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Archdemon Empress Luna

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Glancing down at the wildflowers growing on the grassy spots beneath her foot, Luna wondered if her husband heard her confession the first time. Apollyon wasn't speaking to her.

She bit her lower lip in frustration.

If this excruciating silence stretched for a bit longer, the more her heartbeat raced.

Her skin was cold and clammy when she rubbed at her forearms to get rid of this eerie chill plummeting over them despite the gentle warmth of the sun as the thick white clouds covered them, providing them shade.

Luna closed her eyes shut as she waited for a violent reaction—an explosion of rage—from her husband before she tried to elaborate.

This approach might work against her, but in her mind, she just wanted to make sure that Apollyon was willing to listen to her first—her version of the story--instead of falling into deaf ears.

In an instant, her breath burst in and out in a panic that one hand flew to clutch at her chest as it finally sunk in that she told Apollyon her secret—the one which bothered her the most— without holding back. Luna's chest felt lighter than before, but she remained frozen in place, her posture rigid in exhilaration.

If the both of them get past this, their marriage will strengthen, and nothing—not even Lilith--could ever keep them apart.

She was proud of herself but, at the same time, afraid of his reaction.

Now, what made her more afraid was the lack of reaction. This was a sensitive matter to her, and she hoped that Apollyon would be mature enough to deal with this—to handle this truth—because if not, she would regret it for the rest of her life, thinking that she shouldn't have told him.

She trusted her husband to endure it like medicine, to swallow it even if her words would leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

This secret would heal the both of them now that it was out in the open.

Luna nodded a little, bracing herself.

Her husband told her that a successful relationship usually came down to one thing: communication—talking things through.

She hoped her husband was right about that.

Her eyes remained fixed on the ground.

There wasn't any response from Apollyon yet.

Should Luna repeat them to make sure?

When she gained the courage to peer at him beneath her lashes, Apollyon blinked twice and squinted at her.

Broad shoulders turning rigid, his blue eyes protruded as he bared his teeth, "You must have seduced him, Luna." His hands jerked as he pointed at her with an accusing finger. "You must have given him signals that you are his for the taking whether you were aware of it or not the moment you accepted the Archdemon as your husband."

Gasping, Luna's eyes widened as she covered her open mouth with a frown.

Frown lines marred her forehead. 'How did Apollyon arrive at that conclusion?'

Standing her ground, she swore that she would try her best so that they wouldn't fall into another petty argument with her husband.

"I didn't." Luna shook her head heartily, which made her hair strands whip her face, refuting Apollyon's strange presumption.

Tiny pinpricks of hair tingled in her overheated skin that she was tempted to strip off a layer despite wearing a thin and loose sundress. "He seduced me, Apollyon."

"Don't get it wrong. Luxen was the Archdemon of Lust." Her lips were chapped despite being exposed to the wind, and she wet them, demanding, "Why would you accuse me of being the seducer instead of him when he was the devil incarnate of seduction—of Lust?"

Sweat trickled down the nape of her neck, and she clenched her fists until her knuckles went white. 'That didn't make any sense to me, Apollyon."

Apollyon turned his back on her and stared at mountain peaks from the distance as if he couldn't bear to look at her.

He crossed his arms as he widened his stance. "Your acknowledgment of your blood bond with Luxen must have been the trigger, making him think that it was alright for him to take what belonged to me." His tone was cutting like a knife's edge, and it sounded like he was grounding his teeth as he curbed his rage. "Did you agree when he told you that he was one of your husbands?"

Every anxious shallow w breath made her smell earthy moss and the vegetation in these mountains.

The wind whistled along the slopes as the leaves rustled in the direction where it blew while the rest of them drifted to the ground.

"I think.... I did. I'm not sure." Luna replied quietly as she clenched her fists. "I accepted that we were blood bonded in Hell because it was a fact. That didn't mean that I wanted him just because I acknowledged this soul tie between us."

The atmosphere suddenly changed, and rabbits, hopping at the fallen leaves and tufts of grass silvered with frost, halted as if sensing a predator.

There was no other predator here in this mountain other than her husband as she sensed anger rolling off him like tidal waves.

Rubbing a hand down his face, his voice lowered in a harsh growl, "Why were you with him in the first place, wife?" His deep baritone broke from the intensity of his anger, and it was heartbreaking for Luna to hear the sadness, loss, hurt, and desperation in them.

He snapped. "You should have stayed the hell away from him!"

A raw scream floated into thin air, and tears leaked down the corner of her eyes.

Luna was so enraged that she didn't notice that she was screaming and sobbing her heart out.

She buried her face in her hands.

Her legs weakened, and she almost fell to her knees, but she never gave in.

Steeling her spine, Luna moved in front to face him as she wailed, "I can't stay away because I was trapped in Hell, Apollyon."