A huge celebration was being prepared in the Great Demon Hall. It was the duty of every maid and servant present in the castle to make sure the celebration was all set to begin the moment the Demon Queen came in.
For that, they already set in motion music and dance programs with the best dancers and singers to show off the prosperity and power of House Drake and its ancient history.
They also had to make sure all the important guests, especially from the other two Great Houses, were settled in.
Only after all the guests settled in would the royal members of House Drake come in and take their seats, followed by the queen.
But to their surprise,
"Asher Drake, the Royal Consort of House Drake, husband of the Bloodburn Queen, is entering the hall!" The royal usher announced as everybody stopped talking and drinking to turn their heads and look at a tall, appealingly handsome, dove gray-skinned young man coming out in a well-dressed, noble attire.
Everyone immediately had their attention shifted toward him, not expecting him to come out before all the guests. But what surprised them even more was how different his aura and his appearance seemed, even though his appearance hadn't changed.
Previously, when they looked at the Soulless Consort, anybody would feel like they were looking at a mortal shell that had no soul or felt anything.
But now, his entire being carried a sense of power, especially when looking at his steady gait. His dark yellow eyes were focused and piercing as if they could look through one's soul.
His posture was straight, unlike a hunchback in the past. They never knew he was actually 6 8" tall, and his towering height actually seemed impressive, especially for the women who even forgot to close their lips after seeing his appearance.
Kookus, who was following Asher closely, said to him with an excited look, "Your Highness, it seems like the people are surprised by your majestic handsomeness. Look at how silent they have all become the moment your presence stole their breath. I have no doubt any of them would feel lucky to lick your feet," Kookus was swallowing air as he kept showering praises on him.
Asher subtly scoffed and said, "Lick my feet? Like you?" Saying so, he took a good look at this medieval-looking hall and saw how everything seemed dark yet bright in its own way. The stone walls of the hall were lit up by flames inside a glass lantern fixed to the walls. Similar lanterns were also hanging from the tall ceiling with a huge, fancy chandelier in the center that resembled the shape of a dragon.
He had to admit he was impressed by how grand everything here seemed and inwardly chuckled, seeing hundreds of gazes falling on him, each carefully studying him.
"Your Highness. You know how this trustworthy servant can do a lot more than just lick your feet," Kookus said with a wince, not expecting him to throw back the sentence to him.
"Your Highness, please…" The royal steward came up and deeply bowed as he gestured at Asher to take his seat on the highly elevated platform.
Asher looked at the high-backed black chair made out of metal on the central platform. The chair was adorned with dark golden red gems. However, on the right of this chair was the biggest and most grand chair in the hall…the Devourer's Throne.
It was also made out of a mystical black metal, but the metal underneath was glowing red hot as if it was heated to a very high temperature. Asher would have wondered how a vampire like Rowena would be able to sit on such a throne that could scorch her to death if not for reading up on the history of House Drake, famous for their resistance to flames. This was the reason they were considered the most powerful house and feared greatly.
He also knew that the name of the throne was derived from the title of the first king of this kingdom, who went by the title 'The Devourer'. He was the one who brought stability to this realm and established a working society, and ruled with an iron fist…or so history said.
There were also other smaller platforms, lower than the one in the center, which he guessed would be where the other royal members of the house would be sitting.
Kookus had a big, proud smile on his face since, for the first time, he was able to show off his pretty face before such a powerful crowd and even look down upon them while standing behind Asher's chair with a grin.
The moment Asher sat down and felt his gaze passing over them, everybody came back to their senses and bowed as they were supposed to before the husband of their queen.
Asher simply looked on as he saw all of them bowing toward him. He didn't feel much since he knew they were bowing for the sake of his house and not him.
But Kookus was beaming as he felt like they were all bowing towards him and felt on top of the world. He never expected he would experience this in his life, filled with misfortunes so far.
Asher saw that almost everyone gathered here were vampires, with a few of them being from beast races, who must have worked their way up the ranks.
He could see people of the naga race with an upper body resembling a human and a lower body resembling that of a serpent, continuing their singing in their melodious voices. They had small horns extending from their temples and had dark green eyes. He never expected the vicious nagas he had fought in his time as a Hunter to be capable of singing so beautifully as well.
As for the women dancing, they were all of the Vulpinari race, namely their women, who had a natural charm to their bodies and continued dancing while shaking their fluffy red tails while their large, red pointy ears twitched to the tune of the music. They had fox-like features, but their race wasn't really considered strong.
But who would have thought that these sneaky, dangerous foxes who usually pounce on Hunters from nowhere and bite off their ears and noses would be so good at dancing and look so harmless?
"Lord Thorne, Lady Thorne, Young Lord Edmund Thorne, Young Lord Jarius Thorne, and Lady Sabina Thorne of House Thorne are entering the hall!" The usher suddenly announced as everybody quickly gave way to one of the most powerful groups of people in the kingdom, all of them dressed in dark blue garments, and every single one of them having long dark silver hair.
The moment this group of five came in, everybody felt the air becoming heavier under their presence and lowered their voices to the maximum.
Asher squinted his eyes as he gestured to Kookus to lower his head, "They are from House Thorne?" He asked since he knew House Thorne was one of the three Great Houses.
Kookus eagerly explained in a low voice, "Yes, Your Highness. The scary guy on the front is Lord Thorin Thorne, the Lord of his house, and his house controls all the territories around the seas, especially the one named Coldstorm."
"Scary guy?" Asher squinted his eyes as he looked at this Lord Thorin, who had a long white beard. He was tall with a sturdy build and had a pale face and sunken eyes. He wore a long-sleeved dark blue robe with the symbol of a crab on his chest. His expression seemed cold and intimidating, though his uncanny shade of red eyes seemed to strike fear in any common person.
"Actually, all of them are weird and scary. Lord Thorin is known for treating those beneath him like slaves or tools. But what makes his house or him scary is his blood magic which he can use to reanimate dead people. Their magic arrays are considered quite secretive, and thus their house is known as House of Secrets and their Lord as the Lord of Secrets. These secrets are quite creepy and scary as hell. Fortunately, I am your servant, hehe. Oops, please don't tell them or anyone I said this," Kookus said as he scratched his hair.
"Reanimate people…no wonder…" Asher remembered some of the quests he had taken as a Hunter where he had to fight off zombies, especially dead Hunters. Now he knew from where or whom such magic was originating from.
"What about his wife?" Asher asked as his gaze landed on the pretty mature woman looking in her late forties walking beside Thorin. She had an aloof look, though her ghostly red eyes seemed like nothing would escape her gaze. Anybody would think twice before even looking in her direction.
"Oh, Lady Esther Thorne is no joke. Other than being so pretty for her age, she is quite intelligent and cruel. She commands the Death Knight, and rumors say that she toys with her enemies before adding them to her undead collection. I don't even wanna know how she would use them," Kookus shook his head as he broke a sweat.
Asher realized that these people were more dangerous than he expected. If any of them personally appeared on Earth, they surely could have caused quite a disaster on their own.
And when he unconsciously shifted his gaze towards the familiar young man walking behind Thorin, Asher's lips subtly curved as he mumbled, "Is that him…"
