The Crown's Obsession

As the night continued to go on, stars spread in the sky along with the lone moon. Calhoun had taken his time to have Madeline sleep with the baby next to her with pillows kept on one side of it so that little Morven wouldn't fall from the bed.

Calhoun had got on the roof above the room, taking a seat on the roof while keeping an eye on his family.

He sat there for long minutes, both his hands placed behind to support himself. His eyes moved to one corner when he heard something sizzle in the air,

"Peaceful night, isn't it?" questioned the Devil, making his way towards where he sat.

"Did you finish talking to her?"

"Hm," Vladimir hummed in response. "No matter how much time is given, I realize it will never be enough. Isn't that right?" and he took the liberty to take a seat next to Calhoun.

Calhoun knew the time in Heaven and the living world didn't match because of the discrepancies between the two realms. He looked at the castle ground and the trees that had grown from one corner to another, touching the horizon. Some of the buildings in the towns and villages could be seen peeking from where he sat.

"What are you doing here?" questioned Calhoun as it was very odd for the Devil to be accompanying him in the middle of the night.

"Giving you company of course," came the direct words from Vladimir and Calhoun chuckled.

"I am not a child, Vlad. You don't have to worry about me," stated Calhoun, a smirk on his lips at the silly thought of the Devil being worried.

"Aye, you are right, but you are my family now," replied Vladimir. "While we are sad about the person who has left us, we shouldn't forget that there are people in the living world whom we love and care about. The words some say- Don't worry about the people that have gone, but worry about the ones who are here so that you don't end up regretting anything."

"Sounds strange coming from you," said Calhoun, but he didn't mean it in a hurtful way as the Devil continued to sit next to him.

"There are many times when I wish Constance to be here. Before I went to sleep, it didn't cross my mind that she would disappear from this world. To think that she is in Heaven, I knew I should have brought her up more harshly. Maybe having her kill someone would have earned her a free ticket to Hell and I could have brought her back," Vladimir shared his complaints he had with his grandson.

"I doubt she would have done that," replied Calhoun. His mother had been too kindhearted to hurt anyone.

There were times in the past Calhoun had wished she weren't like that. Wishing she had plotted against the King, but she was too soft and naive for this place.

"How did she turn out like that? You obviously are the Devil, did she turn out like her mother?" questioned Calhoun. A thoughtful expression came to fall on his face.

"Ah, Harriet," came the thoughtful words from Vladimir as if it had been a while since he had last remembered about the woman. "I guess you could say that. Harriet. She was a beautiful woman, who was passionate and spirited, who was against the vampires."

It seemed like Vladimir had a particular taste when it came to women, thought Calhoun to himself.

"She was a human of course. When the time came, there was too much blood and it turned complicated. Unfortunately, Harriet didn't stay long to spend time with Constance. But I guess you are right, Constance took after her mother's kindness," explained Vladimir. "I can give you some of the memories of her if you want, to look at it," offered the Devil.

"And what do you want in return?"

"I will take some of your memories to see the time she spent in the living world," Vladimir shrugged his shoulders.

Calhoun stared at Vladimir before he smiled, "I doubt you would want to do that."

"I am already aware of what has happened. I am only offering a give and take deal here, it is alright if you don't want it," said Vladimir, ready to get up from the place where he had been sitting in.

"Fine."

A pleased smile appeared on Vladimir's lips, "Great." And he brought his hand towards one side of his temple, placing his index finger there before pulling out a bright ball of light and giving it to Calhoun. "These are the most precious one's I kept of her, I am sure you will come to cherish them as much as I have."

The Devil then did the same by taking Calhoun's memories of Constance to watch it himself.

Once the Devil disappeared from the castle, Calhoun was left with a white ball of light that rested on the top of his palm. Bringing his hand towards his c.h.e.s.t, the ball of light disappeared within him, and he received a set of new memories that didn't belong to him but Vladimir.

"Papa! Look, there's a butterfly at the window!"

Calhoun heard a little girl's voice he believed to be his mother before the scenery he had been looking at until now changed into the Belmount castle.

The little girl had her hair let down, and she peeked back and forth while Vladimir tried to take a short nap. The small girls appeared to be no more than five years old.

"Are you sleeping? You said we would be reading together," came the sweet voice of the little girl. "Are you?"

Vladimir, who had placed his forearm to cover his eyes, didn't move, except for his lips, "Of course, I am. Why would I be lying here for no reason."

"But you are awake," pointed the little girl.

"Argh. Fine, I am up," said Vladimir, throwing his arm to his side and sitting up. "What did you want to read?"

"Lost boy in the woods."

"Didn't we read that more than two hundred and seventy-two times already?" questioned the Devil. "I do not understand the fascination the mortals have towards such lame stories. There are no actual talking animals in the real world. Have Odin bring another book to read."

"Odiiiiii," little Constance disappeared from Vladimir's room while trying to get the servant of the castle.

After the Devil spent his time, unbelievingly reciting an entire book with his daughter, which was of no use to him, his daughter finally fell asleep during the middle of the day.

"Master?" Odin called his master for his attention.

Only Vladimir's eyes moved to look at Odin.

The demon servant bowed his head and said, "Are we going to stay in the living world longer, Master?"

"So it seems. Constance belongs to the mortal world and we need her to pass this life before she can enter Hell. I would have left her, but she looks too troublesome. Worse than you," stated the Devil.

Odin's eyes turned bright as if his Master had included him in being taken care of.

"Don't turn happy. It is nothing to be happy about," Vladimir rolled his eyes. "We will stay here until the right time comes, before going back to Hell."