Chapter 21: Chapter 16 – Eight Months Old

In the Royal Castle of Aizen Kingdom, within the second Prince's room, A young boy with black hair and bright blue eyes was currently smiling while silently watching a sleeping baby.

"Mmm..." The baby Prince Reivan woke up with a soft groan. 'Whuh? Who is it this time...? Oh. It's big brother. He came to stare at me in my sleep again?'

"Oh. He woke up. Sorry, Rein. I must've made a noise or something..." The young boy guiltily apologized. He looked towards the maid who was watching them from the side. "Uhm. Excuse me, how long has Rein slept?"

"You don't have to worry, Prince Roland." The maid smiled and replied. "Prince Rein has been asleep since last night. It was just about time for him to wake up anyways."

"I see..." The young boy, Prince Roland, heaved a sigh of relief. He then smiled brightly down at his little brother. "I guess I had good timing then? In any case, I still apologize for waking you up, Rein."

"Buh." Reivan quickly stood up inside his crib and held his hand out towards his big brother. Owing to his increased physical abilities from being part Warbeast, he could easily stand up and walk now. He could even run somewhat fast (for a baby, that is.). He still couldn't speak properly though, which was something that frustrated him to no end. 'Don't worry about it, bro. I just woke up naturally. Plus, I understand. I used to stare at the baby Kyouka when she slept all the time, too.'

Roland happily reached out and let Reivan grab his hand. "Hehe. Hey hey, Rein. Can you say big brother's name? Roland. Ro-- land. Say it with me. Row -- land."

"Boh. Wah." Reivan tried his best to say it. 'No dice. You're name's too complicated for me.'

"Wow. You really are smart." Roland remarked in amazement. He turned to look at the maid again, his expression filled with pride. "Did you see that? He just tried to copy me."

"Yes, Your Highness." The maid smiled in amusement. "The second Prince truly is, quite intelligent."

"Hm hm." Roland nodded twice in agreement. He was happier at a compliment thrown at his little brother than he would've been had he been the one complimented.

"But, Your Highness..." The maid sheepishly said. "Should you really be here? Don't you have lessons...?"

"Ah..." Roland visibly deflated. He quietly said, "Well... I-I... I don't have lessons today... Because I don't feel well."

"But you seemed to be healthy when you ran in here...?" The maid teasingly said. She was one of the older maids, and was even present during the first Prince's birth. The two were close enough to talk casually in private settings.

"Th-that was... uhm." Roland looked around in a panic, as if he would be able to find an excuse written somewhere on the room's blue walls. His eyes widened as if he had just thought of a brilliant idea. "I-It was your imagination. I didn't run here, I just walked briskly."

"Briskly, is it?"

"Yes. Briskly." Roland nodded as if he had just won the argument.

"I see." The maid didn't say anything else after that. She smiled serenely as she thought, 'The Head Maid will likely come to fetch him soon...'

Roland returned to staring at his little brother warmly while poking Reivan's cheeks or pinching them softly from time to time. Roland really wanted to try to carry his little brother in his arms, but he was too scared to drop him. As a prince of Aizen, a kingdom built on the deeds of Knights, he had naturally received physical combat training from a young age, so he was quite a bit stronger than most children his age. However, this was this and that was that. He still didn't feel confident in his ability to properly hold onto his precious little brother.

As Roland was indulging in Reivan's cuteness, the door opened and a handsome man walked in. He looked like an older version of Prince Roland.

The maid quickly bowed deeply when she saw him and reverently greeted him. "This humble servant greets His Majesty, King Rodin."

The man, King Rodin, waved casually at the maid. "Mm. Enough of that. Are there any problems with Rein?"

"There are no problems, Your Majesty." The maid replied. "He sleeps at night and very rarely cries, except when he is hungry or needs changing. Other times, he just seems to want attention, which we are more than happy to give... Ehem. I mean, seeing as it is our duty to do so, we do our best to entertain Prince Reivan when he is bored."

"Is that so?" Rodin looked at the maid in amusement. He did not miss her verbal slip, but he didn't mind. When he was young, he was also treated well by the maids... sadly, most of them had grown old and died by now. Shaking off the melancholy, he thanked the maid for her hard work, then walked up to Reivan's crib and deftly picked him up in his arms. "It seems you've been behaving well, Rein. Unlike a certain child right next to me when he was still a baby."

"Wha--" Roland's mouth opened in shock, he did not expect his father to suddenly make a dig at him. "Am not!"

"Yes, you were." Rodin countered instantly. "Just ask all of the maids. You would cry in the dead of night, waking half the castle up."

"..." The maid, who was listening in, did not say anything but she smiled wryly in agreement. Roland noticed the meaning of her gestures, making his ears redden.

"I-It's not like I remember any of that..." Roland murmured sulkily.

"Mm." Rodin nodded when he saw his son unable to offer a rebuttal. Although it was a bit immature, he couldn't allow himself to be beaten in a verbal argument. Then, he suddenly remembered something, "Roland. Don't you have classes?"

"Urk." Roland grimaced. "I-It's just dance class... it's no big deal..."

"Having a firm grasp of the basics of dancing is a requirement for royalty like us." Rodin firmly said. He chidingly said, "You can't just skip it."

"But it's dancing... who do we even dance with?" Roland retorted. "Aside from the Grand Ducal House of Mercer, a strict military family, there are no other noble families in our Kingdom. The republic doesn't have noble customs like dancing. As for the empire, we've been hostile towards each other for thousands of years. There is no such thing as diplomacy between their nation and ours, so when am I even going to use the dancing skills I learn?"

'Woah. Look at this guy.' Reivan inwardly remarked as he listened to his family member's conversations. 'It's amazing how smart he seems right now, but isn't he just trying to get out of studying?'

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"Hm. Well, you seem to be paying attention to some of your lessons." Rodin remarked, but he was inwardly praising Roland. "But you haven't studied about the continent to the south yet, have you?"

"W-well..." Roland racked his tiny head for whatever he could remember about the southern continent. "Isn't that continent full of orcs? I don't think they dance either..."

"You're talking about the continent of Sutherim. There is a smaller continent between our continent of Sentoral and there. It is called the Pentagoria continent. And it's filled with small countries of humans. Their culture and system of governance are just like the Empire's. A feudal system." Rodin explained. Then he shooed Roland away with his other hand. "The dancing lessons will come in handy when we interact with them, which we plan to do in your generation. So, get back to studying."

"Ugh..." Roland groaned. He didn't know there was another continent between the orc-inhabited one. He hadn't studied about the other continents yet, and the only reason he even knew that there was an orc continent was because he'd heard a story about it from his Guardian Knight. He was just about to obediently walk off towards his lessons, but then he realized something. "Wait a minute... Father, don't you have work too?"

"Urk!" Rodin grimaced.

'Ooooo. He got you there.' Reivan was figuratively eating popcorn while watching the show. He learned quite a few things about the world from their conversation, and watching his family members argue with each other was entertaining. It seemed that the maid also found this entertaining, since she was visibly holding in her laughter. Luckily, only Reivan saw this.

"Father. Why are you chastising me when you're the same?" Roland pressed the attack. He felt it was unfair that he had to go to his lessons while his father got to play around. "Aren't you being a... hippo...? A hippokrit!"

"It's hypocrite, Your Highness." The maid interjected.

"That's right!" Roland exclaimed, then he pointed towards his father while grinning. "Hypocrite!"

"Ghhh." Rodin groaned. "I-I've been working for the good of this nation for most of my life, taking a break now isn't a big deal..."

"I've been studying for most of my life too!" Roland retorted.

"You're eleven years old!" Rodin fired back.

"Pft." The maid couldn't help but let a tiny giggle escape as she trembled. Reivan was also happily laughing at the two, but they didn't notice.

"What are you two shouting around my baby for!?" A slightly angry voice spoke out from the direction of the window. There, Vianna, Reivan's mother was floating midair with an irritated expression. She held out her hand and Reivan flew into her arms, where she gently stroked his face. When she saw that her son was happily laughing, all of her irritation at the two people arguing in the room vanished. She then looked at them strangely, and said, "Why are you two here? You have work and lessons!"

""Urgh...!"" Father and son groaned in unison.

"Get out!" Vianna made a shooing gesture, then the King of Aizen and its Crown Prince started floating towards the open door, then landed unceremoniously on the floor outside. The door shut behind them, and its doorknob froze over. Having kicked the slackers out of the room, Vianna then turned towards her precious son and poked his cheeks. "And you. What are you laughing about, hm? Won't you share it with mama?"

"Mahmah!" Reivan said. He had been secretly practicing this over the week. He wanted to surprise his mother by suddenly saying 'Mama'. Although he couldn't do it perfectly, he was sure the message would come across.

Just as he suspected Vianna's eyes opened wide and her mouth was agape in shock. "Huh. Did you just say Mama? Say it again, Rein. C'mon."

"Wah!" Reivan didn't say it again, just laughed happily.

"No, you're really cute, but..." Vianna couldn't help but grin stupidly from seeing her son laugh so adorably. She turned her head towards the maid and asked, "I didn't mishear did I? He said Mama, right?"

"I believe Her Majesty heard correctly." The maid respectfully replied. Her eyes were also widened in surprise.

"Oh, you little...!" Vianna turned back to Reivan and lovingly kissed his cheeks. "You did say Mama! Say it again! Say it for mama, okay? Please?"

"Mahmah!" Reivan acquiesced. 'This is fun. But I should probably slow down the rate I say words, or they might start thinking of weird stuff. Like I'm being possessed or something. I can't seem too smart, but saying Mama should be harmless, right?'

Vianna danced around in joy with Reivan in her arms. She was incredibly happy right now. Her son was only eight months old, and because she had to finish her Ascension, she was gone for five months. That meant that she'd only been with her beloved baby for three months or so, which was way too short. And yet, Reivan's first words were 'Mama'? She couldn't contain her happiness at the moment.

"Alright! As a reward for making mama really happy, we'll do the thing you seem to like so much!" Vianna practically skipped towards the window. She turned her head back to the maid for a moment and said, "We'll be back in an hour or so. Take a break until then."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The maid bowed respectfully, seeing the two royals off.

With that, Vianna zoomed off into the sky with her baby held to her chest.

'This never gets old...' Reivan inwardly marveled as he looked down on the city from the sky. 'I could only look at the sky from outside my window in the hospital, but now I'm actually flying through it... albeit, with my mother's help.'

"Having fun, Rein? Now that I'm an Ascendant too, you don't have to bug your uncle whenever you want to fly, just ask me!" Vianna proudly said.

"Wah! Mahmah!" Reivan happily exclaimed, making Vianna squeal in joy once again. As he looked at the clouds around them, the ambition within Reivan grew.

'Someday... I will be able to fly by my own power.' Reivan thought, then he looked towards the sky. Others would only look at the clouds and the sea of blue, but he saw something farther. 'Someday...'

Reivan's blood boiled. He wanted to grow up quickly.

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