Chapter 76 -A mother’s luby
It was the feeling of happiness and joy in the castle. The cheerful voices echoing the hallway once
again, maids chatting joyfully as they strolled down the huge corridors of the marble pce with their
daily chores or flirted with the royal knights or guards.
Kitchen staff cooked up a feast with loud enthusiasm, the mouth-watering smell lingering the air making
the people close by drool at the thought of the glorious food that was going to be prepared for all of
them as a reward from the king for spending night after night, day after day looking after the young
prince who was ill.
Knights were drinking away in entertainment, shing their wooden mugs together spilling their ale
across the table as they did.
The cheerful atmosphere of the castle had returned once again taking over the gloomy and dull feeling
that lingered around everyone these past months.
Meanwhile in the sleeping chamber of the prince where the warm rays of sun shining down upon the
windows and brightening the room, the Empress sat on a chair beside her sleeping son while her hand
gently stroked his soft silver hair. A soft melody she sang as hervender eyes stared tenderly down at
her son''s sleeping face.
His chubby cheeks enlighten with a hint of pink that made Arabe want to kiss it, a little button up
nose, thin eyebrows and long eyshes that covered his eyes. He was an adorable little boy who
would grow up to be someone handsome that all the girls will fall head over hills like they did to
Ambrose when he was in his youth years and still marriageable and now to Neil who resembled his
father very much.
Soft gentle breaths came from as he snored soundly.
"\~May you bring love and may you bring happiness. Be love in return to the end of your days\~"
Arabe sang softly. Her voice gentle like melody of a flute yet beautiful like a siren.
"\~Now fall off to sleep, I''m not meaning to keep you. I''ll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, Laiy\~" with
a every stroke of his silver hair Arabe sang, her hands tracing through his hair as his heady
"\~May there always be angels to watch over you. To guide you each step of the way\~" the birds had
began to chirp outside listening to the sirens voice inside the castle.
"\~To guard you and keep you safe from all harm, Loo-li, loo-li, Laiy\~"
Her beautiful singing wasn''t just listened by the sleeping prince but the emperor who stood outside the
chamber with his back leaned against the wall as his gloomy silver eyes stared down at his feet, eyes
filled with shame and guilt and a face that could contain the anger towards himself.
His heart begged him to waltz in through these doors, kneel down on his knees and beg for forgiveness
from his wife, but his mind refused. He was too ashamed of his actions yesterday to evene face to
face with his dear wife.
With the end of her luby, Arabe pressed a kiss on Ben''s forehead. "M-mother why did you stop?"
Arabe felt something sting her heart. ncing down she met the faded colour of her son''s violet
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eyes that stared up at her in wonder. Those sweet eyes that she thought she would never see again
made her heart sink to the ground as her eyes became a blur because of the tears that she could not
contain came prickling down.
"B-Benjamin" Arabe voice trembled with a crack. "Thank the Gods they gave mercy to my son" she
scooped his head up into her embrace, hugging him as she snuzzled her face on top of his head
soaking his silver hair with her tears.
The young prince hugged his mother back, hiding his face on her bosom and clenching the back of her
material with his fist while salty tears began to fall down Ben''s eyes. "I''m sorry for getting sick and
worrying you mother" Ben apologised with a muffled voice.
Arabe released her hug, cupping her child''s cheek and staring deeply into his innocent eyes that
resembled hers so much "My dear child you are not at fault. Do not me yourself but your mother for
not being able to stop it sooner" she ced her brow on his, tears still blurring her vision.
The door suddenly flung open startling the two. "Ben!" Ambrose gasped as he stood in the entry with a
trembling body. His face had be pale, and his ck pupils shook. Staring at his youngest son''s
sudden surprised face that faded away to be reced with a sweet innocent smile.
"Father"
Ambrose tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, he bolted towards Ben before kneeling beside the
bed and cing his head on Ben''sp. "Thank the Gods you are alive and recovered. I thought I lost
you" he cried clenching his son''s soft little hands gently.
"I thought the Gods had ignored my prayers and left you to die" Ambrose sniffed, his face hiding away
from everyone. "Forgive me child that I had failed as a father"
"Why does everyone keep ming themselves for something they hadn''t done. I should be the one
apologising for getting sick" Ben said with a sniffle, wiping away his tears with his sleeve.
Ambrose lifted his head up and nced at his teary son, his cheeks had gone red from crying and so
had his eyes.
"My dear son" Ambrose reached out his hand and ced it behind Ben''s neck before pulling him into
his embrace. "Do not fret now, you are well, and the empire will now rejoice for your recovery"
Ben did not reply but continued to hug his father deeply. A gentle smile appeared on Arabe''s face as
she watched her husband and son like this however her heart ached from Ambrose actions yesterday
that wouldy a permanent home in her heart for as long as she could remember.
"Father where is big brother Neil? Why has he note to see me?"
\~Artemis P.O. V\~
"Your cheating!" Homura squawked loudly, his voice echoing the cell room and making the chains rattle
a little.
"Your just saying that because you suck" I said with a dead panned expression while watching Homura
observe my fingers with his beady onyx eyes.
"I was doing perfectly fine before you cheated" he hissed tapping my index finger with his feather
version of it and I changed my number of fingers that was two to three.
"You lost 45 times in a row without a single win" I rolled my eyes, tapping my other hand that had one
finger out and making it consist of four fingers now.
"That''s because you cheated the whole time" he said refusing to believe that he just sucked at ying
chop sticks. His eyes examined my hands from left to right, nervously thinking of a way to beat me.
My left hand had four fingers out while my right had three. Homura on the other hand had 1 feather out
on his left wing and 2 on the other wing.
In general, he was going to lose whatever he ns to do.
"Hiya" Homura smacked his feather on my left hand turning it to five and disqualifying that hand from
the game. I could see in his eyes that he was smirking.
"Dumb bird" I smacked his right wing that had two fingers and disqualifying that one, I nced up to his
face drop from sheer confusion. Homura lifted his one feather up to eye level.
"One left"
It was his turn, and he couldn''t bring his other hand back in because he only has one feather instead of
two or three to be able to use. His only choice is to hit my only had which has three and turn it into four
and I will be able to take him out and win again for the 46th time.
"that''s it I''m not ying with a cheater" he squawked throwing his hands in the air like he threw a pack
of cards.
"It''s not cheating Homura, it''s called tactics" I exined cing my chin on my palm and resting it on
my leg "and coincidentally I know all of them" a smirked appeared on my face revealing the mischief
hidden in my eyes.
Homura gave me an emotionless expression as if I said I was going to fly or something "That''s just
telling a newborn child to run a race an adult" Homura referenced with a slight sarcasm.
"Why do have to be such a sore loser for everything. It''s just a game"
"You mean human games not fox games" Homura huffed in annoyance, his chest raising up in
dominance.
"Well then since you suck at human games, why don''t we y a game you want?" I suggested
gesturing my hands to him. He narrowed his eyes at me searching for any misleading information.
"No" Homura said without any hesitation, lifting his beak in the air like a sassy drama queen.
"Oi, you crazy old hag stop talking to your bird" A ruff and croaky voice echoed the hallway and to the
cell I was staying and for those cackles ofughter soon took over the whole dungeon. These dungeon
dwellers have been making fun of me for the whole day, telling me I fucked up or I was never going to
be released.
They were just a bunch of annoying convicts I ignored yesterday and today.
Homura and I nced at each other for a mere second as if we just seen something stupid again.
"At least she is going to be set free unlike you guys who will be rotting in here for the rest of your moral
mutton chopped life" Homura squawked.
I sighed, ruffling my white hair back and leaning against the stone-cold wall, I was exhausted not from
working out all day but from theck of sleep I hadst night.
The cell reeked of rat shit and piss and the moisture in the air clogged my air way a couple of times. I
can''t say much aboutst night either, it was damp freezing in this cell that I probably would have had
trouble opening my eyes due to it being frozen and the thin nket they gave me wasn''t much of a
help either excluding the fact it was so itchy and didn''t cover my whole body.
‘They could have at least given me a VIP prison cell then this dump. I saved their prince, those
ungrateful bastards''
I nced over to Homura whoy in the middle of the prison with his wings and ws spread apart as
his eyes stared up at the ceiling, bored. "Has the human cub woken up yet?" Homura whined with
disinterest. He too was bored out of his mind like me.
"You''re asking a million-dor question"
"Huh?" he lifted his head to take a peek at me.
"Human ng" I rose my eyebrow with a sarcastic smile forming across my face. He slumped his head
back down and sighed a long breath before it all went silent. None of spoke a word for a couple of
seconds.
"Wanna y chopsticks?" I broke the silence with a suggestion to y again.
"I''m not ying with a cheater thank you very much"
"Whatever your loss" I shrugged my shoulders and slumped my head against the wall to stare up at the
dripping water that formed from the small cracks andnded beside me. ''Tch, that better not be what I
think it is''
Our cell was silent except for the loud talking, crying,ughing, and bickering of the criminals in the
dungeon. There was no peace of quite here even in the night when everyone is fast asleep, and the
only things are heard is their croaky loud snoring that echoes the empty corridor of the dungeon.
How bad I wanted to be on my phone reading manga or ying games. It so boring here.
I nced to the side to where the entry of the cell was and watched few guards walk in through the
narrow corridor passing each cell, their loud silver armour nging together as the strolled towards my
direction of the cell.
I didn''t think of it much because my cell was the end of the hall before you turn right to enter the other
prison cell. So, I nced away and back to the wall in front of me before closing my eyes to take a
quick nap before I get up and exercise this weak body of Diana''s.
I listened as the loud metal ngs got louder as they got closer when to my surprise, they suddenly
stopped instead of fading away. I heard the sounds of dozens of keys shing against each other and
the click of a lock. I took a peek and saw the guard swing open the cell gate with a creak.
"By the order of the emperor we are here to escort you to him" the man''s ruff voice spoke out from
underneath his arch silver helmet.
I jolted forward away from the wall and stared at the guard who waited for me to get up. ''Ben woken up.
Took him long enough, I thought I was going to rot in here for eternity''
"Thatzy human cub. How long did he need to sleep for? My feathers are falling off due to the stink in
here" Homura''s tone hinted annoyance as he pped up to his two ws that bnced him up.
"Stupid humans. I hope the dragons eat you all" Homura muttered angrily under his breath, storming
his way to the entrance clenching his father wings into a fist and moving them back in fourth in a swing
as he marched.
The guards watched the little crow squawk his way to them in confusion on what was going on.
I too stood up, dusting off an excesses dirt on me and my back side before following Homura and
scooping him up. "Don''t go anywhere and stay on my shoulder" I whispered quietly to him and in
response he cussed a few swear words making me roll my eyes at him.
As I stepped out of the prison cell, I felt a shiver run down my spine for some unknown reason, it felt
my senses was warning about something that I could not foretell. I shrugged it off. Whateveres my
way I can handle it, that''s what I have been doing these past weeks I have been in this world.
I am the feared assassin of my time, Artemis Ray after all.
The sound of the prison door mming against the metal bars startled me out of my thoughts.
"Move along" Another guard said gesturing his metal gloved hand forward indicating me to start
walking forward. Surprising they didn''t handcuff me like they should have just like they do in those
western historical movies or tv shows.
I hummed a response and strolled along with two of the guards guiding me from the front. Their speak
axes poked up to the sky as the walked.
"Take us with you"
"Take me with you, I''m innocent"
"Oi, olddy bail us out as well"
"Olddy aren''t we friends please consult the king our freedom as well" the convicts shouted and
spoke, wailing their bony and dirty hands out from gaps between the metal bars as if they are trying to
grasp something. Each one begging to be released, I nced up at the guards who paid no mind to
them and continued on staring forward.
"Olddy, I knew your husband. We were great friends"
I cringed back.
"Bleh" Homura stuck his tongue out on disgust. "These humans are disgusting and pathetic to watch". I
slowly nodded my head in agreement to Homura''s remark. He was right it was just pathetic to watch
these scrawny scums like this.
Each passing cell was revolting to the noise. It smelt like dead corpses and human faeces. I pped
my hand over my mouth and noise to block out the smell before I passed out.
Homura was right. Bleh.
It wasn''t long when we got out from the disgusting prison hole and walked up a slope of stairs to the
grand castle that was above us.
If it wasn''t for my extra training and running around, I would have been dead tired just by walking 50
steps up. ''Diana why you do this to me? Have I not suffered enough in your body?''
We made our way to the exit of the dungeon and the grand white wooden double doors opened up and
I stepped in. A bright light shone upon me blinding my sight and taking my vision away for a few
seconds. My sight must have taken afort in the dark cells for the past two days that it had forgotten
what it felt like looking at something so bright and blinding.
I sheltered my eyes with my hands until my sight adjusted to it, and I was able to see clearly again at
how beautiful the inside of the castle was just like the outside infrastructure. Tall marble Greek like
pirs rowing across, tall arch windows that brought the rays of light in. The ground was sparkling
tinum and seemed like it was cleaned constantly.
Rows of fancy gold candle holders were bolted on the marble walls to light up the corridors in the night.
Lucky to the people living here. I wish I could afford such a ce back in my world.
You walk along then to see a flying castle in the middle of the sky with someone perched up against the
tower drinking tea.
That''s me.
"I had forgotten this giant man cave was this white" Homura gawked. "If I take shit in this bird''s body,
do you think they will see it?"
I gave a side nce to Homura who was looking at me with an innocent look in his ck coal eyes that
glittered in the light. I pulled a face "Your disgusting" I mumbled quietly so the guards won''t hear me
and look at me as if I was a crazy while following them in front of me.
"I just wanted to see how long they will pass by without realising the difference" he uttered quickly,
nesting himself on my shoulder and finally shutting his beak for the entire walk.
The walk was awkward silent between all of us as we passed by maids who stopped doing what they
were doing to gawk at me for some unknown reason which was ufortable to the feeling. In return I
pointed my rude finger at each passing maid who stopped to whisper among themselves about
something I did not know and did not care.
It wasn''t long when we reached the same doors I barged in through yesterday. It was exactly like the
one from the entrance outside.
"We are here" the guard turned around to look at me, I could just make out the shape of his eyes and
the glowing colour from the darkness of the helmet. It was amber.
"Madam" the voice shook me from my train of thoughts and back to reality.
"hmm"
"Be ready to meet his royal highness"
''I fucking hate this''
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Hello, hello my dear ******* readers, it is I, YUKI!
Here with another unnecessary authors note.
I hope you guys enjoyed thest two chapters. I''m exciting to write Bedelia and Artemis''s interaction in
the next chapter especially when Artemis gives a good punch to the face to Arthur just like she
promised in the previous chapter and Neil and Lykos areing back from their journey. YAAAAYYY!
The next chapter is definitely going to be a long one so be ready. Whoohoo.
Also the luby Arabe is singing is not made by me but stolen from youtube. I can not make music or
write lyrics, I can only listen to them so I don''t want anyonementing saying I stole it even though I
did but at least I''m being honest and telling you readers the luby does not belong to me. Either way
this luby is from the Secret Garden, if you seen the movie, great or read the book like I have. (It was
ok, it wasn''t bad I would read it again but I wouldn''t at the same time).
thought this luby would go good with Arabe for some reason. I just have feeling whenever I listen
to it, it gives me her vibes and something she would sing when singing her son''s to sleep. (Not Neil
anymore since he is 21 and doesn''t need his mother singing this to him while his trying to sleep)
It''s not too modern and it feeling like a medieval type of luby and it fits the timeline of the world where
she is, if you guys understand what I mean. That''s why I chose it.
I think that’s it.
Love you all, stay safe, don''t do anything stupid because I don''t need to turn on my tv and see some
random guy decided to climb the great pyramid of giza. Doing that is a illegal and you would go to jail in
egypt. (That''s only if they catch you though. Hope your a fast runner)
Anyway stay tuned for my next chapter.
Yuki is out and going to go eat a grilled cheese sandwich because I''m hungry.