The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros

After school hours, the two younger Daughters of Moonlight returned to their home; the Castle of Moonlight.

The large building stood serene under a canopy of silver stars, its obsidian towards glinting like shards of a night armor. The air in the castle was cold and still, save for the faint whispers of wind threading through its marble halls.

Daughter Luna was in her room. Hers was much bigger than the one that Melina and Aryanne shared. It has silver curtains and multiple armors hanging on the walls, including displays of beast cores from beasts she had slain.

Proving that she had slain so many, she barely had use for the beast cores except for decoration. Experience more content on empire

Luna was sat on her bed, elbows on her knees and palm crossed together. She was visibly angry and in deep thought. Her jaw was clenched and her teeth kept clashing against each other.

But only one person was in her thoughts.

Within the grandiose structure, in a chamber draped in shades of midnight black and silver, two large beds side by side with space in their center and beautiful silver gowns hanging in a closet, a heated argument erupted between two sisters.

Melina sat on the edge of her canopied bed, her fingers nervously toying with the hem of her silken nightgown.

Across from her, Aryanne paced the room like a storm contained within four walls. Her silver hair shimmered in the candlelight, her features taut with frustration.

She sat on her own bed, then stood up, then sat again, then stood up, then paced around. She seemed to be thinking of what to do to handle whatever the present situation was, but when nothing came up, she got extremely frustrated.

"Melina, what are you thinking?" Aryanne hissed, stopping abruptly to glare at her younger sister. "You wore the Crest of Obedience for an entire day! I had to follow you around like a shadow, and now you're telling me you want to do it again? Are you mad?"

Melina, knowing that this was going to happen, folded her hands in her lap and avoided her sister's sharp gaze. "I don't see why it's such a big deal," she murmured, her voice calm but resolute. "It wasn't as bad as you're making it out to be."

"Not as bad?" Aryanne's voice rose incredulously. "Melina, Crests are dangerous. You're too young to understand its full implications!"

"You're only two years older than me," Melina shot back with a lifted silver brow.

"That doesn't matter! I'm still older!" Aryanne said with a defensive frown. "You can't wear that Crest again. No. No. Never. It warps your thoughts — makes you compliant, subservient."

Melina shrugged. "I mean that's why it's called a Crest of Obedience."

Aryanne fumed, turning red. "You're not listening! Don't you see? That's why you feel like you want it again. It's not you. It's the Crest."

Melina finally looked up, her silver eyes glinting with some defiance that she rarely had against her older sister. "You're wrong, Aryanne. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Aryanne threw up her hands. "You don't know anything! The Crest was created to suppress rebellion, to strip people of their will. And you—" She jabbed a finger in Melina's direction. "You're willingly inviting that into your life? After you've already endured it once?"

"I endured it because it was necessary," Melina shot back, her voice gaining strength. "You know as well as I do that if I hadn't worn the Crest, Aeric would have made you wear it and we know what happens after that."

"Or... he would have done something worse. Or Mother would have been mad because she had told me to wear it as punishment for losing to Aeric. That brought shame to the Moonlight Region."

"But what you're doing now would even bring MORE shame!" Aryanne retorted angrily, pushing her hands forward. "A Moonlight Princess being a Bondservant to the Starlight Prince? What could be more shameful?!"

Melina stood up, stomping her feet on the ground. "This is all your fault, you know! The only reason I wore the Crest in the first place of because you made me do it. You made a stupid bet with Aeric. You didn't have to do that."

Aryanne closed her eyes, feeling guilty. But then she returned with rebuttal. "But I'm not making you do it now! It's over, the bet has been completed. You don't have to wear it again. Aeric ordered you to do it and because you're wearing the Crest you're being made to do it! You don't want to!"

Melina froze, staying silent. Then she said, "You're wrong. Aeric didn't order me to wear it again."

Aryanne looked at her with a worried expression. "What?"

"The Crest has also gone as well. It has no influence over me. Look." She reached for the neckline of her nightgown and pulled it down just enough to reveal her cleavage-filled chest.

Aryanne froze, her breath stopping as her eyes landed on smooth, unmarked skin. The Crest of Obedience, that had been seared into Melina's flesh that morning, was completely gone.

"You—" Aryanne stammered, her voice faltering. "You took it off?"

Melina shook her head, her expression steady. "It's a full day already. The night bells have rung and the Crest disappeared some minutes ago before this. But even after it went, I still felt the same way I did. Which is why I was more certain than ever that I wanted to do this."

"It's completely my choice."

For a moment, Aryanne couldn't speak. She stared at her sister as though seeing her for the first time, the words tangling in her throat. "What are you doing, Mel? What are you saying just now? You're betraying us? You actually want to be a Bondservant for Aeric of Starlight?"

Aryanne stared into her sister's eyes. "Do you like him?"

Melina took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly as she adjusted her gown. "I don't have to answer that honestly since you're not my Bondmaster."

Aryanne's face twisted with anger and disbelief. "Your... Bondmaster?!!!!"

Melina then sat on her bed, dusting it off gingerly. "But what I do know is that he's not an abomination like Mother said, neither is he evil. You and I were close enough to making him evil by doing everything Mother told us to do, but even at that, he could have used this past day to take his revenge on me. And yet, he did not do anything inappropriate. He was... gentle." She smiled. "Even though he did not have to be."

Aryanne's grip loosened as her shoulders sagged, her silver hair falling over her face like a curtain. She was speechless.

"Mel— Melina."

"I'm not a child anymore," Melina replied softly, lying back to go to bed. "From now on. I'm doing what I want to do and not what someone else tells me. And what I want to do is to wear my Bondmaster's Crest."

Aryanne continued to stare at her sister, her breath shuddering as she fought back tears. 'Melina,' her thoughts whispered. 'You're actually braver than I ever gave you credit for.'

And then the scene faded away, but the mirror by the side of their room shimmered with a corruptive silver color. This same silver color glistened in Luna's eyes and then disappeared after.

Her brows furrowed in anger and her jaws clenched. "First my Mother and now my Sister. All obsessed with you."

Anger boiled within her. "What are you doing to my family, Aeric of Starlight?"