Hell's Consort

<strong>[A/N: I wanted to end this so bad, but brainstorming to piece all this plot together is so damn tricky. I swear this is my first and last fantasy romance. All these stories about vampires and archdemons had consumed my life force hahahaha huhuhuhu. I will continue the best I can. Thanks for reading. #notamasochist</strong>

<strong>Newest Chapter for the Highest Tier (February 2022)</strong>

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<strong>Archdemon of Gluttony</strong>

<strong>  Prince Ravin of the First Circle of Hell</strong>

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'She had stopped singing after the lights had  turned back on—,' according to one and several witnesses he asked also affirmed this,  '—and then she was nowhere to be found.'

One maidservant confessed that the particular seductive woman had paid close attention to Luna and Apollyon the whole time.

Her eyes appeared full of envy and hatred as if she silently wished for the couple's demise.

A few judgmental butlers, maidservants, and pages had noticed the evil eye and assumed that the lady was jealous of the fairy-tale relationship.

Now, Ravin had speculated that this lady-in-red was, in fact, a sorcerer who wanted to unleash darkness using the page she had torn from Hecate's grimoire.

Then, she would open up the Kingdom's barriers until all the devils were here.

He realized a little too late that the opera singer had no lingering scent and that, itself, should have been a warning.

The entire act was rehearsed, and the people involved had mastered the art of misdirection.

Despite their rules on not allowing their guests to wear masks, they still couldn't decipher their intentions to perfection.

Unfortunately, Ravin was also too distracted at ogling the Empress even to notice.

The execution of making the Vampire King ruin their party had gone smoothly as if they had countless hours perfecting the theft of a page and using the host their decoy.

Apollyon would never live this humiliation once he got himself back.

Could Princess Ourania and the opera singer be the same?

That woman always had a trick up her sleeve.

Ravin's jaws were clenched the instant he saw Queen Morgan enter the tumultuous scene from the balcony, landing as gracefully as a ballerina with wings, along with the other fae soldiers.

His eyes turned cold and hard the longer he observed Queen Morgan stroll towards him.

Like the Empress, the Autumn Queen had worn a voluminous white gown and fur cloak that made her appear like the Winter Queen, blending into the thick snow in the shadowy forests outside the castle, waiting for her dark Knight—the fallen Archangel she had fallen in love with that Ravin had seen in the vision the blue feather had shown him—to make himself known.

Her glossy hair was apple-red as the first time he saw her in the dream.

Her large eyes reflected the golden flecks he had every time he made the mistake of gazing into them.

It was eerily familiar, and it sent chills down his spine.

"Take the Vampire King to the Cave of Crystals." Queen Morgan ordered the soldiers that went with her.

Ravin didn't protest when the four men began to carry the Vampire King outside the Great Hall.

He couldn't care less where the Queen wanted the soldiers to take Apollyon as long as he got rid of him.

Stopping a couple of meters away from him, Queen Morgan explained that the Cave of Crystals in the Autumn Courts was a place of potent power—a sacred space for demonic purification.

According to the legends, it used to be a portal from another realm in the past.

His brows furrowed the more he listened, and he hated that the Queen had considered him as a threat.

"The exposure to these crystals could be beneficial to weak vampiric faeries." Queen Morgan added further.

Nevertheless, the Autumn Queen had assured him that Apollyon would come back to his true self if he settled in the hollow place that was as dark as night.

The only light source was the dim luster of light grey moonlight crystals created by nature for thousands of years.

The near-transparent wide and thick columns of selenite from the floor to the ceiling grew within the dark confines of the cave.

It also had the magic to purify possible demonic possession and the decent amount of wicked venom Ravin had injected upon him.

Hopefully, the effects of wisteria juice in Apollyon's bloodstreams would vanish as well.

Ravin wondered if the cave was effective in genuinely getting rid of it.

Since he didn't know what to do with the Vampire King, he let the Autumn Queen deal with it.

"You are late to the party, my Lady." He changed the subject.

"I don't see any party here. Only death  and ruin caused by the conflagration." Her tone was matter-of-fact. Queen Morgan didn't look troubled at all.

She was grim but riveted as she glanced around her surroundings, appearing as if she had already expected this to happen.

The ruins didn't possess a resemblance of the Hazelnut Manor that she owned in the past, and Ravin wondered if she was disappointed or outraged that she was rendered speechless. "I see that you look proud of what you have done to overpower what you have considered a threat. Are you ready to take responsibility for the outcome if the Empress—"

"—if she figured out about this." Ravin cut her off and enunciated each word as if it was a weapon he could use to threaten him. "There wouldn't be a problem if you wouldn't tell anyone, My Lady."

Ravin threw a dagger out of the blue, and the Autumn Queen didn't fail to catch it.

"You have guts, Ravin, to disrespect me in front of my people." Her tone was flippant, and it made him smirk.

"Of course.Of course." He folded his arm across his chest as he glanced down at her. "Out of all the creatures who existed in this Realm, I think I am the only one who knew about the past  you have hidden from everyone."

She tilted her head, and her wise eyes flashed dangerously. "I don't know what you mean."

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." He shrugged, and his countenance grew severe. "Now, tell me about Princess Ourania and Hephaestus' whereabouts. We have to hunt them down before they feed us to the wolves. I don't want to waste time."

"Well, we have some other pressing matters to attend to."

"So you think that there is more pressing matter than what I have told you about what Princess Ourania and Hephaestus had stolen from us?"

"Yes. I think we have found the Tree of the Four Seasons, but we couldn't get in there." Her golden eyes landed on his chest. "I need you to give me the blue feather around your neck."