Drayce would be turning five years old that year, and he didn't know it then, but it would mark an important change in his life.
It would be the time for Esther to leave.
For the remaining months, she spent as much time as she could spend with her son. She played the zither for him often, and the little prince enjoyed those afternoons when he didn't have to attend lessons and simply relax while listening to his mother play her favourite instrument. During her free time, they would either tend to the greenhouse that was attached to her study or train in basic swordsmanship together.
On the rare times she needed to leave the capital, she would bring Drayce to educate him about more practical lessons, such as herb gathering or relevant knowledge on surviving in the wild. They would go to the forests where Esther would teach him how to find rare herbs with medicinal properties, and they also collected wild berries which Drayce liked to eat.
