Now that Eric could pitter-patter around on his own two feet and talk using simple words, he was determined to soak up as much knowledge as he could about the world around him. Under the kind guidance of his parents, Eric's steps grew surer by the day and his vocabulary expanded bit by bit.
On one sunny spring morning, Eric awoke extra early, feeling eager to explore every nook and cranny he could find around the sprawling manor. He scooted his little body down from the plush featherbed and sat happily atop the woven wool rug that covered the polished wood floors of the nursery. He was surrounded by his favorite carved wooden toys - strong knights and noble horses, fuzzy teddy bears, little soldiers standing at attention, and big colorful alphabet blocks.
As his nursemaid Miss Alyssa tidied up the room around him, Eric babbled question after curious question to her about anything new that caught his eye. "What's that?" Eric asked, his tiny pudgy finger pointing to the shelf of intricately carved animals.
"Those are wooden horses for the brave knights and cuddly teddy bears, my dear," Alyssa replied in a warm, patient tone. She had quickly grown accustomed to the young lord's constant stream of inquiries about each object he discovered.
Eric picked up each toy one by one, turning it over and over in his tiny hands, inspecting every little detail closely, before holding it up once more and asking "What's this?" Miss Alyssa told him the name and qualities of each item with a smile, not minding his barrage of questions at all.
At just over two years old now, Eric's absolute favorite time of day was playing outdoors on the lush green gardens and grassy fields of the sprawling estate grounds under his father Alaric's watchful eye. Eric would toddle through the vibrant palace gardens, stopping frequently to closely inspect any new flower coming into bloom or little bug that happened to scuttle across his path.
"Papa, what's this?" Eric asked one sunny afternoon as he halted by a bushy hydrangea plant, nearly as big as himself. He pointed a chubby little finger up at a fat bumblebee buzzing loudly around the cone-shaped cluster of vivid purple blossoms, apparently very busy gathering the plant's sweet nectar.
Alaric chuckled warmly down at his son's innate curiosity and eagerness to learn. "That's a busy bee working very hard to collect yummy nectar from the flowers to make honey for his hive back home."
Exploring the natural world all around the estate never failed to fascinate the young Eric. Even at his tender age, he could already sense the gardens held endless wonders just waiting to be uncovered anew each day. Every new discovery brought a thrill and delighted him to no end, piquing his curiosity even further, and fueling an almost insatiable hunger to find out everything he could about this vivid new realm.