When she heard the devil say she could only leave after she gave him three heirs, Emmelyn's mind quickly went to work.
She must find a witch to help her conceive twins. That way she could save time. If she had to give birth three times, then she would be confined to the devil for at least 4 years. AT LEAST!
[Crazy!]
"Why three? Don't you know that raising children is hard? Even your mother only gave birth once. She knows having one child is enough," said Emmelyn after she thought about the devil's request.
She assumed the devil would take the parenting role on his own after the kids were born, so she could imagine how hard it would be for him. Yet, this brazen guy wanted three? Tsk.
The devil narrowed his eyes menacingly at Emmelyn's words. He was offended that his mother was brought into the conversation.
"My mother wanted to have many children so that my family could have multiple heirs, but all my siblings died stillborn. I am the only one who survived and she almost died giving birth to me. Don't you dare talking about my mother that way."
Emmelyn gulped. This man seemed to care so much about his mother. In fact, from the way he talked about his mother, Emmelyn could see the devil was a doting son.
"Fine. I am just trying to give you a reality check, okay? I have several siblings and I could see how my parents were overwhelmed by us. They ended up dumping us to nannies and stewards."
It was true. Emmelyn loved her parents but she sometimes resented the fact that they didn't have time to be her parents. Too busy with state duties and too many children to care for.
"If you care so much about the kids, you can stay and care for them," said the devil casually. He started chomping down his food. It looked like he no longer considered the conversation important since they had reached an agreement.
He understood her concern and he was grateful that his parents doted on him and his mother was always there for him, but the truth was, any king should have multiple heirs to secure his family lineage. Him being an only son had given his parents a lot of worries.
Since he was cursed and couldn't touch any female, thus he couldn't reproduce, his parents were aggrieved because they thought their family line would end with him. If only they had another child, his curse wouldn't affect his family that much.
He loved his mother and hated every day that she was sad, thinking about his fate. He couldn't wait to go see his parents at his father's birthday celebration to bring them the good news that, finally, he found the only woman who was immune to his curse.
To avoid the same problem, he must ensure he had more than one heir to secure his lineage. Three was his minimum requirement. Kids can die in infancy or they could die in war or plague. It was too dangerous to only have one heir.
"Me? Stay?" Emmelyn pointed at her own nose, then scoffed. "In your dreams."
She was already forced to bear him children, she wouldn't let herself be his prisoner forever.
The devil pretended not to hear her and continued eating his meal like he was alone in the room. Emmelyn who was not used to being ignored when she was a princess, suddenly felt she was the lowly servant again, hiding in the corner and act unassuming.
[You want to ignore me? Fine. Hmph.]
Emmelyn also decided to focus her attention on her food, and when she was done, she walked out and looked very interested in the fish and the water lilies in the devil's pond.
"I have to go now. Make yourself at home." Finally, the devil rose from his chair and walked toward the door. "We will start the baby-making work tonight."
He didn't even throw her a second glance when he uttered his sentences and left immediately. Emmelyn was stood rooted in her spot when realization slowly dawned on her.
Baby-making work.
That's how the devil saw it. They had to work to make a baby. And Emmelyn was nothing more than a breeding cow for him.
After the devil left, the servants quickly cleaned up the table and in no time, it was done. They left Emmelyn on her own after they didn't see there was any more work they could do in the small dining room.
Once she was left alone, Emmelyn sat dejectedly on the floor, hugging her knees. She didn't want to show her fear and frustration in front of the devil, so she pretended to act tough and nonchalant, but after she was by herself, she finally let herself go and silently cried over her unfortunate life.
