The five who fell apart

Alora had only said it half-heartedly but she had no idea that what she had jokingly wished for was going to be granted to her much faster than she could ever dream of.

That night, when Alora went back to hell, she was met with a scene that wasn't common at all in this dark palace. Everybody seemed to be busy. To be more exact, they all looked as if they were preparing something. Since she was now the demon prince's personal maid, she was not asked to do anything and was simply supposed to report to the prince in his room.

"What's going on outside?" Alora once again forgot the mannerism of this place as she entered without knocking and didn't even bother greeting the prince as she spoke.

"There is a dinner ceremony that is going to be held three days from now," It seemed that Leon had already gotten used to her unruly behavior and didn't even bother getting angry at her as he answered the question straightforwardly.

"A dinner ceremony...?" Alora repeated with confusion as she tilted her head and waited for the man to give a more detailed explanation since she was truly clueless about it.

"It is held every year to show the strong relationship between the seven princes of hell."

"The seven princes of hell?" Alora muttered as she slowly nodded her head in understanding before suddenly asking with a bit of confusion, "Does that mean all the seven princes would be here to attend?"

"I'm afraid that won't be happening," Leon shook his head as he showed no emotions on his face and spoke, "Our fathers have already fallen out with each other so it is only natural that we would also not force ourselves to maintain a relationship that had not even been created by us in the first place itself."

Alora couldn't help but frown as she heard this, but before she could say anything to that, Leon continued with a small smirk.

"That's why I have a very special task prepared for you."

Alora blinked cluelessly as she heard this and she suddenly had a foreboding feeling in her stomach as she waited to hear what the man had to say to her.

"As my personal maid, you must personally go and invite them over. Make sure that all five of them are here for the dinner."

For a second there, Alora was stunned speechless as she wondered if she had really heard the man right or not.

She repeated the man's words in her head and when she was sure that she had heard him right, she couldn't help but be even more confused as she wondered why he had given her such a seemingly important task.

To her, this was as if the prince was personally trying to show her just how much he trusted and believed in her, however, for the prince, this was nothing more than another method of bullying the innocent girl.

There was no way she would be able to bring all those five here and if she fails, he could use it as an excuse to punish her.

Alora took a sharp breath in as she raised her head with determination and strongly replied, "I understand! I will definitely not let you down!"

Leon chuckled as he heard this and nodded his head as he teasingly spoke, "I'll look forward to it."

However, it seemed that Alora was not able to sense the man's true intentions and the misunderstandings kept on growing between the two.

Only the future would be able to tell whether these misunderstandings were going to bring something sweet or sour.

Alora immediately took her leave and the first one she went in search for was Carmen. He was supposed to be one of the most knowledgeable demons in this palace. He was well known for his kind manners and his politeness which were pretty uncommon characteristics to be seen in a demon. But this was also the exact reason why Alora went to the library in search of him.

In order to make the other five princes come, she needed to first find more information about them and Carmen was clearly the best person for such a job.

"You really think you'd be able to bring them here?" Carmen asked as he raised his eyebrows and folded his arms, looking at the girl in a rather amused manner.

Alora confidently nodded her head, "Since Leon trusted me with this, I can't let him down...!"

Carmen almost wanted to laugh as he heard this but he held himself back and spoke with a sigh, "I think you're a bit mistaken. He probably trusted you to fail the task and not to complete it."

"That would only give me more reason to be successful so I can prove myself to him!" Alora exclaimed without even missing a beat and Carmen would certainly be lying if he said he wasn't a bit impressed with the girl's dedication.

"If you want to prove him wrong then, of course, I'd be more than happy to help you," Carmen responded with a chuckle as he closed the book that he had been previously reading.

"Where shall we start?" Carmen asked with a polite smile and his eyes curled up into two crescents, making Alora feel that the rumors about this man were truly no exaggeration.

"I need more information on them so that I can come up with a plan. We only have three days so we have to be quick. Tell me everything you know that you think can help me."

Carmen's eyes widened ever so slightly as he heard this and he was certainly a bit surprised to see that the girl not only knew exactly who she was supposed to look for in order to get this information, but she also knew the exact question that was bound to give her all the answers that she needed.

"Let me start from the very beginning for a better understanding," Carmen sighed as he spoke up, closing his eyes as he took his time to carefully frame his words in a manner that was easy to understand and wouldn't stretch the story for too long.

"Hell is a place created by the supreme demon Satan. Also known as the prince of wrath. He was the first deadly sin. The other six were all promoted by him and he is the one that brought them together and made the seven deadly sins. Once Lucifer came to become one of the seven princes of hell, he overthrew the prince of wrath and became the King of hell. As his son, Leon would naturally get to succeed his throne."

Alora's eyebrows unconsciously creased together as she heard this but she patiently waited without saying anything to interrupt the man.

"The prince of wrath fell in love with an angel and after that, the relationship between Lucifer and him completely fell apart. Satan and Lucifer were the ones tying the rest together so it was only natural that the rest of the princes also didn't bother keeping up their pretentious relationship. Since Satan's child had already been sent to earth, it is impossible for you to bring him over, and hence, you are only needed to bring the other five."

"Mammon, the prince of greed, has the youngest successor. A boy called Luca. He might look short and cute but you must never underestimate him. With a smile on his face, he had condemned souls to eternal suffering, throwing them down boiling lava made of gold."

Alora couldn't help but gulp as her imagination made her see the explained scene a bit too graphically.

"However, although he sounds intimidating, he might just be the easiest target out of the five so invite him first," Carmen pointed out with a sigh as he thought about this very carefully, "Next would be the prince of lust, Asmodeus, or to be more exact, his daughter, Anna. She is beautiful but not as kind as she looks. Asmodeus' wife gave birth to identical twins, a boy, and a girl. However, the girl killed her brother, pushed him into the inferno when they were merely kids. Anna is well-known for being cruel from the very beginning. Even as a child, she had seen things subjectively and hardly had any emotions to spare for anyone but herself."

At first, Alora was glad to hear that it was a girl since she thought it would be easier to invite her, but now that she heard the latter part as well, she couldn't help but gulp as she rethought her decision to take on such a challenge that seemed to be much more dangerous than she had imagined.

"Your next target would be Haze, son of Leviathan, the prince of envy. He has a really strong presence so I'm sure you'll be able to recognize him in an instant. Honestly, the success of your mission would depend on his mood. If he is angry then you might even be risking your life. On the other hand, if you are lucky, you might be able to make him come along with you by offering him some precious jewels. He is a collector, obsessed with beautiful gems and jewels."