The Duke, The King, and A Baby

Waking up briefly, she felt Isaac wiping her tears as they fell, unable to control it despite not being sad. She couldn't remember much else as she woke up her mother and alerted some people, but she ended up falling back asleep normally, forgetting the majority of what happened.

The rest of the trip was also a blur, it was almost horrifying to her how quickly it all passed by, it felt like a few days ago she was simply observing the fights, but now everything felt so much more real… and she also came to the conclusion she'd been doing absolutely nothing but watch others during her course of becoming Theia!

Of course she was a baby gathering information on her potential allies and enemies, but she could at least be spending her time properly trying to learn to walk and make more noises resembling words… if anyone ever put her down and left her alone that was.

In the moment, she really wished she could try and walk away or struggle as the family descended from the carriages one after another, only for the Duke to stop before her and pick her up much to everyone's curiosity despite saying nothing.

Her mother hesitantly gave her away to her terrible father as Isaac and Nyx were definitely frustrated. "Pick her up in the evening." Was all he ordered before making his way to the front of the castle, followed by the children in relative silence while the staff and even guards were weary of them.

Was now a good thing to scream? She thought never expecting to be in his arms again. She almost expected him to just hold her at an arms distance and carry her with a finger because he didn't want to touch her. His holding of a baby did significantly improve from originally, though.

In all the time she was in distress, the staff were quick to take them to the royal family and not delay, taking their luggage as well to their rooms in the meantime. "The Duke of Argyris greets his majesty."

Short, curt, and blunt. Not even bowing like his children and wives before the most powerful family in the country. "Ah uhm Damon, greetings! We are pleased you made it safely, please raise your heads."

Hearing this from the King made her question if he was really suitable to rule, but even she was nervous being held by her own father, she couldn't blame him. With a wave of his hand he dismissed all the children and wives that quickly went their separate ways, speaking to the king and queen alone.

Moving her slightly, he held her almost like a doll to his chest, except a bit support and now she could finally see the two properly. The man in question had white hair, likely out of stress and aging, with blue eyes as the woman had strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. They both looked decent, but if she had to compare her mother did pull off being blonde better and her dad did just look better than him.

"Are you hear to give your answering about thinking about it? I'm relieved you finally picked a faction to support!" The King broke the silence first while letting out a sigh of relief, her father narrowing his eyes.

Almost annoyed, he scoffed. "When did I say that? I couldn't care less about those letters you keep sending about how the Duke of the South shouldn't be neutral. I got something else to say so don't interrupt." He was condescending, but she knew what he was talking about thanks to the novel.

The family technically served the royal family as a ducal household, but by no means were they involved with any faction. The family never held any bias, and if they did it would be clear their faction would win, whether the public agrees or a freak accident forces it upon them.

If she were correct from what she remembered from the current ducal households in the novel, only the Argyris family were neutral, meaning that gaining their backing would be huge. The first prince held the backing from the Duchess of the North. The second prince held the backing from the Duke of the East and the Duke of the West, while the third prince held no one's.

Either way, it mattered not to her since she didn't have any desire to get involved with them. The exact opposite of what she wished for, actually. She was definitely not going to get engaged to the third prince that eventually becomes King, leading her to her death after she's framed by the second wife.

Gulping, the king silenced himself after a small apology. "I'm bringing this child on the hunt." He held her up now, arms under her armpits as he showed her to them. She really didn't think he should have a single child, this was a mistake.

Eye twitching, the Queen looked at him as though he were a madman. "Duke… you can't bring a baby with you." She tried to calmly say, only for him to pull her back and shake his head.

"I can and I will. If you want to test if she's really a beast tamer." Hearing this the King nearly took a step back, eyes widening in surprise as his mouth opened slightly looking at him to her in disbelief.

Regaining his composure, he dismissed his wife quickly while taking them to a completely separate room to speak, his attitude changing. "Did you not kill them? Are you really sure she's just not friendly with animals?" He asked, sitting down at a large chair and a table.

Joining him at the opposite end, her father placed her on the table, glad she could at least sit up for a bit. There she saw the snake removed from his pocket, thrown onto the table without care for it as his chin rested in the palm of his hand.

Worried for the creature, she subconsciously reached for it with a sad expression, letting it curl onto her fingers and slither into her sleeves towards her neck quickly, almost as though it were hiding from the man. She couldn't stand being near him for an hour, she couldn't imagine how horrible it must of been for the snake. For now she just had to play with it, right?

Petting it, she had a gentle smile as the the two men observed her, quietly. For the next few minutes she got to play with the snake before they decided it was enough, going back to their discussion while leaving her be, letting her listen to what they were going to do.