The long-awaited day had come. The day of Arion's birth celebration. Although it was still early in the morning, the members of the Gewitter Royal Family were already awake and preparing to welcome their guests, the Flammen Royal Family.
Arsen and Natalie were already at the front gate of the palace with Arion. Fortunately, he was not a fussy baby for getting up so early today where he usually still sleeping. Reiga was behind the couple, standing guard as usual.
The sound of fast footsteps made them look away. An excited Hana could be seen running towards her parents. Behind her, Eric could be seen following at a calmer pace.
"Good morning!" Hana greeted cheerfully. She ran to Natalie who was holding Arion and hugged her gently, afraid of dropping both of them if she ran too fast. She still remembered her father's warning. Not to hug her mother too hard when she was holding Arion.
Eric greeted his parents with a low mumble that was almost inaudible if they didn't listen carefully. He stood next to Arsen and remained silent after that.
Natalie laughed, "Good morning, dear." Her greeting was no less cheerful. Her hand gently patted Hana's head before patting Eric's head, who seemed to be in a bad mood, trying to encourage him.
Arion looked impressed at his sister, 'Her energy is already so high, even if it's very early in the morning.'
He wondered if she was ever quiet or calm for a moment except when she was sleeping.
"You look very energetic," Natalie said as she gently pinched her daughter's chubby cheeks.
Hana chuckled happily, "Of course! Noam is coming today. I can't wait!" She said excitedly.
She almost lunged at her mother again, so excited was she. Luckily, Hana was able to control herself before she knocked her mother and baby brother down.
Natalie giggled back, "You're right. Mom can't wait either." She exclaimed happily, not hiding how excited she was right now.
Eric glanced at his father, "Dad, you look gloomy." He said flatly.
He looked at his father's face, which although it looked expressionless, but couldn't hide his bad mood. The gloomy aura that surrounded him added to the gloomy atmosphere around them.
Arsen snorted, "You too." His reply was no less flat as he also looked at Eric. The two stared at each other before letting out a tired sigh.
It's still early in the morning, but it feels like their energy has already been drained. They already felt uninspired to get through the day.
Arion grimaced in pity, 'It seems that this father-son pair really dislikes whoever is coming soon. Contrast that with the mother-daughter pair here.'
He snorted, 'Even their facial expressions are very similar now.'
To be honest, it was quite funny to see that not only did their physical appearance resemble each other, but even their facial expressions resembled each other. It's like looking at a mirror image.
"When will they arrive?" Hana asked impatiently. Not just impatient to meet their guests. But because other reasons were more important now.
First, because it was still very early in the morning, the temperature was still a bit cool. Second, she was a little hungry now.
Natalie hummed softly, "Soon. They will also be joining us for breakfast."
Arion couldn't help but confuse, 'So that's one of the reasons they came so early? To enjoy the reunion while having breakfast together? It seems some people don't like that.'
He looked at his father and brother, who looked even more rumpled than before. He could see their deeply furrowed foreheads.
"I don't want to come," Arsen murmured, feeling very reluctant. Arsen knew he couldn't run away from this, especially when his wife was watching him. But that didn't stop him from protesting.
Natalie sighed tiredly, "Stop being so dramatic and just go along with it. You still must welcome the king of another kingdom. No matter how much you hate it." She scolded Arsen who just snorted.
Hana looked at Eric who had a similar expression to Arsen's. She elbowed her twin brother, "You should come too."
Eric snorted and looked away, "Why should I? I'm not the king." He grumbled unhappily, although he already knew the answer.
Hana sighed tiredly, looking very similar to Natalie, "You are the crown prince, Stupid Brother. Your job is the same as Daddy's, welcoming the crown prince of another kingdom."
Eric clicked his tongue unhappily, "Remind me again why I should be the crown prince?"
Hana just shrugged indifferently, "Because you're the eldest, and I don't want to be king and have to deal with that tedious paperwork."
Eric just rolled his eyes in boredom but didn't say anything. He understood that too. Even if he didn't say it out loud, he didn't want his sister to get involved in royal politics. He wanted to protect her from the greedy nobles.
Arsen fell silent when Reiga whispered something. He just nodded and snapped his fingers to get his family's attention.
"They are coming."
A portal appeared in front of the palace gate. After a few seconds, several luxuriously dressed people stepped out. Among them was a woman carrying a soundly sleeping baby who stepped out impatiently.
Seeing the woman, Natalie immediately squealed with delight and ran over to her. Upon seeing Natalie, the woman also squealed happily and ran over to her.
"Natalie!"
"Martha!"
The two hugged each other with the babies still in their arms. They were so happy that they almost forgot about the baby that would be sandwiched between them.
Arion frowned unhappily, 'I know you're happy, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't pin me down.'
"Long time no see!"
The two said at the same time, causing laughter to escape from both of their lips. The atmosphere between them looked very bright and warm.
'They look... dazzling?' Arion thought uncertainly. Somehow these two reminded him of the mother and daughter pair he knew. Only this was the adult female version.
"Is this Arion? He's so cute!" Martha stifled a squeal of delight as she saw the baby who looked like a copy of her best friend. How cute he looked with his big red eyes staring back at her!
"Of course he's cute! He's my baby!'' Natalie replied proudly, making her best friend laugh out loud.
''And look at Seth. He's grown so much since the last time I saw him. So cute!" Natalie squealed softly, not wanting to disturb the baby's sleep. He seemed to be sleeping soundly.
The two queens continued to chat, occasionally squealing in delight at the two babies in their arms, causing Arion to sigh in resignation.
On the other hand, Arsen cleared his throat before greeting the king in front of him, Oscar Flammen.
"Welcome to our kingdom." Arsen greeted in a flat tone, not sounding like welcoming a king from another kingdom.
Oscar, who was used to his rival's behavior, just laughed out loud, "Don't be so stiff, Arsen! Aren't you happy to see your old friend?" He asked in an excited tone, looking forward to the sarcastic answer he would get.
He was used to it anyway, but it was fun to tease his flat-faced old friend. It was like releasing stress after work.
"No."
"Of course, you're happy to see me! How silly of me to ask!" Oscar laughed loudly, ignoring Arsen's reply, which seemed to hold himself back from exploding.
'The meeting of kings is very different from that of queens.' Arion thought nervously, feeling the opposite atmosphere between the kings and the queens. Still, his curiosity had finally been answered by their interaction.
'What about the children?' He thought, unable to contain his curiosity.
Arion saw Hana greeting the red-haired boy with a cheerful smile, whom he guessed to be Noam, which he returned no less cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Eric remained silent with a straight face. But Arion could see a faint frown on his face, a sign that he was very reluctant to join the conversation.
"Noam! Long time no see." Hana greeted him with a happy smile.
Although they had met a few months ago, during the birth celebration of another royal heir, it seemed like a very long time to a child like her.
"It's only been a few months and you're getting prettier, Hana." Noam complimented her with a wide smile, seeming to be sincere in his words.
Even Arion began to doubt the age of these children. Who exactly was the teenager here?
Hana giggled happily, "Thank you!" She replied happily. Who wouldn't be happy to be praised as beautiful by someone? It certainly wasn't Hana.
Eric frowned deeply and pulled his little sister away from Noam, "Stay away from my sister.'' He said sternly.
Noam just grinned, "Take it easy, Eric. I haven't forgotten about you. You're still so boring." He replied, not forgetting with a hint of mockery.
Eric could feel the headache starting to get to him, "And you're as loud as ever, Noam."
Hana just looked at them with amusement, not interested in stopping either of them. She hadn't seen the sight in front of her for a long time. Why should she stop if she enjoyed it?
Arion couldn't think of anything. He was beginning to doubt the sanity of these two families.