The Villainess Wants To Go Home

Chapter 76 -A mother’s lullaby

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 palace 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, clashing 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 her lavender eyes stared tenderly down at

her son's sleeping face.

His chubby cheeks enlighten with a hint of pink that made Arabella want to kiss it, a little button up

nose, thin eyebrows and long eyelashes that covered his eyes. He was an adorable little boy who

would grow up to become 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\~"

Arabella 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, Lai-lay\~" with

a every stroke of his silver hair Arabella sang, her hands tracing through his hair as his head lay

comfortably on the white pillow.

"\~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, Lai-lay\~"

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 even come face to

face with his dear wife.

With the end of her lullaby, Arabella pressed a kiss on Ben's forehead. "M-mother why did you stop?"

Arabella felt something sting her heart. Glancing down she met the faded colour of her son's violet

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" Arabella 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.

Arabella 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 blame yourself but your mother for

not being able to stop it sooner" she placed 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 become pale, and his black pupils shook. Staring at his youngest son's

sudden surprised face that faded away to be replaced 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 placing his head on Ben's lap. "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 blaming 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 glanced 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 placed 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 Arabella's face as

she watched her husband and son like this however her heart ached from Ambrose actions yesterday

that would lay a permanent home in her heart for as long as she could remember.

"Father where is big brother Neil? Why has he not come 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 playing

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 plans 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 glanced 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 playing 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 explained placing 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 play 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 of laughter 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 glanced 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 the lack of sleep I had last 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 about last 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 blanket 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 glanced over to Homura who lay in the middle of the prison with his wings and claws 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-dollar question"

"Huh?" he lifted his head to take a peek at me.

"Human slang" 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 play chopsticks?" I broke the silence with a suggestion to play again.

"I'm not playing 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 and landed beside me. 'Tch, that better not be what I

think it is' This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

Our cell was silent except for the loud talking, crying, laughing, 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 playing games. It so boring here.

I glanced 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 clanging 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 glanced 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 clangs 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 clashing 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'

"That lazy 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 flapped up to his two claws that balanced 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. Whatever comes 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 slamming 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, old lady bail us out as well"

"Old lady 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 glanced up at the guards who paid no mind to

them and continued on staring forward.

"Old lady, 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 slapped

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 a comfort 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

pillars rowing across, tall arch windows that brought the rays of light in. The ground was sparkling

platinum 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 place 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 glance to Homura who was looking at me with an innocent look in his black 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 uncomfortable 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 the last 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 are coming back from their journey. YAAAAYYY!

The next chapter is definitely going to be a long one so be ready. Whoohoo.

Also the lullaby Arabella 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 anyone commenting saying I stole it even though I

did but at least I'm being honest and telling you readers the lullaby does not belong to me. Either way

this lullaby 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 lullaby would go good with Arabella 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 lullaby 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.