The beautiful woman dressed in red stopped a little way from them, her long black hair falling over her shoulders and past her waist. Long was more like her in appearance than his father.
– Mommy! – Long ran to her, throwing himself into her embrace.
Jiaohui smiled as she dusted off the boy's clothes. Then, noticing the wound on his knee, she looked at him worriedly – I already told you not to go out at this hour. It's dangerous. Who hurt you? – The children were sensitive. Even in their draconic form, their scales were weak, not to mention their human form. They were like chopsticks, easy to break.
Before Long answered, Leah spoke respectfully – There is no enemy scent on your highness' body, and the wound is already healed.
The queen nodded in astonishment, still worried as she turned Long from side to side, checking him carefully and then holding him facing her.
Being stared at by his mother, Long cracked a smile, and upon seeing his son's bright smile, the queen hugged him in relief, then looking at the commander – Thank you, Leah, you can go now.
Leah stood up and bowed. Long turned and waved excitedly at him, smiling. Leah returned the nod, leaving shortly after.
The queen got up and held her son's hand. Then, seeing how much he liked Leah, she said – You can train with them if you want. I know it's a bit boring here in the palace.
Long shook his head quickly – I like to stay with you, mom.
The queen smiled gently and caressed the boy's hair. A few steps then caught her attention. A man was standing in the doorway, looking with a slight smile at the mother and son interacting.
Jiaohui bowed slightly while the boy ran to hug the man, who bent down to be at the boy's level – Daddy!
– What happened? Why are you up so late? – Rairin asked while hugging his son.
Jiaohui approached, speaking with a tired expression – Your son was playing outside again. Please take a look at him, my king. Commander Leah stated that there was no injury.
Rairin frowned as he turned the boy around. Long spoke, a little dazed – I'm fine, dad.
The king looked at Long's naive gaze, nodding after confirming everything was fine with him. Then, holding his hand, he stood up and guided the boy through the corridors. Jiaohui followed close behind, smiling as he watched their backs. Long glanced back from time to time to see if his mother still followed, smiling whenever their eyes met.
The palace was almost empty. A few scattered soldiers were making their rounds in silence to avoid disturbing their majesties in their intimate moments.
Rairin pushed one of the doors and entered, letting go of Long's hand. He called a servant and asked for something. Jiaohui knew what he was doing, so she went to the large bed in the center of the room where they had entered and sat down, calling Long to sit by her side.
Long ran to her and sat down. The servant returned and put things on a small table beside the bed. Then, quickly fulfilling the king's request, he left and closed the door. Rairin walked over to the items left by the servant and took a small handkerchief, dipping it in a small basin of warm water.
Long quickly pulled his pants up to his knees, revealing a mess under his robes. There was no wound left, just dirt and blood.
Rairin wiped the wet wipe gently, wiping away all the dirt and blood, the wipe slowly changing color as it was wiped across the boy's knee.
As soon as he finished one of the knees, he folded the scarf and handed it to the queen, who held it between two fingers. A golden flame appeared in his hand, incinerating the scarf shortly afterward.
Rairin cleaned the other knee and again handed the used scarf to Jiaohui. He asked right after the different scarf was burnt – Is there any other place we should check?
Long looked up thoughtfully, nodding slightly, then the king chuckled softly as Long took off his coat and pulled his sleeve up to his elbows.
The king was worried, cleaning it carefully, even though he knew there was no more wound. After the work, the queen burned each of the small handkerchiefs while Long silently watched the whole process.
Once Rairin finished, he looked at the boy with a severe look – Now tell me what you were doing out there and how you got hurt that way.
Long looked to the side innocently, looking for an excuse. Rairin narrowed his eyes – A king shouldn't lie to his people like a son shouldn't lie to his father.
Long looked at him and then at his mother, who raised her eyebrows while smiling slightly, pointing her chin at her husband, who remained kneeling, waiting for an answer. Long turned his gaze to him and spoke – Silverleak – Hearing that name, the king frowned. Long lowered his eyes and continued – I went there to see the girl with black eyes.
Rairin looked at Jiaohui, and being stared at by her smiling black eyes, he looked away in embarrassment – What girl is that? Do you like her?
Long wiggled her fingers nervously – She is… pretty…
The queen laughed softly, attracting her husband's attention. The king looked at her for a while, not receiving any response from his father. Long lifted his head to see how he stared at his mother. Long alternated his gaze between the two and grabbed his mother's robes, who quickly looked at him. She spoke gently – Is she just pretty?
Long blinked thoughtfully – She is also kind and… has a beautiful voice.
– So you guys already talked?
Long lowered her head – No, I heard her talking to her friends in the garden the first time I went there during the afternoon.
The king looked at him – So after that day, you decided to observe her? Has she never seen you?
Long pursed his lips, the king felt like laughing for a moment, but as soon as he received a severe look from Jiaohui, he didn't. Instead, Jiaohui stroked Long's hair – Everything has its time. You will get to know each other better one day.
Rairin suddenly stood up. Jiaohui looked at him, stunned by the sudden movement, but seeing his worried expression, she nodded. Rairin sighed, looking at Long and ruffling his hair. He said – Your mother is right. Everything has its time – Smiling, he continued – It's late. We all should rest.
Long didn't have much time to say goodbye. His father seemed in a big hurry. Something must have probably happened.
The queen turned her gaze to Long, seeing him with a lost expression as she looked at the door. She sighed, still stroking his hair - I'll call someone to bathe you. I want you to go to bed as soon as you do, okay?
Long nodded – Good night, mom.
Jiaohui left a kiss on his forehead and left the room. In the hallway, she called the servant to help the prince get clean to go to sleep.
In Silverleak. Izrun got up in the morning, still a little tired from the night before. He looked down at his own hands.
He was smiling all morning. The girls who passed by him looked at him in astonishment. In their minds a single word described Izrun, or Ive as they knew it, beautiful. Ive was radiant today.
Alba looked at him calmly. She alternated her gaze between the book and the boy, feeling her tutor's eyes. Izrun got nervous. Did she know he was in the forest yesterday? He felt like he forgot something, Izrun forgot that giant trail of ice in the woods could pin him down as the culprit. Izrun greeted Alba and sat down. Alba lowered her book and smiled at him – Did you sleep well, Izrun?
Izrun broke out in a cold sweat, but nodded quickly.
Alba leaned back in her chair, narrowing her eyes as she probed the boy – Didn't you hear anything strange last night?
Izrun shook his head.
Alba then nodded slightly, watching the boy's nervous expression, then clapping her hands together shortly after - Okay, let's start today's class. Did your father ever teach you defensive magic?
Her movement startled Izrun, but hearing the question, he denied it – I couldn't learn…
Alba nodded without expression, asking – After the first attempt, did you train a few more times?
Stunned, Izrun looked at his tutor, shaking his head slightly, muttering – Will you… teach me?"
Alba nodded, standing up and looking Izrun up and down – I'll give you a suit suitable for this type of training.
What did Ikalles teach the boy all day? Just nothing. He was busy with real matters. Why would he waste his time training someone who... wasn't worth teaching. Izrun's younger sister was almost catching up with him, and she was only seven years old.
Seeing her leave, Izrun ran to accompany her, following her into a room. Alba turned to him – Wait here.
Izrun stood in the doorway while Alba entered the room. She returned a few minutes later holding a set of clothes, handing them to Izrun and pushing him lightly into the room – Put this on and tie your hair.
As soon as Izrun entered, she closed the door. Alba waited while he changed. Then, hearing conversations coming from the hallway, she saw a small trio of girls and quickly recognized them.
The girls were startled when they saw the principal and quickly greeted her.
Alba nodded to them – Shouldn't young ladies be in class?
Huanxue smiled – My tutor asked me to look for some books in the library, and I found Misses Kenzy and Dalji, who were also instructed in some activities in the library.
Alba nodded, returning the smile. The door behind her suddenly opened, catching the attention of the girls, who recognized the person leaving at the exact moment they saw her.
– Ive? – Kenzy asked, stunned as she looked Izrun up and down.
Dalji was the one who thought the fastest at that moment, making some gestures with her hands – 'Are you going to train?'
Izrun was surprised to find the girls and nodded nervously, Dalji frowning thoughtfully.
Huanxue looked at Izrun and then at the director, thinking that suddenly finding her in the hallway was luck and now realizing that Alba was waiting for someone.
– Headmistress, are you Miss Ive's tutor? – Huanxue asked.
Alba nodded. She had no intention of hiding it, nor did she know the teachers were trying to do otherwise. On the contrary, Alba was very proud to be Izrun Snowden's tutor.
Kenzy still hadn't taken his eyes off Izrun. Dalji, seeing that the director had confirmed Huanxue's question, bowed to Alba and pulled Kenzy away. Huanxue also said goodbye – See you later, Miss Alba – And looking at Izrun, she smiled and waved at him. Izrun smiled, returning the wave.
As soon as they walked away, Alba looked at Izrun – Ive?
Izrun lowered his head – I met them on the way to the cafeteria that day. When they asked I introduced myself as Ive.
Alba, trying to contain her laughter, made a sound of agreement – Mn, let's go.