I was currently sitting down in my office, filling in some paperwork. After all that had happened with Emily—and what's worse, I now have to date her.
After I had finished filling out one of the necessary documents, I placed my pen down on the desk and slumped in my chair with a deep sigh.
For the first time in a long time, I'm tired.
There's too much happening and I can't keep up. I'm completely booked for this week and I needed help… badly.
There was too much paperwork and I couldn't possibly attend every meeting that needed me.
But who could possibly fill in that role?
Dad? No, he wasn't all too interested in these types of things, so the moment I became the Crowned Prince all that backed-up paperwork became squarely my idea.
Mom? No, she's too busy all the time with her concerts around the Pride Ring.
Charlie? Nope! Maybe after a decade or two.
Father and Mother are also out of the picture since they're not really part of Hell's hierarchy.
Hornet? No, she's too busy babysitting Charlie and hunting.
I continued to slump in my chair, thinking who could possibly be the best option to help me, but as I continued to stare at the ceiling, I finally decided to get up and try to refresh my mind.
Ripping open a rift in space, I simply walked through it and ended up inside the royal kitchen. Multiple cooks were preparing different meals and entrées for tonight's dinner.
Once I had fully stepped through the rift, the busy chefs were too preoccupied to even notice me, so taking this opportunity, I looked around more and found multiple bowls of Italian-style clam chowder.
This must be today's dinner. Grabbing one of the spoons next to the bowl, I scooped up a rather generous amount and tasted it. The soup had a fragrant and aromatic smell, and tasting it, it was rather light on the seasoning, but the herbs helped balance the flavors without overpowering your taste buds.
As I continued to sample the meal, something bonked the back of my head with a rather large wooden spoon. Turning around, I saw the sous-chef with a massive frown.
"Hey! I told you lot to stop coming in here and stealing the food!" he exclaimed, holding his spoon close.
"My apologies, I simply got curious and, without permission, tasted your meal," I replied back.
"Oh, that trick won't work on me again! You know how many times you used the prince's appearance to steal meals?! I ain't falling for that again! So you better get!" the sous-chef demanded.
So the changelings are still pulling pranks, huh? Well, I have been pretty busy and I haven't been checking up on them as of late, and they don't really listen to Hornet.
As I continued to ponder on what to do, an idea hit me like a lightning bolt.
That's right—I can simply create the perfect assistant myself.
Looking down upon the sous-chef, I gave him an apologetic bow for stealing the meal before quickly opening a rift and stepping through it.
Once I had left, the sous-chef had a look of horror and dropped to his knees.
"I just assaulted the prince," he said to himself, voice trembling.
---
Stepping through my rift, I was now currently inside Father's private section in the workshop.
Picking up a hammer and chisel, I quickly got to work making the perfect assistant—well, maybe two, since I can't expect them to work alone now.
Summoning two large marble pillars, I readied myself for what I knew was going to be a rather long day.
Once I started the process of chipping away the marble from the pillar, I thought of what type of assistant I would need. Clearly, they needed to be smart since they'd be helping me with the paperwork, and they needed a rather disarming appearance to attend meetings with either Heaven or Hell.
After spending 8 hours chipping and sculpting the marble, I took a step back and inspected my work.
The sculpture was ultimately female. She had a beautiful face that rivaled even Mom's beauty. She had a beautiful pair of wings that made her look like an angel and a singular horn in the middle of her forehead.
Satisfied with my work, I looked over to the other pillar of marble that had yet to be worked on and, with a heavy sigh, I began the long process of chipping away at the marble.
The process didn't take much longer than the first one, and in fact, it only took half as long to finish.
Stepping back once more from my work, I inspected it. The sculpture was once again female… despite my better judgement. But this was fine, since in the hierarchy of the changelings the females were the more dominant ones.
Well, enough of that. The sculpture had a similar face to the first, but with some small changes. She looked sharper, more intense than the first. She wasn't as large as the first, but close enough if you didn't look too closely.
She also adorned insect-like wings and a singular horn on her forehead that looked rather sharp.
Satisfied with my work, I took a seat on the floor and just stared at my creations, thinking about what their personalities and goals should be.
As I thought about it more, I summoned a piece of paper and a pen to write down my thoughts and whatever came to mind.
I did have a general idea of what their personalities could be, but not their skills. So as I started to think and write down the needed information for their being, I noticed—looking out the window—that it was already the next day, and I had completely forgotten how long I had stayed in here.
Getting up from where I sat, I began sketching the necessary sigils and runes to give them their skills and personalities.
Once I had completed sketching, I took a step back to check if everything was ready, and once it was, I placed both my hands on top of their heads and began channeling soul energy into them.
The sigils and runes began to glow and slowly grew even brighter, and with a large flash of light, the room was engulfed in a blinding glow.
Once the light had subsided, the statues had disappeared, and in their place two women stood. I removed my hands from their heads, took a step back, and greeted them.
"Welcome to the living world—or, well, almost."
The two women looked at me in confusion before quickly getting on their knees upon realizing who I was.
"It is an honor to serve you, Creator," they spoke in unison, almost robotic.
"Please stand up. We don't do that here." I helped them to their feet as they looked at each other, rather confused.
"Then what would you have us do?" the changeling queen spoke.
"Well, for starters, let's give you guys some proper names," I told them.
Pointing toward my first creation, I spoke:
"Henceforth, you shall be named… Celestia Solaris."
Celestia looked at me in reverence as she received her name.
Then I pointed toward my second creation.
"From this day onward, you shall be called… Chrysalis Feywin."
"I thank you for granting me this name, my lord," she said, giving me a small bow to show her gratitude.
"Now that that's all settled, I shall introduce myself. My name is Stygian Morningstar, Crowned Prince of Hell and heir to the throne," I informed them.
"It is an honor to serve Lord Stygian," they said in unison, giving a small bow.
"Now, with all the formalities out of the way, let me introduce you to your future assignments," I told them with a smile.