"Ma, what do you think? Where did he run off to?" The duchess asked.
"I am sorry but I don't know what to answer, my lady." The doctor said.
"Anyway, you need to focus on your body first. Is it still aching?"
"It is, but not that fiercely. I think I will be alright."
"No, it is not. Also, I need to heal you so that you don't get infected."
"Yeah, I get it."
The midwife cleaned up the kid's body properly and wrapped the newborn in a hygienic cloth. She threw the sheets that were covered with bloodstains and feces into the bin. The midwife approached the lady and placed her hands above her nether regions.
She first opened her arms as much as she could, before joining her hands, palm against backhands, at her navel's height.
"Heal!"
Suddenly a sphere of light enveloped the duchess's lower body and completely recovered her complexion. The pale skin reverted to healthy pink, while all traces of pain and fatigue disappeared from her face.
"Now you will be fine." The doctor said.
"Thanks as always, ma." The duchess said.
While the ladies were talking with each other, the door opened with the Duke entering inside with a book in his hand.
*
"(*cough) (*cough) Here it is." The duke said as he took out an old, dusty book from the closet.
A large horn was printed on the front cover of the book, which had a deep red color. He unfastened the thread that was locking the pages and started reading through it.
"I knew I remembered something when I first saw that sign." The duke said.
"What do you mean, my Lord?" Alfred asked.
"Still, I wished my premonition was false." The duke said, as he started moving out of the room.
"Alfred. Keep everything, that I shared with you, inside until the day you die." The duke ordered, to which Alfred nodded in response, and they started moving towards the duchess's room.
*
"You didn't have to run around if you were going to breathe this heavily." The lady said as she sat on the bed with a blanket covering her.
"No, I can't agree with that, Sylvia. This is not a trivial matter and I can't take it lightly." The Duke said.
"Yeah, yeah. So what did you find?"
"You see this book? I just confirmed something through it."
"This is…"
"This is one of our ancestors' old scriptures. There aren't many people who have heard of or have received these scriptures. We are fortunate to have a piece of this treasure, as it holds the answers to many of our current problems."
"Then tell me. I want to know the reason for this unusual happening. I want to confirm that my child is completely normal (like a human child)."
"You were not alone. I also wished for the same before I read this thing. (*sigh) But before I start, I need to explain to you few things." The Duke continued.
"Our ancestors originally wrote six scripts, each representing a different mythical species. Those six species were listed as:
1) Angels
2) Demons/Devils
3) Fairies,
4) Giant
5) Four ancient guardians
and humans at last.
The angels, demons, fairies, giant and the humans were sealed into their respective realms by the four guardians after the Great Heavenly War. And this scripture belongs to the demonic species."
"So what does all this information have to do with our current situation?" Sylvie asked.
"Don't interrupt me. Ah, where was I?" The Duke asked.
"You were talking about the demonic species." The doctor said.
"So yeah, this book contains knowledge about the demonic species. Although, I tried to read this thoroughly, I failed to understand it because of the difference in our languages. But I found something more interesting." The Duke said as he flipped some pages of the book and then pointed to a specific symbol.
"O-Our child has the same one on his shoulder." Sylvie said.
"Yeah, and although I wasn't able to decipher the precise meaning of these texts, I remember learning about these symbols when I was a kid."
"You still have those memories?" Sylvie asked.
"Of course not, but I don't know why something stuck in my mind when I saw the symbol on his shoulder." The Duke continued.
"There are seven symbols, which, in a nutshell, represent the seven demon kings or the seven devils." The duke said while showing the signs to the others.
"Their names were -"
1) Lucifer - Pride
2) Mammon - Greed
3) Leviathan - Envy
4) Beezlebub - Gluttony
5) Satan - Wrath
6) Belphegor - Sloth
7) Asmodeus - Lust
"These were the seven devils representing the seven deadly sins. Moreover, our child's engraved sign belongs to ASMODEUS - THE KING OF ALL DEMONS."
"I don't want to understand any of that, Julius. Just tell me that we can go on living a normal life."
Julius moved his head sideways while looking down, denying her.
"I don't think that I can say that, Sylvie. I don't know why all this happened, but do you really believe that a demon child can live normally in the world of humans?"
"I don't know or want to know any of that but if you are thinking of abandoning our child, then I dare you."
"I know it's difficult for you, but we don't have any other choice. I can't risk everyone else's life too."
"Then abandon me too because I won't leave my child alone."
"My lady, how can you say that?" The doctor said in a worried tone.
"Julius, please. If we decide to, we will manage it somehow. He will be our child and I won't let him go the wrong way."
"You are making me a villain here. He is as much a part of my heart as you are. And I can't separate my heart, can I?"
"So…"
" (*sigh) Yeah, we will nurture him together and protect him from others," Julius said as he held the baby in his hands and straightened his arms above.
"His name will be - ASMODEUS BEISCHEL"