(From Blue's Perspective)
"Your Majesty, I might be little, but I know that no one in this world can be utterly selfless. I don't bla them. If we want to survive in this cruel world, we have to be selfish. I am not any different. So, I know that the duke won't suddenly adopt out of kindness. There are hundreds of children on the street right now.
He can't be that kind to give every single one of them ho. He has his reasons."
"I promised not to lie to you, Abel. I will tell you the truth," I said. "You are right. We are not selfless, not the duke, not the duchess, not the king, and not . Athena is indeed the saint. But she did not choose it."
"No saints choose their fate, of course. They cannot," he said.
"That's right. But it's unfair, isn't it? If it's our life, we should get to choose our fate. But she could not. When the king and I went to the temple, we could not ignore the little girl. We decided to save her and that's what we did.
They say we kidnapped her. She ca willingly with us, so I doubt that's the term that should be used though Dem doesn't agree. Anyway, we needed to find a ho for her. The king and I are not ready to take care of a child as parents. We just got married. It hasn't been a year yet.
The master and the mistress of the magic tower are newly married as well. They are not ready to have a child. The duke and the duchess proposed to adopt Athena. They are good people, but we still decided to let them spend so ti with Athena so we, as well as she, can see that they will do well as her parents.
She got close to them and when I asked her, she said she was fine if they were her parents. But there was another problem."
"The temple," he said.
"Yes," I nodded. "Athena led a hard life there. None of us wanted her to go back there. You see, Athena had a unique feature, that of a saint. So, she could be easily recognized. The priests were looking for proof that we kidnapped her.
We hid her well, so they could not find anything regarding her. We imprisoned the priests for their misdeeds, but the rumors remained. Then, I suggested that if the duke wanted to adopt Athena, he has to adopt another kid with the sa physical features as her. It was not that hard to find."
"He found …"
"That's right. That's what happened. I know changing your hair and eye color might not have been up to you and it was very selfish of us."
"I never cared for my appearance anyway. So, it's nothing. I was offered food and shelter as well as my friends, so I don't hold any grudge about it," he said.
"I see… That's good then. Now, I have told you the truth as I promised. Yes, we have taken advantage of you, but it's not like we did not help you. Besides, the affection that we show you is not fake. The duke is a child lover. You might have seen it too.
The duchess and my friend Iris is a good person. It's true that she still doesn't have the heart of a mother, but she doesn't hate you, any of you. Iris has her problems, so it is still hard for her to adapt to the life of a mother. Just like you are having a hard ti adapting to your new family and this new life. But she will do well in no ti. She is trying very hard you know.
In every single letter, she ntions the two of you and asks how she can do better. I am not a mother myself. I could have been… You see, I lost my child in the first month. It affected a lot. I don't think I have the heart of a mother. But, I think I can understand kids and the people who have so similarities with ."
"I am sorry…"
"For what?"
"That day, I acted rude," he said, looking down at his lap. "Your Majesty's life was not simple at all. I was too narrow-minded that I thought it was just ."
"It's alright. You are still a kid. Besides, you are not narrow-minded at all. You are a smart kid," I said. "I could not even imagine thinking about things like this at your age. Although it is very impressive, I wish you will live a few more years as a kid.
No hard thinking, no problems, just eat, study, play and smile. Really, that's what a kid should do."
We talked for a while. The conversation was very normal. Calix ca back and reported that Ava went back to the academy. She was still upset it seed. I would send her a letter later and also one to her Headteacher to arrange a monthly basic behavior class. It was important to form these things in childhood, or it would be a huge problem later on.
"Your Majesty, I should go back now," Abel said.
"Eh? Already?" I muttered. "Ah, it's been a long ti. I haven't noticed it…"
"The duke is here," Calix said. "He is in His Majesty's study."
"Dem has co back from the eting? He must be in a bad mood," I said.
Dem did not like etings. They always put him in a bad mood. Actually, he did not like the position of the King in the first place. But he had to be because Evelyn gave up the right first. Usually, siblings in a Royal family fought for the throne. But the Easton siblings wanted to give up the right.
Both of them wanted the other one to be the ruler. In the end, Evelyn managed to give up the right first. In her word, it was true freedom.
"Let's go. I will go to Dem's study too. It's been a long ti since I have seen him."
"It's been a few hours actually," Calix said.
"Whatever. It's the sa thing," I shrugged. "You are just jealous because you are a kid and can't experience it."
"I am only two years younger than Your Highness. I am not a kid," he sighed.
Calix did not argue like Perita. Perita did not want to give up an argunt without stating her points, while Calix did state his points, but not all the ti. His tone would be very gentle and he did not care whether he lost or won.
When we reached Dem's study, we found Dem and the duke discussing sothing. Dem was in a bad mood just as I expected and the duke had a solemn expression as usual. I never could guess what that guy was thinking.
Dem once said that no one could ever understand what the duke was thinking, observing his face. He would look completely unfazed while thinking that sothing looked so cute that he might go mad.
"The tea party is over?" the duke asked.
"Yes, Father," Abel replied. The little expressions that he showed before had disappeared from his face completely.
"Then, if you excuse us, we will take our leave. It has been a long ti."
"Can I co again, Your Majesty?" Abel blurted out.
"Sure," I smiled. "You can visit whenever you want to. You have that handkerchief, right? That will work as my permission."
"Yes…"
The duke and Abel left. The duke was surely jealous because it seed Abel was closer to than him even though he spent the most ti with him. Well, understanding kids was different than loving them.
Calix also left because his duty ti was over. It was ti for Perita to guard . Calix guarded for a longer ti today than usual, so I rewarded him with so candies. He did not want to accept them, so I shoved them in his hands.
"The duke is jealous of you. Is he a kid or sothing?" Dem muttered.
"He is, isn't he? I knew it! I was thinking about it just now, you know," I said.
"Rember, I told you that Athena told about the duke and the duchess's marital problems?" he said.
"Yeah?"
"Today, I told him to make sure that nothing regarding their marriage should affect the kids," he said.
"You did the right thing. We are not soone to intervene when it ca to their marriage, but we surely will if it cos to the kids. After all, it was part of our deal that we can even take the kids away if they fail to be good parents."
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