Playful with my words

"I didn't mean to anger you. I hated the fact that the family cursed you without knowing what kind of person their family head was," Apollyon after a moment of silence spoke up.
Lilith looked in his direction. "It's alright," she muttered.
"Your face says you are still angry with me," Apollyon asserted.
"Because you don't understand what I feel," Lilith stated.
"I do. I cannot let my violent nature behind," Apollyon proclaimed. "What do you expect from a devil? I cannot always be an angel. I don't understand being kind and forgivable all the time," he explained to her.
Lilith bit her bottom lip as she felt she was too harsh on him. "I understand. I think I got overwhelmed in my emotions," she stated and apologized to him if he got hurt because of her words.
"You don't need to apologize to me. I am not hurt," Apollyon said. He was delighted to know that their tension ended.
"The Council Head Office is quite far from the palace, I feel," Lilith changed their topic of conversation. "You are the King. You could have asked them to come to the palace," she opined.
"Don't you know how Jareth reacts? If any human had annoyed him, he would not even have flinched to kill the human. Moreover, I am also short-tempered," Apollyon asserted.
"Are you?" Lilith was doubtful of his short temper. "You have always been patient with me. I attempted to anger you," she muttered.
"That's what amuse me all the time, Lilith. I am unable to get angry at you. Your attempts are playful for me," he remarked, a smile again starting to appear on his lips.
"That's strange. I have never been playful with my words. I am always serious on serious matters," Lilith asserted.
The carriage came to a sudden halt, making Lilith lose her balance and she fell toward Apollyon. He caught her securely before settling her.
"What happened? Why did the carriage halt?" Lilith asked as she quickly moved the curtain away to look outside.
Apollyon asked her to stay inside and got out of the carriage. Lilith kept her gaze outside, her heart beating faster because she felt something strange was going around.
Apollyon paused in his steps when he saw a red deer dying right in front of the carriage. It had an arrow shot on its neck with a note around it.
Karin told Apollyon he would check and ran ahead.
"Apollyon, is everything alright?" Lilith's voice fell into his ears and he immediately turned around.
"I asked you to stay inside the carriage," Apollyon said, his voice loud.
Lilith frowned at him and stopped. Her eyes landed on the deer lying in the middle of the road, whimpering in pain. She ran toward it when Apollyon caught her arm. "Stay here," he said.
"The deer is injured," Lilith said.
Karin came toward them and showed the note to Apollyon. He read the note, the frowns getting deeper on his forehead. Lilith let go of his hand and ran toward the red deer again.
It was no more, making her feel upset. Apollyon made her turn around and she buried her face in his chest. "It's dead. Did someone hunt this red deer? Why did the person do it?" Lilith muttered.
Apollyon gestured for Karin to clean the place and also ordered him to bury the red deer somewhere in the forest. Karin ordered the soldiers, who had accompanied them to do that while Apollyon took Lilith to the carriage.
Lilith's hands were trembling and she had kept her head down. "Why don't you ban hunting in the forest? Such a precious life is lost today. The red deer's family will be sad," she requested Apollyon about no more hunting.
"Humans do that. Since the Queen wants it, I will pass the order for it," Apollyon assured her and rubbed his thumbs on the back of her palms.
"We are returning to the palace," Apollyon said.
"Why?" Lilith looked at him. "You have to attend the council," she asserted.
"I have to look into something," Apollyon proclaimed. "The Council meeting has to be postponed," he muttered.
Lilith realized something was off and she asked about it. "If you are postponing it because I am a bit scared, then don't do that," she urged him.
"No meeting is above you," Apollyon stated. Although he has to find out who sent the note, he couldn't ignore how scared Lilith was. "The meeting will happen in a week later," he postponed it for a week.
Lilith attempted to study his eyes. "I hope everything is fine," she said, expecting him to speak to her if there was a concerning matter associated with it. Because Lilith didn't see Karin giving a note to Apollyon, so she was unaware of that, or else she would've asked about it.
Her mind still had the pictures of the injured red deer, his eyes misty as if he begged for his life and his painful whimpers would tell anyone how dear your life was to every individual. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.
Apollyon drew tiny circles in the back of her palms, making her feel warm. "Lilith, you don't have to feel bad about the deer. The hunters don't have a heart when it comes to hunting," he asserted.
They heard a knock on the window of the carriage and tilted their heads to look. Apollyon opened the window when Karin informed him they had cleared the way.
"Ask the chauffeur to return to the palace. Send someone to inform the council office that the meeting has been postponed until next week," Apollyon commanded Karin.
Karin, without any objection, complied with the King's orders. The chauffeur drove the carriage back to the palace.
On the entire way to the palace, Apollyon wondered what did the note signify?
Finally, they arrived at the palace. Apollyon asked Karin to escort Lilith to the chamber while he headed to see Jareth because he could help him read the note.