Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Chapter 137

Kath’tan whipped around at the Vampire’s words, staring at Asael. "Don’t give it to him." He grumbled, knowing that his words would fall on deaf ears.

No one had hindered him when he had lured Dulce into getting drunk and Ruoxi hadn’t interfered in Asael’s foul play with his shadows. But he was still disgruntled, jealously pricking at his heart.

Asael pretended not to hear him, placing down the emptied jar of wine in his hand. He generously procured the ball of shadows once more, the darkness yet to dissipate from his eyes.

Kath’tan ground his jaw and said nothing more, his dark red hair was in a half knot, less inclined to bind it up after spending time with his mother. He stubbornly remained seated even after Dulce’s request was granted.

Asael shrugged off his overcoat and took one of the last few jars of wine, paying little attention to Dulce.

The Vampire started out tame, careful to only lightly poke the ball and let it hover right in front of his face. But it was only a matter of time before he lost his inhibitions again and cradled the ball, resting his face on it.

Kath’tan stared unblinkingly at Dulce’s antics, it was a side of the Vampire he had never seen before. Asael though looked unfazed, like he had already been privy to it.

Dulce’s interests were frivolous and simple but this playful side of him was unexpected, it was almost childlike.

He watched the Vampire closely the entire time, committing the scene to memory but he still couldn’t say exactly how he got tangled.

Kath’tan looked on in bewilderment as Dulce ended up in an even worse position, his knees bound in a bent position, the shadow rope binding his upper arms to his body.

Asael calmly sipped wine next to him, the epitome of composure. The Shadow Demon stared placidly into the wine jar, and took another leisurely drink.

Kath’tan finally shot to his feet, he hadn’t progressed beyond chaste kisses and that was all his own doing. Enduring such torment did him no good, instead, he should better focus on how to further their relationship.

Asael’s dark gaze flicked to the side when Kath’tan rose to his feet, surprised to see the Fiend admit defeat.

"Are you going to sleep?" Dulce’s clear voice filled the silent room.

Kath’tan paused and looked over his shoulder, the Vampire’s foolishness hadn’t improved so why did the intensity of his hunger only increase? He continued on to the door without another word, deciding not to be outdone.

The shadow rope started to shrink as Dulce spoke up, or at least, that was what he thought. Unaware that the shadows were manipulated by the Demon quietly sitting next to him.

He stared up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, resigned to his fate. He knew this was the outcome, yet it didn’t stop him from indulging in trying to tear the shadows apart, stretching it out until it turned sticky again.

To his surprise, the constriction didn’t cause discomfort or panic, but eventually he would have to go to Asael for help or risk getting his body sliced through. He was unwilling to though, because that would mean returning the ball of shadows.

Asael finally turned to the Vampire, staring at him almost absentmindedly, holding a jar of wine. How dissatisfying that his clothes were in the way...

"Do you need my help?" He broke the genial silence, his intentions far from pure.

"Do you mind?" Dulce asked hastily when the other held out a green branch.

Muddled as his thoughts were from the lotus wine, he still remembered to be self-conscious about his treatment of what had to be an important part of the Demon.

"Helping?" Asael asked simply.

Dulce looked away, his gaze blanking out as he tried to verbalize his thoughts. "No, does this hurt?" He asked instead, the question doing little justice to what he actually wanted to know.

Asael glanced down at his shadows constricting tight enough to leave marks in the Vampire’s skin through his clothes. His gaze grew shuttered and he fell silent.

It could... It could hurt.

"No," He said instead, keeping his turbulent thoughts to himself. "So do you need my help?"

"Can I keep the shadows for a while if you do?" Dulce asked plainly, unrestricted.

Asael’s lips lifted in a smile, "And if it happens again?"

Dulce thought about it, it was a slow laborious process but he still didn’t make much progress, unable to come up with a response.

Asael lifted a hand and brought the Vampire closer, the shadows obeying his will. Dulce just slightly hovered over the sofa, made to sit on his bound knees next to Asael.

The Shadow Demon lightly touched the bonds but instead of unraveling, they only tightened. He should have released the Vampire as soon as he had gotten tangled, he shouldn’t have repeated his actions.

Because now, he couldn’t go back from this, forgetting his abhorrence of risks in the heat of the moment.

"How greedy are you, Dulce?" He asked in a low voice.

Demonic tones were unnatural, it vibrated down one’s spine and rattled their ribcages.

Dulce blinked myopically at the Demon, seeming confused. "Maybe a little too much." He said lucidly, aware of what he was being asked.

Asael was greedy; he was greedy, selfish and disloyal, but despite all that he never got the chance to indulge himself. Several decades of isolation and working hard to prove himself, and he was no different from the scarred child wandering the black fields.

But with Dulce, for a moment, the dense void in his chest lightened. How apt, that he was drawn to someone who was the exact opposite of him, selfless and generous, Dulce couldn’t be further apart from him.

The bonds around the Vampire unraveled and returned to their previous shape, the ball floating next to him.

Asael’s gaze dropped to the Vampire’s neck, dark red lines crisscrossing that slender throat. "Be in an intimate relationship with me," He said bluntly, a smile playing at his lips.

He knew the true meaning of greed, the kind that consumed and left nothing behind. Darkness swirled in his eyes, his hands clenched by his side. "Tell me your answer tomorrow." He continued before the Vampire could speak.

He already knew what Dulce’s response would be, but he wanted the Vampire’s agreement without duress.

Asael sat back and sipped at the last dredges of wine, looking away from Dulce who still knelt next to him for a short while.

The Vampire didn’t linger long and soon returned to entertaining himself with the shadows, saying nothing.

Asael sat in the silence, seeing Dulce go back to stretching out the ball of shadows from the corner of his eyes. This time, they didn’t turn sticky so he wasn’t tied up, instead he tested the limits of the strange material until he was satisfied.

He glanced over when the Vampire settled down, finding him curled around the ball, his eyes closed, unconscious. He wrenched his gaze away, rising to his feet.

He focused on cleaning up the empty jars of wine while his shadows took the drunk Vampire to his bed.

Asael hadn’t thought about his childhood home in forever, Noctyrn was a gloomy military stronghold, the rules absolute. His request of Dulce would have been met with severe punishment.

But he was already a Shadow Assassin, there was no greater crime than that.

He lingered in the Vampire’s room until morning came, the marks on his skin long faded by sunrise.

Dulce woke up still cradling the ball that Asael had left with him all night. The Vampire contritely got off the bed and walked over to him with it in his arms, his entire self disheleved.

The scent of sultry lotus wine still clung to him as he approached, his hair undone. "I-"

"Is that an answer to my request?" Asael cut him off, knowing that the Vampire was about to apologize.

"I... yes, I will." Dulce corrected himself.

The ball floated out of his hold, Asael absorbing the roiling shadows into his inky skin. "Go clean up, it’ll soon be time for the journey to resume."

Dulce went off to do as he was told and when he came out, his room was empty. He hadn’t expected Asael to let him cling to his shadows all night - how childish. Perhaps he should keep his distance from delicacies from Huayuan. He could still enjoy wine without getting drunk, because he feared that if he did, he would go right to the Shadow Demon to ask for the ball.

The journey resumed shortly after the sun rose, they were leaving Alderth and traveling to Mistfall. They were finally on the last leg of their journey, it would take a little under a week to get to Fairwyn, and Fairwyn to the edge of the east was only a few days journey.

When he had set out from Dewmire, he hadn’t expect the journey to take him so far. Traveling to another kingdom was one thing but he hadn’t expected to have to completely leave the west.