The Vampire King's Pet-Chapter 366: Loved by a Monster

A few days passed in the blink of an eye before anyone could count them. Aria hadn’t left her room even once throughout those days.

Mostly, she lay on her bed, staring silently at the walls, her gaze unfocused as if the stone itself might eventually give her answers it never would. Only getting up sometimes to eat the food that was served to her, moving more out of obligation than hunger. Even then, Zyren sat right beside her, close enough to notice every hesitation, every shallow breath, making sure that she ate it.

Her eyes were glassy and lost, as though she were looking through anyone she glanced at rather than at them. Afterward, she would fall back onto the bed without making a sound, her body curling slightly inward, as if she were trying to take up less space in the world.

Zyren spoke to her—or at least he tried. His voice was steady, careful, sometimes soft, sometimes firm, but always met with silence. Aria would only stare at him in response, her expression empty, before slowly turning her head to the side, making it clear she had no intention of speaking to him.

Zyren, though, didn’t give up.

He accompanied her through each meal, day after day, even as days slowly turned into weeks. He eventually stopped speaking altogether, realizing his words were only echoes in an empty room. Instead, he sat in front of her in silence and simply watched her eat, his presence constant, unavoidable.

Annoying enough that Aria began to glare right at him, pouring every ounce of irritation she had into her expression. Her brows drew together sharply, her lips pressing into a thin line. Zyren couldn’t help but lift his lips slightly in response—it was the first time Aria had shown any expression beyond the blank, hollow look that had haunted her eyes since that night.

Still, he quietly sat there, staring right at her, unflinching.

Until finally, Aria had had enough.

She raised her gaze sharply, dropping the spoon in her hands as it clattered softly against the bowl.

"What?" she snapped.

Her voice was hoarse and low, rough from disuse, considering she hadn’t spoken in a long time. The sound of it made Zyren pause. The hint of a smile on his lips spread wider than before as he fixed his gaze on her, crimson eyes attentive, almost gentle.

He didn’t respond immediately.

Zyren stared at her for a moment longer, as if committing the sound of her voice to memory, before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"You don’t hate me?" he asked, his voice just as low.

The servants who had served the food were long gone. The door was closed. It was just the two of them in the quiet room, the air heavy with unspoken things.

Aria sat stiffly at the table while Zyren sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze focused on her even as he continued to speak.

"You don’t sound like you do," he pointed out calmly.

He recalled the way she had pushed him away that first day, scratching at him, screaming at him to get off her and get out. She hadn’t stopped until he did, her fear and fury burning brighter than anything he’d ever seen.

Aria only glared harder now, fiercer, her annoyance sharp and unfiltered. She didn’t respond immediately, instead picking her spoon back up with a curt movement and beginning to eat again, deliberately ignoring him.

For a while, she said nothing.

Zyren didn’t try to push her. He didn’t ask again. He simply sat there and waited, content with the silence if it meant she stayed.

It wasn’t until she finished eating, placing the spoon down carefully, that she finally turned around to look at him. Their gazes locked instantly, heated tension crackling between them as neither looked away.

Aria seemed to look deeply at him then, as though searching past his face, past the monster everyone else saw, to something only she could name.

"I hate you," she told him directly, her expression severe, unyielding.

Then, after a heartbeat of silence, she added, "...but just a little."

Zyren’s expression didn’t change. Calm. Cool. Almost infuriatingly composed, as though nothing could truly shake him. That alone pissed her off more than she cared to admit. She knew how livid she would be if someone she cared about told her they hated her, even just a little.

"...You killed my sister," she continued, her voice trembling despite her effort to steady it. "Yes, she was a monster—but you killed her."

Her hands clenched at her sides.

"It makes me recall how you also killed my brother and my father," she said, her words sharp with pain, "and ordered them to be killed right in front of me."

Tears slowly began to fill her eyes, blurring her vision, though she refused to let them fall.

"...I know that you care about me," she went on, steel creeping into her voice as she met his intense red eyes, "but that doesn’t change what you did."

Zyren opened his mouth to speak, but Aria shook her head sharply, cutting him off. More tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill—something she refused to allow.

"No," she said firmly. "There’s nothing you can do to change it. That’s the thing. No matter how you try to fix it, you can’t."

Zyren didn’t interrupt.

Not once did he look away or shift his gaze. He simply sat there, listening, absorbing every word as if he deserved the weight of them.

A couple of thoughts ran through his mind, each one sharp, instinctive, brutally honest—and each one worse than the last.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t hesitate.

She would have killed you. Did you expect me to just stand there?

He knew Aria could heal—but not if the wound was grievous enough to kill her the moment it happened.

Your father and brother’s deaths, I regret... but not hers.

Instead of voicing any of it, he nodded slowly, a silent acknowledgment that only made Aria shake her head in frustration.

Her brows scrunched together as she asked him, "Do you... do you really understand?"

There was doubt in her voice now, raw and vulnerable.

"Do you get what I mean?" she asked, as if she feared he only grasped the surface of her pain and not the depth beneath it.

Zyren moved before she could say anything else.

He got off the bed and walked toward her, then lowered himself onto one knee in front of her, bringing them nearly eye level. The movement was deliberate, almost reverent.

He reached out and gently took both her hands in his, his grip firm yet careful, grounding.

"I’m sorry," he said quietly. "The last thing I’ll ever want to do is hurt you."

He meant every word.

The genuine look in his eyes—unguarded, fierce, unwavering—was enough for Aria to believe him.

Still, curiosity burned painfully in her chest. She wanted to ask if he regretted killing her family, even though she feared the answer. Her breath caught as he continued speaking, his words offering a cruelly clear hint to the question she hadn’t voiced.

"I’ll protect you even with my life," Zyren said, his voice steady. "Because I care about you... I love you."

Again, Aria couldn’t doubt him. Not when he looked at her like that, holding her hands, kneeling before her as if nothing else in the world mattered.

"I love you, Aria Duskbane," he said again, his conviction unwavering, his determination almost terrifying.

It was enough to make her realize what it truly meant to be loved by a monster.

A love that eclipsed all else.

Every other person be damned.