Chapter Sixty-Five: Work and Labor:

The reform of my kingdom began. Germany had surrendered around this time. Only Japan was left fighting. We decided to go with the general’s machine for a start. We were going to give it a trial run. That guy already had his men on the job. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“You’re going to love this,” he said. I didn’t say anything. Let him have his fun. We’ve got work to do. Turned out, that machine was amazing. More souls ended up going to the right places. The paperwork ended up getting cut down to manageable sizes.

“Impressive,” I said one month into the machine’s existence. The general smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, my lord,” he said. Still, there had to be more work done. Judith won’t let me forget that either. But what about my family? I voiced this to Judith.

“You’re children will be fine,” she said.

“But what about my wife?” I asked. Judith frowned at me.

“Let her be,” she said.

“But…” I spoke up. She held up her hand. I tried to speak, but she wouldn’t let me talk. I finally gave up. Judith lowered her hand.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” she said. I had a hurt look in my eyes.

“Face it,” Judith said. “She’s not happy here. You’ve trapped her in this kingdom longer. This has to be the last time. Got it?”

“What about the baby?” I asked. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Fine, you can see her then,” Judith said.

“Thank you,” I said. She sighed and shook her head.

My kingdom was getting better. Madonna’s due date drew closer. That reminded me of another problem that I had. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about what I was going to do with my children. They couldn’t stay in my kingdom, and they couldn’t go to Heaven. They would end up like Lust. I haven’t talk to her, Irani, or Bayu in years. I wanted to, but a strange fear gripped me and I couldn’t do it. I sighed and looked out the window.

“Is something wrong, my lord?” Beelzebub asked.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to my kids,” I said.

“What do you mean?” he asked. I shrugged and shook my head.

“They can’t stay with her or me,” I said. Beelzebub sat down in front of my desk. I turned to see a curious look on his face. This was where he and Judith were different. She didn’t seem to like my family while he didn’t care. Well, maybe “not care”. More like indifferent.

“What are you asking me to do?” he asked.

“Huh? What? Oh, no, no, no,” I said. “I don’t want you to do anything.” Beelzebub wrinkled his nose.

“Then why are you telling me this?” he asked. I shrugged and rolled back my head.

“Just thinking out loud,” I said. “Did you want something?”

“Oh, here are today’s reports,” Beelzebub said. He slid the papers across my desk. I picked them up and looked at it.

There was still the issue of what happened after the war. I was going to need new subjects to help run this kingdom. There were quite a few of them that still didn’t trust me because of my past relationships. That’s okay with me. I just need to get things back on track. It hasn’t been easy either. Which is why I need my subjects to keep things from further falling apart. How did I ever let it get like this?

I am reminded in the late night hours of August the fifth.

I was in bed sound asleep when there was pounding on my door. I mumbled as I turned over in bed. The pounding grew louder. I groaned as I pressed a pillow over my head.

“What?!” I asked.

“My lord!” one of my subject shouted. “It’s the queen! She’s in labor!” I shot up straight in bed.

“What?!” I shouted. I ran to the door and practically ripped it open. A subject in black stared up at me. They looked they were ready to turn around and run.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Your wife is in labor,” they said. “They took her to the hospital already!” The subject didn’t need to say anymore. I didn’t even get dressed. I grabbed my cloak and hurried out of the room.

“My lord!” the subject yelled after me. I didn’t stop to listen. My wife needed me. My wife and child needed me.