Thomas and Vira worried about their son's well-being, checking their budget and planning to see if they could afford to visit the city and monitoring him closely to see if his condition changed. All the while, Anthony was completely oblivious to what went on around him.
Well, he wasn't completely oblivious since he noticed Thomas and Vira were fussing. But to him, that wasn't any different from what they had done before. He also didn't think there was any reason for their fussing to have changed. He was at ease as long as he could continue compiling the information in his soul and begin planning his mana training method.
The thought that his parents would worry about him for suddenly becoming so withdrawn didn't even cross Anthony's mind. He had lived his life without worrying about others and without others worrying about him.
He had enough free knowledge to know that other races had familial relationships where they cared for each other, each other's well-being, and each other's success. However, Anthony's millennia of solitude weighed too heavily for him to realize that he was now in the middle of such a family dynamic.
Anthony didn't connect the dots between his knowledge and his reality. He was unaware of his situation and the circumstances around him despite experiencing it and knowing that it was the norm for many races.
Being reborn a human wasn't enough to make him a human. At his soul, the very core of his existence, Anthony was still Anastrus, the Dragon King of Knowledge.
The gap between the two positions, the two lives, was too large to bridge with a single rebirth and a couple of weeks.
"Baby!"
So, when Anthony finally took a break since his soul needed to rest, he was surprised by both his parent's energetic and relieved attitude.
"Honey! Come here! He's glaring again!"
Vira's feet pattered against the wooden floor as she sprinted from the bedroom to the nursery. The rooms were right next to each other, but Vira had been trying to catch up on some well-needed sleep. Yet she still burst through the door practically the moment after Thomas shouted.
"Babypie!"
Vira dashed over to the crib and hung over the railing next to Thomas so she could also see Anthony's face up close. Thomas had spoken the truth!
Instead of looking at the world with empty eyes and a slack face, Anthony was frowning, and his pitch-black eyes sparkled like jet.
They still hadn't gone to the bottom of why Anthony had black eyes and golden blonde hair. But he had his mother's glare, and his face had already started developing his father's elegant traits. There was no mistaking that he was their child. Either Thomas or Vira probably had an ancestor with those traits. The only concerning thing about it was that he would turn out to be a stunningly handsome man when he grew up.
Thomas and Vira were convinced, though they were also biased.
And if his cold look right now would be any indication, he would also become a heartbreaker.
The relief of seeing their baby act as usual gave Thomas and Vira the relaxation they needed to think idle thoughts.
"Ah! Babypie."
Vira realized that Anthony wasn't necessarily out of the woods yet, so she stopped thinking about what he would grow to become and leaned down to pick him up with a gentle but worried expression.
"You had us worried, you know."
Vira's and Thomas' eyes glistened a little as they could finally let their worries and the pressure on them ease up.
"It felt like we were about to lose you, baby. It was so scary not being able to be at the receiving end of those cute eyes."
'Huh?'
Anthony was confused.
He hadn't gone anywhere, and as far as he could tell, the birth givers to his current body had been fondling and fussing with him just as usual.
Vira hugged Anthony tight to her body, and Thomas hugged her. Thomas was a little gentler since he was afraid of being too rough on Anthony. Vira kissed the top of Anthony's forehead.
"Please don't scare us like that again."
Anthony still wasn't sure what had happened. But if he couldn't tell that his temporary caretakers were in anguish over his dedication to soul searching and knowledge fishing, he should just give up trying to do anything that required thinking.
'Hmph. Don't tell me what to do.'
Although that's what he thought, Anthony's brow eased up a little, too little for his parents to notice. He relaxed his body a little and leaned in slightly.
He wasn't sure what he was feeling. But he had never felt this uncomfortable warmth in his body before.
Anthony's obstinate logic attributed it to being stuck in a baby's body and being embraced tightly by two hot-blooded creatures. That was why he had never felt anything similar in his past life, where an impervious dragon body had protected him from all things, including temperature.
And so, since he was in a feeble human baby body now, the only cause of his discomfort and the swirling sensations within could be physiological.
Eventually, Anthony fell asleep. His soul and body were tired from all his digging for knowledge and growing to accommodate his soul. Anthony had also realized that sleeping was vital when it came to his growth, so he no longer tried to resist and happily indulged in napping whenever his body grew tired.
Thomas and Vira looked at their sleeping baby with happy but concerned faces.
Anthony hadn't lost his soul or anything. They didn't know what had happened with their son, but it didn't seem to have caused him any lasting discomfort or troubles. But just because he had come back to them, it didn't mean they wouldn't lose him again. So Thomas and Vira couldn't relax.
What if it happened again? What if Anthony wouldn't return to them if it did?
Thomas and Vira stayed in the nursery, cradling Anthony while worrying about his well-being and future.