After Nadia and Portia told Kasumi, Asra and Julian the news, they all immediately took off back to the palace, so they could go to the dungeons and see for themselves if Valerius and Valdemar were indeed missing. Once getting to the palace, they headed down to the sub-basement, which had been converted into a dungeon/torture chamber by Lucio, but now only served as a simple jail. Nadia immediately led them over to one of the three cells that held her ex-courtiers, where Valerius and Valdemar were supposed to be. To everyone's surprise, however, they immediately saw Valdemar as they leaned against the bars of the cell.

When they saw them, they flashed their pointed teeth in a hideous smile. "Well, well, well. Hello Countess. Do what do I owe the pleasure of a personal visit?"

"Cut the shit, Valdemar!" Nadia growled. "Where is Valerius?" Valdemar simply pointed to the other side of the cell where Valerius was sitting. "Valerius!"

"I hear you, you don't have to shout." Valerius growled at her as he glared. "What are you doing down here? I figured a run-down place like this would be safe from the high and mighty Countess Nadia, who hates getting dirty." He said sarcastically.

Nadia glared at him harsher. "Very funny."

"We had heard that the two of you had gone missing." Portia spoke up. "Where have you been?"

"I don't know what you could mean. We've been stuck here ever since our dear Count Lucio left this world for good." Valdemar said. They let out a disappointed sigh and said, "It's a pity Lucio could not come back for long." Their red eyes almost seemed to light up with joy as they added, "I would have relished the opportunity to witness another onset of the plague." They turned their head and their eyes fell on Kasumi as their smile widened. "I especially would have loved to get the chance to dissect someone who died of the plague twice."

Julian growled as Asra took a step in front of Kasumi defensively. "Over my dead body!"

"Oh, Doctor Devorak, that could be easily arranged."

"Enough with the mind games, Valdemar!" Nadia yelled. "Someone tried to assassinate Kasumi the other day!"

Valerius scoffed as his golden eyes glared at Kasumi. "It seems not to have taken."

"You can thank Doctor Devorak's expertise for that." Nadia said, and Julian smirked victoriously at the two prisoners. "You two wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"How could we?" Valerius asked. "You really believe that we broke out only to come back? What would be the point of that?" His hands gripped the bars in front of Nadia, so he could be face-to-face with her.

While everyone else seemed focused on Valerius and Valdemar, Faust and Ember looked at each other before sneaking off and finding their way into the cell without anyone noticing. Once in there, Ember took refuge under one of the cots while Faust found a nice hole in the stone wall just small enough for her to squeeze into. They had decided to try and spy on Valerius and Valdemar after everyone left, so were thankful that no one had noticed them go in.

"Well, you both have a reason to see Kasumi out of the picture." Portia pointed out.

"Exactly." Nadia agreed. "Especially you, Valerius. You've been trying to get rid of Kasumi since the day you met her at the luncheon. After all, you were Lucio's little fuck toy, so it's possible you knew he was going to come back, and you were trying to get rid of Kasumi, so he could."

"Watch yourself, Countess." Valerius said lowly. "You will get what's coming to you!"

"You do know that threatening Nadia is an extension on your sentence, right?"

"Shut up, laundry maid! If anyone here is nothing more than someone's fuck toy, it's you!"

Julian's hands clenched into fists at that and before he even knew what he was doing, he punched Valerius in the face through the bars with so much force it knocked him on his ass. "Don't you ever talk that way about my sister!"

"She's your sister?" Valdemar asked, then smirked as they glanced in between Portia and Julian. "That I did not know."

"You stay the hell away from her, you psychopath!"

Asra walked up and gently placed his hand on Julian's shoulder. "Ilya, calm down. Neither of them can do anything to her," He cast a glance at Valdemar warily. "Or to anyone anymore."

"You're so sure about that, are you, magician?" Valdemar grinned.

Asra glared. "Yes. I am." He then turned to Nadia. "Come on, it's obvious they're not going to tell us anything, even if they do know what happened."

Nadia nodded in agreement before turning towards one of the guards and ordering, "Do not let them out of your sight for even a moment. Alert me at the first mention of them disappearing."

"Yes Countess!" The guard replied as she stood up straight and saluted. "24 hour watch!"

"Good." With that, Nadia left and was followed closely behind by Portia and Julian.

Asra and Kasumi followed after them, too, but were farther behind. As they walked, Kasumi heard Valdemar say to her, "Hope you enjoy what little life has to offer you now, Apprentice." Kasumi went to turn around and tell them off, but Asra stopped her before she did.

"Don't look back and don't say anything. He's just trying to get a rise out of you." The two of them then left for good, the heavy, reinforced wooden door to the dungeon closing behind them.

Once the five of them were gone, Valerius stood up and wiped his mouth from where Julian had punched him. Both of them still seemingly unaware of Faust's and Ember's presence. "Kasumi seems to not be affected at all…"

"Relax." Valdemar said. "It hasn't been three days yet, and they all suspect nothing."

"I guess I'm just impatient." Valerius growled as he glared at the door. "After all, it's only because of Kasumi that the plan to assassinate Nadia was ruined."

"Really?" Valdemar looked at their cell partner as they leaned back against the wall and placed the tips of their gloved fingers together in an almost evil manner as a smirk formed. "Is that the only reason you wish to see her dead?"

Valerius glared. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Please, Valerius. Everyone knows about your past relationship with Lucio. No matter how much you deny it, you enjoyed being his sex slave. So, maybe… you also wish to see Kasumi die for being the main cause of Lucio's final demise?"

"…"

Back upstairs, Nadia stopped by the doors to the ballroom and let out a sigh as she rubbed her temple. "What am I going to do with them?"

"If you ask me, Valerius's perfect braid would make a very handsome trophy."

"Julian!" Nadia scolded, but her tone held amusement.

"No, I'm serious. You can put your hair into a fine braid as well, and then, cut his off as a way of showing you have the best braid in all of Vesuvia!"

They all laughed at that suggestion and Kasumi spoke up. "Ilya, you come up with the strangest ideas."

"Ilya?" Portia asked. "Since when did you start calling him Ilya?"

"I told her she could." Julian answered.

Asra nodded, and then changed the subject. "Speaking of Ilya, the three of us were wondering if Kasumi and I could possibly, hm… borrow him for the night."

"Borrow him?" Portia asked skeptically as her arms folded across her chest.

"Yes. After all, there's not really much use for me here at the palace right now. There are no diseases or anything going around, so what's the use of a doctor being here?" Julian shrugged. "Besides, Kasumi and I really need to start rehearsing for our roles in the play."

"Oh? You two are going to be in a play together?" Nadia asked, sounding intrigued.

"Yes. We're the lead characters. It would be quieter at the shop than it would be here."

"All right. You can go, then," Nadia agreed. "But you know… you were never stuck here. You may come and go as you please, you don't need my permission."

Julian laughed. "I'll keep that in mind!"

"Wait…" Portia said and grabbed Julian's arm. "Can you all excuse us for a minute?" Without waiting for an answer, she dragged her brother off down the hall.

"What's wrong with Portia?" Kasumi asked.

Nadia sighed. "She seems to think that the two of you are intent on using Julian."

Back with Portia and Julian, she dragged him out onto the veranda overlooking the garden and stopped. "Pasha, what's wrong?" He asked after she finally let go of his arm.

"Ilya, I know that you're a grown man and you can do what you want, but… what are you getting yourself into now?" She sighed as she turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what is going on between you, Asra and Kasumi? After all, I catch you and Asra almost ready to fuck each other on the floor of my cabin and Kasumi seemed completely fine with it. Now, you three are sleeping in the same bed and she's calling you Ilya… plus, they're asking to "borrow" you? Can't you explain to me what is going on?"

Julian shook his head with a sigh. "All you had to do was ask, Pasha. If you really want to know, the three of us have recently decided to enter into a relationship."

"A relationship? You mean, like… they want you as an extra in the bedroom?"

"No. I mean a real relationship between the three of us, more than just sex."

"A… three-way relationship?" Portia looked confused. "Is that even possible?"

"I'm confident the three of us can make it work."

Portia looked unconvinced. "Are you truly sure you know what you're getting yourself into? I know Asra broke your heart before, and the two of them have been together for a while now, so do you really believe you can just enter the relationship so simply?"

"I know you're concerned about me, Pasha, but don't be. I know they both care about me, just like I care about both of them. I'm really happy, so don't worry. Now, I should probably be getting back to them. Kasumi and I really do have to rehearse, after all." He gave his sister a hug. "I'll see you later."

Portia watched her brother walk back inside and simply let out a defeated sigh.

A little more than an hour later, Asra was sitting on his and Kasumi's bed in the upper floor of the shop as he watched Julian and Kasumi rehearse their lines with one another and acting as if they were on stage. Right now, they were practicing a part at the very beginning of the play, where the two main characters meet as kids, but then have to leave one another. "Antonio, do we truly have to part ways here?" Kasumi asked Julian. "Is there no way for us to stay together longer?"

"Alas, dear Aurora, as much as it pains my heart to say this, we have no choice. I truly hope we may see each other again one day, but for now, this is farewell." Julian and Kasumi had their hands that were intertwined break apart as they stepped away from each other, showing them going in opposite directions.

Kasumi looked over and saw Asra tearing up. "Asra, what's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes and sniffed. "Sorry, it's just… that part reminds me of when you and I first said goodbye after meeting."

"It really tugged at your heartstrings, huh?" Julian asked, and Asra nodded. "Good, that means we're doing a good job."

Kasumi chuckled and walked over to the bed, sitting next to Asra after setting her script aside. "I think that's enough rehearsing for now. Besides, the play hasn't even been officially announced yet. We have plenty of time."

"Yeah." Julian agreed as he tossed his copy aside, too. He walked over to the bed and got on the other side of Asra before moving behind him and placing his hands on Asra's shoulders. Asra looked back and smiled at him before leaning against his chest and closing his eyes as he let out a contented sigh.

Kasumi smiled at seeing that. "Comfortable, Asra?" He simply nodded with a soft smile playing on his lips. She laughed and moved closer, running her fingers through his silver curly hair. She watched as Julian's hands slowly started rubbing his shoulders, causing Asra to let out a moan. Kasumi bit her bottom lip as she watched this and felt herself getting turned on by it. She was then struck with an idea and smirked. "Ilya, Asra… would the two of you be willing to do something for me?"

"What do you have in mind?" Julian asked.

"Well, I've been wondering about that night in Portia's cottage. I never really got to see what happened after you two got on the floor because the table was in the way." She smiled. "So, do you think you two could… replay what happened before Portia showed up? I'd really like to see it for myself."

Julian laughed. "Would that turn you on, Kasumi? Seeing that?"

"I already kind of am, but that would definitely help, yes."

Julian looked down at Asra as he looked back up at him. "What do you think, Asra?"

Asra gave a small smirk. "I say if she wants a show, let's give her a show."

"Yes!" Kasumi couldn't help but cheer happily as Asra and Julian got off the bed and stood up facing each other while Kasumi got comfortable.

Asra placed his hands on Julian's chest as he stood in front of him. "I suppose we should start with a kiss, like we did before." He then licked his lips and pressed his lips against Julian's. Julian let out a quiet moan and wrapped his arms around Asra's waist, pulling him closer and kissing him back. Asra's lips curled into a smile against Julian's lips before they opened as an invitation to Julian's tongue. Once Julian slipped his tongue into Asra's waiting mouth, Asra moved his hands up and gripped his fingers in Julian's hair as he sucked on his tongue, and Julian let out a groan.

Kasumi watched this all happen with her eyes lit up in excitement. She watched as Julian unbuttoned Asra's shirt and opened it up, exposing the soft skin on his chest, but was still on him. She then licked her lips as she watched Julian slowly drop himself and Asra to the floor, never breaking their kiss.

Once on the floor, Julian broke the kiss and leaned over Asra, seeing the exact same look on his face as he had that night in Portia's cottage. His hands were being held over his head as his shirt clung to his arms, but was wide open. One of Julian's hands was on the left side of Asra as he held himself up and the other was against Asra's lower stomach, the palm of it against the waistband of his pants.* He saw Asra lick his lips while staring at him to entice him further, and Julian chuckled. "What do you want me to do, Asra?"

"Maybe you could jerk him off?" Kasumi suggested excitedly. "Or maybe use your mouth?"

"Oh, hey, Kasumi. How long have you been there?" Julian joked.

"Very funny." Kasumi laughed.

Julian chuckled before turning his attention back to Asra. "Well, you did say let's give her a show." He undid Asra's pants and pulled them down to his knees, not even bothering to take them off all the way before he gripped Asra's cock in his hand and slowly started massaging it up and down, making Asra moan out in pleasure. Watching Asra get jerked off by Julian as he laid on the floor moaning, Kasumi felt herself getting even more turned on. She slid down further onto the bed to let herself lay down and still watch as one of her hands reached underneath her shirt and started massaging her breast while the other slipped underneath her skirt and slowly touched her clit. Julian noticed this and chuckled, "Liking this, Kasumi?" She just nodded in response as she kept watching and touching herself. "Then, I'm sure you're going to love this." He leaned down and took the tip of Asra's hard erection into his mouth, sucking on it hungrily.

"Fuck…" Asra sighed out in pleasure as he felt Julian's mouth engulf his cock and he reached down, tugging on Julian's amber hair roughly, which made Julian moan.

Kasumi moaned. "Oh yeah, I bet that feels good, Asra."

"Mmm, it does." Asra agreed and thrusted into Julian's mouth a bit.

"I bet he gives better blowjobs than I do." At seeing the slightly guilty look on Asra's face, Kasumi laughed and assured him, "It's okay. You can be honest. I won't be offended."

"I feel a bit bad saying it, but… yes, he does."

Kasumi laughed again after Julian moaned in appreciation at that. "I suppose I'll leave that to him from now on, then. As long as I can practice on Ilya, that is."

Julian pulled his mouth away from Asra's member but kept stroking it with his hand as he smirked at Kasumi. "Absolutely. I am at your mercy." He and Asra both watched as Kasumi stood up from the bed and went over to where they were lying, rubbing her hand against Julian's hard-on through his pants. He bit his bottom lip as she did and the hand that was around Asra's member squeezed around it a bit in reflex, causing Asra to groan. "Sorry, am I hurting you?"

"No." Asra shook his head, tugging Julian down by his hair. "Keep going." Julian's response to that was to toss Asra a smirk and take his cock back into his mouth.

Kasumi watched as she squeezed Julian, causing him to moan, which in turn pleasured Asra further. 'I'm like the puppet master!' Kasumi thought with a smirk and kept experimenting by trying different speeds and variations of grip. She then started taking Julian's pants off, and he lifted his hips as she pulled them down to make it easier before she flicked her hair to the side so it wouldn't be in the way, licked her lips, and leaned down, taking Julian's hard length in her mouth.

"Mmph!" Julian moaned, it being muffled a bit by Asra's presence in his mouth, but still loud enough for both to hear. He began going faster, bobbing his head up and down as his hand did the same on the bottom part, moaning louder as Kasumi worked her mouth on him. He suddenly pulled his mouth away and jokingly said to Asra, "Are you sure I'm better?" He groaned when Kasumi sucked on him harder. "Seems like she's great at it!"

Asra chuckled as he looked down, watching Kasumi pleasure Julian. "I never said she was bad at it, I just said you were better."

Kasumi pulled away from Julian's cock with a slurp and sat up, licking her lips as her eyes glinted mischievously. "Why don't we test his abilities even further, Asra?"

Asra smirked as he sat up also, his shirt completely falling down his arms. "What are you thinking?"

Kasumi went over to a chest on the side of the room and dug through it for a moment before coming back over with some red string and making a turn over motion to Julian. "Lay on your stomach." Julian did what he was told without hesitation, obviously loving being told what to do. Kasumi went over and took the red string, tying Julian's hands together behind his back and making sure he wouldn't get them free. Once she was done with that, she moved back a bit and ordered, "Now, turn over."

Julian turned over so he was lying on his tied up arms and looking at Kasumi, biting his lip, obviously extremely turned on. "Now what?"

Kasumi looked at Asra. "Think you can see how long he'll last with you riding him?" She winked.

Asra's violet eyes lit up with as he stood and took his shirt and pants off completely so he wasn't wearing anything at all. "Kasumi, you have no idea how much I can wear Ilya out."

"Then show me." She challenged. She sat back, leaning against the wall behind her as she watched with excitement as Asra crawled on Julian's lap and hovered over his stiff manhood as Julian watched him, silently pleading for him to take his cock. Kasumi moaned and began touching herself once more as Asra slowly impaled himself on Julian's cock, making them both moan in pleasure.

"Fuck!" Julian growled as Asra went down further. "I never thought you could get any tighter than you were last time." Asra smirked and reached down, running his fingers through Julian's hair before tugging on it hard, causing Julian to let out a groan in appreciation. "You know I love it when you pull my hair."

"I do know." Asra leaned over him with his free hand holding himself up on the side of Julian's head. "I also know you love being told what to do…" His tongue slipped out of his mouth and slid all the way up Julian's neck. "And being bitten and scratched." He bit down onto Julian's neck as he suddenly slammed himself the rest of the way onto his cock, and Julian tossed his head back as he cried out in sheer bliss.

'Damn, this is even hotter than any of my dreams!' Kasumi thought as she took her shirt off, and then slipped off her skirt so she could spread her legs and pleasure herself better. She rubbed her clit faster as she watched Asra sit up and start grinding his hips with Julian inside him.

"Fuck yes!" Asra groaned as his head fell back and his cock twitched when Julian hit just the right spot inside him. That made him lose his composure and start riding Julian hard and fast. Julian moaned loudly as Asra rode him and his hips kept bucking up in time with his thrusts to increase the pleasure even further. "Ilya!" Asra growled, and his nails racked themselves down Julian's chest.

Kasumi was loving this as she slipped two of her fingers inside herself and started moving her hips in much the same way Asra's hips were moving against Julian.

From the excitement of being watched by Kasumi, Asra's erratic movements, and the utter pleasure he derived from being dominated, Julian couldn't hold out anymore and suddenly came inside Asra with a deep groan of his name. After coming back to Earth, he realized Asra had stopped his movements and was looking at him disappointedly while Kasumi looked a bit confused as to what just happened. He gave Asra a sheepish smile. "Sorry." He swallowed. "I-I couldn't hold back."

"Did he already finish?" Kasumi asked.

"Yes."

"Don't worry, I got more." Julian insisted. "I can keep going!"

"Is that so?" Asra teased and tugged Julian's hair, yanking his head back. "And are you going to cum before either me or Kasumi again?"

Julian shook his head desperately. "No, I'll hold out this time, I promise. I'll be good."

"You better keep that promise," Kasumi chuckled. "Or Asra and I will have to finish without you."

"Yes." Asra agreed and smirked at Julian. "You wouldn't want that, would you, Ilya?"

"No." He shook his head again. "I want to help satisfy both of you."

"Good." Asra started up his movements again, as did Kasumi while Julian laid there in submission and moaned.

Julian then got an idea and looked over at Kasumi. "Kasumi, come over here."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it's not fair for you to be satisfying yourself." He motioned his head for her to come over. "Come on." When Kasumi stopped touching herself to crawl over, he then instructed her to put her knees on either side of his head. When she did so, he immediately stuck his tongue out and started lapping at her folds. He heard her let out a gasp and a moan, and he moaned in response as he continued. Asra watched with a smile while he kept riding Julian's cock, then took Kasumi's chin in his hand and kissed her, both moaning into it.

After a few minutes of kisses, licks and thrusts, Kasumi ended up cumming first as Julian sucked on her clit. Asra followed close behind her, his cum spraying onto Julian's stomach before he felt Julian fill him up a second time. Afterwards, the three of them all took a moment to calm themselves and come down from their natural highs. Kasumi got off Julian and helped Asra do the same before Julian got up himself, and the three of them went over to the bed, collapsing onto it, with Asra in between them.

"Whew!" Kasumi sighed happily as she shook her head, getting her hair out of her face. "I needed that!" She smirked at Asra and Julian. "You both sounded like you loved it!"

"Definitely!" Asra agreed, and Julian just hummed with a nod as his eye closed, and Asra chuckled. "I told you I could wear him out."

Kasumi laughed as she placed her head on Asra's chest. "You definitely did that!"

Julian's eye opened again as he smirked. "Yeah, well, you two look just as tired as I am. We can have more fun tomorrow, though, right?" He asked hopefully.

"We'll see." Asra teased as Julian cuddled against him and he placed one arm around Kasumi's bare shoulders while his other arm rested on Julian's which was around his waist. The three of them then fell asleep happily, and for once in a long while, Kasumi's sleep was dreamless.

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon, Ember and Faust had come out of their hiding places after Valerius and Valdemar had gone to bed. They had both overheard them talking about poisoning Kasumi and decided to head back to the shop to inform their others immediately about it. Unbeknownst to them, however, was that Valdemar was still awake, and when Ember walked passed their cot, they reached down with lightening speed and grabbed her by the back of the neck. "Hey Valerius, wake up! We got ourselves a spy!"

Ember growled and tried to swipe and bite at Valdemar but was unsuccessful in getting them to drop her.

Valerius woke up and got up from his cot as Faust bit into Valdemar's ankle to try and get them to free Ember, but Valerius tore her off. She then rounded on him and bit his wrist. It was then she noticed an identical bite mark further up his wrist, right below his hand, and she put two-and-two together that he was the man who'd attacked Kasumi in the shop! She was suddenly flung off him as he swung his arm hard, and she hit the bars of the cell. Faust was just about to go back when Ember spoke to her, telling her not to, and to just leave while she could.

"Go!" Ember pleaded.

Faust seemed hesitant, but then slipped out of the bars and far enough away so Valerius couldn't grab her again before saying back to Ember, "I'll be back for you!" She then took off for a small hole in the wall that led outside the palace and headed for the shop as fast as she could.

––

*I commissioned an acquaintance of mine on Twitter to paint me the new cover photo for this story, and that is the exact image of Asra I'm portraying in that part. (Check out the photo if you haven't already!) Julian's hands are also in the painting, which is awesome! So, it is not my art, I cannot even draw to save my life, but I did get their permission to use it.

Well, this chapter was quite a bit longer than most of the other ones, but I am proud of it! I'm not too good at writing lemons, but this one turned out half-decently, I think! Also, I was going to end on Asra, Julian and Kasumi falling asleep, but then I thought back to Ember and Faust.

Now, you're probably wondering "why didn't Faust and Ember just contact Asra and Kasumi from the jail cell?" After all, if Asra and Faust could communicate when she was in Vesuvia and he was in Nopal, then surely that connection would span halfway across Vesuvia. Well, the answer to that is simple: they tried, but Asra and Kasumi were both too involved in what they were doing.

Hope you're enjoying this story so far! Also, if you want to follow me on Twitter, my name there is QueenTheirin and it's YaoiandYuriLove!