Chapter Sixty-Three: War is Ending:

Madonna was pregnant again. Judith gave me a cold look.

“You couldn’t do it, could you?” she asked. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t even look at her. I could tell that she was glaring at me.

“You couldn’t do it,” she said. “I should’ve known.” Judith sighed.

“Boss!” she said.

“Lucifer,” I corrected.

“Excuse me?” Judith asked.

“Please,” I said. “Call me Lucifer.” She paused for a moment.

“Right,” she said. “Lucifer, why did you go to her room?” I didn’t look up at her as I shrugged.

“You were supposed to let this play out and release her when the wait time is over, remember?” Judith asked. I pressed my lips together and nodded. I didn’t enjoy where this was going. I put up my hand.

“Please spare me,” I said.

“No, I will not!” Judith said. I turned and looked up at her. She had her arms folded across her chest. I rolled my eyes.

“Really? We’re going to do this?” I asked.

“Yes!” she shouted. “You can’t keep doing this. How many times do you think this will happen? How long do you plan to keep her here?”

“I don’t know!” I shouted. “I don’t know.” She had a cold look on her face.

“You can’t keep this up,” she said.

“I know,” I said. “I know.”

“Do you?” Judith asked. I rubbed my forehead and sighed. Here it comes. I had to sit there and endure another lecture from her. What was I expecting? I probably deserved this. Judith did try to warn me after all. And I didn’t listen. She gave me a cold look when she was finished.

“I will be keeping a closer watch over you,” she said. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. I don’t think she believed me. I didn’t believe me either. However, we had more things to worry about.

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That’s right, we were still in the middle of a war. Before we knew it, that was coming to an end. Madonna got pregnant again in 1944. Baby number five was due in summer over next year. I hadn’t realized the situation I was in when I heard the whispers. It amazed me of how out of touch I was. It didn’t don on me until December of 1944. I hadn’t missed when Italy surrendered. There were times that I kept watch of what going on in the living realm. Still, this one made me pause.

Two of my subjects were walking past me. I didn’t think much about it at first. I had my own problems. But the word “surrender” caught my ear. I turned around and saw them walking the opposite direction. Did I just hear that right? Was the war close to ending?

“Excuse me!” I spoke up. My subjects stopped in their tracks. One of them turned and looked at me. I shifted into place.

“Who is surrendering?” I asked. My subjects looked at each other. It seemed as if they were deciding who was going to talk first.

“We were wondering who was going to surrender first,” one of them spoke up.

“And?” I asked. They looked at each other again.

“I think it might be Germany,” first one said.

“And I think it’s going to be Japan,” the other said. I nodded in thought.

“I see,” I said. I hadn’t even thought that far into the war. Hm… Who would surrender first—Germany or Japan? My attention came back to reality when someone called out to me. I looked up to see my subjects staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“What’s going to happen to us after the war?” one of the subjects asked. I stood, silent. After the war? I hadn’t thought about this at all. Had I been so wrapped up with my wife and children that I forgot about my kingdom? The subjects stared at me with accusing eyes. I dropped my shoulders.

“I don’t really know,” I admitted. It was then it donned on me how bad things had gotten for my kingdom. I barely focused on my children anymore. All I cared about what keeping my wife with me forever. I started to feel sad and walked back into my office.

“My lord?” one of my subjects asked.  I let the door close behind me. I dragged my feet over to my desk. When I sat down, I picked up my phone.

“All of my generals and heads, come to my office now!” I said over the phone. My hand shook as I hung up the receiver. I had to stir the ship back on the path before it was too late. I was going to need help with that.