Mother of a future ruler

Neonidas walked silently through the long stone corridors, his thoughts still echoing with the conversation he had in Celeste's room. Her question lingered in his mind like a shadow: Could he truly be a father? He could raise a strong heir, but did he truly know what it meant to be a father? His own father had barely been a figure in his life.

From what little he remembered, Duke Leonardo had not been a good father. But what made a father good? Was it kindness, or was it the harshness needed to prepare a child for the realities of the world? Neonidas did not know the answer. He had never given it much thought. But now, something new was emerging. It was time to take this fatherhood matter a little more seriously, and he was keenly aware of it.