As Adrian cried out about the death of his baby hawk, faintly, the sound of birds chirping was heard somewhere in the distance.
The sound didn’t seem to be heard by the adults’ ears, but Adrian’s small body ran at full speed and followed that sound.
“Oh! Prince, we’re still cleaning …….”
The bird-keeper ran and pursued Adrian. But they fell far behind because they underestimated a child’s speed. Fabian and Evelyn also went after the guard to find their son.
Evelyn sighed with relief when she found a small back that full of dirt on his clothing. But somewhere, her nose began to smell something stink.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty … This is the breeding aviary where disabled and abandoned hawks are raised.”
Fabian seemed to understand, then shook his head and looked at Evelyn.
“Not all black hawks are born strong and perfect. Therefore, we train and give them missions according to their respective abilities.”
Only then did Evelyn take a nod. Looking at the difference in the aviary area. It was evident that Fabian would give the top-notch black hawk to Adrian, even without being asked.
“Adrian, you can’t run like that!”
Evelyn quickly grabbed Adrian’s little shoulder and held him back. Adrian still tried to run and struggled with his body, but he couldn’t beat Evelyn’s strength.
But, all of a sudden, Evelyn also found an object that caught Adrian’s eyes.
“That’s…?”
Adrian’s tiny finger pointed to the object. Fabian, who was curious, also took a peek behind Adrian’s back.
Watching them, the bird-keepers just stood still as they didn’t know what to do. Fabian then called one of them to come closer.
At the place where Adrian pointed out, there was a baby hawk that had just started walking. However, from the shape of its feathers and small claws, it seemed like the hawk wasn’t the finest birth.
“Mo-ther, that’s also a black hawk…right?”
“It’s a black eyas*. Born from an egg, and after passing through childhood safely, it will become the mighty black hawk we know.” explained the bird-keeper.
(T/N: Eyas: Baby/young Hawk )
The eyas was really unattractive. The color of its feather was dull, and the unperfect shape made the eyas look ugly. Nevertheless, its mother had a strong instinct; she stared at Adrian from inside the cage while holding her baby.
“When it gets bigger, will it become a brave hawk?” asked Adrian.
“Of course. If you wait patiently, when the mother hawk hatches a healthy baby, I will give it to you as a gift. I promise.” Fabian said in a gentle voice, lovingly coaxing him.
But, Adrian’s gaze remained fixed on the cage, where the mother hawk hatched her poor baby.
“That too …..Will it be a strong hawk when it grows up?”
“Right. But it won’t be as big or strong as you’ve seen before,” said Fabian.
“Why?”
Adrian looked at Fabian with shimmering pupils. Seeing his innocent gaze, Fabian, who always talked back to the congress’s nobles, was now speechless.
Luckily, Evelyn helped him to talk to the child on his behalf. “Adrian, everyone looks different, right? Your father and mother, Nora, and also Lily, who take care of you.”
“…Yes.”
“They all have their own talent. Nora is good at cooking, and Lily is good at playing hide and seek with Adrian, right?”
Adrian nodded excitedly when the names of the friendly people he knew were mentioned.
“So, although it’s not the strongest hawk, maybe, it will become a kind and smart hawk. Do you understand?”
Fabian, who saw Evelyn, was amazed at her way of teaching. There were no parents who taught their children like that anywhere, either in the Imperial family or in the noble family.
In Empire’s education system, parents generally didn’t answer when their children asked an obscure question. Their children were brought up, expecting that they wouldn’t have any useless questions in the future.
“All right then, Adrian ….” Evelyn gently pulled his hand, but Adrian’s eyes were still nailed into the cage.
“Do you want that bird?” Evelyn asked.
Even though that black eyas was a little different, Evelyn had already read Adrian’s inner thoughts. And that child wasn’t able to nod his head because he was ashamed.
Adrian was a child who was lazy to wait. The hawk that was supposed to be given to him was dead, so he wanted to have whatever he saw.
But, Evelyn didn’t want Adrian to grow up as a person who treated animals like objects.
“Adrian, that little hawk won’t grow up as big as His Majesty’s hawk that you’ve seen before and will lose the fight. … But, if you wait patiently, His Majesty will give you a strong and brave hawk, so why don’t you wait a little longer?” Evelyn tried to persuade him.
This was the first time Evelyn had played a role as Adrian’s mother. At times like this, she missed her mother, Queen Miriam, very much. Evelyn now knew how difficult it was to teach a child and make him understood.
“If you really want it, I can give you that bird.” Fabian suddenly intervened a little.
“Adrian, I’ll give you that little bird. After that, when a stronger hawk is born, I’ll also give it to you. That’s enough, isn’t it?
Fabian came up with a great solution, but Adrian was still brooding with puffed cheeks.
“The ugly hawk…is it still a baby?”
Both Fabian and Evelyn were surprised by their son’s unexpected question.
“Is the baby with its mom?” Adrian asked, looking at the hawks in the cage.
The Palace bird aviary was operated by a professional aviculturist*. They put the mother bird and her baby together because the baby still needed the mother’s care.
(T/N: Aviculturist > A person who keeps and rears (breeds) birds)
“If you ask the bird-keeper, you can take it right now,” Fabian said with a sighed voice.
“No!” shouted Adrian.
Fabian tried to hide his embarrassment when Adrian looked up at him with a deep frown.
He was a bit shocked, to be honest. How many times the moment-when he was yelled at by a child- happened in his life?
“Adrian, you can’t shout like that! Didn’t you say you’re no longer a baby?”
“Nooo… Adrian is not a baby…..The ugly bird is a baby….. A Baby needs a mom.”
Fabian and Evelyn closed their mouths for a moment after hearing his innocent words.
Whereas usually, a child in his age would insist on getting everything he wanted right away. Still, Adrian’s thinking seemed to be entirely different.
“So, what do you want to do, Adrian?” Evelyn bent down, making eye contact with him.
“Adrian, like the ugly…… the baby saw Adrian’s eyes earlier….. So, my friend.”
Even though a bird couldn’t laugh or talk like a human, it was a good thing that Adrian could learn the meaning of friendship.
“But, that bird can’t fight strongly … is that all right?”
“A friend makes Adrian brave!”
Well, Fabian watched the sight with a severe face. That child was really his son. Adrian’s overflowing spirit resembled him a lot. Even just looking at him made Fabian felt so proud.
“Then, what will you do with the strong hawk that you will get later? If you wait, you’ll get that too.”
Adrian shook his head quickly. “Adrian, my friend!” he pointed his tiny-chubby finger at the little bird in the cage.
“Ugly! is Adrian’s friend!”
In his heart, Fabian was satisfied. To see that his son had realized the meaning of loyalty from an early age.
The news about the brilliant and genius Crown Prince, who had never existed before in the Empire, seemed would be spread across the continent soon.
“Oh well then, bird-keeper, come here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The aviculturist bowed with a nervous face.
“Let the mother hawk rest first, And I will take the eyas because the Prince wants it. Can I take it now?”
“The eyas still has to be cuddled by its mother, but I think it’s fine as long as you take good care of it.”
Fabian nodded with pleasure. But as if she knew by instinct, when the bird-keeper tried to open the cage, the mother hawk stepped back and hid her baby.
“No!” Adrian yelled his best words once again. “They’re going together!”
Adrian apparently wanted to bring the mother and her baby altogether. It was an unexpected request, given that the ‘mother’ hawk was a required tool’ for laying eggs and raising offspring in the Imperial breeding grounds.
“Adrian is not a baby. Baby ugly needs its mom. Ugly’s mom will be sad!”
It then did Evelyn realize that Adrian’s new friend’s name was ‘Ugly.’
“Adrian…” Fabian murmured softly, and he put his hand on Adrian’s head.
Even though he didn’t say a single word, Fabian’s heart was filled with an unfamiliar warmth. A gentle smile then appeared on his lips, “It’s a great and wonderful thing to take care of the mother and the baby together.”
A lovely smile bloomed on Adrian’s face.
Adrian, who received the long-awaited praise, rubbed his hair like a baby in Fabian’s hand above his head.
At that moment, the surprised look of Fabian seemed to be something that Evelyn would never forget.
***
Fabian put the cage in front of the Empress’s Palace and employed the best aviculturists to take care of it.
Adrian was thrilled with the gift. He was so excited until he exhausted and fell asleep in Nora’s arms before sunset.
As for Rebecca, she was busy selecting the royals’ names to invite in one of the rooms that had been turned into a private office. So, she briefly forgot about her other duties.
“Evelyn.”
Finally, after so long, they had a sweet time to spend alone together.
Fabian didn’t want to waste this rare opportunity and sat beside Evelyn while enjoying tea time.
“Your Majesty, when the Emperor and Empress drink tea together, they usually have to sit across each other or diagonally,” Evelyn said cautiously.
Evelyn was well aware of that. Even Fabian had given her Adrian’s custody, he couldn’t get rid of all of the etiquette that had passed down throughout the Imperial family.
So Evelyn didn’t want to be more greedy because she already received what she wanted.
“Recently, I realized that etiquette is useless.”
But, instead of moving away, Fabian narrowed his distance from Evelyn. The gap between them now was so close that he could even feel her trembling breath.
“So, I decided to compromise,” Fabian whispered fondly in her ears.
In the past, his low voice sounded a bit scary and heartless. But one day, oddly enough, his voice felt so warm and sweet.
“When we’re alone, I don’t want to be an Emperor.”
“…Pardon?” Evelyn was terrified, as the Emperor like him shouldn’t say such a joke.
“I don’t mean I’ll neglect my duty since it’s already an obligation to my fate.” Fabian’s smile looked a little bitter. “But when I’m alone with you … How about we become an ordinary couple?”
Fabian was deeply troubled before saying this. As he might be rejected or reprimanded.
Above all, Fabian had never made such a wish before. So he was so sheepish and nervous that his heart was shaking.
“I …… have no choice but to become the Emperor for everyone in this world.”
The bigger the continent he ruled, the stronger he was and the heavier the burden he bore.
Evelyn was the first person who could feel and understand Fabian’s pain. And perhaps, she wasn’t the only one who was unhappy in the past.
“I just want to be a man and a husband in front of you in this world. Even if I don’t have eyes to look at you, just sit close to me and laugh at what I’m doing…..Is too luxury for me to expect such a life?”
Ironically, the Emperor of this world turned out to be the one who craved the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Sometimes, maybe you’ll get angry at me for being indifferent to you, and you may also scold Adrian and me because I spoiled him too much.”
Fabian was so happy to picture it. It brought a longing and mournful smile to his lips for the first time.
“If we disagree, we quarrel, and someone will apologize first. And even if we get mad at each other, we still sleep in the same bed … Only you, who can do something that makes me feel want to die.”
Evelyn felt sad as she listened to his confession. It wasn’t a kind of sympathy because she had that kind of mind on him before. Yet, it was a very different emotion than just feeling sorry.
Then, Evelyn took courage and held Fabian’s hand first.
Only
“All right, Fabian.”
A loving pink smile spread on her lips.
“But don’t regret it later.”
Fabian laughed faintly at Evelyn’s words. After that, he gently pulled her shoulder, locking Evelyn in his arms, and he kissed her on the lips.
There was no need for a sacred marriage letter, nor the vow on their wedding ring.
Just pure love.
It was enough for them to overflow their feelings to each other.
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