The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (BL)
Chapter 51 The Coronation

It all happened at lightning speed in the following days.

Duke Darius and his two cousins opened portals from three main exits of Emberton and allowed three different troops to come through on the day of celebration. While Dorian was attracting all the attention of the inner city guards to himself, Mahmound, Durchville, and The Guardians’ forces attacked the defending garrison and took them by surprise.

Witnessing Dorian’s display of Elder power, the people of Emberton and the defense army were greatly dazzled and intimidated, and once he breached the King’s famous protective rune and forced him into a coma, no one really wanted to fight him anymore.

Devina’s Ducas family tried to rally their allies to join forces in a siege of Emberton to “rescue the King and the Royal Concubine and arrest the traitor,” but not many of their allies were willing to risk their future to go against the Crown Prince, who had obviously been blessed by Azreal. And even their own soldiers were unnerved and demoralized as they all heard Dorian’s accusation and witnessed his power.

Besides, most people were sick of the unstopping war that Cosmo was so frantic about. And the royals and the government knew this would not last if they just kept burning money away for the invasions. After all, most people just wanted to live, whether they were vampires or humans.

Ducas’s forces were overpowered by more forces from other royal families within a week, and their leaders and most of the family members, including Archie Ashdown, were arrested and imprisoned in the Raven Tower.

Darius suggested that Dorian should be crowned as the new king immediately to stabilize the court and the country, and the priestesses from the Eternal Ten Temple were bustling preparing for the coronation.

The dawn before the coronation, Dorian descended to the nethermost dungeon of the Citadel and came to a heavily guarded door. The guards opened the locks for him and revealed a bleak stone chamber. The intricate runes and symbols covering the ground and the wall were created by shamans from The Guardians, forming the strongest magic confinement to trap an Apostle.

In the middle of the room was a stone altar covered in shaman incantations. And King Cosmo was laying on it, eyes wide open but covered with a layer of murky mist. His expression froze on something between fear, rage, and agony, and though his heart was still beating, he was completely immobilized.

Dorian slowly approached the altar and surveyed his father with layers of complex emotions. He had seized Cosmo’s mind and trapped him in an eternal nightmare. He could still sense and hear the world around him, but he couldn’t move nor communicate, trapped inside his own body and a tormenting long dream in which he would be visited by everyone he had wronged in his long life.

Dorian made sure his mother was the main visitor.

He hadn’t been so close to his father for so long that now, when he stared at Cosmo’s still handsome but ashen face, he felt he was a complete stranger. Cosmo had been warm and adoring of him when he was a child, but since when was it all lost?

How could a father grow to hate his own flesh and blood?

“How are you in there, father?” Dorian said artistically as he tentatively put the finger on his father’s cheek, feeling the sensation on his fingertip strange and alien.

“You know, I didn’t really want the throne before you killed mother. All I wanted was just...to compose songs. You made me who I am today, my dear father. And now, I will slaughter your favorite bitch, and exile your bastards to a life worse than death.

“This is not just revenge for mother, but also for myself...I’ve lost too much for this damn throne that I don’t even want.”

His own voice echoed in the chamber, drawn and hollow. Cosmo did not react, but Dorian knew he could hear his words. The old king was probably screaming in his nightmare. The thought satisfied and pained Dorian at the same time.

“I will be King at midnight,” Dorian lowered his body and whispered into Cosmo’s ear, “and you will be here for the rest of your life before you fall into hibernation. And then I will bury you somewhere deep in the earth, and no one will ever replace you. You will be rotting alone in the darkness until eternity ends.”

And then, Dorian left a kiss on Cosmo’s forehead, and left.

The court was buzzed with an underlying excitement, especially among the young nobles. Everyone knew that Dorian had come back from Esmore without his human consort. The Crown Prince never gave any official explanation, but many rumors and speculations were circulating around.

Some said that there was an accident. Some said King Cosmo hired assassins to get rid of the human consort to start the war. And some even suspected that Dorian left his consort in the desert so he could marry again. The main supporting evidence of the last was that Dorian showed no sign of sadness and shed no tears for the disappeared consort.

Regardless of the truth, the young ladies and lords of the aristocratic society began to bedeck themselves with various panoply and jewelry, trying to catch the soon-to-be-king’s attention. A wordless competition ensued before the coronation, and the court was brimmed with bright colors and dazzling beauties.

According to some hottest social media accounts and bloggers specializing in digging court gossip, General Osman’s daughter Emel was one of the hottest candidates. She was the prettiest woman in the younger generation, and many believed that she was the reason that Dorian didn’t punish Osman at all, although Osman ordered his soldiers to attack him at the celebration. By marrying her, Dorian could also gain support from all the families of Morrigan’s bloodline, which produced the strongest warriors throughout history.

Another potential candidate for the future Queen of Eternia was Lord Durchville’s youngest brother Caius Durchville, who was known for his seductive beauty and witchcraft talent. Since he was a witch, he had the ability to make himself pregnant despite his sex, and thus could produce heir for Dorian. Moreover, the Durchville family had always been one of Dorian’s strongest allies. It would make sense if Dorian wanted to fortify the relationship through marriage.

The two had expressed their admiration for Dorian on different occasions, and their families also had high expectations of them.

On top of that, some advisors suggested that Dorian should consider marrying a Werewolf omega prince or princess to strengthen their connection with The Guardians.

Of all the susurrations and rousing, none seemed to care that Dorian showed no interest in any of the amorous beauties in court. Perhaps Darius was the only one who knew about his grief. He understood that Dorian was merely functioning on autopilot and that he was slowly destroying himself inside. The Duke worried about his friend and King but could do nothing to alleviate the torment.

As midnight approached, the Throne Room was packed with gorgeously dressed aristocrats. The Werewolf ambassadors were astonished at all the pomp and ostentatious display of wealth and power.

When the bell rang and the stately organ music began to play, everyone fell silent.

Dorian appeared at the gate wearing the stately black velvet robe and the effulgent, ruby, diamond-decorated Imperial Golden Mantle. The long lower hem swept the red carpet. A sublime nimbus irradiated from him that dwarfed hundreds of resplendent crystal lights illuminated the palace.

Dorian’s eyes scanned across all the faces on both sides of the carpet and only felt numb. It was supposed to be the most glorious moment of his life, yet he only felt...empty and futile. His mother didn’t get to see this, and neither did Lucius. So what was the point of all of these?

But it was too late to stop. He destroyed his father, so now he had to shoulder responsibility for the fate of the whole country.

The Mistress of the Sacred Ten, the noblest Priestess of all the Elder Temples, stood before the throne. The Diadem of Thorns in her hands. It was a gloomy, forbidding crown with dark, sharp spikes and blood droplet rubies.

Dorian kneeled before her, listening to her singing praise to the Elders and the ancestors. And as she finished the long chanting and raised the crown over Dorian’s head, the nobility in the Throne Room and the people watching the coronation streaming held their breath.

But then, the giant gate was opened once more, and the long, creaking noise broke the absolute silence.

Everyone paused and looked over the entrance, and many exclaimed involuntarily in shock.

Hearing the commotion, Dorian also turned his head to inquire the source of the interruption. And then, his heart paused.

A young man stood at the entrance, looking slightly disheveled and wayfaring. His slightly messy strawberry blonde hair was tied into a loose half-up ponytail, and his delicate face was dusty and pale but still lively. His clothes were so ordinary that they were ill-fitting for the splendid coronation.

Yet, in Dorian’s eyes, he was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, making him forget how to breathe.

“Lu!”

The King forgot about the crown, the throne, and everything else in the world. One moment he was still in front of the throne, and the next second he was already at the other end of the hall, pulling the man everyone thought had died into his arms.

Lucius let Dorian embrace him. But he didn’t return it. He only glanced around and said with a slightly amused smirk, “So, I guess I am the ‘Queen’ now?”