Things calmed down after that. Arsen asked Natalie if he could hold Arion, and she happily obliged.
''How are the preparations going?" Natalie asked as she sipped her tea quietly. She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling grateful to her aunt and uncle who had planned to give her this tea to calm her down.
''Everything is fine,'' Arsen replied briefly. He let Arion play with his left hand.
'His hand is really big.' Arion thought casually. Let's just say he was bored right now. He put his tiny hand in his father's big hand. The size was completely different.
Arsen smiled slightly at the behavior of the baby on his lap, ''All preparations are done. It's just a matter of waiting for the day.'' He said calmly. He closed his palm where Arion's hand was.
Natalie smiled gently, "Thank you for your hard work, Arsen.'' She said proudly. She held Arsen's hand, which still clasped Arion's hand.
Arsen turned to Natalie. Seeing her gentle smile, Arsen couldn't help but return it with his trademark smile.
Arion pretended not to pay attention to either of them. He preferred to focus on his hands, which were immersed in the grasp of both of them.
''I can't wait to see Arion meet his new friends,'' Natalie said with a small chuckle. Surely that scene will be very cute!
Arsen frowned, ''They're not friends yet.''
Natalie shrugged, ''Future friends,'' She corrected indifferently. She was sure that they would be friends sometime in the future.
Arion glanced at her, 'So inevitably I have to be friends with them, huh?'
He honestly didn't mind. But he wasn't sure if he would enjoy it. After all, they were strangers.
But Arion thought that maybe this was a way to strengthen the bonds of alliance between the kingdoms. So he would try to help as much as he could.
''I hope there won't be too much competition like Eric and Noam,'' Natalie added with amusement and resignation. She knew the chances were small, but there was no harm in hoping.
Natalie looked at Arsen sharply, ''It's the fault of both your genes!'' She said in an accusatory tone.
Now it was Arsen's turn to shrug indifferently, ''I don't feel like I did anything wrong. It's out of my hands.'' He said indifferently. It wasn't his fault that Eric followed in his footsteps in terms of rivals.
Natalie pouted, "You're trying to be evasive.''
Arion nodded in agreement. He thought of another possibility. It could be that the two boys copied their father's behavior to become what they are now. If that were the case, Arion would not be surprised.
'I remember someone saying that children tend to imitate the behavior of their parents. Maybe it means something like this.' He thought with a slight shudder as he remembered his old parents. He was thankful that he was nothing like them.
Arsen snorted, ''You called that boy so familiarly.'' He said dislike. It's not dislike like hate, it's just dislike in terms of parents.
Natalie gave him a confused look, ''He's like my nephew.'' She said happily. Plus Noam was her best friend's son. Of course, she called him familiar.
Natalie thought for a moment before grinning mischievously, ''Plus if Noam and Hana get married in the future, he'll be my son-in-law. Better get used to calling him familiar from now on.''
Arion refrained from choking, 'No wonder the little girl keeps mentioning it. Apparently, her own mother supports her.' He didn't understand the mother-daughter pair's behavior.
Arion glanced at his father as he sensed his dark aura, 'Ah... Someone seems to be unhappy.'
''I never agreed to it.'' Arsen denied with a sharp snort. He was not willing to have his daughter taken by the red-haired family.
Natalie rolled her eyes, "Come on, don't be such a strict father to your daughter.'' She said amused.
She rarely saw Arsen react so sharply, except when he was talking about his rivals or the nobles. It was funny in Natalie's eyes.
Arion, who could guess the content of her thoughts, looked at her flatly, 'So the twins' ignorant side was inherited from her. No wonder.'
Besides, the scene in front of him reminded him of when Hana used to tease Eric until he got annoyed.
''I still don't agree,'' Arsen replied sharply. He took Natalie's words so seriously that he didn't notice that he was being teased.
"And who said that would stop me?" Natalie said in a challenging tone. He is an overprotective father, isn't he?
Arsen sighed and held his throbbing forehead, "Hana is still 5 years old. Thinking about marriage is still too early.''
''I already said for the future,'' Natalie replied stubbornly. Who would want to marry their young daughter anyway? She was only joking!
Arion looked at them in turn, 'What exactly are you two talking about?' He thought cluelessly. How could the topic of conversation have wandered so far?
Natalie pouted and pretended to whisper to Arion, "Your father is very stubborn, Arion.'' She whispered loudly, deliberately wanting Arsen to hear her.
Arion looked at his father's face and gave a small nod, 'It's obvious from his expression.'
Arsen rolled his eyes when he heard Natalie's loud whisper. He knew she was doing it on purpose, but he didn't comment. He preferred to change the subject.
''By the way, the Flammen family will come in the morning on the day of the party.'' He said flatly. It wasn't that he was unhappy about their arrival. After all, he still had to respect other kingdoms.
But the problem was that their family members were a bunch of energy balls. Just thinking about it made Arsen dizzy.
Arion blinked in confusion, 'Flammen?'
Natalie's eyes immediately lit up, her smile looking bright, ''Really? Are we going to have breakfast together?''
Arsen nodded, ''That's the plan. Oscar said that Martha and Noam wanted to have some fun with you guys before the party.''
Arion immediately recognized the familiar name, 'I know that Noam is the boy the twins talked about before and Oscar is a king. But who is this Martha?'
He looked at his mother, 'Probably a queen as well as her best friend.'
Natalie smiled happily, "That would be fun! I haven't seen Martha in a long time!" She said happily.
Now she couldn't wait for the day to come! Especially since her best friend had arrived early. She couldn't wait to tell her things!
'Looks like I was right. And it seems that the two women are similar. Hyperactive and cheerful.' Arion thought with a deep whimper. It looked like his peace was about to end.
Arsen snorted amusedly, ''I knew you would say that.'' Still, he was glad to see Natalie so happy. And most of all, he was glad that they weren't discussing Hana's future marriage again.
Arsen refrained from firing his black lightning at a certain red creature.
Natalie chuckled happily, "What about the others?" She asked curiously. Honestly, she wasn't expecting anything. After all, the other two were more strict about this kind of visit.
Arsen refrained from grimacing, ''They will come in the afternoon,'' He said calmly but anticipating Natalie's reaction.
Natalie pouted, ''They are not funny.'' She said unhappily. She had expected this answer, but that didn't mean she was happy.
Arsen nudged his wife's shoulder, ''It can't be helped. They have their own kingdoms to take care of.''
Natalie puffed out her cheeks, ''Just because there's a special portal doesn't mean they can't visit sooner, right?''
Arion blinked curiously, 'A special portal? What's that?'
Is it some kind of teleportation? Or like a door to anywhere? This world has it? Arion was curious to see it. And if possible he wanted to make one for himself. That way he could escape wherever he wanted.
''Natalie.''
Natalie sighed resignedly, ''Okay okay, I understand.''
Natalie took Arion from Arsen's lap and lifted him up, ''Still, I do miss my other two friends. Being queen is troublesome, Arion.''
Arion felt a little dizzy, especially when his mother started to shake him a little vigorously, 'My head is getting dizzy with all the information I keep getting. And you have to shake me like this?'
Arsen looked at her unimpressed, ''Being a king is much more troublesome.'' He replied calmly. After all, the fate of his citizens was in his hands. So the king's burden was very heavy.
Natalie still felt disappointed, but she tried to forget about it. After all, that was the risk of being a queen. They have responsibilities to their respective kingdoms. Natalie didn't want to be selfish. After all, she felt it too. So she understood.
Natalie kissed Arion's cheek affectionately, "At least Arion will meet one of his playmates sooner than planned. I can hardly wait!'' She said cheerfully as if she had never been disappointed before.
Arion resigned himself to his mother's attack, 'I can't wait either to see the person who is always the subject of the twins' arguments in person. I just want to see him in person.'
Arsen just shook his head and continued to sip his tea. This tea gave him peace. It seemed as if they had prepared it for Natalie on purpose.
He was grateful that they did. He needed some rest after working all day.