The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (BL)
Chapter 38 Nothing Is What It Seems

Dorian didn’t expect half of the royal court to suddenly fall into chaos in the few hours while he was busy replying to emails, researching the Aslani Sanctuary, and reading some reports from Central Intelligence Order. And not even five minutes after he set foot out of his study, a servant rushed to him, saying one of his valets, a neophyte, was caught making out with Princess Loretta by none other than Lady Devina. The Lady was infuriated that a lowly Neophyte dared dream of touching her daughter.

Dorian had to rush to Devina’s apartment to settle the matter before anyone got killed. And before that was finished, two young viscounts were provoked for trivial rumors and fought like two mad dogs in the courtyard, and since not many neophyte guards dared to intervene in the fight of two apostles, Dorian had to go out to intercede.

Right after that, a clerk lost an important missive. And then, a secretary mistakenly sent a meeting summoning to one of the werewolf ambassadors one day earlier. Dorian had only half an hour to prepare for the misscheduled meeting and then had to spend the rest of the night in the meeting with them.

By dawn, Dorian was so exhausted that he slept in the lounge room adjacent to his study. And right before he fell asleep, he faintly wondered if the servants and personnel in the Citadel were competent enough to fulfill the most basic duties.

And none suspected a slave posing as a regular vampire servant by channeling the ruby ring’s magic.

It gave Florian a surge of satisfaction watching the whole court go topsy-turvy because of him. All he did was spread some rumor with some factual basis, let the right people hear the right words at the right time, mess up some documents and change a meeting set up when the secretary left for a cup of tea. He wished Lucius could see how he played all those blood-drinking monsters like fools.

And just as he was about to shake Lucius awake, the latter suddenly jolted and yelped in fright, “Dorian!”

Lucius had a nightmare. However, it was not about Silvan nor what he did and planned to do to him.

He dreamed of Dorian knowing about the blood and all the insidious plans behind it. The realization, the shock and the disbelief pierced Lucius’s heart, but none could compare to the hurt following after.

“How could you do this to me?” Dorian asked in wroth, and yet the light shattered in his eyes, and only a void remained.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry...” Lucius kept repeating the same apologetic words over and over, but it all sounded hollow and pale.

And the hurt gradually transmuted into desperation and then...hate. Such dark, excruciating hate and disgust that tore Lucius into a thousand pieces.

But it didn’t end there. Dorian opened his mouth again, but this time only blood came out. And as he blinked, two streams of blood tears oozed out of his eye socket and stained his sculptural cheeks.

“Are you happy now?” Dorian asked in a distorted voice.

“I did this to him.” Thought Lucius, “I hurt him. I killed him.”

How could he betray and hurt the man he loves?

And that was when he woke up, screaming his husband’s name. He bumped into another pair of arms, and he saw Florian’s worried face.

“Shh, it’s ok. You are ok.” Florian was holding his shoulder and speaking in a soothing tone, trying to calm him down, “it’s just a bad dream.”

“You are back.” Lucius collected himself, rubbing his cold sweat covered face, “how was everything?”

“It all went as planned. The Crown Prince slept in his study after an exhausting day.” Florian said sardonically and put the ruby ring into Lucius’s palm. He leaned in to take a better look of the wound.

Vampire venom had healing properties, making their bite less likely to be discovered in the older times when they would be hunted like animals by hunters. After one night, the swelling had subsided for most of the part, and the wound was much less visible than the previous day, almost like two tiny cinnabar moles.

“Here, eat something. I also brought you coffee.”

“Thank you! I’m starving.” Lucius took a big bite from the cheese croissant Florian bought him and burnt his tongue when gulping down the still hot coffee. Florian couldn’t help but laugh as Lucius panted and fanned his tongue pell-mell. He went to the kitchen counter to fill some cold water for Lucius and asked, “so, what’s your plan? Silvan is not stupid. He will replace out if you feed him outfight fake information.”

“I don’t have a plan yet...I worry that he didn’t tell me everything. He said the liaison who was supposed to pick up the blood never showed up, but how would I know if he was telling the truth?”

“But if he was indeed telling the truth, then Anthor must have known that you have been exposed.” Florian contemplated, “Do you think they will try to extricate you?”

Lucius scoffed bitterly, “they will more likely give up on me. There won’t be any help. We are on our own.”

Florian studied his expression curiously, “you don’t have much confidence in your country, do you?”

“I’m just being realistic,” Lucius replied morosely, “will you be able to get more information about whether there is some new prisoner in the Raven Tower?”

“I will ask our people to pay more attention,” Florian reassured.

Dorian smelled something off on Lucius the moment he met him at breakfast. Someone else’s scent was on his consort, though it was very faint, and he couldn’t discern whose scent it was.

“Did something happen yesterday?” Dorian asked with concern as his gaze lingered on Lucius’s high-collar sweater.

“Hm...not much, why?” Lucius said nonchalantly as he buttered his bread.

“Did someone attack you? I can smell it.” Dorian came around the table and reached toward Lucius’s collar. But Lucius caught his wrist.

“Alright, alright. It was just a neophyte guard in the garden. He probably was exposed to the sun for too long and was fainting. I was just passing by, so I gave him some blood to make him feel better.” He said with the most carefree tone as if it didn’t even merit attention.

Dorian stared at him in disbelief, “and you let him bite you on the neck?”

“Well, yeah?”

Anger flared in the depth of the Crown Prince’s dark irises. He seemed to want to yell at Lucius but held himself back, albeit barely, “you can’t just go around and voluntarily be people’s blood bag! How could you let him bite you? On the neck of all places!!”

Lucius seemed amazed by his temper, “come on, it was just a little blood. The wound was half gone already.”

“It’s not JUST a little blood! Have you learned nothing about our culture?” Dorian was so crossed that he had to turn to the other side, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

Lucius blinked several times, then chuckled amusedly, “are you jealous?”

Dorian’s shoulder froze a little. Then his stern voice came, “no I’m not!”

“Oh yeah, you are jealous.” Lucius rested his chin on his hand with a big grin, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would feel so strongly about it.”

“What did you expect?! That I praise your kindness?”

Lucius stood up and touched Dorian’s back, rubbing gently and suggestively, “I won’t do it again. I promise.” And then he leaned in and let his lips touch Dorian’s earlobe and whispered with a low, sensual voice, “my neck is yours and yours only, your highness.”

Lucius’s words slithered into Dorian’s ear, sending a shiver down the vampire’s spine. He tried to keep his angry face, but the anger was already melting away. And Lucius ventured even further, letting his hand slide into Dorian’s shirt and playfully brushed across one of the nipples, and Dorian’s breath hitched a little.

“Do you want to bite over it? Wash it clean?” Lucius asked seductively.

Dorian had the urge just to pull Lucius into his arms and erase that fading scent from him by replacing it with his own scent, but he also didn’t want to risk Lucius losing too much blood. He said in a husky voice, “are you trying to distract me?”

“Am I succeeding?“Lucius snickered.

“Perhaps a little.” Dorian turned his head, sniffed Lucius’s skin, and purred deep in his throat like a cat, “but I still have something to discuss with you about our belated honeymoon.”

“What about it?”

“Some people believe that leaving now is an act of surrender. That I am giving up my position in court.”

“Wouldn’t that be good for us?”

“Indeed. Unfortunately, some other people suspect we have some secretive agenda.”

Lucius stopped his little attempt of “distraction” and leaned against the table’s edge, “does Lady Devina and her sons belong to the second group?”

“I believe so.” Dorian was a little disappointed that Lucius stopped, but he continued, “in the council meeting, Archie said to one of the ambassadors that I am running back to my mother’s relatives for help. And then Silvan said something strange to me, too.”

Lucius’s heart rose to his throat, “what did he say?”

“He was wishing me a good honeymoon, but then he said to me: regretfully, nothing is what it seems, isn’t it?”

Lucius knew it was Silvan’s way of warning him. To show him that he had his throat and could end him anytime. And it made Lucius’s blood boil.

That snake!

Did he really think he could control Lucius so easily? Just how helpless and timid that younger prince took him to be?

However, it was also his chance. Just as Dan used to tell him, the more they underestimated him, the easier he could win this game.

Lucius bit his lips briefly as an idea gradually formed in his mind.

“Do you trust me, Dorian?” The consort asked gravely.

Two days later, Lucius received a message from an unknown number twenty minutes after Dorian left for a meeting after dinner. It said: the dead baron’s room, 15 mins.

The dead baron’s room was a nickname people gave to King Cosmo’s ex-concubine, Baron Ambrose’s chamber. He was King Cosmo’s favorite for over a century and was believed to be one of the capricious king’s true loves, even though he was a neophyte. For some unknown reason, he committed suicide in his chamber, burning himself alive with half of the west wing. The rest of the west wing was repaired shortly after, but King Cosmo never allowed anyone to touch that room.

Some vampires believed the room was haunted by Baron Ambrose’s ghost, and most didn’t want to be anywhere close to it.

Lucius showed up in the chamber on time. The once florid paintings on the wall and the glamorous gilt trims were all consumed by fire and left murky and moldy vestiges behind. And Lucius could still smell the burnt wood particles in the air.

“You should try on some color other than white. I think red suits you better.” A leisurely and joyful voice broke the stillness. Lucius closed his eyes, steadied himself briefly, and turned to face his tormentor.

Silvan strolled across the room. His eyes lingered on his neck, where the bite mark was barely visible, and a complacent smile was on the corner of his lips.

“I will not let you do that again.” Lucius warned coldly, “and I don’t care if you decide to tell people what you think you know.”

“Hm, suddenly not so scared, are we?” Silvan smirked, “then why do you bother to come?”

“I come because you also don’t want to expose me yet.”

“And why is that?”

Lucius returned a sardonic smile at him, “The main reason the King is displeased with Dorian now is me. If you expose that I am a threat to national security, then Dorian will have to divorce me and rescind the treaty, and guess what? He will be daddy’s favorite son again.”

Silvan laughed loudly and clasped his hands, “I like you a little more every time we meet.”

“I, on the contrary, like you a little less every time we meet recently.” Lucius said dryly, “anyway. I believe we can benefit each other in certain ways, which is why I came. But you need to treat me with respect, or I’m out of here.”

Silvan sat himself in an armchair elegantly, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it up with a match, “alright, I agree to your term, only because I don’t want to see your pretty little head end up on a pike. That would be a waste.”

Lucius exhaled and slightly relaxed. He had hidden a silver dagger in his jacket, but luckily he seemed to have no need to use it this time.

“So...” Silvan puffed a perfect circle of smoke into the dusty air, “why are you two going to Esmore?”

“Didn’t you hear? We didn’t have a chance to go on a honeymoon when we married, so...”

“You ask me to treat you with respect, then you should do the same.” Silvan warned menacingly, “if you are going to give me bullshit like this, I may reconsider my options.”

Lucius bit on his lower lip for a long moment, but eventually, he gave in.

“He wants to go back to the Aslani family’s sanctuary,” Lucius sighed and answered in capitulation, “he wants to replace Asmodian.”