Hell's Consort

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VAMPIRE KING APOLLYON

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After he pulled her gently by the arm into the corner of the Ball Room, both of them entered a nice little alcove towards the balcony, which was also served as an extension of it.

Apollyon had wanted to be alone with the Empress for a while so he could drown in the Empress' intoxicating presence exclusively as her husband and keep her to himself.

Until now, he couldn't quite believe how the great King of the Vampire Realm had resorted to this--a possessive husband.

Those who had a good pair of eyes can clearly see that he was whipped.

He didn't want the Kings to ogle his Empress, so he had to hide her for a while.

He hadn't even formally introduced her properly to the guests.

Musical instruments started playing in the background as it beckoned for the attendants to start dancing for the Masquerade Ball.

"Apollyon." The Empress called him out, which sounded like both a shout and a whisper.

She didn't shake his hold and kicked him in resistance, and that was enough as an accomplishment for him.

His wife didn't hate her despite her aloofness earlier as she had let him drag her to the balustrade.

"Why are you dragging me to the balcony?" Luna asked as she made a face, wincing, "We aren't a good host and hostess if we leave the guests to fend for themselves in this social activity."

Apollyon nodded in agreement, but he had a perfectly logical reason to separate the Empress from the other ladies and most especially from his male guests.

"The Royal Court Dances required the ladies from the Consortium to be trained for display and entertainment, wife." The Vampire King leaned over and placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to lift her gaze to his.

A gentle smile curved into his lips. "Being a good husband that I was, I saved you from humiliation."

"You couldn't dance, my love," Apollyon informed her sadly, and his tone was eerily similar to a witch doctor who had just told her patient that she only had a few days to live.

"Oh," Luna's blood-red lips formed an 'O' as she peered around back to the Ballroom where the Kings had started dancing with a few of the women from the Consortium.

She asked, "So this Masquerade Ball wasn't freestyle dancing then?"

Apollyon burst out into loud guffaws as he slapped his thigh hard repeatedly, almost dying of laughter.

It took him a while to recover from what his hilarious wife had said.

Every time he decided to assume his cold straight face back, her question had circled his mind like pesky flies that had refused to vanish.

He wiped the joyful tears out of his eyes.

When he finally calmed down, he pursed his lips into a tight line to show he was serious. "You can't dance in freestyle in a Royal Court Dance, wife, because it is more formal, and there are dance steps for that which you haven't learned because I haven't taught you yet."

She gave an audible sigh and grimaced to herself, a sign of regret. "Then why are we having a Masquerade Ball?"

"You seem to have forgotten, wife, that it was your idea." The Vampire King pointed out as he coupled it with a cheeky grin.

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The Empress Luna

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"I had a short talk with one of your past concubines which was also my acquaintance. I asked Lady Clarence's suggestion before I decided for the Masquerade Ball, and when she described it to me, it had sounded like a fun event." Luna giggled excitedly as she explained to her husband why she had chosen to pick the Masquerade Ball for the event.

Lady Clarence had given her some input because she wasn't familiar with creating events in the Vampire King's Castle.

She was the new Empress, and nobody in this Kingdom taught her about her duties, and she wouldn't let Apollyon do it for her because she had refused to be a puppet.

Luna navigated her new responsibilities through her intuition.

She might be the Vampire King's wife, but she had a mind of her own.

"I don't know any Lady Clarence." The Vampire King gave her a nonchalant shrug.

If Luna could roll her eyes hard enough to see her brain, she would probably turn blind right now.

Luna settled for giving her husband a suspicious look because his response was just weird and over-the-top.

Was he exaggerating so that she wouldn't feel jealous of his past concubines?

Goddess, Luna couldn't believe she was creating something out of nothing.

She glanced at the Ball Room again, and she just noticed how her husband's concubines, consorts, and escorts were all beautiful in their own right as the flowers on their hair, the colorful fabrics of their gown, and the emerald jewels they wore glittered under the lights.

Luna found it impossible that none of them caught the Vampire King's eyes enough for him to make an effort to get to know some women.

"She was one of the concubines you have chosen along with Catriona, whom you killed with your bare hands." She muttered as she narrowed his eyes at him, continuing, "The Military General had mentioned before that you had picked your concubines yourself."

Luna did her best to avoid mentioning the dead concubine again because the mere utterance of her name left a bad taste in her mouth, but in this context, she had to do it to make his amnesiac husband remember.

"I did not incline to remember the names of the concubines I have picked."

What did he mean that he didn't know their names?

Basically, the Vampire King just picked his concubines from the consorts based on their pretty faces, and that's it?

Luna clapped a hand over her mouth in shock as the Vampire King added, "I can barely know them by faces, and that was the only thing that mattered in the past."