In the midst of his confusion, the door to the room opened and Natalie walked in, followed by Nova with a bottle of milk in her hand.
She didn't expect to find Arion watching her as she walked in, "Oh! See who's awake."
Natalie's face was slightly shocked to see that Arion had woken up from his nap without much fuss. Even though it had been like this since Arion was born, sometimes it still surprised her that her baby had woken up and was just lying there.
This made her a little worried and she didn't dare leave her baby for more than 5 minutes. She was afraid that Arion would get hungry and she would miss it.
Arion stared at his mother's shocked face, 'I shocked her again, didn't I?'
It was understandable that she was shocked. Arion was never really noisy when he woke up, when he was hungry, when he was sleepy, or when he needed to relieve himself. Even though he was used to baby life, that didn't mean Arion wanted to disturb them with baby whining.
Natalie took him in her arms, "All right! It's time for milk."
Arion stretched his stiff body, 'Time to rest.'
Nova handed the bottle to Natalie who was already sitting on the sofa with Arion. She bowed and left the room, leaving the mother and son alone.
"Drink a lot," Natalie said with a gentle smile as she watched her baby drink voraciously.
'I knew that thinking a lot would make the hunger come faster.' Arion thought as he sucked his milk voraciously.
Natalie stroked Arion's bushy hair, "Were you surprised to wake up and find no one there? Sorry, Mom left you for a while and brought Nova too."
Arion looked at her calmly, 'It's unusual, but I don't mind.'
Usually, when Natalie left, Nova was the one who accompanied Arion. And when Nova went back to work, he was with his mother. He had never been taken care of by anyone other than those two. So it felt a little strange to wake up and not see either of them.
Natalie kissed his forehead gently, "I'm also sorry that I couldn't be with you all day today. I have a little business to take care of."
Arion stopped sucking his milk and looked at her in confusion, 'What?'
"Don't worry. Dad will take care of you while Mom is away." She continued with a bright smile. It was rare for Arsen and Arion to spend time together without her. She's looking forward to it!
'What!' His mind panicked until he unconsciously let go of the bottle. He was too distracted to think about his milk.
Natalie patted Arion on the back to make him burp, thinking he was done with his milk, "Your brother and sister are coming with Mom too. So Arion is only with Dad today. You guys never have any bonding time alone, right?"
Arion was silent, unable to think of anything. He pictured the man who was his new father. His black hair, his sharp golden eyes, his flat expression, and his cold aura. He buried his face in Natalie's arms.
Arion let out a long groan in his mind, 'It gets worse.'
He didn't mean to be rude. Arion knew the man was kind. But the image of his abusive father still lingered in his mind. He felt guilty for ever thinking that Arsen was the same as his old father. Arion wanted to avoid that thought again.
"Actually, I don't want to leave you for too long. But Mom has to prepare everything you guys need for the party. I won't be at peace if I don't prepare it myself." Natalie said reassuringly. She had a feeling that her baby would be a bit cranky today.
Arion looked at his mother sadly, 'I don't need a party. I don't even like them. It's too noisy.'
Natalie smiled softly, noticing the change in her baby's mood. She hugged him tighter. She kissed his forehead and cheeks alternately until she couldn't resist repeating it many times.
Arion pushed his mother's face away as he scowled, 'Stop it. It's ticklish.'
Natalie giggled and kissed his forehead one last time, "Be a good baby and have fun with Daddy, okay?"
Arion frowned sadly. He felt his mother's warm embrace grow tighter, making him daydream the rest of their time together.
Without realizing it, Arion was already in Arsen's arms as they escorted Natalie and the twins away. It was the first time Arion had been anywhere but the inner courtyard of the palace. But he was too distracted to simply take in his surroundings.
Arion stared blankly at his mother and siblings as they prepared to leave. He was just a helpless baby who couldn't stop them from leaving him.
He sighed, 'They really will go.'
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Natalie asked for the umpteenth time. The twins stood beside her, ready to leave.
Arsen looked at her calmly, "Don't worry. I will take good care of him. It's not that I want to take him to sword training." He said casually. He looked at the baby in his arms with a calm look.
Arion shuddered in horror, 'I have a bad feeling.'
Natalie rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed, "I'm serious, Arsen."
Arsen sighed, "It's a good time for me to bond with Arion. I've been too busy these days."
He was really busy the last two weeks. Even he could only visit his children when they were asleep. For the twins' supervision, he left it back to Natalie because of his busy work schedule. Luckily, Nova was there to help his wife.
Natalie looked at him gently, "You're busy preparing for Arion's 1-month celebration party. Not to mention your duties as king. You did your best, Arsen."
She stroked Arsen's slightly pale cheeks and the faintly visible black bags under his eyes. It was the result of her husband's hard work over the past two weeks. He looked tired and lacked sleep.
One of the reasons Natalie was confident enough to leave Arion with Arsen was so he could use Arion's nap time to rest. It would be even better if he joined Arion to sleep.
Arsen only smiled slightly, unable to answer her words. He crouched down in front of the twins so that they could say goodbye to Arion as well.
"Have fun with Mom. Don't wander around without company, okay?" He warned them seriously.
"Yes, Dad!" The two exclaimed no less seriously.
They said goodbye to Arion, who looked at the twins sadly. Even If the two of them were usually very loud together, it was better than just being alone with his father.
"I'll be back soon, Arion. We'll bring you some souvenirs." Eric said as his fingers were held tightly by Arion as if he did not want to let go.
"And for Daddy too!" Hana continued with a cheerful smile. Her father needed a lot of encouragement after all the hard work he had to do.
Arsen smiled a little and stroked Hana's hair gently, "We're looking forward to it."
After Eric managed to free his finger from Arion's death grip, he quickly pulled Hana into the carriage. Hurriedly, Hana kissed her father and Arion on the cheek and then waved goodbye to both of them. Arion watched sadly as the twins left.
For some reason, Arion was more fussy than usual today. Not that he had ever been fussy before. He was a very calm and good baby.
But it was different when he was left alone with his father. It's not that he hates him, it's just that he always feels intimidated by his aura.
It wasn't the same, but a few times the memory of his old father haunted him to the point where he could hardly tell the difference between the two.
Natalie still looked at Arsen anxiously, "If anything happens or Arion gets too fussy, don't hesitate to call me back as soon as possible."
For the first sentence, it wasn't that she doubted her husband's strength if something serious happened. What she meant was the well-being of her baby. This was the first time they had been separated for more than an hour. She couldn't help but worry.
"I will," Arsen replied with infinite patience. Don't know how many times he heard the same sentence from his wife.
Before Natalie could say anything else, Arsen kissed her lips and silenced whatever she was about to say, "Enjoy your time with the twins."
Natalie remained silent. Arion made a sound of protest. All the servants and knights in the place turned away, pretending not to see. Although some of them had red faces.
Arion looked at his father disapprovingly, 'Don't show your intimate scenes in front of me!'
Natalie giggled, "I will."
After kissing Arsen's cheek and Arion's forehead, she quickly joined the twins who were already sitting in the carriage.
"Bye, Dad."
"We'll be right back!"
The three of them waved their hands as the carriage began to move, which was returned with a small wave from Arsen. After the carriage had disappeared from his sight, Arsen turned around to go to his office with Arion.
Arion sighed tiredly, 'Please let this day end soon.'