The sun gradually showed itself as it bloomed on the horizon, golden petals stretched ever outwards into the rich blue, Clarissa was holding a basket covered with a thick cloth on top of it.
"Your highness, I've prepared it," she tapped the basket she carried, "but, her highness Michaela requests you to return shortly to your room after this, it seems that you need to have more rest according to Ms. Layla Savoy," the maid in eyeglasses bowed to him.
"Thanks, Clarrissa, can you lead the way?"
"Yes, it's just a few more blocks from here," she replied sternly and pointed her hand to the direction.
They walked the road together until they saw kids who were playing outside, they wore commoner's clothes, three of them were girls and four of them were boys, they looked like children at the ages of 6 to 12, but they look more lively than their age when Andrei saw them he immediately recognized one of them, it was the Shri, the one who followed Erneis around.
When Andrei first woke up, he immediately wanted to know about what happened to Claire and the others, with the Erneis loss, he asked about what will happen to his grandchildren, it was only then that he knew that they were only adopted by him. He felt anxious, knowing that without Erneis no one would take care of them, but when he heard about Michaela personally financing the children's daily necessities and also with paying their caretaker until they were of working age, he felt better.
Despite his complicated feelings he decided to see them personally, when he went to the kitchen he asked Clarissa to prepare some ice cream for them, and asked for the location of the old knight's house. It was the final goal of his unannounced early morning stroll.
As he stood by the road on which they were playing, the other kids didn't recognize him, but when Shri saw him, the small child ran towards him and tugged him on the breeches and asked.
"Granda, where?"
He felt his heart shrinking, as the child repeated again the same question,
"Grandpa, where?"
Hearing this, the oldest child immediately ran to Shri, separated his hands from Andrei's breeches, and bowed down to him and the maid, the oldest was clever, he knew that only nobles would have a maid following them in their work clothes, having servants or maids was a sign of power, the caretaker followed after, she knew their position well, and knew that the child have committed improper behavior towards the noble, she prostrated together with the other children.
"I'm sorry my lord for what has happened, please forgive him, he's just a child, I'll make sure to discipline him properly so it won't happen again," the caretaker desperately prostrated, in order to protect the children, the caretaker was a woman that was around the same age as him, she had orange hair and a fair complexion, it was said that Erneis had hired her for a long time, knowing that Erneis can only come home once or twice a week, she was familiar with the children and was on good terms with them.
Andrei was lost for words, he didn't know how to react first, to Shri's question and next to the gesture in front of him, not knowing about the country's customs he didn't want to stand out or mess up by answering in a not-so-noble way, and to be seen by the scrutinizing eyes of the people passing by, and he also didn't want to discredit Clarissa who was kind enough to prepare the ice cream, give him directions and carry the basket for him in her work clothes.
He stepped back a bit and whispered to Clarissa.
"Have they already heard the news?"
"Yes, your highness, but only the caretaker and the eldest can comprehend it, the caretaker decided to keep it a secret to the other children for now"
"So I have to break in the news huh? Tch," he made a sigh as he held the back of his head.
"Your highness?" Clarissa cocked her head, not understanding what Andrei meant.
Andrei had a different opinion towards the caretaker and the eldest hiding the fact about Erneis' death.
"The eldest and the caretaker has their answers, I have mine, don't blame me if they cry old man," he thought as he closed his eyes and envisioned Erneis on his mind.
He sat at Shri's eye level and held the child at the child's small arms.
"Shri, Grandpa you see, won't come back"
Clarissa the maid, and the eldest adopted, was in shock to hear Andrei say such words to a toddler, they were all still prostrating, but Shri didn't move and just listened, he was an observant kid that didn't want to endanger his family by further enraging a noble, but there was confusion and bewilderment in the child's eyes, the other children have about the same expressions.
"Your highness I think-" Clarissa tried to stop him from speaking further, but still, he continued.
"He won't come back... your grandpa died bravely on the battlefield and saved me, so you need to be strong and kind just like your grandpa, for your siblings, for your family and for yourself, got it?"
Clarissa could only sigh, seeing that the children were silent but were on the verge of tears. At the same time she could see Andrei shaking.
"Your highness, he's just a kid no matter what you tell him they wouldn't understand so- "
"So what? Do you want them to believe that lie? This isn't a matter of choice, even if they are just children or toddlers, you must tell them, They have every right to know what happened.
You don't protect them by keeping truths from them, even how unpleasant it may be. If you are able to lie to them, then what you are doing is just making things easier for yourself, and that for me is indescribably selfish," he spoke bluntly and didn't bother to lower his volume.
Clarissa didn't answer further and just bowed and stepped back.
"And plus I swore to Erneis I would make them cry if he doesn't come back," he thought to himself, as he felt a tingling pain run on his chest. He took the basket from Clarissa and gave it to the eldest, who had teardrops on his eyes, it was clear than when he leaves they would definitely cry.
To make things easier for them, Andrei decided to leave immediately so the children can sort out their feelings.
He looked at the caretaker and smiled at her, and told her "I'll leave them to you," he then turned back towards the maid.
"Let's go, Clarissa,"
...
After finishing their business in the town they went back to the castle, what awaited them at the gate was Michaela. Her ponytail swung left and right as it was carried by the wind as she leaned her back at the castle gates wearing her golden armor.
As he went closer to her he could see her crystal eyes that had full of strength and courage in it looking at him.
Michaela was indeed shaken by what had occurred in the war, but for her, it was the best outcome for them, their side was almost unscathed, even though their numbers were already small to begin with. What saddened her most was that during this, she lost a valuable friend and loyal knight. But she knew her responsibilities as the queen and she knew that she couldn't afford to look weak in front of her people.
As she looked at the man coming towards her, she was reminded of the miracle he brought since the day she was attempted to be assassinated, no matter how much she thanked him, it wouldn't be enough for all the things he did for her, even to the point of going to war with her and getting hurt himself.
At the same time, she also felt anxious, as Rara told him about how Andrei was deeply hurt as he saw Erneis die in front of his eyes.
As much as possible she avoided talking about Erneis when she visited Andrei, as she didn't know how to react and how to tell it to him. She looked down at her shoes anxiously as she waited for Andrei to get closer to her, thinking on how to greet him after surprisingly knowing that he just went to Erneis' home in the morning.
Andrei stopped when he was a meter distance from her.
"Sorry for going out without your permission first," he told her as he made a wry smile.
Seeing his expression, Michaela met him with the same easygoing attitude, as she crossed her arms.
"So, did you finish what you needed to do? Seriously did you make Erneis' children cry?" She asked teasingly as she made a quick smile and pinched him on the cheeks.
"Ouch Ouch… is that your attitude to someone who has just recovered," he replied as she let her pinch his cheeks, but he noticed that Michaela was finally back to her usual self.
"Michaela, I thought-" Andrei wanted to ask why she has been avoiding talking about Erneis in the past few days, but he couldn't continue as Michaela hushed him with her fingers.
"No, don't say it, I'm sorry, to be honest I didn't know what to say, it's partly my fault and I don't want you to blame yourself over his death, I heard from Claire a bit, about your past… but seeing you visiting the children, I instantly knew I was wrong," she looked away to hide her embarrassment.
"Don't worry Michaela, I won't be just throwing his sacrifice into the mud, I realized just earlier, no one could have predicted the situation, no matter how much we prepared or thought about, still there was still something about the enemy we didn't know about. He died heroically and honorably, and everyone was saved thanks to him. The old man will smack me if I were to disrespect him further," he told her as he also crossed her arms on his chest trying to imitate her.
"I see, Thank you, Andrei, I feel a bit better now, I'm glad you were able to accept his passing that way, and find meaning for his existence in your life" Michaela answered, as she faced him and didn't hide her embarrassment anymore, and made a bright one, as the dews that appeared on his eyes reflected the radiant of the sun. Michaela had an expression of relief, sorrow and happiness at the same time.
Andrei, who was able to understand it, embraced her and rubbed her back, even though most of it was her armor. They felt the warmth of each other, the warmth that comforts each other's hearts from the loss of someone important to both of them.
"Now let's head back to castle, Clarissa made another set of ice cream for us," Michaela told him as she separated herself from him.
"I got it, I got it, and stop drooling like a kid, we're outside of the palace gates you know Michaela, what will happen, if they saw the queen like that"
"I'm not drooling! And you stop crying like a baby! Technically you are my fiance you know Andrei!"
"Yes Yes, stop yelling, you are becoming so fickle nowadays Michaela, usually you'd just be so aggressive"
"Your highness Michaela and Andrei, please have your love quarrel once we are inside," Clarissa told them wanting to stop their banter as she rubbed her forehead and sighed, but also at the same time she was touched at the scene that she just saw, that she felt her eyes tearing up, she took off her glasses and wiped it as she followed behind the two.