When they entered the room away from the party, Arion could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Nova and the other nannies were still standing outside the room, giving the queens privacy to put their babies to bed.
'Finally a real quiet atmosphere.' Arion thought with relief. He didn't know if he could stand all the loud noises for much longer.
Arion looked around. This was not his usual room. There were already four baby cots neatly arranged. It seemed as if Arion had been placed here on purpose to be with the other babies.
By the way, Arion was the only one who had not slept among the babies. When he felt his mother begin to lull him to sleep, Arion immediately closed his eyes and prepared to fall asleep.
After a few minutes, he still hadn't fallen asleep. But he kept his eyes closed so his mother would think he was asleep. Arion didn't want to keep her any longer.
Natalie slowly and carefully placed Arion in his cot. When she felt that Arion was not awake, she immediately kissed her baby's forehead gently.
She smiled softly, "Mommy will be back soon, Arion. Sleep well."
'I hope she had a good time.' Arion hoped silently.
He fell silent when he heard the sound of the door opening and then closing. After he felt safe, he opened his eyes and looked at his quiet and somewhat dark surroundings.
Nova hadn't entered the room yet. Probably still discussing something with Natalie before the queen left.
'What about the other babies?' Arion thought curiously as he tried to peek into the other cot.
His attempt wasn't very successful, but if he looked closely, there were three small snoring noises next to him. Probably from the babies who were fast asleep.
Arion lay back and relaxed, 'They're all asleep.'
The sound of the door opening made Arion gasp in surprise. He quickly closed his eyes and relaxed his body, pretending to be asleep.
The sound of light footsteps approached him and was followed by a whisper, "Prince Arion?"
Arion, recognizing who the voice belonged to, grimaced inwardly, 'It's Nova.'
He tried to breathe calmly and not let his body tense. That could get him caught by his nanny's sharp eyes.
Nova frowned deeply, "Already asleep, huh?"
Arion felt cautious, 'Not caught, right?'
He could feel the blanket wrapping his body even more warmly, "Sweet dreams, little prince." Nova whispered softly.
Arion held back a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had managed to fool Nova.
A knock on the door made the four nannies in the room turn their heads. Nova frowned in confusion and decided to open the door without saying anything to the other nannies.
Outside, a palace maid, whom Nova recognized as her colleague, stood with a polite smile as she watched Nova open the door.
Nova raised her eyebrows in confusion, but still nodded her greeting, "Emily, what are you here for?" She nodded at the bodyguards who were suspicious of the maid.
The guards nodded back at Nova before returning to guard the door after confirming that the guest was not an enemy in disguise.
Emily bowed slightly to her, "Nova, Her Majesty Natalie would like you both to fetch the supply of milk for the princes and princesses that the queens have prepared in the palace kitchen."
Nova frowned, "The palace kitchen? That's too far from this room. I was assigned to guard Prince Arion."
Emily nodded in understanding, "I know, but that is an order from Her Majesty."
"Her Majesty said nothing to me." Nova replied cautiously, beginning to distrust the servant in front of her.
Even though Emily was her colleague, Nova was not very close to her as their duties were different. She couldn't help but be suspicious of this sudden reference.
Emily, noticing Nova's suspicious tone, immediately bowed slightly, "Forgive me if I sound pushy, but I'm just relaying Her Majesty's orders."
Just as Nova was about to ask for more information, a hand tapped on her shoulder, causing her to turn her head.
"Let's do this, Nova. If this is really Queen Natalie's order, there's no reason for us not to follow it." The nanny from the Kingdom of Glatteis said in a soothing tone.
Unbeknownst to Nova, she stood at the doorway long enough for the other royal nannies to come over and overhear their conversation.
"It's possible the princes and princesses are awake and hungry if the queens haven't returned yet." The nanny from the Schatten Kingdom continued as she looked at the four babies sleeping peacefully.
The nanny from the Kingdom of Flammen patted Nova on the shoulder, "Don't worry, the guards are already guarding the door to the room and the surrounding area. His Highness and Her Highness will be safe."
The guards, who had been silent and only listened to their conversation, simply nodded. However, they will not leave this place until their king revokes his order.
Nova let out a resigned sigh, "Alright, we'll go. Give me a moment."
The nannies looked at each other before nodding in agreement. They left the room, leaving Nova with the babies without anyone looking in.
Nova approached Arion and gently rubbed his head, "I'll be right back, Your Highness." She whispered softly.
To be honest, she was still not ready to leave her little prince, even if there were guards guarding this room. But she had to confirm if it was really an order from her queen. If it was, she would try to complete her task as soon as possible.
Arion nodded thoughtfully, 'Be careful and come back soon.'
He was not too comfortable with the thought that he and the babies would be alone in that lonely, dark room with no one he knew nearby.
Nova quickly went out to meet the other nannies, "We better hurry."
Arion opened his eyes and saw the door to the room closing slowly, 'They're gone.'
Arion lay down comfortably and dreamily looked up at the ceiling of the room, 'Strangely, I don't feel sleepy yet. Whereas before the party I woke up very tired.'
He let out a bored sigh. There was nothing he could do about it now. He wanted to sleep, but his sleepiness was completely gone. Now he was at a loss what to do to pass the time.
'By the way, where are the twins and their friends now? I know they were allowed to play together for a little while longer. But it's late already.' Arion was a bit worried.
The night was not an ideal time for small children like them to be wandering around. Even he who was reckless in his first life would not be stupid enough to wander around at night.
There are many more dangerous people out there at night. For example, kidnappers or people who wanted to take his organs and sell them. Arion didn't want to take any chances yet.
I just hope the kids aren't alone, especially the twins who like to run away.
Arion sighed, 'Never mind. Maybe they went to play somewhere far away from here.'
He shouldn't have to worry about them like that. The twins were not his responsibility. Whatever happened to them was none of his business. Just because the twins were nice to him didn't mean that Arion had to think about them. He had too much on his mind already.
Arion tried to distract himself, 'I just remembered something. So the point of the celebration was just to introduce a baby?'
If he remember right, the only announcement the king made was to introduce him as his son. Other than that, they were just enjoying the banquet. He thought that the point of this celebration was something more important.
Arion snorted sarcastically, 'Royal people are annoying. This party is a waste of money.'
He didn't care if his mind started to think bad things about the people of this world. He was tired of all the lives that were so inversely proportional to his own.
Arion kept thinking that he still did not deserve any of this until his mind was tired.
The sound of something opening broke his reverie. Arion thought Nova was back so he closed his eyes again to pretend to be asleep.
'Is that Nova? She back pretty fast.'
Or maybe it was because Arion spent time thinking about useless things that made time pass quickly.
But when he heard it again, it didn't sound like a door opening. Also, he didn't hear Nova's light footsteps or her whisper that she was back.
The strange sound was heard again, making Arion suspicious, 'That sound not from the door?'
Suddenly Arion felt a cold wind hit his body until he shivered with cold. His suspicion was getting worse.
Arion frowned nervously, 'Someone came in through the window?' He thought uneasily but kept his eyes closed tightly.
He had the courage to open his eyes a little to see what was going on. Arion didn't want to risk being discovered by whoever had broken in.
A low snorting voice was heard not far from where he was, "So these babies are the descendants of the current king? How sad!"
This voice gave Arion an uncomfortable feeling. It felt like it was very dark and full of a condescending tone. Or even more than that. This voice was so common in Arion's first life that he remembered it until now.
Arion swallowed nervously, 'Who exactly is it?'
Arion's bad feeling increased with every passing moment.