Chapter 235

Chapter 235: Chapter 235

Dulce’s expression was composed but his skin betrayed him, heat rising up to the surface. There was no reason to humor the Demons, and in the same vein, there was no reason not to.

It meant nothing to him anyway and in a year, they would be gone and he wouldn’t have to cater to their whims anymore.

"We did," He agreed flippantly, looking up at the Demon with disinterest.

Ruoxi’s heart lurched in his chest, there was a flush to the Vampire’s cheeks but his silver blue eyes were so cold. How ironic that Dulce could be so cruel only when he had a heart.

Dulce slipped out of his hold and walked over to his wardrobe with the crowd in his room. This was their normal state of being after all, most of their time together had been spent in this manner, with all four Demons crowding his room.

"Let’s go fishing together tomorrow," Asael spoke up as he took out a set of night robes.

He wasn’t in a hurry to collect what the High Coven of the North owed him, and with the current matter at hand mostly resolved, there was little else to be done.

"Alright," He accepted, the air growing tenser the more agreeable he was.

Dulce walked over to the vanity table with an armful of clothes, laying them over the backrest of the carved wooden chair. He then got started on the buttons of his waistcoat like he wasn’t with company.

The tension in the air crackled as he took off his waistcoat and then got started on the buttons of dress shirt. The dark red dress shirt came off as well, revealing his shoulders and then a swathe of his slender back.

His unbound hair was like spun gold, it covered the sigils that ran down his back. The elegant lines seemed to be carved into skin by magic, they were a light gold, barely visible on his pale skin.

A night robe soon covered up the revealed skin, so when Dulce took off his pants, he was already wearing a robe. After changing into a set of comfortable nightwear, soft, cotton pants underneath his belted robe, he turned around.

Although Dulce allowed the Demons to linger in his bedroom, he didn’t address them. Slippers encased his feet as he walked across the wooden floor, passing by Demon after Demon without a change in expression.

He left his bedroom and beelined for the kitchen, a solemn line of Demons trailing after him.

"Lord Montesserat," The cook startled at the sight of him, "Was there something you needed?"

"Wine." He said shortly, although he had come to the kitchen in person, he waited for the cook to hurry to the storeroom to retrieve a carafe of wine.

"Would my lords care for wine as well?" The cook addressed the Demons, already familiar with them.

Dulce had already taken his jar of wine and was on his way to the leisure room, paying no attention or mind to the choices the others made.

He sat next to the window again although the hearth was burning, his attention on the garden outside the window. He took a sip of wine and paused, it was pear wine, sweet and refreshing.

It wasn’t in bad taste but would be regarded as too sweet, he would ask the cook to add spice to the wines. Spiced wines were far more refined, he didn’t need his wines to be sweet, he wasn’t a child.

With that, he settled in to watch the day grow late, ignoring the Demons when they made their way into the leisure room. The room was missing a balcony, or at the very least lattice doors for a better view.

A thud on the table next to him caught his attention. He looked up from the jars of wine that had appeared on the side table to the Fiend staring down at him.

"Drink with me." Kath’tan requested gruffly.

The Demon was dissatisfied with how things were being handled, but he didn’t have a better solution so he had no choice but to go with the flow.

Dulce had been nursing his single jar of wine, it was still mostly full. The loss of his heart had given him the remarkable ability to tolerate wine, so for the first time ever since he agreed to pay back their companionship in kind, he considered going back on his word.

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed, his expression sour.

Kath’tan poured out two goblets of wine although Dulce had been drinking directly from the bottle. Doing such a mundane act made him realize how Dulce always did it for him without question, in the time he had known the Vampire, this might be the very first time he was pouring him a cup of anything.

Dulce put his partially drunk jar of wine to the side and picked up a goblet. Perhaps if he was drinking with Ruoxi he wouldn’t be filled with so much dread - this was the one time he wouldn’t be able to outdrink Kath’tan.

The fruit wine was hued gold in the silver goblets, it caught and held the waning sunlight, as enticing as it was menacing.

"What is the High Coven?" Kath’tan asked before he even reached for his goblet of wine. He didn’t care for wine of any kind but he knew that Dulce preferred sweets, so he was willing to indulge the Vampire.

Dulce paused on a drink of pear wine, his eyes darting up to look at Kath’tan. His silver blue eyes shuttered, hiding a world of knowledge in their calm depths.

"Rumored to be the very first coven formed, they consist of ancient and powerful Vampires." He answered formally.

"What do they then want with your heart?" Kath’tan scowled.

Dulce had to stop himself from blurting out that it had nothing to do with the Fiend, but he had agreed to their cohabitation, he had to tolerate their presence for the allotted time.

"To destroy it," His response became even more curt, his gaze lowering to Kath’tan’s untouched drink. "Are you here to drink or question me?"

Kath’tan’s scowl didn’t fade, the Demon reached for his goblet of wine and drank it down in a single breath. "Why?" He kept prodding.

Dulce drank down his entire goblet of wine as well, aggravated by the Demon’s blatant poking. "I never got around to asking them." He quipped, a bite in his tone.

It went right over Kath’tan’s head, the Demon simply refilled their goblets again. "Were you once a part of the coven?"

Dulce eyed both the Demon and the goblet of wine, Kath’tan was never this forward... at least verbally, he quickly corrected, reminded of the Demon kissing him without warning.

The wine and the Demon’s questions were both bad for him, he wanted to leave the table and the room in its entirety, but he had offered them companionship in turn so he reached for the goblet.

"No." He said coldly, a warmth already buzzing in his skin from the alcohol.

Kath’tan went quiet after that, it brought Dulce relief, to think that the alcohol had gradually become the lesser devil after he had agreed to drink with the Demon.

Dulce couldn’t help but feel bitter when Kath’tan downed another goblet of wine like it was merely water, forcing himself to do the same. His head spun on his second goblet, although it was difficult to tell from how composed he remained.

Kath’tan refilled their goblets and then drank his down a third time, meanwhile, Dulce was trying to figure out how to pick up his goblet without spilling the fruit wine.

"You have bound Demons," Kath’tan finally mustered up the courage to speak up after his third glass. "You don’t need to soil your hands with the blood of the First Coven of the South." He grumbled.

Dulce tightly clenched his fist around the slender stem of the goblet to keep his hand steady, "High Coven of the North," He corrected coldly, no more pleased by the conversation now than he had been at the start of it.

"What they’re called is irrelevant after they’re annihilated." Kath’tan kept grumbling, refilling his goblet a fourth time.

Dulce had no choice but to empty his goblet as well so he could keep drinking with the Demon, very close to agreeing to his suggestions to spare himself.

A hiccup bubbled up before he could get through the fourth drink, the soft sound startling Kath’tan. Dulce paused his drinking and held his breath to stop more embarrassing sounds from spilling out, affronted by how shocked it made Kath’tan.

He eventually forced the rest of the wine down, his pale gold skin was flushed with warmth, the tip of his nose noticeably pink. "I can handle my problems by myself just fine." He turned down the Demon, the coldness in his voice softened by the alcohol.

Kath’tan was no longer listening, a glint in his eyes as he took the Vampire in. "Are you alright?"

Dulce shot him a dark look, another hiccup spilling out before he could retort. He reached out to take the jar of wine from the Demon, anger steadying his hand.

"Why wouldn’t I be?" Came the haughty response even as he refilled his own goblet by himself, emptying out the first jar of pear wine.