The Tyrant's Pet

<strong>[ INNER PALACE ]</strong>

The fight between Abel and Maximus raged on, leaping from space to space. The sparks each time they clashed were the only thing that one could catch in the fight. When another piercing sound of metals clashing against each other resonated, both of them landed meters away from each other.

Abel looked away, gazing toward the Forbidden Mansion. His attention was caught when Maximus's laughter caressed his ears.

"Among the Grimsbanne, Marsella is the only person who really deserves to carry that cursed blood," Maximus mused, his lips stretched from ear to ear. "Trust is surely hard to give, isn't it, my friend? You always act so strong and nonchalant, yet it is hilarious to think you have a soft side for your family."

"I've said it before. We do not have any familial attachments —"

"Say whatever you want, my friend." Maximus simpered. "But you and I know you care about them one way or another."

Abel's eyes narrowed as his shoulders relaxed. "I guess I shouldn't deny that anymore. Whatever makes you happy, my dear."

Maximus smirked, assessing the stony countenance of Abel. The latter had always spoken about not having any familial attachments from then until now, but knowing Abel, if he truly didn't have the slightest care for his little sister, Marsella, that woman had been long dead.

"Family… is surely such a strange thing, isn't it?" Maximus cocked his head to the side. "Family is supposed to offer support and security, coupled with unconditional love. But there were many times those people who carried the same blood as ours will be our greatest enemy."

"You and I are really friends. Perhaps this was the reason," he continued with a playful smile. "Regardless of what they had done, we try to forgive them. We give them wings to fly, but they cut them and blame us. We give them all the opportunity we could give, open multiple doors, yet they turn away and curse you for not being equal."

"They expect us to carry the responsibility of why they didn't grow. And in the end, they will come at us with their fangs. Yet, we forgive them — it's tiring," he added and laughed dryly. "I am done forgiving and hiding, acting like a good king, and enduring the title of being a servant of the Grimsbanne."

"Is that why you… connived with Marsella?"

"Marsella is a strange woman, but overall, matches my goal."

"And that goal is?"

Maximus smiled and didn't give him an answer. Instead, he hummed a long tune, recalling when everything started.

"It's been a very long time ago," said Maximus, setting his eyes back to Abel. "I think it all started when Ameria left the Grimsbanne stronghold. Oh no, I think it all started with that man… Soran."

A thicker layer of frost coated Abel's eyes at the mention of his late sister, Ameria, and his dearest human friend, Soran. Everyone had already heard about Abel's story and the reason he left the mainland.

That man named Soran, who was one of the humans that was washed ashore in the mainland's territory, planted ideas in the Grimsbannes' minds. He was a strange man, but overall, a good one. Abel looked up at that man and went out on an adventure outside to see the beauty of the world Soran had been talking about.

Obviously, Abel was in for a disappointment. It was late when he realized Soran had a beautiful perspective on the world because he was a wonderful person. He was someone who always looked at the good instead of the bad.

Abel wasn't the only person who was fascinated by Soran's nature. His sister, Ameria, left the mainland with her friends — who came from powerhouse clans on the mainland — to find Soran. It was safe to say the reason there were powerful pureblooded vampires outside the mainland was because of that man.

They all went out to find him or see the beautiful world they created in their imagination.

The mainland was never the same after welcoming that man, Soran.

And thus, the reason some people held a grudge against him.

One of them was Marsella and Maximus.

"I remember Marsella came to visit Ameria," Maximus mused. "Although I don't think they met, I'm sure Ameria had an idea why her life took a tragic turn. I don't think she told anyone, though. After all, your family lived on the mainland with Mathilda. They have no idea."

Another short wave of laughter escaped his lips. "They have no idea, which means Ameria is just as foolish as his big brother. She is just as soft as you whenever family was involved, and she probably didn't want you to turn against the youngest."

"Oh, Grimsbanne! What lovely creatures you are!" he continued with a tinge of sarcasm. "A born monster, but trying so hard to fight what you are. This is why Marsella is different. She embraced her monster from the beginning and loathed you lots of hypocrites who condemned her for it!"

"Condemn…" Abel whispered, keeping his silence while listening to Maximus's nonsense prattling. "Maximus, you speak as though you knew each of us. I cannot deny everything you had said, for there were some truths in it. However, those are the only indicators of what the Grimsbanne were."

"Ameria was the kindest person I had known until now, yet you are calling her a monster just because of this cursed blood we carry." He slowly raised both his hands to the side, blood dripping from the tip of his fingers. "As a vampire, you should've thought at least once, after gazing into the elegance of the day and the blinding light of the divinity. How come your purpose was anything but darkness?"

The blood dripping from Abel's fingertips didn't land on the ground. Instead, it slowly formed into a shape of a sword underneath his palms.

"You disappoint me, Maximus." His eyes squinted as dark veins crawled from his temple to his eyes. "For underestimating Ameria. You don't know her just as much as I do, and she isn't as soft as you think she is. She does things for a reason, and keeping Marsella's involvement in her misfortune a secret isn't to protect Marsella."

"It's to protect this world from the Grimsbanne." Abel clasped the red and dark sword and, in a flash, reappeared in front of Maximus. The latter's eyes slowly dilated as time slowed down in his perspective. "You… haven't seen what a Grimsbanne can actually do, unlike her."

<strong>SLASH!</strong>