"No, Alwin is already more than good enough. He had surpassed everyone I taught magic so far.
I think he might even be already better than when it cos to magic.
He’s such a fast learner.
I’ve lived for so long, but he is the best prodigy I’ve t so far.
He was so young when I began teaching him, but he learned everything so quickly," Ferdinand said and Arabella smiled at her husband’s words.
"Maybe you should tell him that and shower him with so praise every now and then.
Children love to be praised.
They need to feel loved and treasured so they can grow well.
Alwin is such a good kid, right?
You should give him a bit of affection instead of pushing him away.
And one day, he himself would want to leave your side so he can further prove what he can do."
This made her miss their son. He grew much too quickly as well. He was just a baby needing all the attention at first. Then, one day he was running on his own and learning everything he could.
’Children grow too quickly, after all. They may have taught Alwin so much knowledge, but they seem to have ignored giving him so love. No matter the race, doesn’t everyone need so kind of affirmation?’
"Hmm, maybe I should. But why do you seem to care about Alwin so much?" Ferdinand narrowed his eyes at her.
[She always had a lot to say when t cos to Alwin. She stopped from trying to marry him off to Blanca too. Now the two had just agreed on a fake engagent.]
"Because he’s soone important to you," Arabella responded, and Ferdinand tilted her head.
"Is he?"
’This guy! If Alwin heard this, he might cry.’
Arabella figured Ferdinand doesn’t realize how important Alwin was to him.
He seed to care about Alwin already, but he doesn’t know it himself.
Ferdinand thought it was simply because he was old and Alwin was young. That it was just him doing his responsibility as an elder.
And Alwin had already grown too powerful so he would be just fine even if Ferdinand left him alone.
It was probably why Ferdinand still didn’t mind dying anyti even when he had Alwin. Alwin could take care of himself, so he didn’t need to worry.
But he always thought of Alwin as a brat with so sort of affection and pride.
"I understand you being of jealous of other n, but he is akin to your son or sothing like that. Why are you jealous of him?" Arabella decided to ask directly so Ferdinand would spit it out.
"I’m not jealous," Ferdinand tried to deny at first.
"Then, I’ll say his na twenty tis," Arabella joked, and Ferdinand admitted defeat.
"How can I not?
He is pretty, young, and had just the right amount of muscle.
He is your type.
And he’s an elf. His appearance is not scary but beautiful instead.
Humans don’t like the long-lived races. We are usually called monsters.
But elves are among the exceptions.
They are usually loved by humans because of their appearance.
And I’ve seen the books you borrowed from the library here in deus. You read so much more about elves than dragons."
’How did he know that? I thought I hid the books well. He opened the boxes?’
She was reading those since she was trying to find sothing Alwin would like.
She wanted at least one of his weaknesses.
If she could gift him with sothing that could make him less hostile to her even if she tells him her secret, then all good.
Arabella was thinking about a gift for Ferdinand too, but it was difficult to give him a gift either.
However, after being with him a lot, she had already decided on what to give him.
Thus, she stopped reading about dragons in the anti and focused on elves.
"You were snooping in my room?" she narrowed her eyes at her husband.
"No, I happened to see it when your maids were transporting it. So of my butlers helped carry the books," Ferdinand quickly explained.
But he also did snoop around in her room. He saw it being transported and checked the books when she was in a eting.
"Oh, I see. You could just ask next ti instead of snooping around. And I was just looking for sothing Alwin would like. I wanted to give him a gift so-"
Ferdinand instantly tensed at her words. He tilted her face to him so he could look her in the eye.
"You do like him?! Do you prefer him over ? I’m your husband!"
Her dear husband was in panic mode.
Sotis, it was like he had a barrier that makes him ignore or forget all her previous words, so she had to tell him with action.
"Co here," Arabella wrapped her arms around him and made him lean into her so she could kiss him.
"That’s not what I ant, Ferdinand.
He is your trusted magician.
And most especially, he is like an adopted child of yours, so I’m trying to find an appropriate gift for him, so I could make him friendly and at ease with .
Stepmothers usually do that, right?
I’m sort of like one to him even though he is older than ."
’I once thought I wanted to be his elder sister or younger sister.
But since Ferdinand was the one who took him in, I’m akin to his stepmother instead.
I guess that’s why he was very territorial about Ferdinand at first.
It’s probably a contributory factor as to why he’s wary of .
He doesn’t want to give his only remaining family to soone else, but he doesn’t have a choice now since I am Ferdinand’s mate.’
"Stepmother?" Ferdinand blinked repeatedly at her explanation.
He didn’t know if he should laugh or feel embarrassed for his actions.
"Yes, since you took Alwin in when he was still a child," Arabella wanted to laugh at the expression her husband was making.
[It was like that? She truly never saw Alwin as a man?]
’Geez. I think I already told him this before.
We keep running in circles because he keeps misinterpreting my words and actions.
Thankfully, he just says what’s on his mind now and I can hear his thoughts even if he doesn’t tell .’
"He is young and he is just your type. You are not interested in him?" Ferdinand asked hoping he would get the answer he wanted.
He truly does have thick barriers that she needed to break.
And Arabella was determined to break it right now.
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