The Duke's Passion

"I'm afraid it is not the ninth prince who will stop you tonight, My Lady." 

"Fabian." I ground my teeth as I shifted my eyes to him. "What is the meaning of this?"

The light from the sconce hit his face, revealing the bloodstain all over him. He was wiping his hand covered in blood with a handkerchief, his eyes on me.

"My lady, you need to come with me. I had cleared the way on the way here, but the royal knights will soon come and drag you with them." Fabian informed me calmly. "I know you can fight them on your own, but His Grace said he will meet you on the east border. It will be more troublesome to get rid of them."

Silence enveloped us as neither of us talked. Fabian only stared back at me without emotions in his eyes.

"If you truly trust His Grace, you should come with me, my lady," Fabian uttered solemnly. "Please, Your Grace."

My breathing constricted as this felt like an indirect way of telling me to run to save my own skin. "I… trust Sam, Fabi." My voice shook as I took a deep breath, my heart heavy. "But don't you all trust me?"

Silence was their answer. Leaving without Sam was the hardest decision they had asked me to do.

"I am his ride or die and I won't forgive you two… no, I won't forgive this world if something happened to him." I stared at Fabian and then at Yul. "If something happened to Sam, there is no way I can trust any of you anymore."

"Nothing will happen, Your Grace. I assure you that." He looked at me, nodding reassuringly. "His death also means my death."

That was right. Fabian only lived this long because Sam's blood was sustaining his life — the complicated bond of human and vampire blood. 

"Lead the way." I jerked my chin up, swallowing as hard as I could as I balled my hand into a fist.

Fabian bowed and then shifted his attention to Yul. "How about you, ninth prince?" 

"I will… assist Hell." Yul only cast Fabian a brief look before he set his eyes on me. "I will make sure he will come to you no matter what."

He reached his hand to mine, squeezing it as his eyes spoke a thousand words. "Now go."

"Follow me, my lady." Fabian beckoned and started walking. I followed him and glanced back at Yul. 

He offered me a weak smile and waved. I knew Yul would lay his life to fulfill his words. Maybe this request from Sam pained him just the way it hurt me. Yul trusted me and my capabilities, after all. 

"Just so you know, Fabian. I never ask to be protected." I uttered coldly, eyes glinting as I hastened my pace. "I can fight on my own."

Fabian glanced at me as I walked to his side. "I know, my lady, that's why I am not doing it."

"You're not doing it?" I scoffed. "If you're not protecting me, then what do you call this?"

He didn't speak anymore, and I assumed it was because he couldn't argue with me. However, after a minute of silence, Fabian spoke under his breath.

"It might be the opposite, my lady." He cast me a side-eye, nonchalant. "Instead of shielding you, have you ever thought I might be throwing you on fire?"

My eyes studied his solemn expression before setting my eyes ahead. "Throw me anywhere and I'll be alright."

"I figured… we all know that, my lady."

*****

On the other side of the palace, Samael was humming a tune, waltzing through the hallway while his finger compassed each note. The scream and yell, blood splatting and hisses, echoed faintly in his ear as he strutted his way towards the inner palace.

"Hell." 

Samael stopped upon hearing the voice behind him. The corner of his lips curled up into a smirk as he turned around, facing his brother squarely.

"Hanzel." His eyes drooped with amusement as their eyes met. "I didn't expect you will be the first person to show up."

"You've finally done it, Hell." Hanz hissed as his fangs let themselves known. "Now, there is no reason not to kill you."

"Kill me?" Samael cackled, rocking his finger up. "You talk big, my little brother."

*BOOM!*

Samael raised a brow upon hearing a loud explosion not far away. Hanz didn't falter as he narrowed his eyes, knowing that a fire broke out somewhere in the palace.

"Do you think you can get away from this, Hell? This act of treason… oh boy, I am looking forward to seeing how you will look like while being hanged and burned alive in the gates of the palace." Hanz sneered as his eyes glinted with malice. 

"You sound confident, I like it, Hanzel." Samael nodded in satisfaction, and then raised his eyes and fixed them on Hanz. "But alas, you are not the person who will kill me."

"I, alone, can't kill you, but even so, your end had been set on stone." 

"My death… a weak person like you will never understand." Samael let out a shallow breath as he gazed at him in pity. "How I will die and when I will die, or who will kill me is my choice, but you, Hanzel… you can never negotiate on those terms because you are so weak it breaks my heart."

"Tch. That tongue of yours is surely an expert in agitating people." Hanz scorned as he snapped his tongue. "As I've said, I can't kill you, but I will surely cut that venomous tongue of yours."

Suddenly, their surroundings shut into silence, making Samael arch a brow. It was as if they had entered a different realm, but still looked like the same place.

"You can create illusion domains now?" Samael mused, a little surprised at this level up in Hanz's ability. A few clones of Hanz appeared one after another, surrounding him.

"Oh, no. One Hanzel is already annoying. What more if there are ten of you? Is this your tactic? To annoy me to death? That's smart, I must say!" 

"Hah! I wonder for how long will you stay arrogant?" Hanz and his clones uttered in chorus, making Samael sigh dejectedly.

"Oh, Hanzel. I give up." Samael raised both his hands as a gesture of surrender. "I can't humor you tonight as this brother of yours had better things to do."

Upon saying his piece, Samael pivoted on his heel, turning around as he marched away. This made Hanz cackle in disdain, eyes glinting before one of his clones bolted towards Samael.

A smirk appeared on Samael's lips as he felt the clone coming close to him. However, that didn't faze him as he continued in his stride calmly.

"Die, Hell, die!" the clone yelled through his gritted teeth, revealing two anelaces as he thrust it towards him.

"Keep your fucking voice down." A voice came in, blocking the attack as he stood behind Samael. "It's past your bedtime, Hanz, just sleep."

"Tch. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Samael chuckled as he continued to walk away, waving. "A battle of who is more annoying… good luck, Klaus."

"I'm not doing this for you, Hell." Klaus grinned as his crimson eyes burned with thrill, as if an opportunity finally opened up for him to do this. "This is for Lucia, Hanzel."