(From Blue''s Perspective)


    "Do you like this new plushie, Athena?" I asked.


    I had given her another plushie today because she seemed to be fond of them. She had more than fifty now. The one I brought today was a huge whale plushie which was just too cute. Last night, Dem and I went on a date and saw this plushie. It was so cute that I could not ignore it and ended up buying it for Athena.


    "Wow, this is huge...! I like it!" she eximed. "But what is this animal?"


    "It''s a whale. Whales are huge, but cute," I said.


    "Has Your Majesty ever seen a whale?" she asked.


    "No, I did not. But I wish I will someday. They live in the oceans. I have never been near an ocean, so I have never seen it. Besides, it''s not like you can see it even if you visit an ocean. It can happen suddenly," I said.


    "But Dem has seen one. Right, Dem?"


    Dem, who was standing behind me, nodded. He had been following me wherever I went. Our schedules matched these days because we worked at the same hours and joined the same meetings. So, we could take a break at the same time too. During our break times, our subordinates had to work like maniacs though.


    We also could have date days or nights. Sometimes, we practiced swordsmanship together because we could not do anything else, sometimes we danced together and other times we read books. Though the activities were very simple, it was fun. We also rode our horses on the pce grounds.


    "His Majesty has seen a whale?" Athena asked, surprised. I still could not get used to how adorable she was. I wanted to hug her a lot because she was cute but resisted myself because no one would like it if someone hugged them frequently.


    "I did," Dem nodded. His demeanor was as cold as always. But Athena had gotten used to it and talked to him just as normally she talked to us.


    "When?" she asked excitedly.


    "When I was going to Mazazine. We were using the ocean to travel and I saw a whale once. It was a baby whale. I think it was having fun and kept diving in and out of the water. It even followed us for a bit."


    "Wow, so cool! They won''t hurt us?"


    "No, whales don''t hurt anyone. They can crush you with their weight though. But they won''t eat you," he replied.


    "Was it during thest war?" I whispered to Dem.


    "Yeah. We needed to use both thend and the waterway to attack them. They were expecting thend only. Heh, it was a great victory," Dem said, smirking. "That''s how I got the south part of that ocean."


    "Jeez, you are scary...," I mumbled.


    "I made tea," Ruby announced. "Your Highness, please sit somewhere safe so you won''t burn your hand again."


    "It''s alright. I will catch the child if she tries to jump on her," Dem said.


    "He is right. Three days ago, he caught Sapphire midair when she tried to jump on me while I was drinking hot chocte. It happened in a sh. It took me a while to understand everything," I said. "That was quite admirable, you know?"


    "Of course. You are not with someone who will just watch you get hurt," he said.


    "Wow, His Majesty is Her Majesty''s hero!" Athena said suddenly very loudly. And it seemed to make my husband very proud.


    "Yes, they are a great match," Ruby agreed.


    Everyone seemed to believe wholeheartedly that we had a solid rtionship. Well, we were truly a happy couple. We had our problems, but it would be solved pretty easily. It had been a long time since west fought too. So, everything was going well between us. No wonder everyone said that we were a good match and our rtionship would not likely break.


    It was also good if everyone knew about our good rtionship. We would gain more supporters. Iris also said that the rtionship between the King and the Queen was very important. If they did not share a good rtionship, the Imperial Pce would be weak and it could be the cause of wars too.


    "Where is Luc, by the way? I have not seen him for a while," I said.


    "Luc is working on a new project. He is trying to see if Athena truly possesses such powers. As I mentioned in the letter, Athena suffers from headaches frequently and sometimes, she feels unbearable pain in her heart. The doctor did not find the cause," Ruby said.


    "Yes, he told me that there is nothing wrong with her. But he is checking her regrly," I said.


    "That''s right. Two days ago, Luc said that he is going to try and see if she is falling sick because of her power. Both the doctor and Luc think that it is happening because her body can''t adjust to her power," she said.


    "That is a valid point. It can happen," I said.


    "But is there really such a power?" Dem muttered.


    "I think we should just..."


    All this time, I refrained from asking Athena about her power because it seemed to be a sensitive subject for her. But no one knew about her power better than her.


    "Um, Athena, can you tell me a bit about something?" I asked Athena cautiously who had been ying with her new plushie.


    "Hmm, what is it, Your Majesty?" she asked.


    "Have you ever had this strange feeling like you can do something extraordinary that others cannot?" I asked. "You don''t have to tell me if you are ufortable. I am asking this because it can be rted to your frequent sickness."


    "My power...? I... I don''t have any...," she replied hesitantly.


    I looked at Dem who had been staring at her. Dem had a hard time reading her mind too because she had been wearing a silver ne all the time. We had a hard time taking it off because it had been sealed with magic.


    "Alright," Dem said and nodded at me. "It''spletely eptable. You will grow up just like any other kid whether you have any special power or not. After all, it''s your choice if you want to use the power or not, in case you have it. But since you don''t have it, you have one less thing to think about."


    I smiled at Athena who seemed quite nervous for some reason and patted her. She looked like a doll with her hair tied in a long loose braid. It must have been Ruby''s work. She was very good at it.


    "Let''s forget about that. There is one more thing I wanted to ask you," I said.


    "What is it?" she asked.


    "You know the duke and the duchess, don''t you? Theye to y with you often. I was wondering if you would like to live with them."


    "Live with them?"


    "Yes, they want to adopt you, which means they will be your new parents. They will raise you. You can live with them as a real family," I said. "You see, right now, you need a safe home. And I think they will be the perfect people for you. Of course, it''s up to you to decide."


    "It means I can y with the duke every day?" she eximed excitedly. Her mood seemed to changepletely from before.


    "Of course. You like to y with the duke this much?" I chuckled.


    "Yes! He taught me a lot of games. I like to y with him. I like the duchess too. She is very sweet, like Your Majesty."


    "Is that so? Then do you want to go with them?"


    "Yes!"


    ''Wow, it went more smoothly than I thought it would!''


    We returned to the pce after spending some time more with Ruby and Athena. We did not go to Luc''s research room since he was busy. Luc must be working very hard, or he was not the type of person who would miss a chance to hang out with his friends.


    We returned to the library because he suggested to work together today. We could go to any of our office, but the library was a better choice. It felt stuffy in the office because we worked there all the time and it was a familiar ce. To get motivation for work, it was important to change space sometimes.


    I suddenly started coughing and a maid brought me water. I drank the water quickly to get rid of the cough.


    "She has powers," he said out of nowhere, causing me to cough out the water. "Ah, I am sorry. Your reaction is quite extreme."


    "There, there," he patted me on the back.


    It was just the two of us because I told everyone to go away. It was more convenient for us to talk freely in this way.