Episode 41: Succeeding the throne (4)
–
‘What the? Why is he blushing?’
Aristine was confused and paused.
The sight of her husband with his front ripped open, his eyes darting away and his face red…
‘Hm.’
Although the baby was already out, Aristine took the time to appreciate her husband’s visage, performing some well-needed visual stimulation.
Feeling her gaze, Tarkan’s face flushed even more.
He covered his chest with his hand but naturally, even his large hand couldn’t cover his broad chest.
If anything, it gave it a rather subtle feeling…
Aristine’s eyes grew brighter.
Tarkan thrust his chest out more, making his pecs more visible through the cracks of his fingers.
The court ladies stifled their laughter when they saw this.
‘Looks like we don’t have to worry about a second one.’
‘Yes, but it can’t happen too quickly. One step at a time…’
‘Agreed, after they enjoy everything, we’ve prepared…’
While the court ladies were going ‘ohohohoho’, the Silvanus handmaids were going ‘hehehehe’.
Although they were rivals, once it concerned such matters, they became each other’s strongest allies.
The midwife was busy shaking her head.
“I’ve seen mothers tearing out their husbands’ hair, but this is my first time seeing one tearing her husband’s chest.”
At those words, Aristine, who was busy with visual stimulation, was startled out of her thoughts.
“I did this?”
No one replied but judging by their reactions, it was the truth.
She was losing her mind due to the pain of labor but to think she tore her husband’s shirt of all things…
‘My subconscious is scary.’
But, well.
“No wonder I felt energized.”
Hearing Aristine’s mutter, Tarkan’s face reddened even more, and his pecs seemed to become even firmer, while the court ladies and handmaids snickered suspiciously.
With a grin, Aristine looked down at her child in her arms.
It felt ridiculous to look at a newborn child and pinpoint its features, but Aristine felt like he looked just like Tarkan.
Just staring at the baby made her heart feel strange.
Her stomach felt warm, and a smile spread across her face. At the same time, her nose stung, and she felt like she was going to cry.
‘Who knew a child could make you feel all these indescribable emotions with just one glance.’
His existence made the word ‘precious’ feel like it was too light to describe him.
Tarkan’s hand patted the child.
Aristine raised her head and looked at Tarkan.
‘My family.’
Abandoned by her father, she spent her life alone for dozens of years.
Her entire life, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she didn’t belong anywhere; like a floating piece of wood.
Only now did she feel like she was properly rooted in the ground.
‘This is why. Because I was never able to feel this way.’
That was why she thought she wanted to make money, get divorced, and live alone without her family.
Now, she didn’t want that at all.
As that thought crossed her mind, Aristine’s eyes began to flicker closed.
Tarkan gently supported her falling head.
Aristine chuckled at his touch.
Because she had a family who always worried about her like this, she could doze off without worrying about hitting her head.
“I am so sleepy. It’s hard.”
She mumbled in a complaining tone and Tarkan looked a little helpless.
Then with a serious look on his face, he asked.
“Want to touch my chest?”
“Mn.”
Aristine immediately nodded her head.
“Heavens, Princess. In front of the little prince…”
The midwife stuck out her lips as she took the child.
“It’s not like he understands anything.”
“People says kids don’t understand anything, but they all do,” the midwife began.
Aristine agreed with that to some extent. But he was literally just born.
“And most of all, he has the blood of the royal family,” the midwife finished.
At those words, Aristine tilted her head.
Yes, the blood of the Imperial family of Silvanus was so unique that it was called golden blood.
However, that didn’t mean a newborn baby could understand what they were saying now. Nor could it remember.
Even Aristine didn’t have memories from when she was born.
“Don’t worry about the prince and get some rest. Your recovery is important. Since the delivery is over, you can move to the recovery room.”
After the midwife spoke, Aristine nodded and spread her arms towards Tarkan.
Tarkan’s sturdy arms hugged her tightly and picked her up.
Aristine lay comfortably on his chest and closed her eyes.
The sound of his heartbeat, his warm body, the vibration that coursed through her with his every step, all of it felt good.
Although half-asleep, Aristine felt Tarkan lowering her onto the soft bed. Then lying next to her and placing her hands on his chest.
Just as she was smiling happily, she heard the door open.
There was a bit of a commotion.
Someone was talking about the child’s birth, then about Aristine’s health. And among those voices, one voice was particularly loud.
“Why is your chest like that?!”
—A shocked cry from Launelian.
Aristine acted like she didn’t hear anything and completely surrendered herself to sleep.
* * *
“My goodness, he’s the splitting image of His Majesty Tarkan!”
“He’s basically a mini-Lord Tarkan.”
“Come on, how can you see resemblance on a barely one-month old baby… oh wow, you can.”
The people sitting on the cafe terrace huddled around the newspaper nodded their heads.
Even though coronation hadn’t happened yet, people were already referring to Tarkan and Aristine as Your Majesty.
“These purple eyes look exactly like Her Majesty Aristine’s.”
“Wow, imagine what the future will be like. I’m excited.”
“A man with the rugged handsomeness of His Majesty Tarkan and magical purple eyes…”
“This royal family has my allegiance.”
As they say, the more handsome and beautiful the ruler is, the better.
“How can a baby look so handsome?”
“It’s written here. They say it’s prenatal stimulation…”
Apparently, there was prenatal stimulation allowing the child to look at living works of art created by God.
When that part of the article was pointed out, everyone fell silent.
“This is an interview with His Highness Launelian, hmm…”
“Ehem, hm-hm…”
It was very obvious what ‘living work of art created by God’ meant.
Honestly, they agreed with that statement but seeing this man who was supposed to a prince showing his ‘fool-for -my-little-sister’ behavior in the newspaper was quite…
“There is also an interview with His Majesty Nephther.”
—Everyone says prenatal stimulation is difficult, but if anything, visual stimulation was the easiest.
—I just had to bring a mirror to my daughter-in-law.
“…Right, well, hmm, that makes sense. Her Majesty’s beauty is mystical…”
Yet, why were they feeling embarrassed?
After all, newspapers were usually preserved as historical materials.
And in such a place, the king of a world superpower, ruler of the demonic beast plains, stamped himself as one of those silly parents that like to scream, ‘My daughter-in-law is the best!’.
“…Well, it’s better to be liked than to be hated by your in-laws…”
Someone mumbled and everyone tried to nod.
At the same time, the interview was subtly covered with an arm.
Then they continued their previous conversation, as if they never saw that article in the first place.
“Our prince looks a lot like His Majesty Tarkan, but I see little traces of Her Majesty Aristine.”
“He’s definitely going to change growing up, I’m so curious.”
“Ooh, I want to see him in person already!”
“I doubt they’ll show him till after a year.”
Hearing that, people sighed with regret.
“Right, I guess I’ll have to live until then.”
Of course, they didn’t forget to crack a joke.
This child was the symbol of peace that ended a long-standing enmity.
A declaration that there would be no more war…
Moreover, this was the child of Aristine, who had been ‘Enlightened’ and received the right of succession from God and Tarkan, who had inherited the power of God.
The child born of Aristine and Tarkan, who were both blessed by God and bore divine powers, was like a reenactment of a myth.
People’s enthusiasm couldn’t help but overflow.
Even in that distant past, the emperor and their knight had never been married.
No one knew what kind of existence would form when God’s blessing and God’s power were contained in one body.
For now, people suppressed their expectations and celebrated the birth of the prince with joy.
“Look at this article. Looks like he’s already glued to mom. It says he likes his mother’s arms more than anyone else.”
“So cute. They should’ve posted more photos with the three of them together.”
People beamed when they saw the baby being held in his mother’s arms and staring at his mother intently and they burst out laughing when they saw the baby crying in his father’s arms.
“Your Highness Prince Actsion.”
“May you grow up healthy and usher in a new era.”
After swallowing their laughter, the people closed their eyes and offered words of blessing.
*.*.*
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 59 - September 2, 2024
- Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money – Side Story 6.2 - September 2, 2024
- Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money – Side Story 6.1 - September 2, 2024
I can now rest peacefully now