One day he set his sight on the heavens and brought his vicious horde to their sacred gates. He tore through the sleeping gates and launched a firestorm so vast the sky became red. Then diablo saw a sleeping archangel Gabriel and kidnapped her and brought to earth. He sought to make Gabriel’s beauty his own alone. The angels of heavens came down to pass divine judgement on diablo’s cruel actions and rescue one of their own, many angels lost their lives but finally managed to defeat the demon king. In his defeat demon king sought to punish the heavens and split his soul into 15 towers on the continent. They bought out his mindless vicious horde to devour the world. The angels in their infinite wisdom passed on their weapons to humans bestowing the title of ‘HERO’ and commanded them to defeat the towers and cut the demon’s roots on their sacred world ‘SICARIA’. The heroes fought hard but couldn’t do so in a lifetime and passed their weapons onto other people so the sacred line of heroes continue to defend humanity from towers and trap the demonic horde of towers inside.
“Wow! Mom heroes are awesome”
The child smiled admirably in the arms of a mother who lovingly told him the origin of the world. The child’s name was hades. He had the most charming smile in the world or such was the case for his doting mother ‘beretta’. His hair was black, his eyes too but his eyes also twinkled with many white spots. Looking at him reminded anyone of a dark black starry night with millions of stars twinkling and putting viewers at peace. Beretta went many years without a child, she along with her husband and every healer in the region had concluded that beretta’s womb would remain barren and the lionheart duchy would never see a successor. Even after years duke lionheart remained Faithfull to his wife and never bought another woman to bed even for a successor, till one day lady beretta felt nauseas and the medical mage confirmed of a child in lady’s womb. The lionheart duchy then might have been failing so duke didn’t care for a successor and sought to live an easy life with his wife, but a child pleasured the barren couple to no end. No one was happier than lady beretta who is said to have been smiling even through the pain of childbirth. That night lady beretta gave birth to a starry-eyed child with black hair. He, to her was a gift from heavens, some questioned beretta’s loyalty as black hairs confused them; for no royal had black hair. But when they saw a lion emblem on child’s neck, he was concluded to be a gift from the gods to lionheart. The duke had never doubted his wife for he knew her heart. Hades the successor to duke was a gift from heavens and spoiled rotten by his doting mother. Many nobles seek a wet nurse for their children but beretta breastfed her son herself. Hades the successor of lionheart bought with him great fortune, when he was growing up the lionheart duchy established the ivory mage tower which became home to the greatest mages of Frontera kingdom. A mere thousands of ivory tower mages had the capability to take on the whole kingdom. The lionheart duchy was distant and small and had no nobles under it, other than lionhearts themselves but as they housed the greatest mages, they also were the greatest powers of the small Frontera kingdom.
Now, hades is called a disappointment in the duchy. He grew up lazy spoiled by his mother, refused to take sword or magic lessons and spent his day frolicking around castle. He was lazy, distant from everyone and mostly uninterested in everything or atleast that’s what everyone saw. Hades went to his father in his office who was writing some sort of document. He entered without asking and said “empress Esmeralda is on her way to see you father, what should we do?”
Hades stood before the duke, clad in all white suite. A white cape extending from his chest and going around his shoulder from left and ending to the right and adorned with white fur under which there was a white military type uniform. Hades had a mild smile on his face, his head tilted and his hair well done. While he acted like a sleazebag everyone adored him, they couldn’t help but love his dark starry eyes.
“She is here to ask ivory tower for help for defeating schwarz kingdom” the duke said in a rough voice
“Then, should I?” the small smile on hades’ face widened to reveal longer and sharper canines than normal. They remained hidden behind hades’ lips but reveal themselves when he laughs. The duke was used to this side of his son for in this world he was the lone human who knew his true nature.
Seventeen years before when the duke and duchess lionheart were desperately longing for a child, a dark spirit appeared before the duke when he was alone in his study. The duke had been married for 10 years then and was without a heir thus, the lionheart duchy was also called as a barren duchy for it had no successor. Many greedy nobles offered their sons to be adopted by the duke of lionheart but he turned them down. The dark shadowy spirit then spoke “I can give you a child duke, how about it”
“We are not looking to adopt right now nonetheless from a shadowy uninvited spirit” the duke retorted
“Not adoption, but a child born through you and your wife, she desperately wishes to and cries herself to on many nights, doesn’t she?” he said wryly
“And what it is to you?” the duke questioned the spirit angrily
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The duke was angry that someone had been keeping tabs on his wife, he was angry at his own incompetence too, unable to detect this breach.
“I have a soul who also doesn’t have parents, I can place that soul in your wife’s womb and your child can be born into the upperworld”
The duke was surprised, he never heard the world to being referred as the ‘upperworld’ but then again, he thought as someone who was not accustomed to the spirits he simply didn’t know better.
“Why is a spirit so sympathetic towards humans, don’t you simply follow heroes”
“In you I don’t have any interest, but to the parents of this soul I owe quite a lot and being born a duke’s son would definitely be great, wouldn’t it?”
That night after much discussion the duke allowed the spirit to plant the orphaned soul in lady beretta’s womb and hades was conceived. The duke knew the truth but was happy to see his wife after hearing the news. He knew he could never tell his wife truth about ‘hades lionheart’, especially seeing how beretta would caress and look at her growing stomach. When she was smiling through the pain of bringing hades out in the world. All women would find it hard to even stay awake in labour and here was his wife teary yet smiling.
“Our child will be soon in my lap duke; I am so happy” the wife of duke said while still struggling to breath.
“Keep breathing beretta” he said desperately while clenching her hand through the pain. Soon hades was born, the duke then bought in ‘ariel’ a young woman in her 20’s as a wet nurse for his son but when entered the room found beretta feeding her child. The maids were shocked to see such a sight, as many noblewomen wouldn’t fulfil this motherly obligation. The wives of royals were mere titleholders but beretta who always wanted to be a mother wouldn’t let go of her child.
“Lady, there isn’t any need for you to do this” ariel interjected “there are many duties a duchess has to attend now that you bore a son my lady” the head maid said, and moved to take prince hades away from her. But soon she saw death in lady beretta’s eyes, beretta had always been a docile woman because she couldn’t give birth but now there was a visible anger on her face “that decision is not yours to make maid” lady beretta was stern and clear further her voice was authoritative for the first time in lionheart household.
“Berta, let the duchess do what she wants” the duke reprimanded the head maid. No one in her all time in servitude had called Berta a maid; she was old, wore glasses had a wrinkled face and had known duke a long time, the only reason she approved of lady beretta was because she was docile and respected Berta for her experience in handling the lionheart household till today. Lady beretta refused her suggestion and had held her son close. Everyone in the room retorted back and let the duke and duchess enjoyed the birth of their son. While everyone was leaving one character was clenching her teethes tight as she leaved the bed.
Many noblewomen would resume the duties of their house after giving birth afterall noble houses had ton of maids and handservants to help with child upbringing but lionheart household was different, there existed no concubine and only the duchess who furthermore only bore one son. The lionheart household was situated on the border of ‘Frontera’ kingdom and being labelled as barren didn’t hold many visitors. In lionheart house, lady beretta would always run behind her child, she allowed ariel to stay in the house to learn the ways of motherhood from ariel who told her that the current child she gave birth to was her second. To make taking care of hades easier beretta would skip on wearing noble clothes and start dressing in a simple shirt and long gowns like commoners, learning from ariel, she bathed her son along with all maids lending a hand, took hades around castle, one would always find hades and his mother together. However, Berta was not happy she saw the duchy losing its lady and silently grew ever so furious for she was doing all her lady’s jobs.
Present:
“Go handle that guy” the duke said to hades.
Hades started walking towards the window and as soon as the sun’s rays started to hit his face he began to break apart and disappeared in the air.
“Sir, young lord hades ran way” a voice came from outside
“he’s sleeping here” the duke said in a panicked voice. No one in the duchy knew hades’ capability except for duke lionheart. The duke came out of the room and closed it and ordered the servants to not open the door unless his son asks for it.
Tap Tap Tap
Sound of shoes signalling someone running towards the duke. It was a woman; she wore a simple white shirt and red long frock that sweeped the ground. She had reddish hairs freed and waving in the wind. It was his wife, lady beretta though her attire made her indistinguishable from a commoner. Lady beretta would look after hades like a maid, dress him, do his hair; hades had to plead her to stop bathing him.
“Duke, I can’t find my son” beretta said, though her voice sounded concerned she wasn’t very panicked as she knew hades would always hide from her somewhere around the duchy. Beretta had no ornaments on her, she didn’t even look like a noble lady, but when the duke placed her hands on her face and moved the hairs to a side and looked at his wife’s face, he realized that she was still the beautiful lady as she was when she was married, but now she just looked like a matured beauty. The duke smiled for a second than moved his hand on her shoulder and said “empress Esmerelda is coming to the duchy for a surprise visit, we must prepare.” Everyone including the duchess was shocked, hades didn’t tell anyone but the duke about her arrival.
“Empress, but why”
Lionheart pulled duchess to his side and said “let’s talk while having a bath, you need to dress appropriately in her presence”
“But my son”
“OUR son will meet her when you look ready, he’s hidden until you get ready yourself”
There were hours till empress would arrive at lionheart castle and the duke thought it would be a good time to spend with his wife. The lady got flustered and said “we have a eighteen-year-old son, think about your age and act crom” In the whole kingdom only beretta had the right to call duke crom, his first name. flustered he carried her to their room. It was after years beretta would be wearing proper noble ladylike clothes, but before that the duke was determined to take the current one’s off.