Hell
Like Olympus, this universe had a history stretching back aeons. But unlike Olympus, it had been ruled exclusively by the Devil race for millions of years, long before it was even discovered by the surrounding universes.
The Hell universe was home to several renowned galaxy superclusters, such as the 'Burning Realms' and the 'Nine Thousand Circles'.
It operated under a Monarchy-based pantheon known as the Devildom, governed by the lineage of the universe's Master.
The pantheon's entities bore noble titles, with the highest-ranking ones carrying the titles of Dukes and Grand Dukes.
At present, the King of the Devildom and Master of the Hell universe was Cattleya's father, Devil King Diablo Vaughn.
His primary residence was on Planet Aeturn, located within the Dorcaster Star System, a three-star system in the Burning Realms Galaxy Supercluster.
The royal palace of the Hell universe's ruling family was needlessly vast, its architecture archaic, featuring eight towers positioned at each of the cardinal directions.
Each of these towers was assigned to a member of the royal family. One for the king, two for the two prospective Queens, and the remaining five reserved for the Princes and Princesses.
The Devil King who built the castle was once asked what would happen if the royal family ever grew to have more than eight members at the same time, but his response was nothing short of outrageous.
"That just means someone's gotten too old to be living in his parents' house! He needs to move out and make room for the younger ones!"
Most assumed it was simply a joke, but when he had his sixth child, he proceeded to evict his firstborn from the castle, despite that child being the Crown Prince and heir apparent at the time.
He outright rejected all proposals to expand the castle to better accommodate a larger household and even went so far as to forbid his descendants from constructing a new main royal castle, even though thousands could easily be built on Aeturn alone, let alone on other planets.
Such was the unreasonable decree issued by the founding King of the royal family, and yet, even after millions of years, his descendants continued to honour and obey it.
Such was the unreasonable edict issued by that ancestor of the royal family, yet even after millions of years, his descendants continued to abide by his words.
◇ ◇ ◇
Cattleya giggled to herself as she recalled the story of her ridiculous ancestor while stepping into the castle.
The moment she did, all the servants on duty paused what they were doing, promptly lining up before bowing.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
They all spoke in unison. Seeing this, Cattleya pouted and responded,
"Geez! Didn't I tell you all to stop being so straight-laced?"
"We do not dare act casually toward the princess."
A voice answered as a tall man with short grey hair stepped out from among the servants. He had visible wrinkles on his hollow face that gave him a gentle air, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. Dressed in a traditional butler's uniform, he moved with grace as he slowly approached the still-pouting Cattleya.
"Uncle Bel!"
Cattleya's pout turned into a bright smile at the sight of him. She leapt forward, intending to hug him, but the man sidestepped her midair embrace, caught her with ease, and gently set her back on the ground.
"You are no longer a child, Princess. Also, I do not believe it is wise for you to be jumping around in your current condition.
And finally, my name is Belphegor, not 'Bel'."
His words only drew a laugh from Cattleya, who spread her arms and replied,
"If you want me to call you that, then gimme a hug. Also, stop acting like a butler. I still can't fathom why a Deadly Sin Devil would willingly serve as the royal family's butler, even if you're weirdly good at it."
"I have my reasons, princess."
Cattleya sighed and lowered her arms, her thoughts briefly drifting to the nature of those who bore the titles of the Seven Deadly Sins. She then glanced around and noticed that the servants were still bowing.
With a quick wave, she dismissed them before turning back to Belphegor and asking the question she'd meant to from the start.
"Where's my dad?"
"The West Tower's fifth lounge."
Upon hearing his answer, she made one last failed attempt to hug him before heading toward the castle's West Tower, which belonged to her brother, the current Crown Prince of the Devildom, Creusery Vaughn.
◇ ◇ ◇
Upon arriving at the West Tower, she ascended to the fifth lounge and found her father and brother engrossed in a serious discussion, one she promptly decided was worth interrupting.
"Sup, Bro! Sup, Dad! Heard you called for me, though I don't recall doing anything wrong."
She rested a hand on her chin and adopted a thoughtful expression as she spoke. While her tone was light and teasing, her brother had no intention of entertaining her antics. He got straight to the point.
"Don't play dumb, Leya. You know exactly why Father called you here. It's about the child you're carrying. That's the one the gods have been buzzing about, right?"
Noting that her brother clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes, she sighed and sat beside him before responding.
"I wanted it to be a surprise, you know? A S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E. The kind where the people I want to tell don't know a single thing beforehand.
That's why, when you found out, I asked you to keep it a secret. But for whatever reason, you thought it was best to go tattling."
Just as the argument was beginning to spark between the two, their father finally cut in.
"Enough. Both of you."
Devil King Diablo was a fairly tall, handsome man with dull silver hair and dark eyes. He had an athletic, muscular build, the sort that easily made him the object of admiration for countless women.
Running a hand through his hair, he turned to his daughter, who still behaved like a child more often than not, despite being far from one, and asked,
"Since when have you been with child?"
"Around spring, I noticed. So… three and a half, almost four months now."
Noticing the questioning look on his face, she added,
"I used magic to hide it, which is why you never sensed anything. I even added a separate spell to bypass your terrifying detection ability. Took me a whole week to develop that spell, by the way.
Still, I had to stay away from home for a while. If I lingered too long, you'd have figured it out eventually. Honestly, your life-sensing ability is absurd."
Hearing her explanation, Diablo couldn't help but heave a tired sigh.
'If the Leviathans catch wind that she developed a spell like that in just a week, they'll lose their minds.'
The life-sensing ability Cattleya referred to was a passive skill Diablo possessed, one that allowed him to detect the life signal emitted by the soul of any living being nearby, rendering nearly all forms of stealth or concealment spells useless against him.
As for the 'Leviathans' he referred to, they were a clan of Leviathan-breed Devils renowned as the foremost experts in all forms of magic. Their leader, Grand Duchess Inglis, also known as the Deadly Sin Devil of Envy and Cattleya's mother, was a prodigy even among this tribe of magical geniuses.
Yet, despite her unmatched talent, not even she had managed to develop a concealment spell capable of bypassing his senses. The fact that his daughter had done in just a week what her mother failed to accomplish in years made his head throb.
"Who else knows about this? You do realise this is something that needs to be kept quiet, right? I won't allow any idiots to start targeting you."
He pushed aside the issue of the concealment magic for now. Devil King or not, he was still her father, and a doting one at that. The thought of someone aiming for his daughter's life didn't sit well with him.
Unfortunately, while the daughter in question understood his concern, she simply chose not to care.
"I already told Mammon and Araman outside. Belphegor somehow figured it out, too. As for the gods? I couldn't care less if they found out. They can't do anything to me, for now, at least."
She gave her answer with the same nonchalance that completely disregarded the very reason he had summoned her in the first place.
"What the—! Cattleya! Why in Hell would you want them to find out?
It's not just one pantheon after you. There are hundreds, thousands, maybe even more! Even those long-eared bastards who love hiding in trees and those short fools always preaching neutrality."
The way her father so offhandedly insulted two of the greatest known universal powers in their region made Cattleya burst into laughter, but the looks on both his and her brother's faces showed they weren't sharing in the humour.
Clearing her throat, she composed herself and moved on to explain the reason behind her confidence.
"So, um, about three weeks ago, my child's father and I made a bet with this large idi—uh, I mean, giant, while gambling at a casino in Verchester. The idiot lost and couldn't take the result, so he tried to ambush us after we left.
But just before I could retaliate and erase his pitiful existence, something rather shocking happened."
Cattleya suddenly paused, glancing at their increasingly frustrated expressions before breaking into a smile.
"And that's all for today. I'll see you both next time."
She tried to stand from her seat, but her brother instantly pinned her back down with a burst of telekinesis and barked,
"Finish the damn story!"
After taking a good minute to laugh at his reaction, she finally continued.
"So, right before I could end him, the heavens decided to send some lightning down to do the job. But this is where things get tricky. Idiot or not, he was a Mid-Tier Deity. To take him out in a single strike, it would require someone at least at the Superior Stage.
I scanned the entire area to find the culprit, but there was nothing. That was weird as hell, so I decided to check his corpse, and guess what I found?"
"What?!" Diablo asked impatiently, unable to hold back.
Cattleya laughed briefly, but then her expression turned serious.
"Traces of causality.
He was killed by the law of causality. It made no sense, so my bestie and I spent the next few days racking our brains, trying to think of every possible scenario that could explain why causality would act the moment he tried to take my life, but we came up with nothing.
When we took a break, I headed to some random Low-level planet in the middle of a world war. I disguised myself as a military leader who had just been assassinated. And lo and behold, the assassin returned to confirm the kill. Upon seeing me, he naturally tried to finish the job, only for the space beside him to crack open.
Chains of causality erupted and dragged him in. He was just a mortal, so he stood no chance. That was when I realised the reason behind the law of causality's intervention.
I confirmed it by provoking a few other beings, and the law of causality intervened the moment they expressed any intention to kill me.
As annoying as it is and as much as everyone hates it, the law of causality has one function most people tend to overlook.
It ensures that every life fulfils the role assigned to it by fate at a specific point in time. Right now, my role is most likely to give birth to this child, one with the potential to end the gods. So, the law is making sure I fulfil that role.
Since I obviously can't do that if I'm dead, it's protecting me. Or at least, that's what I assume."
As she finished speaking, she watched the expressions on the two men's faces shift from confusion to shock, and then finally to relief, as they struggled to process what they had just heard.
"So you're saying the gods can't kill you because you're protected by the law of causality?"
"Yep."
Cattleya gave a short reply to Creusery's question while pulling a drink from her subspace, then continued.
"I imagine more severe action would be taken against the gods, after all, the child is directly related to them."
"That brings me to the second question that needs answering. Who is the father? Which pantheon does he belong to? What rank?"
Diablo asked the question while trying to restrain the urge to kill whoever had dared to sleep with his daughter. At that moment, Creusery suddenly wore a look of realisation as he turned to her and asked,
"Wait… is it that guy?! The one always wearing a hood?"
"Yeah, not telling you who he actually is, though, at least not yet."
Although both of them were clearly dissatisfied with her answer, they had no choice but to accept it, as it was obvious she had no intention of revealing the man's identity.
She was also more than capable of ensuring they never found out if she so desired.
"How'd you even meet him, anyway? I only remember seeing him whenever I came to pick you up from Bracken."
"How? Hmm… okay, that, I can tell you."
Cattleya replied to Creusery's question, proceeding to share a concise version of the chain of events that led to her meeting the father of the child she now carried.