New Chapter for Highest Tier (May 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"On that same night he killed my lover, the Vampire King forced the blood bond on me by draining me to death and feeding me his own blood after a minute of death, successfully establishing the blood bond."

Luna's mouth fell open because it felt familiar.

Why did that story sound similar to what she had experienced with Apollyon before?

Princess Ourania's narrative seemed like something the past Apollyon would do.

But Luna can't decide if it would be because he was in the Blood Beast's control, or would he—the real Apollyon--do that himself without the Archdemon's possession?

Blinking rapidly, Luna thought hard, losing into her early memories with Apollyon as they raced through her mind for easy access.

Luna paused when she found the image she had been looking for where the Vampire King found her floating in the blue waters of his private pool.

That was the exact moment the Vampire King took an interest in her and claimed her for his own, initiating a blood bond with her.

No, it was the Blood Beast.

No, was it Apollyon?

Luna forgot.

While she was still delirious at the waters, she swore that Apollyon intended to cure her of her wounds.

But then the Blood Beast took over and accidentally turned her into his mate.

Luna's gaze sharpened at Apollyon's mother. "So Queen Titania and King Oberon washed their hands of you because they wouldn't like to break the agreement they made with the Vampire King." She tapped a finger on her chin. "You weren't honest to the Summer King and Queen about your secret lover, either."

"Right." Her eyes darkened. The atmosphere around them felt bleak as if it was affected by Princess Ourania's disposition. "I knew my parents loved me. But they were dismayed that I broke my oath and made King Gwythyr mad with rage. This incident was the perfect fodder for the rumormongers. It spread throughout the Faerie Realm, shaming me for trysting with a lover while having a fiance from another Realm at the same time, asking why I chose to play with fire when it was already announced in the entire Faerie Realm that I was going to marry King Gwythyr. All the masculine Fae said that King Gwythyr had the right to kill Aidan for making him look like a fool. They sympathize with the Vampire King."

"That's fucked-up, Princess Ourania!" Luna protested.

"I'm not surprised." Apollyon's countenance showed disappointment. "The Faeries must have nothing going on with their life except spread false rumors and half-truths."

"—-because they believed they can get away with anything." Princess Ourania said. "—and that includes me and the Fae in general. Fair-folk in the Summer Realm had am explosive temper when it came to jealousy."

Luna's mouth fell open when Princess Ourania threw that out there.

Jealousy was truly in the Summer Fair folk's fiery genes because Apollyon had them.

"The male faeries resonated with him, calling him the jilted fiance while I was called the whore." A grim twist in her mouth. "He became even more angry. Kings don't take rejections very well."

"That I can relate to." Luna muttered wistfully.

"The Vampire King bared his fangs at me. I can recall how his pupils switched from dilation to the narrowing of those dark slits in a span of seconds. I was sobbing from the death of my lover and moaning from the emotional pain." She watched them with an unfocused stare as if she was lost in her memories of that horrible night. "It was like a knife twisting against my chest. I cowered when he shouted at me and clutched my arm to the point of bruising me, dragging me in the middle of the night back to the Summer Palace and demanding an audience from my sleeping parents in their bedchamber. He wanted to gain their permission to turn me into his vampire mate at that instant."

At least, King Gywthyr still asked for permission even if his eyes only saw red.

But that will not change the fact that the man expected an agreement from them no matter what.

The choice was 'yes' or 'yes.'

It was an illusion of giving control to the Summer Realm.

Luna exhaled a relieved breath.

Apollyon was a better man than King Gwythyr.

"Queen Titania and King Oberon have no choice but to agree with the Vampire King to establish the blood bond. Or else he would declare war on us. The Vampire King threatened my parents that he would kill them if they stopped him from imprinting the blood bond. It will be a never-ending feud that would pass down to our descendants if my parents decided to break the contract and save me from him. Faeries are very particular with their vows. Nobody can interfere since I broke the contract first." Princess Ourania forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I had no choice but to accept it his demands."

"I am sure that the Summer King and Queen wouldn't allow me to run away from responsibilities. If I run away from home after this shocking event, they would be the first one to hunt me down to honor their promise with the Vampire King. I was still reeling from the death of my lover. Yet, I didn't even know where his body was buried. My parents wouldn't allow me to see him after your father and I left our meeting place."

"How about now, Princess Ourania?" Luna queried. "Did the Summer King and Queen accepted you when you returned to the Summer Palace after Apollyon turned into a monster?"

"They didn't at first. King Oberon scolded me, commanding that I follow his orders to get back to the Vampire Realm because he only wanted peace for both Kingdoms. I told them…." Princess Ourania's stance remained unmoving, but her next words seemed to be deliberate. "I told them King Gwythyr and my son is dead. I told him I had no place to go back to."