New Chapter for the Highest Tier (May 2021)

********************************

Archdemon Empress Luna

******************************

"Are you still with me, my lady?" The man asked.

Luna flinched.

The volume of his deep baritone was soft and gentle. Still, to Luna's mind fog, it was an uncompromising arrow, hitting the barriers between her environment and her isolated thoughts as the glass shattered, lugging her back to the current reality.

Her skin tingled as a sudden coldness hit her in the core, and she didn't know where it came from.

Was it from this Summer Fae in front of her to make her more attentive?

"P-pardon?" She stuttered as her gaze swept the ballroom, catching a glimpse of where the Vampire King was.

Because of their tight mating bond, Luna's intuitive eyes already figured out where to gravitate.

In just a few seconds, they landed right into Apollyon's form.

Even with her eyes closed, she can still feel his presence due to his bright blue and gold aura in the midst of darkness, calling to her like a siren's song.

Apollyon was the north star her ship would have followed in a calm night of seafaring.

In that way, Luna knew which direction her head would turn and see him for herself.

She let out a breath, releasing all the tension in her body.

Her husband was easy to find as long as they are in the same room.

They were like the opposites of a magnet—a true fateful connection where one couldn't get out of no matter how many times one pushed away from the other.

There he was—her husband with his Prussian Blue eyes on her as their gazes met, boring holes into her form as Luna danced with the stranger in his black cape.

Luna smiled slowly, relieved at sight. There was even a slight happy skip in her dance steps which also increased her partner's enthusiasm.

The corner of Apollyon's lips curved upward in a smirk before he returned his attention to the beautiful lady in his arms when she asked her a question.

Luna was a bit amused when his smirk abruptly replaced into a straight line as he pressed his lips into a tight line, making himself unapproachable for her sake.

Apollyon knew she was watching them, and she appreciated her husband's cold and aloof protective shell to strangers.

She averted her gaze, or else she would burst into laughter.

This time, Luna wasn't jealous compared to the ruckus at the Ostara when the Princess of the Spring Courts kept claiming her husband will divorce Luna to be with her.

Like Lilith, that girl wasn't right in the head.

Apollyon and Luna had come a long way.

Her insecurity over Apollyon cheating on her was just a speck of dust in the hundreds of problems she had to deal with.

Honestly, she shouldn't mind if her husband decided to play around.

She would respect his decision and let him go.

A woman as powerful as her shouldn't chase a man—not even the man who belonged to her.

Men can chase her all they want.

She will not have to do anything to impress anyone.

She told Apollyon many times, yet he proved to her always that he wasn't a cheating husband.

"This is the second time I have asked if you are still in the same Realm with me." The Lord said again.

Luna glanced at his face so tan it must have been kissed by sunlight for too long.

His dark eyes were as sharp as blades as he inclined his head, watching her with intense scrutiny. "It looks like your mind have already wandered far from here."

"I apologize—" Frowning, Luna reminded herself that she must be careful not to get too lost in her own world. They might never know when the danger might make itself known. "I was just out of sorts, my lord." Luna reasoned out as she kept up the pleasant smile on her face. "Did you say something?"

He raised a dark, bushy eyebrow. "What?"

"I meant, did you tell me something and I wasn't paying attention?"

He shook his head. "Not at all." When the lord uttered, 'all,' it sounded like the word 'owl.' He had a unique accent Luna had never heard of before. "I will not initiate a small talk during a dance when the lady doesn't want to."

"I sincerely apologize."

"Now, you are apologizing twice." He replied with sensual elegance. "Please don't."

"No. I want to." Luna replied. From his detached scrutiny, she realized that it was just cold and empty flirtation—nothing else. "You might find me rude for ignoring you, my lord. I have a lot of things in my mind—"

"—and you were sorting them out." The lord finished for her. "You are a heavy thinker, my lady." A slow smile. "You shouldn't let that prevent you to have a great time during a celebration."

"You are right." She told him. "I don't know what to call a fine gentleman like you—"

Her dance partner chuckled darkly before he responded, "I am Lord Caspian. A marquess in the Summer Courts. I introduced myself earlier before the Vampire King allowed me to dance with his precious wife even if he didn't want to part with you."

Goddess!

She gave herself a mental slap in the forehead.

From her behavior, the Marquess might think that she had no ounce of respect in her peers as she had turned her nose up to the nobles who had a lower rank than her.

She couldn't even remember a simple introduction.

"I—" Luna decided to say it. "—apologize. I didn't mean to offend you, my lord."

Hopefully, the marquess would accept her apology, and they wouldn't get the wrong idea of her as the Vampire Realm's Empress.

Her reputation was already ruined as an evil Demon Conjurer in the Spring Courts.

She wasn't about to start here in the Summer Realms.

"I just heard you say the word 'Caelano'." Lord Caspian said casually.

Luna gasped, but she caught herself and made her face neutral.

"It must have bothered you."

'Did she said the harpy's name out loud?'

"That's a really ancient word, my lady." He added, "'Caelano' meant 'darkness'."