The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

9 | The Moon Bled Scarlet

Early next morning, like every other day, Dal-ae arrived at Taeyong's chamber dressed impeccably in her uniform with her silver collar gleaming in the dark corridor. Following a curt knock, she entered to find Taeyong in the shower and the consort that he had taken to bed last night putting on her dress. It was the red-haired woman; the one who Taeyong had invited to his chamber on the night when he drank from Dal-ae for the first time; the one who was sucking him when he moaned Dal-ae's name. Since that night, this woman had been called to the Night Mansion several times and would always show up almost instantly.

Dal-ae patiently waited by the partition to give the woman as much privacy as could be given. After zipping up her dress, the woman flicked her long red hair to the side to put on her winter coat, reserving her heels for the last.

'Please.' Dal-ae politely gestured towards the door once she saw the woman was completely dressed. She escorted the woman till the double doors where she would usually bow a goodbye to all of Taeyong's consorts but the woman paused at doorstep and turned around suddenly.

'Shouldn't you be escorting me till the front gate of the Mansion?' the woman spoke, haughtily.

The courteous smile on Dal-ae's face disappeared – an attempt to bully was not unrecognizable to her. Calmly, she replied, 'No, I shouldn't be escorting you till the front gate of the Mansion.'

'Watch your tone,' the woman snapped. 'Is this how you have been taught to behave with guests?'

'I was polite till the situation warranted politeness but since you are no longer a guest in the Night Mansion, I want to remind you that I only serve my Master,' Dal-ae said, crossing her arms over her chest.

'Such insolence from a Familiar,' shrieked the woman and recalled her hand in order to slap Dal-ae.

But suddenly, just before her hand was about to meet Dal-ae's face, the woman was thrown several feet back into the air by an invisible force and landed on the marble floor with a thump.

From behind the partition, Taeyong stepped into the dark hallway. Hair wet, shirt unbuttoned and pants resting low on his waist, he stepped in front of Dal-ae before his dangerous eyes met the woman's figure on the floor.

'It is best not to hit my Familiar,' he sneered.

But the woman was relentless. Not wanting to lose the favour of the Lord, she immediately broke into a long croak, recounting the conversation in detail, complaining of his Familiar's rude tongue and cheeky attitude towards a vampire.

Taeyong listened patiently with his hands in his pockets; his wet hair dripping on his shoulders had soaked the upper part of his shirt. After the woman was done speaking, he turned to Dal-ae and asked, 'Do you wish to refute any statement or is everything she said the truth?'

The woman, though hysterically whining, did not say a word of lie when Taeyong asked. Dal-ae had sassed the woman in the past too. And while it was not a big deal in ordinary circumstances, in this realm, a human, especially in the position of a Familiar cannot run their mouths in front of a vampire.

Dal-ae met his eyes and replied quietly, 'Everything she said is the truth, Master.'

And the very next moment, almost like a flash of lightning, Taeyong landed a slap on Dal-ae's left cheek rendering everyone silent.

The sound of the slap rippled through the walls of the corridor. Dal-ae stumbled backwards, hitting the wall with a thud. For her, everything had gone blank. Her face had numbed, her vision had blurred and a ringing silence had consumed her till she could feel nothing. She touched the side of her face as tears formed in her eyes and as the initial numbness subsided, she felt the shooting white-hot pain spread over her face.