To Love, Once Again

Chapter 47

This was probably similar to the scene his father would have seen if he'd bothered to look out the study window. One of the few happy times Lucien, then called Lu, played with his Queen Mother in the newly built gardens.

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"Prince!! Thank you Ma'am!!"

The maids exclaim in relief when they catch sight of Sera coming up to the quaint cottage, Leo fast asleep in her arms.

It was a bit of a walk from the Royal Gardens back to the cottage, and with the rocking motions of his mother's steps and her heartbeat in his ears, Leo was off in happy dreamland, dancing with his bunny in his sleep.

Before he'd fallen asleep, Sera was able to convince him to keep the rabbit for her. The bunny needed someone to watch over it, and Leo was the perfect little man for the job.

Leo's eyes had curved into crescents hearing that, puffing out his chest and clutching the white rabbit toy to his chest. "I'll take gwooooood care of it fwo you Mama!"

"My Queen! I'm so glad you found him!!!"

Bea rushes up to Sera, the other maids crowding behind her. The other maids were glad Bea's anger would be finally appeased. It was their fault the small prince had disappeared. Since it had happened on their watch. More than worrying about whether Leo was okay or not, they cared more about whether or not they could keep their jobs. Bea had the exclusive rights to the decision-making on who got hired to work at the cottage. Though this job was a widely-kept secret, it was well-known among the maids, and many would do anything to replace them. After all, it was a simple job of babysitting and playing games, where they could pretend they were real noblewomen, drinking tea and chit-chatting while really letting the Prince run about wild on his own.

"Shhh-" Shushing the maids to quiet down their exclamations, Sera nods her chin down at her son, who mumbles and snuggles against her shoulder.

"Girls, go clean up the mess." Bea shoos away the other maids to clean up the garden and cottage, where every possible hiding place a 5 year old could hide in had been overturned in the search. Pots were moved out of position, door and windows wide open.

""Yes, Miss Bea"" The girls chorus in small voices.

Sera does her best to not wake Leo up from his sleep as she hands him back to Bea.

"Thank you for finding the Prince, My Queen." Lowering her voice, Bea thanks Sera again.

"It's a good thing I found him before anything bad happened to him. There's too many nobles out there right now..and to think I found him with Dorne! Anything could've happened.... Can I trust you to make sure this doesn't happen again?" Voice trembling, Sera tries to stress the importance of Leo staying safe to Bea.

Bea looks upset "Yes, My Queen. I've failed you.."

"No it's alright Bea. Just,, please, make sure he doesn't get out again......I'll find a way to convince Lucien to let him come see me"

Sera knew what she had to do....though she didn't want to do it....

The most effective weapon she had with Lucien right now was...

...her body..

Face blushing red at the thought, Sera changes the subject.

"Also, ummm..Thank you Bea, for giving Leo the bunny. He truly adores it"

"Leo, my Queen?"

"Yes, that's his name"

Eyes glittering with tears, Bea presses her hand over her heart.

"His name is Leo?"

"Yes, Bea"

"That's a wonderful name, my Queen"

Bea leans in to whisper.

"Also, that bunny... Prince Leo thinks you sent it to him from the fairy realm..In actuality, it was the King's gift."

She continues..

"That was his very first Birthday present..I delivered it to him when he was two years old. One of very many presents, actually."

"Lucien did that?" Happiness blooms in Sera's heart at the news.

Bea shakes her head, glancing around once again to make sure no one else listened.

"For all his ferocity, he runs away very quickly before anyone catches his spying on the little prince..but you know, I have sharp eyes"

"He does?"

Tapping her eye, Bea sends a slight glance to the windows. She shakes her head again, remembering the flash of red hair past the windows, passing by on a 'walk' to catch glimpses of his son.

"Your King seems to be very interested in how Prince Leo reacts to each gift"

"He is?"

"Of course! And why else would Icaros pester me to send more drawings of our Prince's day to him?"

Ba-thump. Sera can't help herself from blushing again.

How sweet of Lucien...he cared about Leo a lot more than he'd let on.

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Note from tofu:

I wonder if you guessed what's coming up!

Smut chappie next~ ٩(♡ε♡ )۶

Edit: nope, no smut chappie lolz

Thank you everyone for your kind words yesterday <3 I've just realized we've already reached halfway through the story!