The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (BL)

The Head Steward, Harold Sherriden, stood so rigidly straight that Lucius couldn’t help but straighten himself as he sat on the couch. The neophyte vampire had served two kings and was one of the oldest vampires living in the citadel, and meeting him always made Lucius nervous.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Sherriden said courteously as he bowed at a perfect angle.

“Good evening, Mr. Sherriden.” Lucius smiled, “would you like some tea?”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. Thank you for your kindness.” Sherriden gave him an extremely fast flash of a smile and continued, “I come to confirm with you, how do you want to celebrate your twenty-sixth birthday?”

Lucius blinked several times, “I was thinking not to celebrate it. I don’t really like making a big deal about it.”

Sherriden seemed a little surprised. He contemplated it for a second and said, “it is your first birthday in Eternia. Many lords and ladies are looking forward to sending you their regards. If you don’t mind, may I suggest something?”

The Head Steward then gave him a detailed run-down about various royal family members’ birthday celebration traditions, which included expensive parties, gift receiving, and a massive slave hunt in which dozens of slaves would be released into the forest, and the royal family members and guests could do anything to them should they get caught.

Lucius listened calmly, and at the end of it, he took a sip of the coffee and said, “Alright, I’ve made up my mind.”

“Very well, Your Highness. What can we do for you?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Lucius leaned forward and said, “I want to give a day off to all the human slaves in Vermilion Citadel. On that day, none of them will be subject to any form of labor or punishment.”

All the servants in the room and Mr. Sherriden gaped at him as if they weren’t sure they had heard him right. Ere long, the Head Steward managed to blurt out, “That is a very unusual request.”

“Unusual? Really?” Lucius smiled, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes, “I am a human, Mr. Sherriden. Surely you can understand that I do not enjoy watching my kind being slaughtered in my name. If the lords and ladies want to send me regards, just leave their slaves alone for that day, and I will be much obliged.”

Mr. Sherriden appeared to want to say something else, but on second thought, he didn’t. He excused himself and exited the room. Lucius also dismissed all other servants except Florian.

“It’s going to be another brow-raising rumor about you,” Florian said after the last servant left the chamber, “don’t you worry that you are drawing too much attention? Some right-wing vamps have already seen you as a threat.”

“At my position, one can’t avoid drawing attention.” Lucius shrugged, “I may as well embrace it.”

Before dinner, Lucius spent an hour in the private gym to work out. It was one of the few hours in a day he had a chance to be completely alone without servants or bodyguards, and he came to like the sweaty solidarity. He finished showering and was putting his shirt on when a familiar voice broke the tranquility of the locker room.

“What were you thinking?”

Lucius jumped a little, startled by the sudden voice. He glowered at the intruder. Dorian leaned against a locker, and repressed, cold anger shadowed his countenance.

Lucius sighed exasperatedly, “what did I do wrong this time?”

“A day off for all the slaves?”

“Not all the slaves, only the slaves in the Citadel. And it’s only for one day.”

“Eighty percent of the labor works around the Citadel are done by the slaves. How can the vampire servants handle all that extra work in that one day? And you gave them less than three days to prepare for it.”

“Then maybe you should consider giving more duties to the vampire servants. Since they are paid handsomely and only do 20% of the work. Again it’s only for one day. I’m sure even the most incapable royal family members can do things themselves for one day.” Lucius rolled his eyes while buttoning up his shirt.

“Moreover, you asked all noblemen to do the same. You know how many people you are pissing off?”

“They don’t have to! I’m just saying they don’t need to buy me an extravagant gift or anything. If they really want to send me regards, just leave their slaves alone for a day. Is that so hard?”

“You are asking something you don’t have the right to ask!”

“I don’t?! I am a human! If anyone has a right to ask such a thing, it is me!”

Days of bickering and tension between them had accumulated to the point that it got on Dorian’s nerves. The Crown Prince strode toward his contrary consort with such intimidation that Lucius couldn’t help but take a few steps back until his back hit one of the lockers, making a loud clang sound.

Dorian gazed down at him intensely and ground his teeth, “why can’t you just celebrate your damn birthday like everyone else? Have a stupid party, say thanks for the gifts, eat a cake, and call it a day! I have my hands full already! I can’t clean your mess all the time!”

Lucius stared Dorian back with his big wide eyes.

This was the first time Dorian mentioned his birthday to him in a whole week. Lucius didn’t really expect anything from his husband, but this?

Was it so wrong that he just wanted to give a break to all the people trapped in this land of animosity and a forsaken fate like him?

Lucius took a deep breath, pressing down the vulnerable feeling as much as possible, and blurted out with a bit of hurt in his voice, “Because I don’t want to! I fucking hate birthdays! And I’m tired of all these fightings! I won’t change my mind, so unless you plan to divorce me, leave me alone!”

For a while, Lucius thought Dorian was going to punch him. However, the prince merely stepped back, glowered at him, barely holding back his tempers, and left.

Lucius slid down to the floor exhaustingly. What had happened between them? For a while, he thought this might work, that their marriage might not be so bad after all. But then everything just went to shit since that night...

During that night’s dinner, everyone in the room could feel the distance between the Crown Prince and his consort. They barely met each other’s eyes and never exchanged a single word. Lucius was sure the next day, another rumor about their strained marriage would spread like wildfire.

Although Lucius said he didn’t want any gifts, many nobles still sent them to his room. Lucius did his diligence by replying to every present with a handwritten thanks note. Each letter was tailored specifically for the sender to show his appreciation and then delivered by his personal valets.

“Prince Silvan is trying to impress you.” Florian was helping him unwrapping all the gifts, and he showed the item lying in a red velvet box. It was a Sacred Eye rosary with gold chain and garnet beads, and the iris was a giant, dazzling ruby.

Lucius raised his brows slightly and touched the perfectly cut surface of the ruby. Should he be a pious believer like his brother, such a gift would have been more impressive and made more sense.

“Do we always want what our siblings have?” Lucius chuckled, “It’s like, if we don’t have it, it feels like we are losing in the competition.”

“It depends on what kind of parents you had, I suppose.” Florian shrugged, “I never felt that way with my little sister. I wanted all the best for her.”

“You have a sister? Where is she?”

“I don’t know. I sent her on an evacuation flight, and never heard from her again.” Florian lowered his eyes, seemed a bit tense and tried to change the topic, “So, are you going to give some special thanks to Silvan?”

“I should. It is a very thoughtful gift.” Lucius stood up from his desk and stretched, “But I can do it tomorrow. You can take off early today. Tomorrow is your day off.”

Florian hesitated a little and then asked, “What will you do tomorrow? It is your birthday.”

“I don’t know, maybe just like every other day.” Lucius said nonchalantly, “Perhaps read a book, work out, watch a movie. The usual.”

“I can stay with you.” Florian’s voice was slightly different from his usual matter-of-fact style.

Lucius laughed, “I’m perfectly ok to make coffee myself. You just get some rest. I bet you haven’t had a day off for years.”

After Florian left, Lucius poured himself a glass of wine and sauntered to the balcony. The night breeze brought a whiff of the early summer scent, rippling and dancing with the water-like moonlight. The capital city that expanded before him was lit up by a sea of resplendent neon lights, like a colorful milky way pouring down from the black velvet firmament.

All the noises of the city sounded like a damped and distant ambient sound, making the serenity around him more prominent. Lucius seeped the bloodless wine from his glass and closed his eyes, trying to calm the swirling thoughts and turmoils in his head.

He needed to find a way to send the blood out as soon as possible. If anyone discovered it in his possession, he would be in big trouble. But how to leave the citadel without causing too much attention? Unchiping Florian could be a good excuse and chance, but if Dorian weren’t on board, he would have to find someone else to help him do some necessary arrangements, and it would be too risky.

Someone opened the door to the balcony. Lucius knew who was behind him without even looking. Dorian always had an aura about him that encompassed everything and everyone in his vicinity, like a black hole drowning all the lights, yet eerily enigmatic and attractive.

Dorian stood on his left side, resting his arms on the railing and looked out in the same direction as Lucius. They stood side by side in silence for a long while, and it was an ineffably comfortable reticence, and both of them hesitated to break it.

“Why do you hate your birthday?” Dorian eventually asked, “Humans can only have so many birthdays, and I heard most of you celebrate it with close families and friends. It sounded fun.”

Lucius chuckled, “You know who I share my birthday with, right?”

“Yes, of course. You are twins.”

“When I was little, before our birthday, my mother would ask us what cake we wanted, what present we wanted, or who we should invite. And we always got the key lime cake or blueberry cake and a book or a pen as presents. And guess what? I never liked key lime cake. It is Julian’s favorite flavor.”

Dorian turned to look at him, “then what did you want?”

“I’ve always wanted a black forest cake, the most regular sort, with a ton of chocolate sprinkles stuck on the side. And for gifts, I wanted video games, a bike or even those transformable robot toys that were super popular at the time. I mean, which eight years old boy would want a friggin book as a birthday present? Julian was just too...weird.”

Dorian chuckled, “I can’t even remember my eighth year’s birthday. But it does sound like a peculiar choice.”

Lucius looked down and snickered, “I used to think Julian was just a pretentious little shit who wanted all the attention of my parents. ‘Oh! Look at me! I’m so special and smart that I don’t even like what normal kids like!’”

Dorian couldn’t help but laugh at Lucius’s Julian impression. Lucius relaxed a little. He was mildly worried that Dorian wouldn’t tolerate anyone speaking ill of his true love, even though it was when they were kids.

“Anyway. It was all very childish. But you know, all our fucked-ups can be traced back to childhood. And I never could have a birthday that belonged to me, so I grew to hate it.” Lucius shrugged it off, feeling a bit sheepish and embarrassed.

Lucius wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but Dorian’s gaze was softer and gentler in the night light. The vampire prince then asked, “if you can have a birthday exactly as you want, what will it be like? What do you want to do on that day?”

Lucius blinked several times. It was the first time someone had asked him that, and he had to think about it for a moment, recalling all the disappointments and regrets from the distant past.

“I guess I’ve always wanted to go to the beach and have fish and chips there.” Lucius smiled yearningly as he imagined the golden beach, the sand castles, the blue sea with white fringes, the fishy smell of seaweed and crispy fried cod dipping in tangy tartar sauce.

“Alright.” Dorian regarded him with a smudge of a smirk in his eyes, “let’s go.”

“Huh? Go where? “Lucius asked bemusedly.

“To the beach, of course.” The prince replied as if it was the most obvious answer.