His mouth filled with an immediate heat, like sucking a sweet-tasting flame.

Asmodeus crushed Valena against his chest, one hand gripping her ass while the other covered the back of her head, forcing her trembling body to focus on him instead of the thing coming aboard Brando’s ship.

"Mmmph!?"

Valena’s eyes widened for a moment before she suddenly snorted.

Her long tongue pushed into his mouth, violently pushing against his cheeks as she slapped his arms.

The heat rising from her skin did not disappear, but it curved toward him, drawn into his mouth, chest and arms as if his body were swallowing the violent pulse that fuelled her life force hidden beneath her scales.

’Calm down.’

He tried to communicate through their bond.

Yet, she ignored him... her tongue moved faster, coiling around his as she dug her fingers into the back of his neck.

’I can’t stop myself.... that smell... It’s so nostalgic...’

Her voice sounded inside his mind.

There was none of her usual pride or arrogance; it was childish and vulnerable.

Asmodeus’s eyes narrowed while his lips remained sealed over hers. He couldn’t understand at first, but the moment she spoke, his chest pulsed, sending a thick burst of dragon’s blood through his veins as the scent finally reached his nose.

Beneath the salty sea, the damp wood and body odour, there was another scent... the scent of blood, but not normal blood.

He felt this blood was familiar... almost identical to the one coursing through his veins.

Dragon blood.

The priests climbed onto the deck with the covered box between them, their arms stiff, their faces pale and excited at the same time. The base of the object had dark red stains near the seams, too old and deep to have come from anything recently killed.

’Can’t they smell this?’

No one seemed to react to the blood, not Brando or Nerim, even Albrecht...

Not even the nearby sailors whose noses wrinkled only at the incense, salt and perfume clinging to the Imperial delegation.

’So they can’t smell it.’

Asmodeus tightened his grip around Valena, keeping her face close to his as her body trembled in his arms. The scent did not exist for ordinary blood. It was something carried deeper, hidden in the dragon blood now roaring through his veins.

Valena’s tongue slowed.

’!?’

At first, he thought she was tired, but then her movements became more skilled, and she started to flick the tip of his tongue before stroking along the underside.

Her fingers, which had been clawing at his neck, gradually lost strength until she clung to him instead. There was a subtle feeling of vulnerability about her as he felt her weight resting against him fully, along with the gradually rising heat of her body.

’Mother...’

Once again, words slipped through their bond, a delicate tone that didn’t suit Valena.

Albrecht stepped onto the deck with exceptional calm, but his ocean-blue gaze paused on the strange sight before him. Caelith followed behind him, her face twisting the moment she saw Asmodeus kissing the female sailor in his arms.

His brows raised as he smirked, but he made no other remarks.

Caelith, on the other hand...

"You truly are shameless," she spat.

Asmodeus finally broke the kiss.

A thin thread of heat lingered between their lips before Valena hid her face against his chest, breathing hard enough to warm the armour beneath her cheek.

"This is my ship," Asmodeus said, holding her in place. "I can kiss whoever I want."

Caelith’s cheeks flushed with anger.

"Even during negotiations?"

"Especially during negotiations."

Brando coughed into his fist, clearly fighting a laugh.

Albrecht’s polite smile did not change, but his attention flicked once toward the covered box, then back to the sailor in Asmodeus’s arms. However, that gaze was fleeting, and he seemed to have grown bored once it was clearly revealed to be a woman.

Asmodeus lowered one hand to Valena’s waist and squeezed, silently warning her not to move.

"What did you bring aboard my brother’s ship, Lord Albrecht?"

"A diplomatic gift," Albrecht replied smoothly.

"Don’t lie, it’s oozing blood," Asmodeus grumbled, his hand stroking Valena’s hair.

"The blood is old, worry not. It is not something cursed or dangerous."

"That’s not what I asked."

Albrecht’s smile remained neat.

"No, Your Majesty, but it is the only answer I am permitted to give. Just know it will help in dealing with the beast in the depths of the sea."

Brando’s cane tapped once against the deck.

"That sounded like a fancy way of saying piss off."

"It is a sealed diplomatic article," Albrecht continued, ignoring him. "Prepared by the Holy Empire for ceremonies conducted near hostile waters. Nothing more."

Asmodeus stared at him.

"Liar."

Caelith’s hand tightened around her sword.

Albrecht raised his palm slightly, stopping her before she could speak.

"I have no reason to lie about something so harmless."

"Then uncover it."

The priests stiffened.

There.

That tiny reaction told him enough.

Albrecht’s smile did not change, but the softness in his eyes vanished.

"I am afraid that would violate Imperial rites."

Valena trembled harder against his chest. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Her lips brushed his neck as she whispered so faintly that only he could hear.

"Mother..."

Asmodeus’s fingers dug into her waist. He wanted to tear open the box and reveal its insides, but as things were now, he didn’t want to cause an all-out war with the Empire, with Leviathan to deal with... it would be foolish.

’And this bastard is waiting for it...’

Albrecht’s eyes never left Asmdoeus; he didn’t take notice of Brando’s rude comments, nor did he chastise Caelith... it was always watching him.

smodeus slowly smiled.

"Fine."

Valena’s body jolted in his arms.

’Asmodeus...?’

’Be quiet.’

He kissed the top of her head, then forced her face back against his chest before her eyes and expression revealed everything.

"If it makes you feel at ease to carry around bloody boxes, who am I to judge your Empire?"

Albrecht’s expression remained calm, but his gaze sharpened by a fraction, as if the answer or his reaction had disappointed him.

"Place it over there," Asmodeus said, pointing toward the far side of the deck. "Away from my people. Away from my cannons. Away from me."

The priests glanced at Albrecht.

He nodded.

They carried the box aside with visible relief, though Valena followed every step with her hidden eyes. Her claws pierced Asmodeus’s coat, trembling against his skin as the pair of them could feel something between them.

Memories, thoughts and distorted images flowed rapidly from Valena to Asmodeus, things completely different from those of normal people....

A vast spread of red wings flying through the sky, a tiny little whelp barely old enough to create her own scales.

Giant red eyes that watched the whelp carefully.

A heartbeat that beat like a thunderclap.

Then a woman’s voice, no... it couldn’t be called a voice. More like a grunt, or growl and yet the little whelp followed the voice’s instructions.

It was like a warmth spread through their bodies, wrapping around the tiny whelp’s body as she slept beneath the vast wings.

smodeus felt Valena’s knees weaken.

Her hands clenched around his coat, but this time there was no childish embarrassment or possessive joy. Her breath came shallow and hot against his neck, while her tail wrapped around his waist like she might fall apart if she let go.

’Mother... mother... mother...’

The same word kept trembling through their bond.

Asmodeus slowly closed his eyes.

He understood now.

It wasn’t some grand relic.

It wasn’t some holy weapon.

It was the heart of the last red dragon, her mother’s heart.

The woman who had died before the Emperor could meet her, before he could steal from her, before he could use her to remove his curse.

’Those bastards....!’

His fingers tightened around Valena’s waist, but his face remained calm.

Albrecht could not know.

It was probably a mild guess, or an attempt to test whether the red dragon’s spawn had truly joined forces with Asmodeus.

The moment he realised Valena had recognised the contents of the box, or that Valena herself was the dragon in question, everything would turn to hell.

The Emperor of Man would do anything to capture Valena...

So Asmodeus smiled instead.

"Quite the ugly gift."

Albrecht’s ocean-blue eyes rested on him.

"I apologise if it offends Your Majesty’s taste."

"It doesn’t offend me." Asmodeus stroked Valena’s hair slowly, keeping her face buried against him. "It just makes your Empire look poor."

Brando choked, while Nerim covered her lips, hiding a giggle.

Caelith’s brow twitched as she snapped towards him, and even Albrecht’s polite smile froze for half a breath.

"Poor?"

"If you brought me a bloody box and called it diplomacy, I can only assume the Holy Empire’s treasury has fallen into ruin."

"Brother, don’t say that! Maybe the bastards spent all their gold on perfume and white cloth!"

The priests seemed angered at Brando’s words, their faces turning bright red. Meanwhile, Caelith stepped forward with her usual frown.

"You dare mock an Imperial article? We are prepared to aid you!?"

"I dare many things," Asmodeus replied.

His tone remained lazy, but his arms held Valena so tightly that her trembling could not be seen.

Albrecht raised a hand before Caelith could continue.

"The article will remain sealed."

"Good."

Asmodeus looked at the box as if already bored.

"Then keep it sealed and keep it away from my people."

Valena’s claws dug deeper into his coat.

’Give it back...’

Her voice inside him was barely there.

Asmodeus lowered his mouth beside her ear.

"Later. I swear on my heart to bring her back to you."

Her body stilled.

He kissed her hair once, then looked back at Albrecht.

"Now, shall we find somewhere more comfortable to talk? It’s a little too hot for my liking; my skin is quite delicate, you know?"

With that, he pushed Valena towards Nerim and approached the Imperials.