The Crown's Obsession

And soon every person in the castle joined one after another as the small boy cut his cake. Calhoun was the first to feed a small piece of cake to be followed by Madeline and the rest of the family members.

"God bless you, Morven. It would be interesting to see you grow up with all of us around," commented Gabriel, wishing the boy happy birthday.

Vladimir came forward, bending down to bring his hand forward with a wrapped present in front of Morven.

"A present?" asked Morven in an innocent voice, his eyes fixed on Vladimir's hand.

"Of course, you didn't think I was like these other useless great grand uncles who can't grant your birthday wish," he threw shade at the other Archangel.

Morven took the present in his hand, excited to unwrap it. When he was done unwrapping it, he found an old stuffed toy, which was a spider.

For a long time, Vladimir had safely kept the toy with him, saving it as one of his daughter's memories that was precious to him. But he knew it would mean a lot to the little one, something to keep with him in the cupboard.

Morven then moved his gaze from the toy to look into the Devil's eyes, "Thank you, great grandpa."

Every person came forward to wish the little boy, either by their prayers or by giving him something that he might like. Once the family members finished feeding the cake, the maids were called to cut it so that it could be distributed to everyone in the castle.

Two hours later, Helena was walking in the corridor, and she caught sight of the blonde archangel who was standing on one of the pillars of the castle. Making her way to where the person was, she said, "Seems like your old habits still remain the same, of standing away from people."

Michael smiled at her words without looking at her. He was looking at the small prince who was playing with the wolf right now.

"I guess it is just integrated into who I am. Some things are hard to change. Looks like you haven't changed too, you still look the same as if someone stepped on your nerve," commented Michael, and his eyes slowly moved to the side to see the blonde woman and her sharp gaze looking at the little one. "You seem to be spending quite some time with the Devil. Have you come to like him?" The tone was nonchalant, as if the question wasn't important.

Helena's lips twitched, "You both seem to get along very well," she said without answering his question right away and then said, "He's rough around the edges, but I think I am getting used to it. Is it true?"

"What is?" asked Michael, turning his head to watch her serious expression.

"That I took birth again," asked Helena, her red eyes meeting his gold ones.

As time had passed, where she had started to spend more time in Vladimir's company, there were flashes of memories that she had started to have in her dreams. It wasn't clear, but it was there, and she had tried to connect the dots of what it meant. It wasn't too hard with Vladimir, who had already mentioned about the woman named Harriet, who was very similar to her in nature, but he had never told her that she was his lover in her past life, nor had she asked him about it.

The thought did get her curious. In the beginning, Vladimir was the most annoying person, but now he had turned less annoying. There were still many times when she had to chase him away from the High House because she had more work to do than romancing with him. But in time, she had slowly started to turn tolerant with the man, and her frown from her face had disappeared a little.

It was almost more than twenty years when Michael had tried to protect her from harm and being killed. Though rumours had spread because of him spending more time with her, there was nothing between them.

"You did," replied Michael. "We are still in the process of learning how the universe works, because some souls don't stay in Heaven nor in Hell, but they repeat their lives in a cycle by taking birth. It is ironic to see that you ended up right where you started."

"I see," murmured Helena.

Until now, she had come to understand that people of the royal family would be related to her only by name through Vladimir, but it seemed like there was more depth to it.

"He thinks you like me," said Helena, a small smile came to appear on her lips, and Michael shook his head.

"It seems like people like to perceive anything," he said, a sigh escaping from his lips. "I think I should leave this one just as it is so that I can see him frustrated."

Michael had never felt anything remotely romantic towards the woman who stood next to him now. All he had done in the past was help her while being in the living world. And if there was someone, whom he was a little partial to, the person was in Heaven and someone he was not supposed to be partial with. Who would have known that the Heavenly realm would be disturbed because of the living world that was spilling out and Heaven and Hell spilling themselves into the living realm.

"Are you going to be here for long?" asked Helena.

"No," answered Michael. "I will be leaving in a few minutes. It was good talking to you, Helena," he said to her.

"It was my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e," replied Helena, watching Michael make his way towards the boy.

Michael came near Morven, who continued to play with his wolf friend, both on the ground. While the wolf had fur where the mud didn't matter, the small boy's clothes were turning muddy.

"What are you doing here instead of being inside with everyone?" Michael questioned the little boy.

Morven's red eyes snapped to look at Michael, "What about you?" asked the little one.

It seemed like the child was much smarter than he looked, asking him the same question. "I need to leave and I thought I would meet the birthday boy before I leave."

"You won't stay?" Morven looked a little troubled that his guest was leaving.

"I have work to attend to and I will come down to visit you and your parents some other time," replied Michael. "It looks like you love this wolf." And the wolf held the same sentiments, considering how the boy gently held its tail.

"Papa gifted Maddox to me. He said I was supposed to take good care of him," said the small boy. "He's the best," added Morven.

The boy went back to pet his wolf, letting go of the tail and this time scratching the back of the wolf's ears, and the wolf lightly growled as if it was enjoying the ear rub.

Michael wondered how things had changed because of the kindness he had spread in the world. He couldn't help but weigh his thoughts on the little one's wish.