Chapter 523 - And You Did This For What?

New Chapter for the Highest Tier (June 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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When she looked over her shoulder, Apollyon was there on the side of Sir Tristan, scowling at Princess Ourania when she passed by him the way her half-sister did.

Her eyes protruded in shock, and she didn't dare breathe in fear of what would happen next after realizing that the man who gripped her arms wasn't her husband.

Shifting her attention from the mother she hated, Apollyon must have sensed her distress and give her direct eye contact.

Luna stiffened, and she couldn't make a sound, but she held onto the shapeshifter.

Limbs quivering, Luna's knees were about to give up from the fear of having a shapeshifter this close after she had been raped by one.

She felt her heart pound so fast before it stopped and thought, 'Was the man pretending to be Apollyon, the Archdemon of Lust, playing tricks on her—reminding her about the abomination he did?

Was he visiting the child he thought he had given her after spilling his seed inside her?

The bastard!

Going ballistic and destroying the man in front of her was the initial reaction but logic prevailed.

She shook her head in denial. 'But, it can't be.'

That son-of-the-devil didn't have the power to escape Hell by himself.

She was an Archdemon, so she might have found out based on his aura if he was Luxen pretending to be her. 

A scream was a wild animal caught in her throat, begging to be released, but Luna hated to create a commotion in Princess Ourania's engagement party. 

Luna saw the exact moment Apollyon's gaze landed on the man who held her— Luna felt a flush of adrenaline from that one look from her husband as if he feared for his life.

Apollyon's fear made Luna slightly panicked, but she didn't let him go.

As she turned her head to face him bravely, Luna changed her mind and look down at her feet instead. 

She fisted the handful of her shirt without looking at him out of fear of what she might discover. Luna wasn't ready to see Luxen, in case the glamour abruptly wear off since she was a strong Archdemon, unlike before.

She can sense him this time.

As she buried her face on his chest, Luna pretended she still assumed that he was Apollyon.

Let this stranger think she was just a simple wife who missed her husband in just a few hours. 

The shapeshifter had the nerve relax his tensed muscles—as if he just deactivated his fight and flight response to a threat— as he wrapped his arms around her back into a warm—scorching--embrace to soothe her.

Apollyon's doppelganger was hot—literally hot and scorching--for some reason.

Luna was tempted to jerk her head back, look him in the eye and see what was going on with him. 

Normally, Apollyon would rest his hands closer to her lower back or just above the globes of her ass because he desired to squeeze them, but this one was strangely respectful and gentlemanly.

Both hands were close and fisted, and he didn't spread his fingers on her spine.

One thing was for sure.

This doppelganger had no intention of feeling her up, which was also the exact opposite of what Luxen normally does because he was the Archdemon of Lust. 

Now, the shapeshifter shoved her off a little so he could see her face and gauge whether she fell for the trick or not.

The only right thing to do at that time was to read his aura because that might answer her questions instead of just a wild guess.

When Luna closed her eyes, as she concentrated on what she can find about this stranger, normally, she saw patterns, lights, and colors when she shut them, but this time was the complete opposite.

The pitch-black darkness of his closed lids shifted when a small flame burned at the center until it grew larger, but it felt like it was burning on a safe space.

It didn't feel dangerous at all until it began bursting like white-hot stars, and she felt like something, or someone was burning her alive. 

She opened her eyes, but the only thing she could see was how Apollyon's tunic looked from up close.

The tiny details of their close were even similar.

"Beloved." The man said in Apollyon's voice, and she literally flinched. 

Luna had to get himself together and talk to him.

Find out why he was doing this.

Goddess! 

These strangers must get off at the idea of pretending to be her husband!

Luna clung to him, but she let out a huge breath, staying calm.

No need to alert the shapeshifter that she knew where Apollyon was.

The doppelganger was too stupid to think that she wouldn't recognize her husband when she was incredibly attuned to the entirety of him— his body, aura, and life force—due to the increase of mating rituals and the hormones she emitted from the pregnancy. 

"I don't believe you." She replied. " I just met my husband's eyes just met a minute ago, stranger."

One of his hands lifted from her back and clasped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

Luna can see someone else underneath her husband's unique eye color, his Prussian Blues morphing into dark greens. 

"Oh." He seemed to be taken aback by her calm response. "I thought you and the bastard were fighting." At that point, the doppelganger must have thought that Luna already caught his deception.

Claws elongating, they dug through the fabric of his clothes into his flesh to make sure he was real and not just a hallucination.

She even shaped the hard pectoral muscles with her palms for good measure. "Maybe, I picked the wrong target."

Luna squinted to see his face clearly when the glamour began to wear off. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing." He just clicked his tongue, shaking his head in regret.  "I picked the wrong target."

The man dropped something, and it exploded into flames.