His Majesty's Devious Sin

Heartbreaks were painful, but have you ever felt the pain of right person, wrong time? Out of every love in the world, it is the kind that makes you lose faith in love. A heartbreak so painful, for you knew it could've been the greatest love story, had they met at a different period in their lives.

Lydia Claymore never really understood what could be so painful about this phrase until she saw Weston in the hallways. 

Weston was holding a folder of papers in one hand, his face blank, his eyes surveying her. Then, it drifted to William who was briefing her about the meeting, but she couldn't even hear his words right now.

Lydia could only see Weston and his deep frown, his eyes narrowed into slits. Red fire danced in his eyes, his hands going pale from his fists. She could see him piece two-by-two together.

"Madam, are you listening?" William asked, placing a hand on the chairwoman's arm, hoping he could just shake some senses into her. 

Lydia was a decently tall woman, but he was abnormally tall and had to bend down just to speak to her. The least she could do was focus on his words.

"Y-yes," Lydia responded, tearing her eyes away from Weston. For a second there, she felt like her and Weston were the only two people in the world. And even if they were, he'd still not love her.

"You mentioned we would be having a meeting with Zhao Corporation's new chairwoman," Lydia said, turning her face to William who frowned.

"No, you're getting it confused with Feili," William sighed. "Feili is the one who has a new chairwoman."

Lydia blinked. Oh right. Zhao Corporation was still being led by the sibling of Feili's new chairwoman. She dryly thought to herself how powerful the Yang clan must be. To have two major surnames under their belt, that clan practically dominated the eastern side of the world, leaving no room for competition. The top three companies in the east were Yang Enterprise, Feili, and Zhao Corporation. What a frightening clan…

"We need to thoroughly go over this meeting," William stressed. "Feili has always been led by a woman because it was a rule set by the first founder, so tell me you at least know this. We really need their cooperation if we want to partner with Yang Enterprise."

Lydia blinked. Yang Enterprise was so damn cutthroat. It was difficult getting a hold of them. She knew they were filthy rich. Not many people knew this, but she heard rumors of them ruling the underworld as well. If Claymore Conglomerate could have a partnership with them and supply them with more guns and weapons, it'd greatly benefit her.

"Of course, I know that," Lydia said. "I'm not stupid."

William looked at her. Right… "Anyways, the new chairwoman is the cherished daughter of the Yang Clan. She is highly respected and we must gain her cooperation. Seeing as both of you are new chairwomen, you'd have something to bond over."

"Mmhm," Lydia said.

"Which is why we can't stand here all day!" William snapped at her, wondering why they were halting here the whole time. Finally aggravated that she wasn't paying attention to him, he raised his head to see what she was staring at the whole time.

"Lord Fitzcharles," William muttered under his breath, astonished by the sight of the vampire politician who rarely made his face known, despite how powerful this man was.

"Do you know him?" William asked, remembering he saw her being pulled away from the banquet, but before he could stop them, they were gone.

"No!" Lydia instantly said. "No, I don't know this man."

Weston scoffed in response. He glanced at her as if she lost her damn mind. 

Lydia glared at him. Suddenly, she looped her hand through William's arm, the one that was tucked into his pants pocket. He did that out of bad habit, and she finally saw it was useful.

"Let's go, William," Lydia cheerfully said, smiling up at her secretary. 

William was surprised, his brows knitted. Seeing as he had her full cooperation, he couldn't argue, so they began walking down the hallways.

"You can tell me more details when we're alone in the car," Lydia told him ,the words stabbing Weston right in the chest.

Weston's gaze darkened. Alone. In a car. With a man? His gaze followed the two of them down the hallway. She no longer glanced at him, even when she walked past him.

"Hah, so that's how she wants to play it," Weston muttered under his breath, his chest burning with a strange emotion. 

Weston felt the sudden urge to murder this William, to snap the human's neck, and detach the head from the body. He grinded his teeth, watching as Lydia happily smiled up at him, probably flirting her way into his pants. And it must be working, for William's gaze never left her, a pleased smile of his own resting on his face.

Weston would thoroughly punish her for that. No one touched what was his. And she needed to know that.

- - - - -

"I have bad and good news, Your Majesty. Which would you like to hear?" Weston asked when he walked through the private study of the King. 

The King was focused on a stack of paper, a fine pen in his hand, and a goblet of blood beside his desk.

Easton was in the private study as well, sitting on the couch and double-checking the documents that had been signed by the King, and overlooking the ones that haven't made it to the stack of documents yet.

Elias didn't bother looking up as he scribbled his name across one of the documents overseeing the military budget for next month. Wraith had great relations with nearly every country in the world, or so it seemed on paper. There were no talks of war, but better safe than sorry. 

The military would always have one of the highest budgets in the country, for the people had to be kept safe somehow. There was a reason no one dared to attack Wraith. They had one of the best militaries in the world, heavily supplied by Claymore Conglomerate's top-of-the-line researchers and manufacturers.

"Since the King refuses to talk," Easton piqued. "Tell me the bad news first, Weston. You can soften the blow of the bad news with the good ones afterwards. At least, that's my favorite way of doing it and—"

"No one cares," Weston snapped at his older brother who behaved like a stupid golden retriever with its tongue hanging out.

Just to irritate his brother, Weston decided to say the good news first. "The good news is that we've found someone with O negative blood."

At this, Elias looked up. As expected of Weston.

"The bad news is," Weston winced. "He's part of the Yang Clan and the husband of Feili's new chairwoman. Additionally, he's the second brother of the Imperial Family in the East." 

Easton blinked. "What a privileged man. The Yang Clan is filthy rich and Feili's chairwoman is beautiful, I'd know, I saw her on the news recently for taking over the company."

"Precisely," Weston said, surprised his brother knew that much. "Despite marrying into the family, he's extremely powerful, for he is the first Pure-Blood part of the clan, thus, his presence can't be missed."

Elias frowned. He couldn't just kill that man then, if he didn't want the family behind the curtain in the east to come for him. 

The east was ruled by an imperial family [1] established by, of course, Pure-Blood vampires, but everyone knew their power came from the cooperation of the Yang Clan and the Zhao family who's part of the clan. 

"I also looked into the Imperial Family, and lucky for them," Weston spat out. "Only the Emperor is the second with the blood type, like his brother. If we kill either member, then we'd have a war on our hands."

Elias settled the pen down. "They're the only ones?"

"That we know of," Weston said.

Elias took off his glasses, his lips spreading into a slow smile. He looked Weston in the eyes and calmly said, "Then let's wage a war on the East."