Nathaniel Lee Schidmt

Violet looked at the baby that was lying on her bed.

His face was wrinkled with red discoloration and slightly bluish hands and feet with puffy eyes.

"What am I going to do with you?"

The baby opened his eyes and looked around with his unfocused gaze .

Maybe because it was an unfamiliar place

or it was the absence of his mother's arms

or because he was probably be hungry,

the baby started crying.

"What am I supposed to do? " Violet said

as she slowly picked up the baby.

"Maybe he is hungry.

Lillian , call the wet nurse to breastfeed the baby."

" Yes , Your Majesty."

" Shh. Stop crying , little child.

You have black iris and black hair.

Are you going to grow up to be an exact replica of your father?

I don't mind the appearance so much but I hope you'll grow up to be a sweet child and a wonderful human being. Do not become a man like your father alright? "

Violet rocked the baby gently in her arms to soothe him .

She did not know if what she doing was right. She just simply did what she felt was right .

But it seemed to work as the baby stopped crying.

The wet nurse came and fed the baby after which he fell asleep again.

It has been a week since the Royal Prince was born.

His Royal Highness Nathaniel Lee Schidmt .

The Emperor had announced his birth and ordered a week long celebration in the Empire to commemorate his birth.

To the people of the empire ,

the Royal Prince was born 6 weeks early and that had taken a toll on the Empress' body.

Also , the Prince was under medication otherwise he was quite healthy for a child of premature birth.

Gifts and letters arrived in the Empress' palace every day.

To congratulate her and to wish her a speedy recovery.

She had asked Lillian to arrange the letters so that she could reply to them later.

Violet had not done much in the past week .

She would simply sit on a chair beside the bed and watch the baby who slept most of the time.

He did not cry much.

He was quite obedient.

The wet nurse would feed him every 2-3 hours.

And the doctor would feed him different types of medicine after his meals.

Violet had not held the baby since the day she held him a week ago.

Violet felt her heart ache at the sight of the helpless baby.

The Emperor nor Lady Olivia had come to check on the baby .

Was it because of the deal ?

Or did they simply not care?

Violet hated the fact that she felt compassion for the baby of the monsters who made her life miserable.

At the same time , she felt an invisible wall that stopped her heart from fully accepting the child.

She was just 16!

How could she take care of a child alone and love him as hers?

When it was his very parents who shamed her?

Violet might have always acted confident and sure when speaking with the Emperor.

But she wasn't as strong as she showed herself to be.

She knew that she did not need a man to make her feel complete.

She was aware that she couldn't settle for less , especially with love.

But her confidence had plummeted to almost zero because of the incident with the Emperor.

'Was that all that was to me?' , Violet would ask herself.

' No you are worth more than that.

You are strong. You are precious. ' ,

she would repeat in her head to silence her insecurities.

But maybe, just maybe.

In the deepest corner of her heart , Violet wished for someone who would take pride in her and love her like no other .

Someone who would love her in the way it calms her soul.

Not as a daughter.

Nor a brother .

But as a lover.

' Was it too far fetched of a dream?'

Violet's family had come to see the baby as well.

Only her mother held the baby and remarked , " He will grow up to look exactly like the Emperor."

"How can you tell , Mom?

I couldn't guess his overall facial features though he has black iris and black hair. I heard that it's difficult to determine who babies take after in first week after birth." , Violet asked.

"An intuition? " , her mom replied.

"Violet , the baby is innocent.

The fault of adults should not passed on to the innocent child." , her mom continued.

Violet merely nodded and did not say anything.

Violet lifted the baby and cradled him in her arms after her parents left.

"Mom said it wasn't your fault.

I know it well too. But it's more difficult to act as if everything is alright.

It's harder than I thought.

So , Little Nathan , please be patient with me alright?

Let's both survive this place."