The Duke's Passion

I turned around after giving Bey and Law a smile, facing Zero and Fabian. The latter was not smiling, but he wasn't retaliating against the sword pointing at his neck. Fabian was just standing there, holding my gaze with those sharp eyes. 

"I'm sorry, Fabi," I apologized under my breath. 

"It's not your fault. I didn't realize hurting that person also put the young master at risk. I deserve death." The side of Fabian's lips stretched into a smile until his eyes squinted. "It was a long life, but the last months are worthwhile."

"Butler, are you dying?" Zero cocked his head to the side with a playful smirk. 

"Well, you wouldn't let me off, will you?" Fabian glanced at him leisurely with the same smile. 

My eyes drooped until they were partially closed, staring at Fabian's demeanor. "Can you not kill him?" I asked under my breath.

"He needs to die." Stefan's reply was cold and emotionless, leaving me with no room for negotiation. 

Fabian set his eyes back to me. "Lilou, it's not your fault. We both fought until the end, but we didn't see this turn of events. Don't blame yourself and... I won't die."

I choked when Fabian called my name. That was the second time he called me by my name, making me recall his words back when he first asked me if he could call me by my name alone. 

If I wanted Sam's safety, I had to take part in these wicked games with a heart of steel; to sacrifice, to move on, and never look back. Those were his words. Was this his way of telling me I shouldn't bat an eye at his death?

"What nice parting words," Zero simpered before his hand went through Fabian's back through his chest. My eyes landed on the hand that was holding Fabian's heart.

Blood instantly dripped from the corner of Fabian's smiling lips while my eyes blurred with tears that instantly rolled down my cheek. 'Fabian...' I whispered before Zero pulled his hand back, and Fabian dropped to his knees with a hole in his chest.

"Mister Fabian!!" Law cried out, and I heard Bey stop him from rushing towards us. "Mister Fabian!! Mister Fabian!!"

"Head Butler!" 

Everyone called for Fabian with desperation and sadness in their voice. Law was the loudest I could hear, as my son seemed to throw a huge fit. 

"Lakresha," I whispered, and I felt the shroud return to my hand. It didn't return to being a necklace, but it became a pendant. They said that once a bearer of a divine weapon had no will to fight or stopped fighting altogether, the weapon would mean nothing. So this pendant... was what left in Lakresha. 

This small pendant was what was left of my fighting spirit. 

I felt a finger wipe the tears that were rolling down my cheek, but I ignored it. My eyes were fixed on Fabian's back as he lied down on the concrete. 

"How sad," Zero commented as he dropped the heart nonchalantly. "Don't worry. The rebels will retreat soon, so I'm certain a lot of your people are still alive! That's good news!"

I glanced at Zero and caught the devious grin plastered on his face. He was enjoying my sorrow at losing a good friend. No, deep down, I knew the second I yielded, Fabian would die. But I still did because between Law and Fabian, I chose my son. 

I was the one who killed Fabian, and he knew that. And yet, he told me not to blame myself. 

"Pathetic," I whispered as a ridiculing chuckle slipped past my lips. "I'm pathetic."

Stefan gazed to my side. "Did that make you sad?"

"Yes. I feel like I'm dying."

"That's good," he hummed with disinterest. "Do you hate me?"

"More than anyone in the world."

Stefan chuckled briefly. "Then, that's even better. There's no greater joy for me, knowing you will have to stay beside someone whom you hate the most."

"Hah... so that's what hell is like," I muttered as I just stood there, closing my eyes to take a deep breath. "I'll kill you, Stefan. You will not have a single night or day where you will not have to look over your shoulder."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

I slowly opened my eyes and glanced at him. He cast me a side-eye, still bearing a poker face. 

"I love you," he said with a straight face out of nowhere, but that didn't make my heart flutter, nor did it seem he felt abash by saying those words. It was like saying something unimportant, as both of us didn't react to it. 

I peeled my eyes away from him. "I know," I replied before turning my head back to see Law weeping while Bey was embracing him to stop him. 

"I had always known you love me, Lexx. And it's something I won't doubt. But..." My eyes flickered with bitterness at the sight of my grieving son. "... not all love is right."

"Right... you said in the past, that if hurting you don't hurt me... then it's not love,"

"You remembered..."

"I always remember everything, Lilou." I turned my head to him at his remarks, only to see him looking at me. "It's smart of you to yield. Even if you manage to kill Zero or even if I didn't force a blood contract with your son, it's futile. This empire... will cease to exist."

"Is that a prediction?"

"It's the absolute future."

I gazed at him and chuckled, but didn't respond anymore. Although I didn't deem his claims as delusion, I didn't also doubt it. If Stefan would claim such a thing, then that also meant there were more powerful people involved. Was he talking about the people from the mainland? 

Beatrice told me in the past about those vampires on the mainland vying to expand their territories. If five years ago they approached Stefan, then that would make sense that he vanished without a trace.

"I am pathetic and so were you, Lexx," I whispered while staring at him. "Our greed... is why we're both dead inside."

Stefan didn't reply and just gazed at me. He didn't argue, and that meant he accepted this fact. He and I... were just beings who were walking corpses, causing misery to each other. But that was what he wanted. For the two of us to fall in the pits of fiery hell where we both belong. 

"Let's go, Lilou."