The Devil's Desire.

Azania.

The journey continued to the kingdom of Azania. The event that took place didn't stop them from going forward; instead, it made them realize that where they were wasn't safe for them, and more than anything, they needed to get to Azania before midnight.

Through the journey, Lya made it a mission not to fall asleep; who knows what kind of tricks her princess will try pulling again?

Aethera wasn't asleep either, the man she saw earlier in the forest kept lingering on her mind. What if the man hadn't come to her rescue? Does that mean she would have been dead by now? She can't help but blame King Vladimir for her present situation and, of course, her father, who decided to get her married to a devil instead of a normal human.

A long sigh escaped her lips as she reminisced about her future. If only she could see what her future would be like, if only she could see what was ahead of her, maybe everything would be finished.

"Are you okay princess?" Lya asked, staring at her princess worriedly. She noticed the sad expression on her face, though she knew that it was because of the whole marriage thing, but was that enough to weaken her princess? No. Princess Aethera is the strongest princess she knows, and even though she might have broken down in tears before the wedding, it doesn't mean she's weak and will allow fate to decide her life for her. The Princess she knows has her fate in the palm of her hands and will do anything to change her fate even if it means going against her father for that to happen.

"Lya, what is Azania like?" Aethera asked, returning her glance to Lya. Since she would be living there, the least she can do is know about the kingdom, which will be her new home from now on, though she won't be staying there forever because she's going to find a way to leave the kingdom no matter what.

"Azania?"

************

Azania.

There was a deafening silence in the courtroom; the king was sitting on his throne, and his eyes were closed as if he were trying to figure out a thing. The aura exuding from his body was scaring the hell out of the court members, and they couldn't do anything but hold their breath unconsciously for his final verdict.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours and there were still no words coming from their king's mouth. The matter at hand wasn't a small thing because for their king to have decided to cancel his plans to attend his wedding to settle this meant that this matter holds great importance to him.

Vladimir opened his eyes in a splint of a second, his long silver hair covering a part of his eyes, his silver eyes were shining brightly like the stars in the sky. His attire was made of white silk that was reaching the tiled floor even though he was sitting on his throne. His appearance looked more like a warlord than the devil he was said to be. His gaze ran through the whole courtroom. His gaze finally settled on an empty corner; a smirk made its way to his lips as he had finally found what he was looking for.

In a splint of seconds, he flew from his throne and his hand caught hold of a man's neck. The court members all gasped in shock as they looked at the scene in front of them.

"Got ya," Vladimir uttered and without wasting his time, he removed the head from the rogue vampire's body. He wiped his hand with the handkerchief given to him by one of the servants and returned majestically back to his throne.

The court still stared at him with shock written all over their faces. They do know how powerful their king is. He was powerful enough to have lived millions of years on earth without dying. Even pure-blooded vampires don't live that long, but their king was different, a mystery that they were yet to uncover. But still, they find it amusing that a rogue vampire was present in the courtroom and none of them knew about it.

"If this continues, there's no saying that the humans won't discover our existence," Vladimir stated as he sat on his throne.

"You are right about that your highness. That's why the council needs your approval to get rid of the humans. In that way, we vampires will be safe, and there won't be a need for us to keep our existence a secret any longer." Felix stated, the first Council member vampire to have lived for a thousand years and it looks like death won't be knocking on his door anytime soon. His hatred for humans has been known throughout history, though no one knows the reason why, even though after searching for answers for decades and even still now, no one knows why the old man hated humans a lot.

Vladimir laughed out loud, his laughter filling the whole courtroom. "Old man, I think I have told you a million times already that we vampires can't kill humans even though we want to. It will only cause a war between the vampires and the humans, and even though we are vampires, we will win for sure. But that won't stop the werewolves and witches from starting their own game of chess too. Is it that you are too old, that you have lost your hearing too?"

Felix was fuming with anger but he made sure he suppressed the anger he was feeling. He knows that if he dares to show his anger, that will be enough reason for the king to kill him, and more than anything, ng, he isn't ready to die yet.

"I'm sorry, my King, but we all know that the human race is a threat to us vampires, and we must get rid of them soon," Felix added almost immediately.

"Oh?"

"Yes, my King."

"So are you saying that my queen, whom I haven't even bed yet, should be killed because last I check, she's human?" Vladimir said and the whole courtroom became more silent.

Felix stared at Vladimir with shock written all over his face. "I'll never dare to!"

"Yes, you wouldn't. I'm sure you don't want your head to be displayed at the market square because you asked for my queen to be killed." Vladimir added with a smirk on his face. One of the great talents he had out of his many talents was twisting words into his way and he was so good at that.

"Apologies, my King," Felix uttered, bowing his head as a sign of respect.

Vladimir stared at the old man and as he was about to respond to the man, his special advisor whispered in his ears.

With a smile on his face, Vladimir rises from his throne, alo

ngside the court members.

"My Queen finally arrived!"