Hell's Consort

[A/N: The author is not slacking. The author is busy writing. Unfortunately, the one I have written was closer to the ending than this one, so it took me a long time to upload because I'm still writing the current and sorting out the order of events. The end is near. We also voted for the President of Our Nation the other day, so things got hectic. I apologize. I will be uploading two chapters tomorrow.]

Newest Chapter of The Highest Tier (May 2022)

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PRINCESS' BIRTH ATTENDANT

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Lightning struck inside the dimly lit space, creating zigzag flashes everywhere blue.

The birth attendant gasped and jerked out of her seat that she nearly broke her hunched back.

As she grimaced from the ache, she covered her face with her hands–as if that would hide her from the enemies– while stealing wide-eyed glances at the glow-in-the-dark ceiling.

'Where the hell did that come from?' She thought while observing the blue streaks crackle and sizzle.

The lightning bolts hit the walls and bounced like toys until the stuffy air in this overcrowded chamber snuffed out its last sparks.

Closing her eyes, she sighed in relief and unclenched her fists.

It turned out she was holding her breath all this time.

The control she had over her muscles eased as well.

If she weren't careful and allowed fear to make her panic, these things would be her death before she could fulfill her trade as a birth attendant.

Her reputation was on the line here.

After enduring these Archdemons, she would demand a handsome price for her excellent service.

Yes.

That's it.

The birth attendant nodded in agreement.

She opened her eyes again to glance around the room with vigilance, anticipating the thunderbolts-of-unknown-origin to return to trace the magic back to its wielder.

She was aware that this type of magic didn't come from a Fae in the Autumn Courts.

Her narrowed eyes darted from the ceiling to the green walls and then to the slithering green snake before her gaze settled on the Archdemon's back.

The tiny Fae Symbols engraved in the Emerald Room made him sleep for more than ten hours.

He slept peacefully over the expensive cloak he had spread unto the floor while facing the wall.

The man had argued with the princess earlier, and she quickly understood that his name was Sloth.

She also heard from the grapevine that the Archdemon was a Prince--in Hell, she assumed--but all the royal birth attendants who Queen Morgan tasked to take care of the Princess wondered why this Sloth and the other man he called his brother were acting like servants around her.

Only her.

Maybe, all of it was just an act?

It was a strange dynamic that the other women couldn't comprehend.

The most puzzling thing was that... the Vampire King seemed alright with the arrangement.

Yet, some of the Princess's ladies-in-waiting witnessed the new Autumn Prince lash out with anger and frustration from the brothers' presence as if he didn't want them there, but he had no choice but to keep them to make her happy.

It became apparent that the Princess of the Autumn Courts wasn't satisfied with just one man.

Perhaps, the new Princess wanted to hide the fact that she had three husbands for fear that Queen Morgan would demand that she return her royal title and all the properties that came along with it.

The Autumn Fairfolk valued monogamous relationships between soulmates, and the princess unwittingly broke the long-standing tradition.

'Wait. I forgot to check up on her when she was the most dangerous.'

The birth attendant scrambled to her feet, bent over the pregnant woman--while each of her pale limbs was tied to the bedpost--and scrutinized her face to see if she was feigning sleep.

The Archdemon Prince did warn her that the Honorary Princess—the former Empress of the Vampire Realm—was possessed by a female Archdemon.

He and the Female Archdemon had a hostile discussion that persuaded her to listen and shut her mouth.

Sloth knew better than to feed into this deranged woman's bitterness.

He had slept before he saw her faint from the increasing labor pains she suffered, the wasted efforts to escape her restraints, and the loud and infinite screams their ears had to endure.

Nobody gave in to the other female Archdemon's temper tantrum until she was exhausted.

The birth attendant was the last conscious person in the Emerald Room and won through her patience and experience.

She a wrinkled finger on the Princess' smooth, pale cheek and urged her head to turn to the side.

Still, her breathing remained even, and she didn't wake up.

Unfortunate or not, nothing similar to the event earlier had occurred.

The birth attendant even paused to examine each of the suspects for a long time.

Did she become senile that her mind wanted to play tricks on her?

She straightened her spine and paced back and forth with a scowl.

She was sure that those sudden lightning bolts didn't come from her, the Archdemon, the Princess, or the emerald snake.

That python was her friend ever since she started working as a royal midwife at a young age, but she never witnessed that fork tongue spit lightning or white sparks jump from the zigzag pattern on its skin.

How could the lightning enter when there wasn't even a single window where light could pass through?

The only entrance and exit were closed shut.

Yes.

A powerful being must have done it.

She had no way of knowing what time and what was going on in the Autumn Courts, and she had no guts to venture outside.

However, she could ask Sloth to look outside for a few minutes and report back here immediately.

Unfortunately, the lazy Archdemon might kill her if she woke him at the wrong time and the man who accompanied the princess through here was useless.

There was another moment of crisis that she had to deal with.

The lightning bolts were more potent when they returned to hit the hearth.

The flames jounced in all directions that the edge of the blanket, the closet, and one of the bedposts had caught fire.

Was this an omen that the Demonic Legion entered the barriers and invaded the Autumn Courts again?

The birth attendant screeched for help when she heard a loud bang.

The door to the Emerald Room had opened.

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