The Duke's Passion

Chapter 316 - [Bonus ]The Best Is Yet To Come

"And here I was wondering what had taken you so long, my duchess!" Zero exclaimed as soon as I entered the drawing room. "Turns out you dressed up! I might assume you did all this for me!"

"You don't have to assume, Your Majesty." I smiled, tilting my head a little before taking the chair across from him. "I dressed up for your eyes to see."

"Goodness, are you seducing me?"

"Well, if I can charm you, why not?" I raised a brow, smirking coquettishly. "You are not a bad partner, after all."

Zero chuckled once again, leaning back, legs over the other, while his arm was on the armrest. "Your flirting had improved. I guess this is one of the skills you had honed in a mere seven months."

"That mere seven months for you is already a long time for me, Your Majesty," I replied almost instantly, leaning back and raised my chin. "The problem with vampires is, they have a lot of time to waste. That is why humans' progress is fast because we need to make the most out of our short lives."

"Make sense." He nodded approvingly. "Humans always fascinate me."

"They do?" my already arched brow raised, even more, seeing that he grinned.

"I will correct it. You always fascinate me." His grin stretched even wider before he took his leg from the other, leaning in with his arms on his thigh. "It was amazing how you got so much power in the span of seven months, and uncovered secrets that no one knew."

He narrowed his eyes. "Just how? Is there some sort of secret? Or were you just naturally cunning?"

"Secret? Well, I was…" I paused deliberately, studying his expression, and noticed the menacing glint flickering across his eyes. "… bored, Your Majesty. You see, to cope up with my husband's death, I had to think a lot and move a lot, or else I might go insane from the sadness."

"Haha." Zero chuckled, but this time, it sounded threatening. "Your Grace, I do not appreciate that I am being used as a mere entertainment."

"Well, I didn't mean to." I shrugged nonchalantly as my eyes drooped, indulging in the dangerous aura he exuded. "But alas, I probably had fallen in love with you, since I can't get you out of my head. So, I tried to catch your attention."

"How sweet, my fiance." He let out a brief scoff, gazing down while shaking his head lightly. "Where is he?"

Zero raised his head, and his usual playful expression was gone. That was more like it, Zero. Now he was showing me his irked expression with eyes burning with madness.

'Hah! I love it!'

I took a deep breath, pressing my lips together as I averted my eyes away. "I don't know what you are talking about, my fiance."

"Lilou." He stretched his neck in a circular motion, closing his eyes as if trying to suppress his anger. "I didn't become a king for no reason. Don't mess with me."

"Goodness, what's the rush? Am I keeping you bored?" I pouted, unfazed by the alarming aura suspending the inbound breeze.

"You don't want me to become your enemy, my fiance," Zero warned in a low and menacing tone. "There is also a limit of how much I play. Don't push your luck too far."

"Fine!" I rolled my eyes and let out a heavy exhale. "I will take you to him."

*****

As promised, I escorted Zero to an underground prison. Holding a lamp in my hand, we stayed silent as he walked down the steep stairs.

"Please do not misunderstand, Your Majesty," I said, breaking the silence as we came near to a certain prison cell. "I merely kept him here, so he doesn't run away. It is so dangerous outside. I had to protect him, you know."

"Shut your nonsense."

"Pfft—!" I pressed my lips together, suppressing the hysterical laughter that was tempting to escape my mouth. "I just don't want you to misunderstand."

He said nothing anymore after that as we walked in silence once again. Soon, I stopped in front of the prison cell, moving the lamp close to the metal bars that brought light to the person inside.

"You…" Zero ground his teeth as the veins in his temple protruded. He fixed his eyes on the person locked up inside with hands bound by a chain on either side and a chain around his neck. My prisoner was in a terrible state, as there was not a single area of his body that wasn't bruised and wounded.

"He is quite wild, you see," I muttered, making the prisoner inside raise his head. He was barely recognizable with that mangled faced of his. It nearly moved me to tears!

"Your Majesty…" the prisoner's voice was rasped, letting everyone know he barely had a drink.

"You!" Zero faced me, his eyes bloodshot as he immediately grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. "I will kill you!"

He seethed, fangs growing as his grip around my neck tightened. I couldn't breathe, but alas, I laughed hysterically. It wasn't a fake laugh. I was truly gleeful as seeing Zero lose it was worth it.

"Oh, Zero!" I coughed in between my waves of laughter. "The best is yet to come! Hahaha!"

This time, his grip tightened even more, as if to silence the echoing chuckles across the underground prison. 'Yes! Kill me, Zero! Because I'm just starting!' I grinned maniacally as I felt suffocated not long after.

"Your *cough* Maje… ty." Zero snapped his eyes as he turned his head back to the prison cell, letting me go abruptly. As soon as he dropped me, I gasped for air, groping my neck as I nearly died. Goodness, what a crazy experience.

"Tristan, why —" His breath hitched as he immediately squatted down, holding my shoulder as he glared at me. "What did you do to him?"

I didn't reply immediately as I gasped for air, coughing while he rocked me. "Lilou Bloodfang, what did you do to my son?!"