“What did you say?” Azariah asked, her voice tinged with disbelief as her red eyes locked onto mine, searching for any hint that I might be joking.
We were in her chambers, a private and dimly lit room that reflected her taste for understated elegance, with heavy velvet curtains drawn to block out the daylight. I had come here to explain my decision, to tell her about my plan to join the Trojan War, but judging by her reaction, she wasn’t taking me seriously.
“I said I’m going to take part in the Trojan War and fight on the side of the Trojans,” I repeated, my voice calm and measured, but firm.
Her expression didn’t change, but her hands, resting on the arms of her chair, tightened into fists. “Are… you serious?” she asked again, her red eyes narrowing as she scanned my face, seeking some sign of uncertainty, something that might suggest I wasn’t entirely committed to this course of action.
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation, holding her gaze.
Azariah’s head lowered, her hands clenching tighter as her knuckles turned white. She seemed to be wrestling with the weight of my decision, her posture stiff, her lips barely moving as she mumbled, “No… you can’t.”
I watched her in silence for a moment, studying the tension in her body, the way she avoided my eyes. It was as though she couldn’t bring herself to fully confront what I was saying.
With a sigh, I shook my head slightly. “Your opinion doesn’t matter in this. I will take part in the war. It’s important to me. Until now, I’ve helped Tenebria, but this… this is something I must do for myself,” I said firmly, my tone making it clear that my decision was final.
Her shoulders stiffened at my words, but she still refused to meet my gaze. “I… I am truly grateful for what you’ve done with Kastoria,” she began, her voice trembling slightly. “No one else could have achieved that. We might’ve suffered heavy losses without your intervention, and I’ll never deny that. But you did it as the Lord Commander of Tenebria, didn’t you?
I gave you that title so you could protect Tenebria.”
“That’s exactly what I did,” I replied curtly, not wanting to rehash the events of Kastoria. She knew I had resolved that situation, negotiating peace and securing our position.
“Yes, but…” Azariah finally raised her head, her expression one of desperate frustration. “Now you’re saying you’ll take part in another war—one that has no connection to us, no benefit for Tenebria. How long will you be gone? What if another kingdom attacks us while you’re away?”
Her concern was palpable, her fear not just for the kingdom, but for the precarious position we had secured. She understood my value now, perhaps more than she had before. And she wasn’t willing to let me walk away so easily.
I met her worried gaze, unflinching. “No one will attack Tenebria while I’m gone,” I assured her. “At least not Kastoria, and not the Empire of Light, who bear the most hatred toward Tenebria.”
“How can you be so sure?” Azariah asked unconvinced.
I couldn’t exactly reveal that I’d received information from Amaterasu herself—details that Hera had requested the Empire of Light to join the Trojan War, effectively ensuring they wouldn’t be focused on attacking Tenebria. So I simply said, “I know, that’s all.”
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. In reality, there was no way to be completely certain. The Empire of Light might be distracted, but what if other kingdoms saw this as an opportunity? If Babylonia, for instance, decided to strike, Tenebria would be wiped off the map. They were strong—frighteningly so.
But Amaterasu had also mentioned that Babylonia was unlikely to attack, along with the other nations, as they were all waiting to see how the war at Troy unfolded.
“Still…” Azariah’s voice wavered with concern. “If you take part in the war and the world learns that the Lord Commander of Tenebria is fighting for the Trojans, we’ll have even more enemies. It doesn’t make sense, and it will only bring us more trouble.”
She wasn’t wrong. But I had already anticipated this. “I won’t fight as Samael, Lord Commander of Tenebria,” I said, calmly addressing her worry. “I’ll wear a disguise and fight as a simple mercenary for them.”
That should resolve the issue. No one would connect me to Tenebria if I fought under a different name. I also had no intention of involving any of Tenebria’s forces—this was my fight, and I would handle it alone, minimizing the risk of exposing my true identity.
Azariah’s eyes softened, but the tension in her expression remained. “I see… so nothing I say will change your mind,” she concluded with a resigned sigh.
I nodded. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I couldn’t let it slip away.
Azariah’s next words, however, took me by surprise. “You slept with Semiramis, didn’t you?”
Her abrupt change of subject caught me off guard. I raised an eyebrow. “Did she tell you?”
Azariah chuckled softly, her lips curling into a knowing smile. “No, it was just a hunch,” she said, standing up and crossing the room. “She seemed… different. More open. And she kept giving you those heated gazes during meetings.”
It wasn’t something I could control—not like I cared if people noticed. “Yes. What about it?” I asked, indifferent.
Click
The sudden sound of the door locking behind me made me turn my head. Azariah stood by the door, her hand still resting on the lock, her smile taking on a darker edge. “Nothing about it,” she said softly, her tone carrying a hint of something more.
“What are you doing?” I asked though deep down I already had a sense of what was about to unfold.
Azariah froze for a moment, her face flushed with embarrassment as her eyes flickered up to meet mine. “My… duty,” she replied quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, laced with both hesitance and resolve.
Slowly, she began to approach me, each step cautious as if weighed down by the significance of the moment. The room seemed to hold its breath as she knelt before me, her head slightly bowed, the space between us charged with unspoken tension. I remained seated, looking down at her in silence.
Her hands, delicate but trembling, reached out toward my belt, her fingers brushing the cool metal of the buckle. The faint, metallic clink echoed in the quiet room as she unfastened it with careful precision, her hands moving with a mixture of nervousness and determination. Her gaze never left mine, her breath shallow, as if each movement required more courage than the last.
With the belt undone, she lowered my pants, her hands trembling slightly as they slid down the fabric, revealing my body to her. My cock, soft and resting, was now exposed, and for a moment, Azariah paused, her eyes lingering on it. She swallowed, a small gulp breaking the silence, her throat tightening with the weight of what was to come.
After a moment’s hesitation, she extended her hand, her fingers brushing against me gently as she took hold of my dick, her touch tentative but growing firmer with each passing second.
I leaned back slightly, my gaze never leaving her as I exhaled slowly. “Let the Princess fulfill her duty then.”