T/N: Only once side story left after this! I like to keep the last chapter as one so side story 21 won’t be split. Enjoy!
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Actsion didn’t know how to react.
His breath caught in his chest and his whole body tensed.
The baby’s hand was so small that he felt even the slightest movement would make it slip away.
“Kyah!”
The baby squealed, flailing her other arm.
‘What does she want?’
He looked around, but he couldn’t figure it out.
After thinking about it for a bit, Actsion offered his other hand to the baby.
The baby blinked.
And then…
“…!”
She smiled.
Her little lips twitched and lifted into a bright smile.
Actsion inhaled sharply.
There was a strange, squeezing sensation in his chest for some reason, like something was pressing on it.
It was a strange feeling.
It was very similar feeling to when his imperial mother hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head, yet it was also different.
“Would you look at that smile.”
Startled to hear a voice, Actsion’s head spun around.
At some point, his father and mother had appeared behind him.
“I-I-Impewial mother?!”
Actsion didn’t know where to put his hand, like a child who was caught secretly fooling around.
Aristine smiled at his reaction.
“It looks like our little girl already likes her big brother.”
The flustered Actsion froze at those words. His eyes were full on anticipation and sparkled like stars. Then he furtively asked.
“Really? Little sister likes Sion?”
“Mhm, she keeps smiling when she sees her big brother, don’t you see?”
Actsion looked down at his little sister.
Once their eyes met, the baby’s mouth curved up again.
“Baa!”
“It’s…weird.”
“Weird?”
“Sion’s tummy hurts.”
The moment they heard ‘hurts’, Aristine and Tarkan frowned. Tarkan was immediately about to summon Umiru but then…
“It’s like it’s squeezing and squeezing and squeezing. Then there’s a balloon in Sion’s tummy and it’s getting bigger and bigger.”
“Like you’re about to fly away?”
“Like I’m about to fly!”
Aristine chuckled and pinched her son’s soft cheek.
“You know, your uncle said the same thing when he first saw Mommy.”
Actsion tilted his head.
Then he stared at his sister, unmoving, as if he could never get tired of it.
“…Baby is the pwettiest in the world.”
The words slipped from Actsion’s lips, almost like he was talking to himself.
Then, he immediately shook his head.
“No, she’s the second pwettiest in the world, after Impewial mother.”
Aristine held back her laughter and asked,
“Didn’t you say she was ugly before?”
“No. Pwetty.”
“Oh, but I’m sure of it. You said she was wrinkly.”
“That is the truth.”
Actsion had a serious look on his face.
Her face had smoothed out right now but back then, she definitely looked wrinkly.
“As a pwince of this Empire, I cannot speak anything but the truth.”
“And saying she’s pretty?”
“That is the truth too.”
Actsion spoke as if he were reciting a universal truth.
“She was wrinkly and pwetty.”
“That’s strange? I thought you said she was wrinkly and ugly before?”
At Tarkan’s comment, Actsion quickly shook his head.
“No, she was pwetty then, and she’s pwetty now.”
“Oh my, is our little prince saying two things with one mouth?”
“No…”
“But it sounds different from before? Isn’t that strange?”
At the constant teasing from his father, Actsion’s face scrunched up like a little walnut.
“Nuh-uh… she’s pretty… she was pretty then, too… Sion said she was pretty…”
Aristine smacked her husband.
“Stop bullying my son.”
“I’m not bullying him, he’s just so cute.”
Aristine agreed with that sentiment.
But right now, calming her son, who was on the verge of tears, was a priority.
“Bad Daddy!”
Aristine gave her husband a light slap.
“Look, bad Daddy bullied our prince and Mommy is scolding him. Bad Daddy!”
The walnut-shaped pout on Actsion’s chin began to fade.
“Sion said baby is pwetty, right?”
“Of course! Our prince will never say two things with one mouth. Bad Daddy!”
Aristine smacked Tarkan again.
Feeling slightly better now that his imperial mother was taking his side, Actsion tried to stop her.
“You’ll hurt impewial father…”
“Bad Daddy!”
“Stooop. Don’t hit Impewial Father.”
Actsion reached out and wrapped his arms around his father.
Aristine and Tarkan held back their laughter as they watched their son.
“But Impewial Mother. Why do you always hit Impewial Father on the chest when you scold him?”
There it was: the innocent yet ruthless question of a child who knew nothing.
“Oh, this is just, a habit…”
“…?”
Blink, blink.
Actsion’s big, innocent eyes looked up at Aristine.
“Ehem, eham! No special reason. Just coincidence, coincidence.”
“Right, it just happens that Mommy’s hand lands on the spot she likes most— Ow! Ow!”
Aristine smacked Tarkan hard.
Seeing that, Actsion tilted his head in confusion.
‘Why does it look like she’s really hitting him but she’s still only hitting his chest?’
It was beyond his understanding.
Actsion tugged on his mother’s sleeve.
“Impewial mother, can Sion hold the baby?”
“When you get a little bigger, you can.”
“A little bigger?”
“Mhm. To do that, you’ll need to drink a lot of milk, play outside, run around, you know?”
Actsion tilted his head.
“If I run around and play, I’ll grow big?”
“Of course. Look at Daddy. When Daddy was little, he was always running around outside.”
Well, technically, that was true.
If running around the battlefield counted as going outside, that is.
“Mommy didn’t grow as much because I stayed indoors all by myself. All Mommy did was study the world.”
In a sense, that wasn’t entirely false.
After all, the only thing she could see while she was imprisoned all alone was the world shown to her by the Monarch’s Sight.
“T-This can’t be!”
Actsion looked greatly shocked.
“S-Sion will go play outside. I’m going to see Mukali.”
“That’s a good idea. If you follow General Mukali around, you’ll grow up fast.”
Aristine tousled Sion’s hair fondly.
Actsion scurried down the stairs then he went “Ah!” and quickly ran up again.
And hugged his mother and father tightly.
“I’ll be back!”
“All right.”
“Big Brother will be right back!”
Actsion made sure to say goodbye to his sister as well.
“Bye, Ria.”
Hearing the name Actsion used for his sister, Tarkan and Aristine’s eyes went wide.
“It seems our son has seen the future again?”
“Mm, it seems so.”
Tarkan nodded.
The princess’s name had not been decided yet.
This was because everyone had their own names in mind and were fiercely competing to propose names.
Right now, Nephther and Launelian held the upper hand.
After all, they had more significant claim.
Aristine tilted her head.
‘But none of the names they suggested sounds anything like ‘Ria’ though?’
How did that nickname come about?
She was curious.
‘Should I take a peek with the Monarch’s Sight…? No.’
Aristine shook her head.
She was sure creating a name for her daughter would be quite an enjoyable process.
And she wanted to relax and enjoy this moment.
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