The Crown's Obsession

Her eyebrows deeply furrowed, and she slowly stepped forward before her feet moved quicker. She came around and stood amid the servants and the guards in the corridor, who didn't move an inch from their place.

Guilene's eyes widened in shock because it looked like her servants had frozen, and she didn't know what was going on.

Back in the room where King Edison laid dead on the ground, Helena glared at Vladimir. The man had little to no seriousness in him and had pushed her into the deep pit.

"You shouldn't have pulled the gun out if you weren't going to shoot. What would you have done if the woman pulled the trigger?" questioned Vladimir. "Who would uphold justice in all the kingdoms?"

He had made all the bullets in Guilene's gun disappear.

Helena looked away from the Devil. Standing up, she turned her back at him while staring at the King, who was once her cousin. But even in the past, she had never considered the man as her blood relative—none of them except her only brother.

"What is your plan?"

"Agree to my proposal," said the Devil, "In exchange, I will bring this one back and you will have less trouble."

Hearing this, Helena frowned again, "Is it allowed? To bring back the dead to the living world?" she questioned, turning her head to look at the Devil over her shoulder.

Vladimir walked around to come and stand on the other side of the body. Earlier, he had seen the Salvette Mortem arrive and also leave with the person's soul. A smile came to appear on his lips, and he said,

"You would be surprised by the things I can do…" his voice trailed, but Helena's facial expression didn't change.

"What is your proposal?" Helena was careful enough to not agree to him without knowing the terms and conditions of this deal that the Devil was offering her.

As much as she would love to see the King dead, she didn't want him dying like this in her hands. Every person was supposed to go through life in the living world before moving to the next realm, thought Helena to herself.

"You shall consider the idea of having me in your life, and you know in what way?"

"I don't," came the blunt response from Helena. The Devil was being vague, leaving loopholes for himself. She saw him smile at her.

"In the terms of a lover," Vladimir gave her a smile where his fangs appeared. "It is the easiest one. All you need to do is to consider."

Helena's lips twitched in annoyance, "I don't think it is worth it to save this one's life over a deal like that. I don't think you know me well, Mr. Lazarus. I don't have time for romance."

"How about if I take the higher position in the High House," proposed Vladimir with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Over my dead body," her eyes narrowed. If the High House was given in the hands of the Devil, the world that was finally turning to be peaceful without any constant raging wars, it would fall into chaos under his administration.

"Funny that I cannot wait for it," Vladimir's response was quick, and Helena rolled her eyes. The smile on his lips didn't fall, and he knew somewhere the woman was slowly getting used to his presence.

"Guards! Guards!" came the distant voice of Guilene, who was looking for her servants to help her. Finding no one who was moving and had turned into a statue, the woman returned to the room to find Helena and the stranger still in there. "What did you do to the people in here, you witch!" demanded Guilene.

Helena, who was unaware of what the woman meant, turned back to look at Vladimir in question. "What did you do?"

"Your eyes accuse me for my harmless action. I thought it would be good to have some peace and quiet between us," hummed the Devil, his tongue running over his sharp fang.

"What did you do?!" Guilene had an outburst of frustration.

Vladimir's eyes snapped at the woman, who interrupted his conversation with Helena. He said, "Shhh, so noisy, it makes me want to feed you to the hellhounds."

Helena looked at Guilene's livid eyes, and she then looked back at the Devil, "I accept."

Vladimir's eyes were quick to brighten at Helena's words, and he said, "Sweet." All he did was snap his fingers, and the dead King suddenly gasped before heaving for air.

"Edi! You are alive!" The King's mother quickly went to his side, hugging him, "Thank God."

"Devil," corrected Vladimir.

Until now, Helena had never known that a person who was dead could be brought back to life. All this while, she had only heard about the rumours of people making a deal with the Devil. Looking at King Edison, she noticed how he was in shock. But he didn't look the same. The King was quick to scoot away from his very own mother and moved towards the corner of the room as if he was filled with fear.

"What happened to him?" asked Helena. An hour ago, the King was not like this. Like many other kings, he was prideful, arrogant, and overbearing.

"He must have had a welcome party in Hell," smirked Vladimir.

"Stay away from me! Stay away!" shouted King Edison.

"What about the-" Helena turned to look at where the Devil had been standing, but he had disappeared from the room. Vanishing in thin air as if he was never here.

A series of footsteps headed towards the room where she was, and several guards appeared, "My King! My lady!" came the chorus voice.

Guilene was busy, trying to speak to her son, "What happened? You are back, Edi!"

"Stay away from me!" King Edison pushed his mother away from him, leaving the former Queen in confusion. His eyes were wide and he looked scared to death.