Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Chapter 97

Dulce remained unfazed, "Interests have changed."

"So why would a fairly powerful mage such as yourself summon one?" The Archduke pried openly.

"That is a personal matter." He gave a vague response, "Rather, can you tell me if mages have been to the Hells before?"

Tarraz glanced at the lively banquet and then looked back at those pale blue eyes which were unsettlingly empty. After a brief conversation with the mage, he could better see how he could keep the service of a Fiend for so long.

He quickly lost interest in him, ignoring the question directed at him. "Excuse me, I’ll let you enjoy the banquet." He said dismissively, walking off.

Dulce let out a sigh of relief when the Fiend walked off, turning to Kath’tan. "Did I say something I wasn’t supposed to?" He leaned in to whisper.

Kath’tan stared at the Vampire with an intensity in his purple eyes. "You didn’t." He answered after a beat. It was easy to forget, because Dulce spoke openly with them that despite being polite, the Vampire was also cold and distant.

"That is a relief," Dulce murmured, "You should have shaken me awake so I wouldn’t be lat..."

"Drink with me," Kath’tan invited, taking the Vampire’s wrist to lead him to the quiet corner he had previously been in.

Dulce was caught off guard by this, closely passing by a group of noble ladies who stared at him openly, their eyes wide. He couldn’t help but notice that they were even taller than the maidservant who had led him here.

There were a few tables in the corner, all empty. Guests were openly avoiding the area due to Kath’tan’s presence. And as guests avoided the corner, so did the servers, none offering him a single drink or meal since the banquet began.

"Wait here, I’ll get us drinks." Kath’tan said.

Dulce nodded, taking a seat at a table. He stared down at the red tablecloth on the table, there was only a candelabra on it, nothing else, the flames eye-catching.

Kath’tan easily cut a path through the crowd, paying no attention to the wide berth he was given. The ostracization would have broken him if he had returned in any other manner, it was almost like they were punishing him for coming back alive.

It was still a banquet although it was treated like a ball, most Fiends more interested in socializing than the food. He walked over to the food section, there were only servers here as if the guests wanted anything they simply asked it to be brought to them.

Kath’tan studied the table, with Tarraz’s departure and everyone else at the banquet distancing themselves, perhaps they could stick around for a bit, maybe get food after their drinks.

Threnval did not make flower fine so he settled for fruit wine, taking a jug of ale for himself. When he had gathered all he needed, he looked over his shoulder in the direction of Dulce to find a small crowd in the corner.

Without hesitation, he started for them, a frown on his face as he drew closer and saw that it was all soft-spoken noble ladies.

-+-

Dulce had barely been seated for a few minutes when a shadow was cast over him. He glanced up to see four Fiends staring him down, their gazes held brazen curiosity.

"You’re human, are you not?" The Fiend leading the group spoke first. Her dark red hair was down to her knees, decorated with braids and rubies.

Dulce eyed them warily, "I am."

"Hmph," Another snorted proudly, "I told you, didn’t I? Papa has paintings of them in his gallery."

"And do all humans look like you?" The first Fiend that spoke went on, ignoring the words of her companion.

Dulce scratched his head, their questions did seem harmless. "I suppose." He mumbled vaguely, not quite sure what differences they were referring to.

He wasn’t even human, so it wasn’t his place to speak on these matters.

The noble lady who had asked him the questions looked pleased to hear what he had to say. "Vivai, I thought you said humans looked wildly different from each other, with differing skin colors?" She tossed at the lady who had claimed to have seen humans before.

Dulce caught sight of Kath’tan making his way over from behind the Fiends and decided not to get involved any further with them.

It helped that they seemed to sense Kath’tan’s presence when he was still a few feet away, their budding argument put on hold so they could sneer at him, the chatty group storming off before he could approach.

"What did they want?" Kath’tan asked coldly, placing the drink on the table, his gaze trailing after the ladies.

"Some answers about Earth," Dulce replied, hoping they would be too distracted by their arguments to seek him out again.

He reached out to take one of the jugs, only to be stopped by Kath’tan’s hand on his, "That’s ale." The Demon cautioned him. "Threnval has no flower wines so I brought you grape wine instead."

"Oh," Dulce murmured, pulling his hand away without a change in expression. "Thank you." He said, taking the right flagon this time. It was gold, a clear preference of Wrath Fiends.

He poured himself a goblet of wine and then reached for the ale Kath’tan was still holding onto with an odd look in his eyes to pour the Demon a drink as well.

Dulce held up his goblet with a smile, emptying the entire cup without a change in expression.

Kath’tan did the same, a curious light in his eyes. "Have you ever tried ale before?"

The Vampire made a face, pouring himself another goblet of wine. "Enough times, the taste doesn’t agree with me."

Kath’tan thought back to the handful of unwrapped candy he had greedily taken. He couldn’t hold on to them forever, just like the Vampire seated across from him.

"Do we have to stay till the end of the banquet?" Dulce leaned across the table to whisper. The curtains in the ballroom were drawn but they didn’t provide him with the view of the sky like he wanted. It was a simple deduction, if there were five suns, then how many moons would there be?

Kath’tan looked around, for the first time, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave the banquet. "You want to return?"

"Not quite," He admitted, grudgingly, emptying another goblet of wine. "I was wondering if we could step outside, I was curious about the night sky in Threnval."

"We can do that," He agreed in a heartbeat, rising to his feet.

"Can we drink outside?" Dulce rose to his feet as well, it wasn’t often he got to share a drink with someone.

Kath’tan agreed to that as well, and a short while later, they were leaving the ballroom with armfuls of liquor, unwittingly drawing attention.

It was the first time Kath’tan was leaving an event before it ended, as much as he despised noble gatherings, he always suffered through them. Enduring taunts and jokes at his expense.

Now that they blatantly refused to address him, it was freeing, he now had somewhat of a choice.

"Was it fine to leave the way we did?" Dulce whispered to him although they were the only ones traversing down the endless hallway. They had taken several jugs of wine and ale, it looked like outright stealing.

"It doesn’t matter." He replied quietly, the words holding a lot of importance for him.

Perhaps it took his mother returning or it was all the work of a foolish Vampire who treated him better than his family and his kind ever did, for the most inconsequential reason. But he had now finally accepted that it never mattered from the start.

It didn’t matter if he had won the battle on the Red Plains, it didn’t matter if he grew to be the strongest Fiend who ever lived, it wouldn’t change the color of his blood.

Dulce was immediately craning his neck to the sky as soon as they stepped out of the castle. The guards around took a look at them and ignored them, so they were asked no questions as they walked further and further away from the castle.

He slowed to a stop in disbelief, staring up at the night sky. There were no moons, not even one, instead the suns still sat in the sky, a cool red, barely emitting any heat or light.

"The sun is still in the sky at nighttime?" He blurted out, unable to wrench his gaze away from the dim red skies.

Kath’tan glanced up as well, reminded of how startled he had been by the sky when he first arrived on Earth. "Yes. Earth is stranger, the sun leaves the sky. Where does it go?"

Dulce thought about it, he was able to run faster than the changing weather, so he had often left places where the sun was setting to arrive somewhere else where the sun was rising. "To other parts of Earth, where it’s needed." He said simply, starting forward.