A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.
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"GOOD MORNING!"
King LIFE and Princess Azarese flinched, startled from the sudden and surprising tresspassing of their family in their room.
The Princess's grandmothers screamed their lungs put before running to her.
"MY GRANDCHILD!" Mistress Seraphim dropped the pink paper bags on the bed and snatched the Princess from the King. She lifted the Princess over her head and showed her off to everyone.
"Behold, my first goth granddaughter!"
"HOORAY TO THE FIRST GOTH PRINCESS!!" The others cheered and crowded around the Princess.
When she started crying.
"Stop, all of you! You're scaring her!"
King LIFE grumpily got the Princess back to his arms and rock her side by side to comfort her.
"Dad! I want to play with my sister! Look, I brought her a pink sword with lots of diamonds!" Prince Fiery came running to the King while lifting the said sword over his head to show it.
It's all shiny and sparkly.
"That's dangerous," the King's father gasped and carefully took the sword from the Prince.
It's real. The blade is sharp.
"HA! Loser! Look at mine!" Prince Zephyrus turn to his side to show the handbag on his shoulder.
"Customized by Duchess Aviana herself. Sister will love it very much. She can put lots of makeups here and even knives!"
"Oh, that's so cute!" Mistress Seraphim clapped her hands.
"What about you two?" Archduchess Ultrona smiled at the other two. Prince Ocean opened his palm.
A ring.
"I stole it from Kuya Izaac. I will give it to her."
Just after the people gasped, Prince Izaac broke in through the window.
"OCEAN! WHERE'S MY WEDDING RING!"
"IZAAC! YOUR SISTER!" King LIFE thundered when the shattered pieces of glass flew everywhere.
"Oh, sorry." The Prince turn around and fixed the window with magic. After that, he went to his brother and get what was his.
"You can't give this to Azarese. This is mine!"
"Oh? But Terra have your wife's, too."
Prince Terra opened his hands, then closed them again.
"What's wrong with you two!?"
Mistress Seraphim fell on the bed, laughing breathlessly. The Archduchess is giggling, while the others are in stitches, too.
"You know what,"
Duchess Selene made her entrance and carried the Princess.
"Boys, all of you leave. The Princess need her post-birth shower before the main party. So, shoo! Even you, Dad! The Princess needs the ladies!"
"What the---!? What is this? We don't have time for this!" The King protested but Duchess Selene stopped him with her hand up to his face.
"Nah-uh. Before you show the Princess to the world, she will need our wisdom. We have lots to teach and tell her about. You'd be thanking us later."
"She's just a BABY!"
Duchess Selene looked down on the Princess. She flashed a smile. She tickled her.
"Oh, are you? That smile is dangerous. It's a weapon to bring men to their knees!"
"HAIL THE PRINCESS!"
"HAIL AZARESE!"
The Princess's cult chanted.
Empress Siofra chuckled. She just returned from seeing how things are outside. When she saw that none of them was outside, she knew that they will be here to bother her husband and steal the Princess from him. The King is very greedy after all.
"I'm quite curious about this post-birth party. I'd like to join."
"Sio, don't join them. They're insane!"
"I want to join! Mom, I want to join!" Prince Fiery ran to his mother and hugged her leg while crying.
"You're not a girl! Only girls are allowed!" Princess Lorreign jumped in and stuck her tongue out to the Prince.
The four began crying.
"But I want to join! Mom! I'm a girl!" Prince Zephyrus rolled on the floor, throwing tantrums.
"Okay, boys. Get out! Girlies, stay! Ah, head maid, spread the word. The Aunties should be here. We'll be at the Tower, 8 am sharp!"
"You can't---"
The women screamed and danced their way to the Tower.
"...do that." The King sighed helplessly.
The confetti popped.
"Welcome to the family, Princess Azarese! Wooh! Welcome, Third Lady of Heart!"
Princess Azarese jumped in the Empress's embrace while watching the confettis fall to the ground. The baby fever they received from her almost gave them a heart attack. The Princess is just so cute!
"If it's not one of my sons she will marry, I'll kick them back to their father's balls," Duchess Luisa grunted while clutching her chest. Duchess Denise smacked her back.
"Words. We should be extra careful. What if she picked it up? You know their babies; they are highly intelligent even as a baby."
"Ah, I don't think so. I think after Eddrien, the rest are dummies. Look at the quad. Terra and Ocean stole Izaac and Aurora's wedding rings to give it to her," Duchess Selene chuckled.
Soon, they were completed. They created a circle where the Princess is in the middle, lying on a rotating plush cushion. She's fast asleep while sucking a pacifier with the King's grumpy chibi on its guard. On her right hand is the rarest Barby doll (owned and kept by Grand Duchess Xerene, a collector), while her left hand is holding her Dad's customized doll in his business man uniform. It was Prince Izaac who made the King's doll, as requested by his mother, Empress Siofra, during her pregnancy with Prince Astaroth.
"She's so cute. I want to dress her up," Archduchess Ultrona giggled.
"I'm glad everyone made it despite your busy schedules. Truly, it delights me to know that my daughter is loved," Empress Siofra smiled as she look at each of them.
But not everyone, because Prince Astaroth and his family are not attending. They're not coming. Lady Elektra, too, Grand Duchess Xerene's second child and eldest daughter with Grand Duke Voltage, is not with them, for she is away. But she will be attending Princess Azarese's celebration later.
"We're more grateful. Because of her, we reunited again. She's so different. I love that about her. Do you think she's a Veil?" Princess Lorreign tickled the Princess's feet.
Princess Azarese stretched her arms up.
"Oh my! She's so cute! CAPTURE IT!"
Mistress Seraphim dived and captured the Princess's cuteness in every angle.
"Of course she is. Is it not obvious?" Marchioness Sennoma rolled her eyes.
Princess Lorreign rolled her eyes back at her.
"How are you to know? What if it's just her appearance? Dumb robot."
Duchess Selene holds her twin's hand and gave her a look.
"I'll always give her free cupcakes. Everything she will buy from me is free," Chancellor Titania said before the sparking fight grow into a fire.
"I wish Fionna and Schionna were here. They will love her, too," the Empress can't help but bitterly smile. She miss them. She miss her son very much.
Her mothers embraced her. It's nice that they were seated beside her. They understand her loneliness.
"Why not see him? It's been so long," Empress Clastigaufeas supposed.
"I can't. If he wished to not be found and live in peace, then I'll let them be. I will be here waiting for his return. My boy will come back to me. To us."
Empress Siofra closed her tearful eyes.
"But what if it's too late?" Viscountess Givenchy, "Sorry but, you're not getting better, Empress. Don't hide it from us: The Princess's birth worsened your condition. We're working hard, but we just can't find anything that will restore your Core Essence to a hundred percent. Won't it be best to return while you still have time to spend with him than nothing at all?"
But even them knows that she's just spitting facts, as always. The Viscountess is right. They're only pretending that everything is as perfect as it was once. They could see the dark clouds coming their way. But while it's still taking its time, while the sky is still clear over their heads and the sun is still gracing them light, they will keep smiling. They won't stop finding a way to help the Empress. As long as the sun continues to shine, they will not lose hope. The Matriarch is watching over them. Someday... Someday, the Empress will get better.
"But I thought her fathers found something? A plant," Duchess Denise.
Marchioness Xenos, direct descendant of Chancellor Titania, nodded, "Yet another mythical plant. According to the myths, it was first found growing on the Oracle Tree's roots. But there's another story saying that if you helped a wounded white moose, it will take you to it. There are so many folklores about it that we don't know what's the truth anymore."
"How did they found it, though?" they asked.
This time, Viscountess Xeina, a friend to Marquess Thorn and wife of the Marquess's best friend, Viscount Dean, raised her hand to answer.
"From books! We've been browsing the books in the Imperial library since forever and we're not even in the half of it! So, Dean suggested to why not start from the other side? So, we did! Apparently, the oldest of the oldest books were there. Most of them showed signs of wearing that we can't read or flip the pages anymore. But I think when the Empress started laboring, I found a glowing book!"
"Glowing book?"
The Viscountess nodded with so much excitement and pride.
"Yes! But when I opened it, this one, torn page is the one making the whole book glow! It looked like a clean scratch paper, like the ones geniuses do then discard after when they got the formula wrong. We witnessed it glow! The drawing on that paper is glowing! It's the said plant! And guess what!?"
Everyone moved closer. They are curious now as well and too invested!
"What?"
"It was the Matriarch herself who wrote that torn page!"
They gasped.
"But, but, but! The only problem is that the writings on the page is incomplete. But the drawing of the said plant and it's name were drawn and written there. As translated by the Archduke, it was called the Phrazhaire Blossom, enclosed within a gemstone called Ultrgardite The stone and the plant are inextricably linked; their energies intertwining to create a powerful synergy. The Ultrgardite not only protects the Phrazhaire Blossom but also amplifies its healing abilities! The description ended when it was about to say where it was located."
Suddenly, Archduchess Rigel, wife of Archduke Celestial Avenger, the bestest friend of all of Prince Izaac, started sobbing.
"T-The Matriarch loves the Empress very much. She gave us a sign. She's watching over us. The Matriarch is the path, the life! I never regretted converting to her religion. I always pray to her that my husband will love me forever and give me more babies!"
Everybody winced.
Empress Siofra laughed softly though.
"I met her once and she's very grumpy. I don't believe it first when I first heard the talks about her generosity, how she's very merciful and kind, until I saw it myself. She gave me an earful of lessons and scolding before helping me. Sometimes, I feel her watching me. When I pray and talk to her, I feel her presence. The Matriarch is with us. She won't abandon me. I'm the second lady from her lineage."
They smiled and laughed with her.
Except for one.
"Now that the third lady's here, she will," Marchioness Schionna smirked, that's why she received sharp glares from the rest.
"Can you just not? You're such a bitch," Princess Lorreign hissed in irritation. The Marchioness is always ruining their mood.
"You're a bigger bitch. It's funny how you act so angelic and sinless around your Veil Lord King Daddy. If only he knew what kind of a slut and cunt you are when you were younger. GRANDMA!"
"TAKE THAT BACK!"
Grand Duchess Xerene massaged her nape first before standing up between the ladies.
"Stop. If there will be the biggest bitch, then I'll take the role and snap your fucking wires, Sennoma. A word from me and your husband will divorce you. Or I can just kill him. Who's gonna resurrect him then? Definitely not Siofra. She can't anymore. What will become of you? A robot that lost her mind. At least my daughter has ovaries. Her body can carry a child. Can you?"
Viscountess Givenchy gulped the laugh she almost let out and looked away. Princess Lorreign composed herself and gave the Marchioness a dirty finger.
"Preach, Mother. Take that, cy-bitch! I have ovaries and a reproductive system, you don't! A vagina alone is not enough to conceive a baby. If you want to tell my Dad the life I led, I will even take you to him. Let's see what he will do. I'm his only Princess. You think he'd hate me for that? Poor you, you will never know because Astaroth was never a father figure to you! Oops. Sorry not sorry!"
Princess Lorreign placed her pointing finger to her tongue before crossing it with Duchess Selene who did the same thing. They mocked the Marchioness by laughing right on her face.
The Marchioness then stand up to face them with a grin.
"Oh, yeah? A bastard born out of a mistake and a bitch born from a forced marriage ganging up on me? Yes, I don't have the instrument to make babies in me. Yes, that Astaroth was never a father to me. At least, my husband did not mistook me as somebody else and only disrespects me with consent! You think Elektra, the LEGITIMATE daughter of the Empress's look-alike, liked any of you? Hell nah! She's just pretending to! I would never want a BASTARD'S and a RAPIST'S daughters as my sisters, too!"
"SENNOMA!" The Duchesses called her out and drew their knives out, about to kill her if only the other women did not stop them.
The King felt that something is wrong, so he climbed to the Tower to see what's happening. Not only him but the other husbands climbed too. Their radars were tingling. Meaning, their wives are either killing others beyond their knowledge or are trying killing each other.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
King LIFE roared the moment he saw the mess they have created.
That's the only time Empress Siofra could pick up the crying Princess and rock her in her comforting arms. But the Princess won't stop crying. She's scared. Splash of blood stained her dress and face. Empress Siofra turned her back from the King to hide it, wiping the blood off the Princess's face before her husband could see it.
"Lorreign!?" King Liorei walked in big steps to her wounded daughter. The Princess's cheek is bleeding.
"Who did this!?"
Sennoma angrily wiped the blood off her hand-turned-sword hand.
King Liorei's vision went redder than the blood she just cleaned off her blade.
Princess Lorreign hugged the King and cried her eyes out.
"Dad, it's Sennoma again! We're having fun but she always have something to spoil it! She called Selene a bastard and more awful things to me! Ask the Aunties! She even insulted Mommy!"
Grand Duke Voltage looked at his wife. She only looked away, but her fists told him what he needed to know.
"What did you do this time? Did you do that to the Princess?" Marquess Thorn sternly asked, glaring at his wife.
But Marchioness Sennoma is as good as the Princess.
"Before you get mad at me, why not ask what they said to me? I know I can't bear your children, Thorn! I'm a fucking cyborg, a robot---call me everything you want---"
Marquess Thorn's gut felt sick when King Liorei's figure towered before them.
He expected it---They see it coming, but they're still shock and was horrified when the King slapped the Marchioness out of the Tower. The Tower's wall got destroyed after he sent the Marchioness flying.
"Thorn Rivera, if you continuously fail to keep the leash on your wife, just fucking give up and find another vagina to fuck. One that can carry your lineage on. A cunt you can breed with. Talk shit about me all you want, BUT IF ANY OF YOU HURT MY DAUGHTER, YOU'D NEVER SEE ANOTHER DAYLIGHT. Do you understand, Rivera?"
Princess Lorreign grinned mischievously under her hands that were covering her mouth.
King Liorei returned to his daughter and checked her wound.
King LIFE wrapped his protective arms around his wife and daughter. Gerson Liorei will always be a threat to them.
"L-Let me heal the Princess," Princess Diamanda, though she's trembling in fear, stepped forward and healed the Princess's cheek. It did not scar.
King Liorei kissed his daughter's healed face.
"Are you hurt anywhere else? I don't care if he's Astaroth daughter. Say the word. I'll bring her head to you."
Princess Lorreign shook her head and embraced him.
"I'm alright. I don't want her head. She's not even pretty. Not a good addition to my collection of pretty things. Thank you, Dad. I can handle her, but you still handled her for me."
King Liorei kissed her head then glared at everybody else, "I can do much more than slapping that fly away." Then he covered her ears.
"The next time something like this happens, everyone will be held accountable for whatever will happen to my Princess. Siofra, Clastigaufeas, or even Xerene. The next time I see my daughter hurt, I will destroy you."
All they could do in that moment is look away and gulp, but not King LIFE.
"Try me."
King Liorei glared at him and left with his daughter. But before that, Princess Lorreign looked back to her twin sister and they both grinned. Prince Izaac nudged his sister and gave her a glare.
King LIFE turned his wife around. Their daughter is still crying.
"Tsk. I told you this is a bad idea. Ses what happens if you ladies are left to yourselves? With that one? Let me calm her."
Empress Siofra tightened her embrace around the Princess when he tried taking her.
"Sio, is there something wrong?"
That's when their hearts races one more time. They are looking at each other, talking with their widening eyes.
Is the Princess wounded? Was she caught up in their little fight?
The thought of it horrifies them more than what they have witnessed just a while ago.
"Promise you won't get mad?"
They saw how the King's face darkened as the blackness his eyes shrink.
"If she's not wounded, that is. I swear, Sio. Is Azarese hurt? Is that why she can't stop crying?"
"No. No, she's not."
"Then what are you hiding from me?"
Empress Siofra loosened her arms and showed the King the blood stains on her dress.
"Her dress was stained. She's not hurt at all. Believe me."
King LIFE takes the Princess from her.
"Then I'm not angry. I believe you. As long as she's not hurt, it's fine. Are you hurt?"
The Empress shook her head.
The King's cousin, Duke Yohanne Minuet, clapped his hands slowly.
"Wow. What is this character development unfolding before me from my favorite cousin? The world must be ending. Guys, we're relocating to another planet. This one is ending."
Duchess Denise steps on her husband's foot.
King LIFE covered the Princess's ears and said, "Fuck you. Your life will end first before the world does."
King LIFE rolled his eyes on everyone.
"The party's ruined before it even started. Let's go, Sio."
Princess Azarese lift her hands, opening and closing them. Her father smiled down on her and carried her upright, supporting her back and head with extra care before kissing her cheeks.
"My beautiful girl. You're amazing."
"Baaa!"
They laughed together and left their family behind.