The Crown's Obsession (WN)

In the underworld, the scrawny servant looked for his Master in haste.

"Master! Master!" Odin came running through the corridors and burst through the Devil's room, where the Devil was taking his bath, immersing himself in the fuming acid.

Vladimir, who had his eyes closed while relaxing himself in the bath, squinted one of his eyes open in slight annoyance, "So noisy. This better be good, Odin for disturbing me," came his low threat to his servant. If it was someone else, he would have burned them and thrown them inside the hot iron pot.

But Vladimir had come to believe that Odin had gotten so used to it that the punishments had turned pointless, not to mention his servant was amusing.

Entering the room, Odin caught sight of his master who was surrounded by two demonesses, who were helping him bathe.

"Master, I have news!" said Odin, his eyes looked wider than usual and Vladimir tapped his nail on the surface of the room while he had his back rested in the bath pool. "Master, Lady Madeline, s-she is going to have a child!"

"WHAT?!" Vladimir's eyes narrowed on hearing this and he got up from the bath, before snapping his fingers for the two demonesses to disappear from the room. "And how sure are you of the information. You aren't joking about this, are you, Odin?"

Odin vigorously shook his head and if it was a person from the living world, they would have snapped their head. "I heard Master Calhoun speaking about it with Lady Madeline, Master! I would never dare make jokes like this," not to mention, Odin often didn't understand jokes or sarcasm which was why Vladimir's sarcastic comments went right through his head.

"I have spent more time in Hell than in the living world," Vladimir huffed and he raised his hand for the clothes to automatically move from the stand to move towards his body. In less than three seconds, the devil was completely dressed and he said, "I cannot believe my grandson would not inform me something so important," his eyes lit itself with fire and he took a deep breath to calm it down.

With the next snap, Vladimir had disappeared from the room and Odin looked around to realize his master had gone to visit the Hawthrone's castle.

Vladimir suddenly appeared in the middle of the corridor, making one of the maids shriek in fear before tripping and running away from there on noticing the Devil's presence.

The Devil cared very little to the maid's reaction as he made his way through the corridors to finally notice his grandson who was talking to one of the ministers of the royal court. Unable to contain his anger, Vladimir's voice shook through the castle.

"Calhoun!"

Calhoun's eyes leisurely moved to the side to catch sight of Vladimir, who was fuming in anger and he walked to where he was. The minister looked terrified and cleared his throat.

"I-Is that all for the day, my King?" asked the minister, wanting to take a leave as soon as possible.

With the existence of angels and demons known in the living world, word had spread quickly on who the Devon King's grandfather was.

Calhoun raised his hand, waving for the minister to leave and the man was more than happy to oblige. Some of the servants who were working in the open were quick to hide behind the walls and others like Madeline and Lucy who were in the patio together had stepped out of the room and into the corridor along with Theodore who came out of the royal court room.

"Vlad, what a surprise," greeted Calhoun, his voice calm. He offered the Devil a smile.

The nerve of this boy, thought Vladimir in his mind. His mother was such a sweetheart and this one here was nothing less to him.

"How dare you keep away something so important as Madeline turning pregnant away from me?" demanded Vladimir. Suddenly Odin appeared a few steps behind Vladimir.

Calhoun looked at the Devil and said, "We thought to share the news with you when you would come to visit us. You did visit a lot before Lucy got married. I didn't know you would stop visiting us, Vlad."

Noticing Madeline who was glowing, a bright smile appeared on Vladimir's lips and he asked sarcastically, "Do you mean to say I would never find out if I didn't come to visit you? Did you perhaps lose your power to enter Hell?"

"I think you are imagining things now...grandfather," smiled Calhoun and Vladimir's eyes subtly narrowed. "We were actually hoping you would drop by today. We even ordered the kitchen cook to prepare delicious dishes."

They did? Asked Madeline in her mind.

Calhoun then said, "You are going to be a great grandfather, Vlad."

"Hmph," harrumphed the Devil but Calhoun noticed the spark of excitement that the old man held in his eyes, walking past him, he went to stand in front of Madeline. "Look at you. I cannot wait to see my great grandchild, Madeline."

Madeline bowed her head in greeting and said, "We too, Vlad. Thank you for coming to see us."

"You are my granddaughter-in-law. When Odin gave me the news, I came here as quickly as I could. I know the right things you should eat and drink," Vladimir raised his hand and a scroll appeared in his hand. "This has everything that you will ever need. Come now, let me tell you what are the most important things to remember," he said, having Madeline walk next to him. Madeline looked at Calhoun and he nodded at her.

"Grandpa Vlad is like a whirlwind," murmured Lucy.

Calhoun watched Vladimir walk next to Madeline, his steps slower than usual so that Madeline didn't have to walk too fast to keep up with him.

A smile appeared on his lips and he said, "He is. Let's go and have lunch together," turning around he looked at Odin, who hadn't moved from his place, "You too."

With Mr. and Mrs. Harris, who had arrived two hours ago, everyone gathered themselves in the castle's dining room to have lunch together as a family.