Chapter 45

Ephraim tried getting under my skin but being not met with the usual anger destabilized him. I didn't remember how but in the end he decided to leave. It didn't really matter why as long as he left.

"I have to get going now, dear wife."

I nodded:

"Have a nice meeting.

-I am going, wife.

-They must be waiting for you.

-Wife."

I didn't answer, not being his wife. Ephraim didn't like that:

"Why aren't you answering?

-I didn't understand that you were talking to me, I apologize.

-You!"

He sighed. People around us just kept looking from Ephraim to me, wondering when our exchange would finally stop.

"You are my wife. Who else would I be talking to?"

Having the same conversation over and over again was starting to make my head hurt. Seeing me rub my forehead, Arora turned to Ephraim:

"It seems my father is tired. He certainly needs some rest after all the stress he has been put through."

She didn't say it directly but she clearly meant for Ephraim and everyone else to leave. The knights looked at each other weirdly and even Ephraim seemed surprised to see Arora. It seemed he had completely forgotten about her presence at that point. He quickly got his composure back however and smirked:

"Is my dear wife tired? I am sorry I didn't notice. Rest as much as you need, darling."

I felt goosebumps in my entire body hearing that nickname again. Thinking that I was cold, Arora quickly wrapped me in the covers. She was so cute that I couldn't help laughing. Ephraim quickly took my good mood away however:

"Why can't my beautiful wife smile at me like that?"

Couldn't he just leave? I thought he was busy!

"Didn't you have a meeting, Your Majesty?"

Hearing his title angered Ephraim more than I would have thought. Instead of continuing to annoy me, he stormed out the room. The knights and the doctor bowed before struggling to catch up with him, leaving Eulisses, Arora and me alone.

Eulisses bowed once again:

"I apologize for my mistake. I should have been more attentive to your well-being.

-No, it's okay, don't worry. I'm fine, really. Now, could we go back to that cousin subject?"

Eulisses had completely forgotten about what we were talking about minutes before. I didn't remember why I was asking either. Why did I want to know that?

"I beg your pardon?"

I suddenly remembered and felt stupid. Of course it was important.

"Where do Ephraim's cousins live?"

Arora shook her head:

"You should rest, dad. We can always talk about that tomorrow.

-No, I am completely fine. We can talk about it right now."

Arora shook her head and sent Eulisses away.

"Arora, it's really important. I have to know more about your family members.

-You need to rest.

-Then you can tell me. Do you know the Duke's cousins?"

Arora refused to talk about it and continued telling me to get some sleep. She didn't loosen up no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't believe that I lost to a child for the second time that day. Eulisses would have probably laughed if he had seen me and I promised myself never to talk about it to anyone. The last straw was Bob jumping in through the window and laying down next to me after yawning. It seemed the entire universe was telling me to go to sleep.

Therefore I spent the entire time sleeping instead of doing any research. At first I planned to pretend to be sleeping, thinking that I would leave the room as soon as Arora left but she was way more patient than I could ever be. She stayed seated next to me for so long that in the end I fell asleep for real.

Arora must have looked after Bob because for once I didn't wake up to him sitting on my face. It was the same feeling however because I woke up very suddenly. As if emerging from a bad dream I didn't remember. Arora was still sitting there even when I opened my eyes next. However she wasn't staring at me anymore and was looking down at something she was holding. I followed her eyes and looked down at what she was holding:

"Wow!"

Arora got so scared that she jumped and dropped the pencil she was holding.

"Dad! When did you wake up?

-Did you draw that? You are so talented! Why didn't you tell me that you could draw?"

I had a hard time talking, not completely awake from my nap yet. I rubbed my mouth trying to wake my muscles up, not looking away from the sketch book for a second. Arora on the other hand quickly closed it, her cheeks turning bright red.

"No, wait. Show me.

-It's nothing, really. I was merely passing the time.

-That's not passing time. That's stopping time with your talent. Please show me."

I had no idea what I was saying, my mind still a bit blurry. All I knew was that I wanted to see it again. Arora bit her lips but at the end she did hand me her drawing. I didn't know how long I had been sleeping for but Arora had enough time to draw my sleeping face. The drawing was way too good for a child and I could never have drawn something so realistic even at my age and even after years of practice. It wasn't perfect but it was impressive enough for me to open my mouth wide:

"This is gorgeous! You are very talented, Arora!"

The latter cleared her throat, having no idea where to look:

"No... It's... The nose is too big and the eyes aren't symmetrical.

-Who cares? It's gorgeous! Who taught you to draw like this?"

Arora frowned, visibly lost:

"Are there drawing teachers?

-Of course! Why wouldn't there be?

-I didn't know that."

I bit my lower lip. Aurora's parents obviously didn't care about her enough to notice how talented she was. Arora not getting a drawing teacher wasn't that surprising. All that Ephraim cared about was raising a perfect successor. Arora was nothing more than a weapon to him. All she had to learn was useful things like how to detect poison.

"Would you like to learn?"

Arora's head jerked up:

"Could I?

-I will get you the best teacher in the Capital. You deserve only the best Arora.

-Could I really?

-Of course!"

She jumped on me and hugged me with all her strength:

"Thank you father! Thank you! Thank you!"

She was very strong and I almost told her to stop strangling me but no sounds came out. I took it on me and tried my best to breathe. I couldn't push a child back. That would be pitiful. Fortunately Arora quickly pulled back:

"I am so sorry, father. I got too excited. Do your wounds hurt a lot?

-No, it doesn't hurt at all. I am fine."

Arora sighed.

"Thank you so much for everything you are doing for me, dad. I am very grateful.

-You don't have to thank me, Arora. You deserve the best in the world."

Arora looked really touched and she tried her best to change the subject:

"Would you like to see more of my sketches?

-I would love to! Can I?"

Arora nodded and handed me another sketchbook that I started to leaf through. Arora really had a rare talent. Even my untrained eyes could see it. She had numerous drawings of her room. What she drew most was her window which was rather sad. I quickly continued looking through the drawings trying not to get emotional when I found the last page:

"This is..."

Arora didn't dare look at the drawing, playing with her fingers:

"You seemed to really like that painting yesterday... I thought it was very pretty and wanted to imitate it."

Having no answer from me, Arora finally looked up. However when she saw me crying, she called the doctor again.