Arion blinked his sleepy eyes. He yawned widely while rubbing his eyes to get rid of the remaining sleepiness.
'Where am I?' He thought absentmindedly. He still hadn't realized that he was lying on his cot, instead of in his father's arms.
The sound of footsteps made Arion open his eyes wide and see his father coming towards him. His face looked calm, but Arion could see the tiredness in his eyes.
Arsen smiled a little, "You're awake." He lifted Arion from the bed and took him in his arms.
Arion leaned lazily, 'I fell asleep.'
He looked around and realized that he was still in his father's office. It turned out that Arsen had brought his cot so that Arion could sleep peacefully and Arsen could continue working while watching over him.
Natalie's wish for Arsen to be able to rest with Arion was not granted.
'By the way...'
Arion looked at his father's workbench, which now looked emptier than the last time he had seen it. Only a few pieces of paperwork were left. He couldn't help but be amazed at his father's hard work.
'He finished most of his work while I was sleeping.'
Arion looked at Arsen for a moment, doubtfully, before he patted him on the cheek, 'Good job.'
Arsen felt confused but smiled slightly at Arion's pat. It felt as if his son was praising him. He shook his head to dismiss that silly thought.
"Reiga."
Soon, Reiga appeared with Arion's milk bottle in his hand. This scene made Arion feel familiar.
'Familiar, but with a different person.' Arion thought awkwardly.
He remembered that when he was with his mother, it was Nova who brought him his milk. It turned out that when he was with his father, it was Reiga who brought him his milk.
Arion thought with embarrassment, 'A great knight is responsible for bringing a milk bottle to a baby.'
He grimaced, 'Sorry for ruining your image.'
"Please, Your Majesty," Reiga said as he handed the bottle to Arsen. He smiled brightly at Arion and waved his hand to greet him.
Arion gave him a puzzled look, but waved back with his small hand, 'It's just a guess, but he seems similar to the queen, but a calmer version.'
Reiga looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the cuteness in front of him. Little Prince is so cute! His heart is barely strong!
Arsen rolled his eyes in boredom at his behavior. He sat back in his chair with Arion comfortably in his arms.
He began to let Arion suck his milk voraciously. Apparently, he was starving after a good nap.
Arion looked around for signs of anyone else but saw no one except the three of them.
'Looks like they haven't returned yet.' He thought, not too disappointed now. He was glad that Natalie was spending time with the twins. She must not have had so much free time since she had him.
"Are you looking for Mom? She's not back yet." Arsen's sudden words made Arion almost choke on his milk. He looked at his father with a little horror.
'He can't read my mind, can he?' Arion thought and started to overreact. But he managed to calm down after a logical reason appeared in his mind. If Arsen really could read minds, wouldn't Arion have been caught in the first place?
Arion waved his hand to change the subject, which seemed to work. Arsen seemed amused by Arion's little hand that seemed to want to reach his face but couldn't.
After the milk ran out, Reiga offered to carry Arion so that Arsen could concentrate on his work. Arsen hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed and handed Arion to Reiga, who looked happy.
After a while, Arsen sighed after finishing another pile of documents. He glanced at Reiga who was now holding Arion.
Reiga looked cheerful as he tried to comfort the baby in his arms, who only responded with a soft humming or occasionally waving his hand in front of him, which almost made Reiga melt again.
Arion gave him a curious look, 'He looks happy.'
After looking at the remaining documents, Arsen made a decision and got up from his position, "I'll take Arion for a walk."
Reiga stopped comforting the baby in his arms as he looked at his king and then looked at the last pile of documents, "Wait, Your Majesty! Your document--"
"I'll finish it after Natalie returns. Only a few left." Arsen cut him off before he could finish. He held out his hand to ask Arion to return to his embrace, which Reiga immediately obeyed.
"Do I need to accompany you, Your Majesty?" Reiga asked politely. Sometimes he would indeed follow his king or one of the other members of the royal family to escort them. It was his duty after all.
"No need. Just take care of these things. I'll just take Arion outside to relax." Arsen said casually as he walked away without hearing his answer. Still, he could hear his right-hand man shouting, which made him smirk with satisfaction.
"Your Majesty! This is an important document! Not just that thing!"
Arion, who also heard the shout, looked at his father who was smirking with satisfaction, 'He did it on purpose.'
Arsen cleared his throat and wiped the smirk off his face. The few servants and knights who passed them immediately bowed respectfully, which made Arion feel a little uncomfortable.
Arion sighed, 'I'm still not used to the fact that I'm a prince now.'
They left the palace grounds and walked a little further away from the main palace building. Arion looked around, curious but also confused.
'Where exactly are we going?'
After they, or rather his father, had walked for a few minutes, Arsen finally stopped and showed his son the place.
Arsen smiled softly, "You must be bored accompanying me to work. We can enjoy the fresh air here."
In front of him was a meadow that looked beautiful with several kinds of flowers in different places. In the middle, there was a large tree that was shady enough for many people to relax under. The wind, blowing gently, added to the tranquility of the place.
Arion couldn't help but stare admiringly at the scene in front of him, 'This is indeed refreshing.'
Arsen brought his son to sit under the large tree. They returned to silence, but not an uncomfortable silence.
Arsen casually closed his eyes, enjoyed the breeze, and felt his tiredness slowly disappear. Finally, he could relax after such a long time.
Arion enjoyed the scenery around him. He was attracted to some flowers that looked beautiful to him. He suddenly felt the urge to make a flower crown, even though he had never seen one before.
"This is where your brother and sister used to play. So this place is usually quiet because only our family can visit it." Arsen said after a comfortable silence. He opened his eyes to look at Arion who was now staring at him with his big red eyes.
Arion nodded understandingly in his mind, 'That's why there don't seem to be any servants or knights here.'
"Sometimes your mother lets Reiga and Nova join us. She even managed to drag Chris here." Arsen continued with a faint smile. He stroked Arion's hair, which was tousled by the wind.
Arion blinked a few times, 'So they were indeed close enough that he allowed them to join his family's special place? That's surprising. I wonder what their relationship really is.'
Arsen let out a sigh of relief. He felt relaxed after several hours of hard work. He could stay here for hours.
"Very calm."
'I agree...'
Arion yawned and nodded in agreement. He rubbed his eyes, which were starting to get heavy. He stretched his body to chase away the sleepiness.
'This wind makes me sleepy again.' He thought with a sigh. He just woke up a few minutes ago. Then this wind came and made him sleepy again.
He did say that he was used to his baby's body being sleepy. But he never said that he liked it. Arion wanted to enjoy this scene a little longer.
Arsen noticed an unusual action in Arion, "Are you sleepy?"
Arion immediately shook his head vigorously, refusing to give in to his sleepiness. Without realizing it, he looked at his father with pleading eyes, asking him to allow him to stay awake for a few more minutes.
Arsen smiled amusedly, "Stubborn, huh..."
He gently kissed his son's cheek. He began to gently rock Arion's body and pat his back to lull him to sleep.
Arion let out a long groan, 'Why are you shaking my body? I can't stop myself from falling asleep!'
In the end, he couldn't resist his sleepiness and fell asleep in his father's warm and cozy arms. Arsen smiled with satisfaction at the result of his hard work.
"Finally gave up."
Arsen lay down with Arion's body which he moved to his chest. He gently rubbed Arion's back as he moved uncomfortably with the change in position. After a few strokes, Arion fell asleep again, undisturbed by his surroundings.
Arsen smiled slightly before closing his eyes as well. After a few minutes, he followed Arion into dreamland.