Prologue: A Lapse in Faith

*Wahhh* *Wahhh* *wahh* The slows cries of a young baby started to subside as it fell asleep in a small cot off to the side. The room he was located in was luxurious, ornate candles lit the walls and illuminated the intricate décor that littered the room.

There weren't many people in the room, only 5 women. Four of them were dressed in regal maid wear and busying themselves cleaning up the room and looking after the final occupant that was breathing a bit heavily on one of the couches.

The woman on the couch wore a bright blue dress that accented her figure and had flaxen crimson hair. With a red face, she was breathing hard from just giving birth but was quickly recovering, all her attention was on the door that lead into the room.

Funnily enough none of them were looking in the direction of the baby, as if it didn't exist. With the end of its cries the room was now quiet, except for the small sound of bustling bodies. It was just a few seconds later when they all turned towards the door.

They could all hear the hurried footsteps that were making their way towards them. The red haired woman had an ashamed expression on her face as she waited for the doors to open, her mind had been denying it since she had found out she was pregnant.

She had been hopeful and it was one of the only, if not the only, time in her life that she actually considered praying to god, hoping that her worries were unfounded. But sadly she had caught a glimpse of the baby after giving birth. What she had seen had crushed all her hopes.

She knew her husband was coming to check for himself, and knew he would not like what he found. She closed her eyes softly as she steeled herself, trying to forget the mistake that had caused all of this to happen.

*Bang* *Crack*

The two wooden doors flung open in seconds as a man dressed in an immaculate suit walked in. His red hair flayed behind him as his eyes stuck to the cot holding the baby. The man looked to have just reached his thirties and was sporting a red goatee.

If one looked close enough they could see the anger simmering underneath his eyes. *Step* *Step* His steps calmed as he walked over to look at the baby. As his eyes laid on the still, sleeping figure, the only reaction from him was the small curling of his hands into a fist.

His eyes zoomed in on the brown hair that the baby had and knew that it wasn't his.

Zeoticus Gremory struggled to keep his anger in check as he looked at the 'thing' before him, his mind at that moment couldn't even register the baby as just that, a baby. His eyes slowly moved over to his wife Velelana Gremory and she couldn't hold his look for more than a second, before her eyes moved down in shame and anguish.

His mind drifted off for a second as he remembered when he first found out that his wife was pregnant. It would have been a happy occasion had it not been for the fact he hadn't slept with his wife for a year.

Yes it might be weird to normal humans if they thought of a devil not giving into their carnal desires for more than a few days, but Zeoticus had been with his wife for centuries. After having their first son, Sirzechs Gremory, they had gone at it a few more times, before deciding to have another child later.

It had been many years, decades even since Sirzechs had been born, it would have been soon that they might have gone at it again. Of course because they were both pure blood devils of high ranking families it was rather hard for them to have kids, even if they did it occasionally they were unlikely to have another child. They would have to spend quite a bit of pleasurable time, repeatedly, before they would finally have another child.

So finding out his wife was pregnant was not a happy day, it was the day Zeoticus found out his wife was unfaithful. Now it wasn't an unfounded occurrence, many devils had more than one partner, he himself had slept with many a woman, devils, humans, fallen, one time he even snagged an angle forcing her to fall.

But after he had married his wife it had gradually stopped. 'They were no longer YOUNG DEVILS! That slept around with whoever!' His other hand curled into a fist as he kept his anger in. Finding out that his wife had a one night stand, one god damned time, after he had been away on a business trip, he didn't really mind. Finding out that this one time had made her PREGNANT! He was furious!

Yes Zeoticus didn't care that his wife had had a one night stand, she would have told him, they would have gotten over it quickly, no big deal, they still had centuries together still, he could have even made a deal out of it, maybe go and have some fun in the human world, something he hadn't done in a long time.

They both wouldn't mind. But she had a baby!

He had only found out about this after she had begun to show signs and when she had to go quickly to the bathroom for morning sickness, something he regrated sadly, was in the presence of others. Someone outside the family. They had been congratulated in that moment, the news spread all over the underworld soon after.

Once the news spread he could not keep it in check. He could no longer quietly get rid of the baby by other means. Velelana was a strong devil, not the strongest, but definitely not weak. For her to suddenly 'lose' her baby was something which just couldn't happen.

'Complications in child birth' also wasn't something that could be used. There hadn't been a child's death from birthing practices in centuries. The only way for a bay to die in devil society before being born was if the mother died for some other reason, taking the baby with her, that or they were born.

As his thoughts drifted about he slowly turned away from his wife, a strong frown on his lips. He turned to one of the maids off to the side, the designated midwife of the family. "Does he have the power of destruction? What is his magic capacity like?"

The midwife stood stoic and kept a cold tone as she responded to her lord. "The baby has little trace of the Power of Destruction and his magic capacity is frighteningly low. It would be a miracle if the baby could use magic in the future. His constitution is sickly and weak, so his physical capabilities in the future will also be low."

The frown on Zeoticus's face turned to a scowl as he heard the news. The face of the child's true father flashed into his mind for a second as he thought of his snivelling eyes when he had tracked down and cornered the unknown devil.

Zeoticus could admit at the time his rage had consumed him and he had left not a trace of the scared devil after he was done. Possibly overkill, but he didn't care. But even in death the devil seemed to be taunting him.

He had given 'their' family a completely useless offspring. Zeoticus turned away in disgust from the baby and caught sight of another person entering the room. Sirzechs, his first son, hurriedly entered the room and moved over to his mother, a slight worry on his face.

Though he knew it wasn't possible for her to die during child birth he was still worried. Unlike usual he wasn't trailed by his ever present queen, Grayfia. Zeoticus brushed the thought off as he pointed at one of the other maids.

"I want you to take 'it' to one of the rooms and make sure 'it' is fed. I will deal with 'it' later." The maid he pointed to gave a quick bow, as she moved over to the small child and picked him up slowly. She started to leave the room, doing as she was commanded.

Sirzechs had a small frown on his face as he heard his fathers, words. He had heard what might have occurred but didn't want to believe that his own mother had cheated on his father. He was about to say something when he caught sight of the babies brown hair.

He stopped for a second as his father turned to him and gave him the look. The angry eyes settled onto the stunned son, before her turned to look at his mother. All she gave was an ashamed look as she caught sight of her son's eyes.

Any thought in Sirzechs mind of speaking up for the baby was quickly swept away, his thoughts were in shambles as he just sat back down next to his mother and held her close. He could see the shame in her eyes. 'It wasn't her fault' The thoughts on the baby left his mind as he concentrated on his family.

"Leave us we have much to discuss in private." Zeoticus's cold voice rang out in the room as he faced his wife. The remaining maids bowed their heads and moved out. Just as they were about to leave Zeoticus added one more thing.

"If any of you whispers what happened today to anyone, I will kill you all myself."