The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

38 | The Name of the Traitor

The next morning found Taeyong standing in front of the rusty door at the end of the Night Mansion which led to the Court Palace. He was dressed in black with last night's tears wiped away from his face replaced by his usual calm and pride of the Vampire Lord. Behind him, stood the remaining members of the Special Unit robed in their purple cloaks. On his left was Jaehyun, dressed in his usual blue and on his right, dressed in the same colour, was Doyoung, who refused to let them go to Court without him.

Taeyong muttered the incantation bringing the shabby looking door to its glorious life and turned to his left before blurting out, 'Do you have any questions?'

'Hm?' Jaehyun fumbled, dumbfounded. 'Uh, no, my Lord, I don't,' he said.

And the bitter reality sunk within Taeyong deeper. He nodded, shaking the feeling away and turned his attention forward. 'Very well, then,' he sighed and walked forward with the rest following behind.

But the moment Taeyong stepped inside, he was met with a strange silence, halting him in his step, and when the light of the door dissipated, he saw the reason for it - there, in the centre of the Hall stood Yuta with his hands in his pockets and his face twisted into an arrogant smile and behind him, dressed in white was the Neutral Force, fully armed with silver chains hanging by their belts.

'My Lord,' Yuta said, stepping forward. He was wearing the same colours as Taeyong. 'We have all been waiting-'

Taeyong stalked forward with murder in his eyes and slammed Yuta against a pillar, shattering the obsidian into pieces. Ever since he had peered into Dal-ae's memories, he wanted nothing but to bash Yuta's head against a wall till his skull cracks open.

He had controlled himself till now for Dal-ae's sake but now that she was gone, he wasn't in the mood of holding back anymore. Yuta had only just recovered, when Taeyong pulled him up by his collar and was about to twist his arms out of their sockets when Doyoung, with tremendous effort, pulled Taeyong back.

'My Lord!' he shrieked, struggling and Jaehyun leaped forward to help.

'Not here, Taeyong,' he whispered, gesturing to the Neutral Force behind Yuta.

Doyoung was right. If Yuta died at Taeyong's hands in front of the Neutral Force, they possessed the power to dethrone him and banish him from the realm on the charge of murder.

With a groan, Taeyong stopped struggling and calmed down, freeing himself from their grip. On the other side, Yuta gathered himself up from the rubble of obsidian. Despite the heavy blow, Yuta seemed fine except the little blood at the corner of his mouth.

'My Lord, you really seem to have lost your mind,' he said, looking quite amused. 'With all due respect, I think it's time for you to step down from your position and rest.'

Taeyong scoffed.

'Don't worry, I have made arrangements for it,' said Yuta. 'Let me take over for you, hm?'

Doyoung was expecting another reaction from Taeyong and was just about to step forward but, unexpectedly, Taeyong laughed. Unnerving as it was, Taeyong was genuinely laughing, his eyes shut, his fangs bared as he kept a hand on his stomach, unable to control the tremble that came with it.

'Take over for me?' he managed to say. 'You think you can be the Vampire Lord? Very well, then, why don't you go and sit on the Silver Throne.'

The smile on Yuta's face dropped replaced by a scowl.

'Go on,' Taeyong scoffed. 'Find out for yourself if the throne will recognize you or burn you to ash.'

The anger and humiliation were apparent in Yuta's eyes but when he spoke, his tone matched Taeyong's.