Hell's Consort

New Chapter for Highest Tier (May 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"Those eyes…" Apollyon chuckled as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

Leaning closer to her, Apollyon murmured, "You did this before at our royal suite at the Vinca Inn."

"Ah yes." Swallowing hard, Luna recalled Apollyon telling her about it when she pushed him against the wall and bit the corded muscles of his neck.

Squirming in her seat, Luna gripped her armchair tight, averting her gaze. "You told me about this before. And I couldn't find the reason why it happened."

"Are my eyes still bleeding into black right now?" Luna asked.

There was a tremor in her voice that made Apollyon frown in concern.

A pause. "No, it's back to green."

"Thank the goddess." Luna exhaled a sharp breath, relieved.

Luna made the mistake of following the hard angle of his jaw when she stole a glance at him.

"Hmm. I would like to assume that you do that every time you are turned on." Apollyon said in a drawl as he watched her like a hawk catching sight of his prey.

"Perhaps…" Luna replied cryptically, allowing Apollyon to fill in the blanks in his mind.

"You are strange, wife." Apollyon had that cheeky grin on his face, and Luna narrowed her eyes at him.

She fought the urge to pull her hand away from her husband since he was busy playing with her long, delicate fingers by squeezing them and scratching them with a fingernail.

What was he on about? "Why, husband?"

They faced each other without a care in the world.

In their world, only the two of them existed.

Those who interfered or tried to get in the way—an Archdemon, for example—will have to be destroyed.

Bow-shaped lips pressed together as if he was the messenger of death, Apollyon asked grimly as he poked his finger in her cheek, "Are you turned on by the sight of your grandparents riding those unicorns in a flower procession?"

Her gaze flicked upward to the ceiling as if she was asking guidance from the heavens.

"You are comfortable making fun of me, husband." Luna tugged at her hand, but Apollyon held unto it tightly, wearing a glorious smile which radiated happiness and affection.

Breathless, Luna's heartbeat stopped momentarily when she saw the sparkle into the ocean depths of her husband's knowing gaze.

He knew the effect he had on her and took full advantage of it.

She felt so weightless in his presence—as if every single one of her problems dissolved into nothing but a distraction.

Apollyon brought her back to the present and taught her how to live in the moment when she was bombarded with peculiar visions of the Archdemons she left behind in Hell.

As Apollyon shifted into a calmer demeanour, he asked her as if searching for an assurance that nothing was amiss with her. "Is everything alright with us? You don't have anything to say to talk to me about, beloved?"

Apollyon cared about her well-being.

It wasn't his usual interrogation in the past that would usually make her worm out of the place before she could even answer Apollyon's first question.

No need to make Apollyon worry about her hallucinations.

Not yet.

"I'm fine."

It wasn't real anyway.

She can still manage.

If it got worse, she would tell her husband about it.

Not too far away from them yet out of her earshot, Luna saw Princess Ourania watched them in a scowl as they whispered in each other's ears.

Apollyon's mother made no noise when she got up from her chair and stood near the stairs to greet the Summer Monarchs without their notice.

Well, there was no need to throw eye daggers in their direction, and it made her eyebrows raise.

They weren't judging her with how awful of a mother she was to her husband.

They were just two lovebirds flirting!

Don't tell me she was still jealous of their close bond between Luna and the son she left behind?

Lifting a hand on her knitted brows,  Apollyon smoothened them with the pad of his thumb. "I was tempting you to smile from that jest but you are giving me that frown."

She shut her eyes tight and exhaled.

"I'm not frowning, husband." At least, not for him.

"Smile for me, beloved." He urged gently.

When she opened her eyes, Luna acquiesced to her husband's request even if she forced a fake smile.

She beamed at him, but he made sure she saw his dissatisfaction by frowning at her weak grin.

As he judged the brilliance of her smile for a few seconds, Apollyon returned a smirk of his own and said, "Let's greet the Elders?"

Her lips quirked at the word 'Elders,' and Apollyon did the same—like they were sharing an inside joke. "It sounded like someone who would appear like High Priest Fei. "

"Indeed. Just old people, in general." Apollyon stood from his chair, did a gallant bow, and offered a hand.

Luna settled her clammy fingers on his open palm, gave his hand a tight squeeze before she rose from her chair.

Her other hand flattened the rumpled skirts of her turquoise gown.

They walked to stand to the other side of the stairs away from his mother as if Apollyon wouldn't allow her to be near Luna.

Queen Titania and  King Oberon would surely find them strange for doing this.

Whenever she was in Princess Ourania's vicinity, Luna had this odd sensation, and she couldn't explain why.

She gave her husband a questioning glance when they halted at the edge of the landing, and Apollyon understood.

"I have this slight strange feeling about Princess Ourania." Apollyon's jawline stood stark when he told her his brutal opinion about his mother. "I don't want you near her without me if I can't figure out what's bothering me about her."

So her intuition was right-on-point.

Luna wasn't crazy for having those thoughts.

Apollyon had picked his mother's aura from that conversation.

"Luna." Glancing at her, Apollyon stepped closer to her side and slid his arm behind her back. "Even if the bad days are unavoidable, let us choose to be happy. Tell me if you're having one and I will make it better."