Valefor’s Domain- Will O’ World

On top of a distant hill stood a majestic, ancient castle. The structure, composed of six towers-five of which mounted at each corner, and one of which was the central tower that reaches into the sky in the middle of the castle- stood impressively before the few cities on the plain below it. Surrounding the castle was an enchanted forest blooming with wildlife that separated it from the city that surrounds the castle.

Within the castle, Erebus stood outside of a room belonging to his priestess.

“Gwendolyn, I am coming in,” he said, knocking on the wooden door within the cold, marble corridor.

“Please enter, my lord,” a voice responded from the other side of the door.

Her voice had a certain warmth to it like that of a mother beckoning her son to come into her embrace. It was calming to hear her voice, and for the first time since the past week, he found himself at a moment of peace.

When he opened the door, he found a single priestess lying by the pool of water at the center of her room. Her feet were submerged in the water and, even though she looked composed, her feet betrayed her as they were swinging within the pool playfully like a child who was given a toy to play with.

No matter how many times he had entered her room, he would always be struck by the sheer beautiful of it.

Having sapped a great deal of his domain’s treasury, she had designed her room to be as close to nature as possible with a giant sunroof above them, magical grass that apparently does not need maintenance and glows with the color of amethyst rather than the standard marble flooring of the castle, countless rose bushes, lantern-like florae, and giant statuses of the Goddess of Darkness littering everywhere.

At the corner of her room was her bed which had stuffed animals littered everywhere. Even that was not plain, as it was far grander than his bed, who is supposedly the master of castle.

Looking at her bed, he wondered what went through her mind when she decided to fill ever surface area of the bedsheet with stuffed animals. It would be a miracle to sleep on such a bed without falling off or being suffocated by the sheer amount of plushy present. If she was not by her pool, she would be taking a nap on her bed.

And, to top it off, at the center of her room was a beautiful gazebo made from ancient vines, jewel embroideries, and stained glass. The interwork of the structure is composed of a few benches weaved from darkened, magical vines, priceless rose-shape jewelries, and an enchanting pool.

That structure alone would have costed her forty years’ worth of salaries. It was estimated that the gazebo alone took five years’ worth of taxes in order to complete. It was a giant endeavor and one that still burdens his domain greatly. In fact, it made his treasurer cry tears of blood when he signed the contracts.

Every time he entered, he would have a headache from looking at her needlessly expensive gazebo. If not for the fact that his priestess protested constantly for an entire year, he would have never done something as foolish as waste such money on a pointless structure that no one except for her could enjoy.

It is so ridiculous and selfish that the treasurer voiced that if she does not do her job, he would sneak into her room at night and chip off a piece of the gazebo in order to alleviant some of the financial burden that the kingdom had incurred from funding such absurd structure.

Nonetheless, he was not here to complain about her decision.

Even though he had entered the room, she did not so much as to look up from the pool. Rather, her eyes were glued to the water, yearning for the truth from the ripple that her feet caused as it swayed back and forth.

“You are being awfully lazy,” he said, walking toward her, “are you trying to play the role of a kidnapped princess?”

Adorn in a beautiful spring dress and without a single blemish on her perfect, snow-white skin, she was like an angel ripped out of a fairytale, “my lord, I believe the right words would be ‘cool beauty’.”

While her voice carried no sense of emotion, he could tell that she was interested in having a conversation with him at the very least. Being the priestess of a demon lord meant that they belonged to the demon lord, to serve and fulfill his every wish.

The cruel truth is that she was no better than a prisoner to him. Her world is composed of the four walls that surrounds her and nothing more. She had little to no freedom. Not only that, her very existence, engraved into her the moment that she was born, was to serve him.

“I do not believe you can call yourself that when you are surrounded by trash,” he responded, pointing at the dirty plates and wrappers on the ground around her.

“My lord, you jest,” she replied, “as the priestess of my lord, my desire is to fulfill your wishes.”

Her fake smile radiated with innocent and playfulness that made it impossible for him to refute.

With a sigh, he sat down beside her and look into the pool.

When he sat down beside her, she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I am not your pillow,” he said, “if you are tired, go to sleep.”

“I would never ask my lord to be my pillow,” she responded solemnly, yet she did not remove her head from where it was, “that would be rude of me.”

Rather, the tips of her lips edged up slightly, as if reminiscing a pleasant memory.

His eyes trailed around the belongings that surrounded her.

Besides her staff, her room was littered with useless and childish junk that you would not expect from a respectable servant of a demon lord. In fact, just taking a glance, he could see numerous plates of snacks, toys, books, and expensive crystals. If he did not know better, she was not taking her job seriously.

But he couldn’t blame her. The life of a priestess was one that is boring to the point that some priestesses would rather kill themselves and escape the boredom rather than to continue serving their lord.

Still, even with that knowledge, no matter how he looked at it, she was not being productive in any sort of way.

Perhaps I am being too lenient on her, he thought, staring at her. He noticed that her sapphire blue eyes were staring up at him.

“My lord, if you continue to stare at me like that, I fear that I will be pregnant,” she said, looking at him with the same stoic face that she wears every day, “though, if it is your desire, I will gladly bear your child.”

“That’s enough, if you continue to fool around, I will be docking your pay,” Erebus threatened.

“My apologies,” she responded rather swiftly, “may I inquire the reason for your sudden visit?”

“Have you seen anything prophecy that would help me?” Erebus asked, glancing at the pool of water in front of him.

It was a simple pool of water that screams of being a hoax, but having been guided by her multiple times, he had learned to ignore it and played along.

The pool is nothing more than a catalyst that allows his priestess to predict the future with. A while back, he had asked if the catalyst had to be a pool. It seemed that the only criteria that a catalyst needs to fulfill is that it must have a reflective surface, but a pool was the most popular amongst priestesses, the main reason being that they could enjoy a nice swim.

In her response, she told him that she liked to get her feet wet and it was a lot more interesting than looking at a reflection of herself in the mirror for hours on end. She told him that some priestesses would become so sick of their own appearance that they would smash their face against the mirror until either they pass out or the mirror breaks. Usually, it is the former.

It truly is a pitiful job.

Placing her hand on the surface of the water, the pool began to react. Darkness swallowed the clear surface of the water, and with her eyes closed, she peered into the void.

Her stoic expression faded away into that of pain, “my lord, I see… in the distanced future, that my pay will… rise.”

Erebus immediately rose from the ground and began heading towards the door without uttering a single word.

“My lord, please, please don’t leave me!” She shouted panicky, latching onto his leg, “it’s been so long since you last visited that I had to play with you! If you abandon me, I will cry!”

Even though she had an emotionless face that revealed little on how she felt, he could tell that she was worried.

“Gwendolyn, let go of my leg,” he glared at her nonetheless.

“If I let go, you will surely punish me,” she responded swiftly, holding onto his legs even tighter.

“I am glad that you can understand that much.”

“My lord, please have mercy.”

“I will be merciful,” Erebus sighed, “no more snacks for the next month.”

“My lord, you might as well kill me yourself!” She shouted, tears welling up in her beautiful, emotionless, sky blue eyes, “at least then, I will not have to suffer through the torment of starvation.”

“Gwendolyn, I will give you one last chance,” Erebus said, pulling her arms away, “speak, what did you see?”

Gwendolyn nonchalantly stood back up, brushed her dress, and returned to her pool with an elegant demeanor. Her expression was that of absolute seriousness, as if everything that happened before was nothing more than an illusion, “my lord, I had been blessed with a divination four days ago.”

For a moment, his entire existence screamed at him to leave. But, against the better of his judgment, he stayed and swallowed the anger.

“But, my lord, I… I do not wish for you to hear it,” Gwendolyn said after a moment of silence.

“Gwendolyn, do you remember what I made you promise the first time we met?”

“I will never lie or hide anything from you,” she replied, remembering the words she had spoken on that fateful day.

“No matter how painful it may be I wish to hear it,” Erebus said, resolving himself to hear the truth.

“…I understand,” Gwendolyn responded, visibly shaken, “please, do not regret your decision my lord.”

Taking a deep breath, she spoke melodically, “Upon a path of fallen snow shall thine walk, in a world that exists parallel to that which birthed chaos that has consumed thee, through carnage and sorrow shall that which you seek reveal itself. And, at thine end shall thee shall fall into eternal slumber.”

“…” Erebus frowned, “a world parallel to that which I was born into?”

“… My lord, this prediction,” she muttered, “I believe it is unwise for you to listen to it.”

“Gwendolyn, what do you think of it?”

“My lord, if I must say, I believe that if you pursue this prophecy, then you will surely die.”

“Do you not wish for me to die?” He asked, noticing her trembling body.

She shook her head, “I do not fear your end, my lord. Alive or in death we shall forever be together.”