Garden Of Poison-Chapter 205: The news about baby

An hour before Raylen and Lauren found Emily on the stairs.

In a kingdom surrounded by vast expanses of sand and a newly flourishing forest, a young woman patiently waited for her husband to return after a day of work. Standing on a balcony, just a couple of steps away from the railing, she gazed out at the kingdom she had once longed to leave that had now turned into the place she called home.

Anastasia was enjoying the cool breeze that had started to chill the air in contrast to the earlier warmth of the afternoon. The sky was still bright, and as she stood on the balcony, she heard the sound of footsteps drawing near. She turned around and saw Dante.

His black hair tousled in the breeze, and he was wearing a blue coat adorned with golden embellishments along the sides. While he typically maintained a brooding demeanour that could be intimidating to strangers who didn’t know him, it had softened since he and Anastasia got to know each other. It was a profound pleasure for her to know that this strong and handsome man’s heart belonged to her.

Dante’s face bore a frown as he addressed Anastasia. "One of the guards informed me you were sick this afternoon," he stated, concern evident in his voice. He asked her, "Why aren’t you resting in the room? What did the physician say?" Being away from the palace, where he was fully engrossed in his duties, he had delegated the task of keeping a watchful eye on his wife and family to the guards.

Anastasia smiled as she observed Dante’s concerned frown transform into genuine worry when he reached her and leaned in to kiss her. "The physician said I am doing more than fine. How was your visit to the town?" she asked him, wanting to know about his day.

Despite Anastasia’s reassurance, the frown on Dante’s face didn’t disappear. He answered, "The allocation of work assignments has been completed, and we’ve set fair wages for the people to benefit from the kingdom’s growth. They are happy."

Anastasia knew that Dante would make an exceptional king. Everyone recognised it. He was fair and kind when necessary, while his words and power were formidable enough to keep everyone in line.

"Are you sure you are fine? You look tired, as if you haven’t had enough sleep," Dante remarked with concern, gently placing his hand on Anastasia’s face. He saw her close her eyes, basking in his caring gesture, a warm smile gracing her lips. He said, "You know, you are starting to worry me now, rabbit."

"I didn’t mean to," Anastasia murmured softly, and her green eyes opened to meet his red ones. She wanted to give Dante a moment to relax before she shared the news, knowing that the first thing he always did upon returning to the palace was seek her out.

Anastasia had attempted to conceal the smile that had formed on her lips, but it was hard to do after the confirmation she had received. She had given strict orders for everyone not to speak about it until she had the chance to deliver the news to Dante personally. She gently lifted Dante’s other hand and placed it on her stomach before looking up at him.

Dante gazed at her with curiosity, and she finally revealed it to him with a tender smile, saying,

"We are going to have a little lion or a little rabbit."

Dante’s eyes widened in surprise, and for a second, he appeared speechless before he engulfed her in a warm, tight embrace. "Oh, Anastasia!" His arms held her protectively, and he was overwhelmed with a profound sense of contentment. He whispered, "We are going to be parents. We will be wonderful parents, and our baby will be the most loved and cherished."

Anastasia noticed Dante’s voice crack as he finished his sentence. She gently pulled back to meet his eyes, seeing them glisten with unshed tears. Her heart swelled with affection for this man, and she reassured him, saying, "You are going to be an incredible father, Dante. Just like you have been an amazing son, a supportive brother, a guiding grandson, and an extraordinary husband."

Affected by the intensity of Dante’s gaze, Anastasia felt herself tear up, and their smiles didn’t leave their faces. Their foreheads came to rest against each other as they quietly celebrated this precious moment together.

"My beautiful Anastasia," Dante said, gently pulling away from her. "You should take extra special care of yourself, and, of course, I will spend most of my time with you. We need to make sure everything our baby needs to grow is being provided, so he or she can be strong. Our child," he murmured the last words with tender affection.

You are going to have a grandchild, Mother. I pray for your blessings, Dante silently asked his mother in his mind.

Suddenly, Dante swept Anastasia off the ground, cradling her in his strong arms.

"How about I start taking care of you now?" Dante suggested, and Anastasia wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling more than happy to be loved by him.

As Dante carried Anastasia inside the palace, the servants who caught a glimpse of the King and Queen of Versailles quickly hid behind pillars or turned away, not wishing to be a hindrance to the couple. A few maids who had known Anastasia since she was a fellow maid couldn’t resist peeking from behind a pillar. They couldn’t stop blushing at the sight before them.

Anastasia felt like she was floating in Dante’s arms as they made their way to their room. The thought of their future together was daunting, as it was new yet exciting. However, they were surrounded by their family members, who were both loving and supportive, she reassured herself.

The Mother Queen, who was strolling along the corridor with Aziel, caught sight of Dante and Anastasia.

"Your dreams have finally come true, My Queen," Aziel remarked from behind her.

Aziel had been in her service the longest, and although their initial interactions hadn’t been as smooth as they were now, he had served her like the trustworthy and loyal servant that he was. He had consistently offered his unwavering support, whether it involved killing adversaries or executing schemes to elevate her into power.

"I would say I could die happily right now, but I am too young for that. We have a new task at hand, Aziel," the Mother Queen said to her minister. "It is time to find the best of the best names for my great-grandchild."

"You have always chosen the best names for all your grandchildren," Aziel stated, following her as they walked along another corridor, as they had work to do. He then inquired, "May I ask something, milady? How did King Dante come to have the same name as the one he possessed in his first life as an earthling and then as an archdemon?"

The Mother Queen hummed thoughtfully at his question. "It is something I did ruminate on as well," she began, "but I realised my memory was rather faint when it came to one of my earliest conversations with Raylen. Before Dante was born, he was here with his so-called ’father’. We had a very brief exchange back then, and he threw the name Dante into the bowl of names I had selected, saying how Dante was the name of the archdemon who was the progenitor of the Blackthorn line and that it carried a future that I would one day come to appreciate."

"It seems Raylen had guessed correctly that it was indeed the same person he had been waiting for," Aziel said, and the Mother Queen nodded in agreement.

"Of course he was waiting. Anastasia had trapped and sealed away his abilities along with those of the others," the Mother Queen said as she turned a corner at the end of the corridor. "It is a little odd though," she added thoughtfully.

"What is, My Queen?"

"That an archdemon willingly relinquished his abilities, almost as if he were camouflaging himself," the Mother Queen said with a contemplative expression. "There you are, Pumpkin," she added upon spotting her cat walking near a pot of flowers.

The cat meowed softly, sniffing at the pot, and it gently brushed its nose against it.

Aziel asked, "How is Princess Emily doing?"

"She looked weak and tired, and I wouldn’t have minded if it were for similar reasons as Anna having a baby, but I worry it is far more complicated than that. I didn’t get the chance to ask about the progress with her suitors. Of course, Emily is my granddaughter, so undoubtedly there will be dozens of men vying for her attention," the Mother Queen remarked, her eyebrows furrowing as she gazed at her cat. "I’ve taught her whatever I could when Sophia wasn’t around. The girl needed to be educated about certain matters."

"She has been raised well, and I trust she will manage to find the right person," Aziel replied with confidence.

"Everything in good time," the Mother Queen murmured. She had been diligently working on various concoctions to prevent her granddaughter’s soul from corrupting, but everything she had tried so far hadn’t worked. It was as if no potion or elixir could remedy Emily’s affliction. As she turned her gaze back to her beautiful cat, who was now nibbling on a flower, she said,

"What are you doing eating that? Have you not been fed?" But the next moment, the plant, as well as her cat, vanished, leaving her gasping in surprise. "Pumpkin!"

Even Aziel was left utterly taken aback, and he looked left and right in disbelief. He said, "I had no idea something like that was possible."

Ginger’s expression turned grim before she broke into a smile. "It looks like I have his full attention for him to seek what is dear to me, not that I’m complaining," she chuckled. "It seems I will be taking a short trip, Aziel."

Viktor had been randomly making the servants who attended to her disappear. As harmless as the game was, it was unfortunate for the servants who found themselves caught between the grim devil and the strong-headed queen.

The Mother Queen made her way to her concoction room, where she prepared the vessel, allowing a single drop of blood to fall into it. She patiently waited for the Devil to respond, and a full minute passed.

"Looks like he’s busy. Hmph," she muttered with a soft harrumph before leaving the room to compile a list of names.

In the realm of the dead, deep beneath the ground and far removed from the living realm, where the Devil resided, the ruler of the underworld himself sat upon his throne wearing a stoic expression, while a woman stood before him.

"The portal opened from where he lives, something that hasn’t happened for several years. I couldn’t keep it open, but there’s a lingering thread. Pull it, Celeste, and bring him back here. He belongs here, not in the company of those childish earthlings who are nothing more than dust."

The woman who stood before the Devil was an archdemoness, her expression mirroring the sullen yet blank look on his face.

"Word is that Nathaniel is in Storm Kingdom. With his newlywed wife," Celeste informed Viktor, and as she spoke, he noticed one of the demons entering the room, accompanied by a cat that strolled in front of him.

"My Lord, you ordered me to get the cat from the earthling woman," the demon responsible for catnapping the feline explained.

The cat continued to move gracefully on the ground, playfully extending its fluffy paws and tail before it approached Viktor’s leg, rubbing its head against him. The sensation was foreign to him, and he cast a silent, warning glare at the cat, as if to convey that it should keep its distance. However, the cat, much like its owner, had a mind of its own.

"Shall I send the invitation of death to the earthling once more?" the demon asked with a bow, while the other demons and demonesses’ eyes were trained on the cat and their lord.

"You can put it on hold. The annoying earthling’s demise can wait, as I intend to retrieve the archdemon who has been absent for aeons first," Viktor replied, lifting his head as he averted his attention from the cat. "I want Raylen in Hell."

"My Lord," a demoness’s voice echoed from the corner of the almost dark room. "How about I assist in bringing him back? My brother is there, and it would give me the perfect opportunity to avoid arousing suspicion," Amara proposed, stepping out of the shadows.

Viktor stared into space before he grimly said, "Celeste and you can go together. You understand what needs to be done?" He looked pointedly at the archdemoness, who gave him a nod.

"I do."

"It’s not everyday that the portal allows the demons to pass through, so now that the opportunity is here, let us retrieve what belongs to us," Viktor remarked with a slight smile, and although there was excitement in his cunning, dark eyes, the smile on his lips didn’t reflect it.

Raylen had made it impossible for any demon, including the Devil himself, to instantly materialise anywhere within Storm Kingdom. Formidable barriers were erected around the land and the waters, forcing them to travel through conventional means, like ordinary earthlings. This was something that Viktor vehemently disapproved of, as he considered himself far above a lowly earthling.

With Magnus dead, the Devil had decided to entrust the responsibility of overseeing the living realm to Dante. And despite having Celeste and Nathaniel by his side in Raylen’s absence, something felt off about one of them. Balance was required to uphold the pillars of the underworld. Not to mention, Raylen was the only one who defied his commands and had gone against him, which would result in consequences. Everything had consequences, he thought to himself.

As the plan to bring one of the archdemons back to the underworld unfolded, the Storm Kingdom was experiencing heavy rainfall.

Emily walked along one of the corridors, heading towards the library. Her cold symptoms had begun to worsen, causing her to breathe heavily as if she were trying to intake as much oxygen as she could. Due to this, she had missed the correct turn and found herself at the back side of the castle, where the torches lining the walls had remained cold and unlit for many years now.

The princess leaned against the wall for support as she walked, and when she reached the window, her unsteady gaze peered outside. She could hear the steady drumming of the rain against the glass.

’I ORDERED YOU TO CUT HIM UP!’ The thunderous clouds roared, and the lightning flashed outside the window, making Emily step away in alarm.

Emily’s heart began to pound as the voice of the man who had kidnapped her and the other children echoed in her mind. She attempted to leave when she heard the haunting voice echo once more.

’Emily... you betrayed me.’

"It’s not real," Emily whispered to herself, her voice quivering. "He died. It’s not real," she repeated.

Emily’s head throbbed with pain, and as she tried to turn back, the flashes of lightning and the deafening claps of thunder froze her in her tracks. She slid down to sit on one of the steps and covered her ears with her trembling hands. As minutes passed, her fever caught up with her, and she succumbed to unconsciousness in the midst of the dark and eerie surroundings.

"She’s been walking around just fine since she woke up, and I assumed her weariness was from last night," Lauren murmured with a frown after they placed the princess in her bed and covered her with a blanket up to her chest. "I would have never guessed she was sick."

"Her blood was warmer than most, but I didn’t expect it to flare up this suddenly," Raylen replied, his gaze fixed on the slumbering Emily. "She has been sneezing," he added.

Lauren’s eyes widened in alarm, and she whispered urgently, "Master Raylen...!"

She quietly placed the blame on him for the princess’s condition, believing he could have brought her back earlier and prevented her from venturing into the rain. The princess was often reserved and liked to keep her thoughts mostly to herself, occasionally appearing lost as she stared into the distance. She liked the young lady, who was also Dante’s sister, and she had no reason to create conflict. Over the years that had passed by, the demoness, despite her role as a servant, had become a figure akin to an aunt to Raylen.

"She wanted to experience the joys of life, and who am I to stop her? She’s a grown woman capable of making her own decisions," Raylen stated, although he wasn’t particularly happy about Emily falling ill, as it would only delay her choosing a suitor to bond with and potentially hasten the corruption. But there were also some advantages to the situation.

She was more fragile than he had thought, just like a princess.

However, Lauren was well aware that her master had a way of whispering like a devil. The words leaving his lips dripped with sweetness, enough to persuade those who were unaware to fall under his sway. But somehow, it didn’t affect the princess because she frequently saw Emily glaring daggers at her master.

Raylen sighed, observing how Emily struggled to breathe, and instructed, "Prepare a bowl of water and bring it to her."

Suddenly, they heard a crackling sound, and it wasn’t from the fireplace. It came from the presence of the imp, who bowed before them.

"What is it, Balor?" Raylen demanded.

"Master, it has come to my attention that the portal to Hell was opened a while ago," the creature informed Raylen.

"That’s not possible," Lauren responded, because all the ingredients were kept away from the earthlings’ reach. "Could it be archdemon Nathaniel?" she inquired, her suspicion evident.

The imp informed them, "It was opened from here. Within the castle," causing Raylen’s eyes to narrow in response.