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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"I can't stay away because I was trapped in Hell, Apollyon." Luna's voice came out as a loud shriek, and her fingers grasped the hem of his shirt as she pleaded in a whisper, "I have no choice."

"Did you attempt to fight back and reject his advances?" The hatred bleeding from his bloodshot eyes showed the scared child within, the boy whose parents starved the love and loyalty he craved.

The sight made Luna's heart stop because she just realized the extent of her husband's weakness reflected in that single look.

His clenched jaw trembled.

"Did he force you to have sexual congress with him?" Apollyon demanded, but his fierce queries toned down a little when he asked, "Were you hurt?"

Luna knew that despite Apollyon's rage at this perceived betrayal, her husband was still concerned about her well-being.

He cared about her despite what Luxen did.

Wiping the tears rolling down her cheeks, Luna sobbed when she returned to the memory that she wanted the Archdemon of Sloth to eliminate.

She begged him to erase them, but Sloth was against wiping any memories while still focused on their mission to open portals to different Realms from Hell.

Fortunately, she was back in the Vampire Realm for good, and she didn't have to deal with Sloth's bargain anymore.

Luna recalled how she felt so dirty afterward when she figured out Luxen raped her using her husband's face.

Even if the memory was tragic, Luna needed to remember that moment and what she felt when he found out how Luxen deceived her.

The anger, rage, desperation, and terror would fuel her to plot for her revenge, coming back to annihilate him if she became a stronger Archdemon.

Grieving for Apollyon's hurt and her innocence, Luna's fingers began to numb when he gave her a long, pained gaze so intense she felt guilt clawing at her heart, and she awkwardly released him, averting her eyes."No, he didn't force me."

There was tension in his stand-offish manner--a tightness in his face—showing that he would rather be anywhere but here with her. "So, you allowed him to have a wicked way with you. You gave him your consent!"

"No, Apollyon! I didn't consent to him touching me!" Luna shouted at him, indignant, as she shook her head in refusal. "Luxen used you!"

"Never mind that. He must have seen you naked." Scowling, Apollyon ran his fingers through his raven hair out of frustration as he muttered to himself, not listening to her. "That was why he was tempted to taste you, to claim you for himself and worship your body like you were his goddess."

"Husband." Luna desired to shout the truth at the top of her lungs so that it would echo and bounce back around these quiet mountains, sinking in unto his reptilian brain, "Listen to me."

As he paced around, Apollyon's handsome face reddened with anger, appearing like he could turn into a dragon and breathe fire at any minute. "The Archdemon must have watched over you and planned this for a long time because the more he desired you, the more you became his obsession, eager to unleash his lust like how I always feel for you every time you are near me."

"Apollyon. You misunderstand." Luna raised both of her hands to cradle his clenched jaw, "Luxen assumed your—"

"Loving you, Luna..." Apollyon pushed her away, and his voice chilled her to the bone. "Loving you. Hurts. Me."

Lips parting, Luna was reeling from the shock when he saw the pain in his soul, drowning from her betrayal after Luna demolished the thick emotional barriers around his wounded heart full of unhealed scars.

His heart was repeatedly hurt and beaten down by the people who were supposed to love him.

Her.

Apollyon was unprotected and left to fend for himself since childhood when it came to love, and being detached was what he did to survive in this world.

Luna couldn't stand to look at him for too long because it felt like she was also exposing herself to him when she saw herself reflected into those Prussian blues.

She saw a crack in his stoic mask, but Luna realized Apollyon had no intention of letting his mask go.

Never.

He wore this particular mask every time his emotions were threatened; it was a defense mechanism that became a part of him.

Later, this impenetrable mask replaced the real, never allowing it to fall off for millennia as the King of the Vampire Realm.

It remained on his face, and this mask of cold indifference and rage kept his face hidden until something triggered him.

Luna gasped in horror at what she had done—how horrible of a wife she was—even if it wasn't her fault.

Apollyon was holding on to his anger by the thinnest of threads.

Soon, he will replace the love he had for her… and the heartbreak with something else.

Disappointment.

She only had the most unfortunate luck as the receiving end of Luxen's trickery, leaving the bastard to get away with his crime and making her deal with the dire consequences of his actions.

Apollyon might never forgive her for this, for feeding him with half-truths and running away from problems that will eventually chase her down.

As she looked back at the situation, Luna admitted that she was careless about dealing with the fake Apollyon at Ravin's Pleasure Room, resulting in making a mistake.

She didn't bother checking Apollyon's identity and accepted him right away without suspicion.

Luna should have known better not to engage with anyone in Hell because nobody couldn't be trusted in that Realm. Not even the Archdemon of Sloth who can kill anyone when he felt like it.

Luna was left to pick up the eventually broken pieces of their relationship, eventually.

It still scarred her for life, knowing that she was the reason behind it.

Apollyon expected the worse in everyone in the past, but he gave her a chance out of all the people he knew... only to give her the leverage to destroy him.

And, she let him down.