The Duke's Passion

"Don't speak my name using her lips," Stefan warned as he shoved her back and she hopped a meter, still smiling at him. "Lakresha."

Lilou smiled brightly, aggravating Stefan even more. Lilou would never smile so brightly that gave off such a menacing aura. She's not like that, at least not from his memory.

"Apologies, Your Majesty. Please, forgive me this time." Her tone was light, gesturing a bow as she apologized. "I didn't mean to look through the missing years of her life."

She glanced to the side to see new figures appearing, one after another. "Silvia."

"Lilou," Silvia called under her breath, scrutinizing her from head to toe, confirming there's absolutely wrong with Lilou. 

Dominique, who was also gazing at Lilou, slowly balled his hands into a fist. "Lakresha, what think you're doing?"

"Hehe!" Lilou giggled almost gleefully as she linked her hands behind her, skipping her steps to the stairs, and plopped down on the throne. 

"Insolence!" Hanz exclaimed when he snapped to his senses. "How dare you sit on the throne?"

"You're so silly, Hanz. You can just turn around if you don't want the sight of me sitting here." Lilou shook her head, playing with the knife with its point on the armrest and her finger on its butt.

"My legs hurt, so I want to sit since you all came to talk to me." 

Her eyes glossed over the faces of the royalty standing below her, causing the corner of her lips to curl. What a sight to behold, she thought. No wonder everyone would fight to death for a stool. 

"Lakresha, aren't you a bit too bold?" Dominique scowled as he disliked their situation, but none of them even tried to stop her on her way to the throne. They all just stood there, watching how she skipped her steps until she sat down. 

Silvia glanced at her siblings before shifting it back at Lilou. "Your Majesty, you don't know this, do you?"

"I just confirmed it," Stefan replied after his long silence. 

During his spar with Samael, he had finally put the piece together. Samael's reaction and replies just confirmed them, but it was already too late. 

"Lakresha," Dominique called out solemnly. "Why the hell does the scent of her blood smell like those people?"

Lilou chuckled coldly as she rested her leg over the other. "Your Highness, don't you have a better question?"

"Why!" Dominique's voice thundered as his eyes glinted. "Why do I smell the blood of the Bloodfang clan from her?"

Silence dawned upon them as Dominique's voice echoed. Not a single soul spoke as the royalties stared at Lilou, who was also staring back at them with nonchalance.

After some time, the end of silence finally came with a disappointing answer, shrouded with indifference.

"Do I?" Lilou tilted her head to the side. "For the inferior purebloods to bide their time, for their blood to continue, they had sacrificed their lives for fresh and purer blood. How disappointing it is to know you found out immediately."

"Is this the reason Lara sacrificed her life? So that Lilou can wield you, Lakresha, once Hell wakes up from his slumber?" Dominique seethed in rage at the thought of Lara, the previous owner of Lakresha, the late clan leader of the La Crox, and also the woman he admired, dying because she opposed Stefan that much. 

He couldn't think of anything other than that. Those Bloodfangs strongly opposed Stefan's succession to the throne and revolted. Since the Crawfords and the Bloodfang had a long history together and in good terms, it was possible they're together in this.

After all, those two clans would rather support someone who was as revolting as Samael instead of Stefan. This conclusion made sense, but why did Samael agree to it?

'But to think Lilou is born in Grimsbanne, where the Bloodfangs took shelter and died… how did we not see that Hell is not just marrying a mere human?' Dominique panted. 

"Your Highness," Lilou muttered as her eyes fell on Dominique. "When you look at her eyes, doesn't she remind you of someone?" Pointing at her olive eye that was on a lighter shade of someone he was very familiar with.

Lara.

Their silence and grim expression made Lilou nod in satisfaction. Good, that they're finally catching on.

"Of course! Why would my master sacrifice her life just to anyone?" Lilou clapped to snap them back from their trance. "So, even if it's rude of me to borrow my master's body, I had to."

Lilou gazed at every single one of them once again before she warned, "Touch her, and I will kill you." stressing each word so they'd understand.

Her eyes fell on Hanz who Lilou bore a grudge with three months ago. He's lucky to still live, but Lakresha, who was now controlling Lilou, would kill him if he ever tried to harm her again. Because right now, Lilou was still weak. Lakresha only had to put on a show — even if it strained Lilou's body a little — because of Samael's unstable state.

"By now…" Lilou trailed off as tilted her head, looking up at the person who threw the sword at her and grazed her cheek. 

"The cursed man, Fabian." 

Half of Fabian's face was covered with a black shadow that even his right sclera turned dark. Like a demon who crawled his way out from the pits of hell.

"Really… Hell's people just do whatever they want," Hanz scoffed in ridicule as they watched the other spawn of hell entering the throne room.

"Lakresha, Maleficent says hello," Fabian smirked menacingly, ignoring the royalty as he kept his eyes on Lilou. His earlier restraint was gone as he smiled, anticipating a good spar with her with life at stake.

"Shall we —" Fabian halted abruptly as a hand held his head. "Rufus, just when I was about to greet a long-time friend." He complained as Rufus' would crush his skull if he clenched his hand a little more.

"Do you think I'll go easy on you again?" Rufus reminded him before raising his gaze towards the throne and glance at the royal family. "We're late because of you, Fabian. But someone seems he had run late as well."

Just as Rufus dropped those words, a loud crash from the ceiling deafened their ears. Rumbles and dust immediately smoked up and when it subsided, all they've seen was Samael's back.

His foot on either side of the armrest of the throne, his hand holding the chair's high back, crouching down as he faced Lilou.

"Found you."