The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: Windmills by Ludwig Goransson

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'For the love, you have showered on him, for the way you have protected him when he was little, I promise to watch over him, and love and cherish until the very end. I will do everything in my power, and always be there for him both in the happiest time of light, as well as in the darkest hours of his life,' Madeline silently whispered in her mind while she had her eyes closed, standing in front of the closed grave. 'Thank you for protecting him as much as you could, Lady Constance.'

When she felt a breeze move across where she stood, Madeline opened her eyes and noticed that the atmosphere had turned gloomier. When she turned her head, she noticed Calhoun was standing away from the coffin, looking in another direction. Walking towards him, Madeline placed her hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to meet her eyes.

"Did you ask her for her blessings?" asked Calhoun, turning his body entirely so that he could face her. His eyes looked softer than they usually did with his features calmer, almost like he was in a tranquil state and at peace with himself. It made Madeline wonder if it was the presence of his mother that made him feel like that.

In the midst of cold weather, she offered him a warm smile, "I did. I wonder if she can hear me. I mean because she is in Heaven." Madeline hoped that Constance heard her prayers because she didn't know if they would ever get the opportunity to meet and get to know each other. As Madeline was part angel, she hoped that her words reached Calhoun's mother.

Calhoun's hand reached out for hers, to hold it in both his hands. "She must have heard it. Whenever I needed her to hear me the most, she always heard."

Madeline didn't need to meet Constance to know how wonderful of a mother she was to him. Every time Calhoun spoke about Constance, his words were filled with deep respect and admiration towards her. It only made her wonder how much he missed his mother.

Letting go of her hand, he fished his trouser pocket and pulled out red berries from there, and it made Madeline smile whilst her eyebrows furrowed itself. "It is the strangest thing I have seen. A vampire carrying berries in the pocket," said Madeline and Calhoun grinned at her.

"I think you had that same look the first time when I offered them to you," replied Calhoun, fondly remembering the memory. "I don't exactly carry them in my pocket." Saying this, he closed his hand, and when he opened it, the berries had disappeared. "There are things that can be pulled from the air," and he pulled a single berry from nowhere, offering it to Madeline.

"Thank you," whispered Madeline, not forgetting her manners. Putting it in her mouth, she crushed it, tasting sweetness burst on her tongue.

Suddenly next to them, a fire lit itself that was as tall as Calhoun's height before it extinguished and Vladimir appeared with a wide smile on his lips as if he had brought some good news. But everyone knew that one had to be wary when the Devil smiled.

"Good morning, Calhoun and Madeline! I wondered where you both went and thought I would come and visit the graveyard. And voila! Here you both are!" came the excited and loud voice of Vladimir.

Madeline bowed her head, greeting Vladimir, "Good morning, Vlad."

Calhoun gave his grandfather a stare before asking him, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to have breakfast with my grandson," Vladimir stated as if it was the most natural thing to do.

"You brought the previous King and the old woman back to the living world," Calhoun's eyes narrowed at his grandfather. "Thanks to you, people are going to wonder if ghosts exist."

Vladimir didn't look one bit guilty, and he only smiled like he had woken up on his good side this morning, that was if morning existed in Hell, which Madeline doubted. He appeared to be wearing clothes that weren't the old ones, but belonged to the present time.

"Isn't it wonderful that people will have better things to speak about, than talk about the useless matter," Vladimir clapped both his hands together, and he walked past them, making his way towards the grave where Constance laid. "I didn't know what I wanted to do with them because chopping people and then burning them in the molten iron is meh. It is the most common thing we have been practicing in Hell. I wanted something new, so I decided to restore their memory before breaking it down. It was fairly enjoyable."

The Devil then touched the cemented coffin, feeling the soft crackle of lightning run up his fingers. "Why is your mother lying in a grave that doesn't have her name?" questioned Vladimir, the smile turning upside down and he looked back at Calhoun.

"It was safer to keep her here, where people wouldn't move her, believing it was the great old King who was inside. Also, this particular grave has properties to preserve the body without rotting," replied Calhoun. So he threw his great old grandfather out of the cemented coffin to be replaced by his mother.

"Hm," responded Vladimir, "Seems fair," and he went to the front where the man's name was engraved. With one snap of his finger, the stone turned completely blank with no name on it anymore.

Beth, who had finished praying, was making her way to where Madeline was when she noticed the Devil standing next to them. Sensing Beth's presence and the scent of light werewolf in the air, Vladimir's eyes narrowed.

"While I was in Hell, I heard something very interesting about you," said Vladimir, looking at Beth who seemed jittery in his presence. "Heard that you were going to poison my grandson," his eyes turned utterly serious, and if it was possible, the clouds turned darker.