed, and that's it."

"You always strive to do what's righteous—what you perceived as morally right—but have you ever considered the fact that what's right for you might be wrong for others and what's wrong for you could be right for me at the time? You're not always right, beloved."

Luna wanted to argue with that, but she kept her mouth shut.

There was a painful tightness in her throat.

"You hated the way I treated you and controlled you before, and here you are, wanting to do the same?" Apollyon asked.

Luna swallowed hard, and her guilt squeezed her heart that she struggled to breathe. "It was never my intention to control you."

"I'm not being controlling anymore to you, wife, so I hope you wouldn't control me either. Don't think I don't love you when I don't agree with everything you say. We shouldn't forget that we are still separate people even if the mating bond had connected our souls." Apollyon's hands clasped the reins so tight she swore she could see his green veins bulging from his pale skin. "Don't enforce your truth on me because I will not be swayed no matter how many times we talk about it. I am entitled to my truth just like how you are entitled of yours." Luna gasped, taking offense to her words. "I will kill whoever I want to kill, and you can kill whoever you want without my interference. Let others make their choices and take responsibility for it."

She didn't know why Apollyon was angry at her these days.

Was it a crime to care about other creatures?

"Our love would not be enough to help us overcome the obstacles," Apollyon said a matter of factly. "We have to nurture our mutual respect as vampire mates."

Pour love, and someone will quench their thirst.

"You don't get where I'm coming from."

Offer the heart, and someone will feed on it.

"You have pretty high standards you require for an evil Vampire King to reach, don't you think?" Apollyon reasoned out and exhaled. "I might be changing a little bit as I adapt to you and having you as my wife despite our forced blood bond because of an Archdemon."

"Changing for the better to suit you is a way of showing you my love, but you can't change everything about me to suit who you are." Apollyon's words were like poisonous arrows embedded in her gut because Luna knew that what he said was true. "You have to accept me for who I am, just like I try to understand who you are by being a considerate husband."