It had been a long time since this royal castle in Maram had guests. It was usually very quiet but now it was lively.

The empress’s bedroom door opened slowly and a child peaked in.

“Mommy…your highness?”

It was the beloved first princess Beatrice, who was the jewel of the entire kingdom. Behind her, maids followed and tried to stop her quietly.

“Your highness! Her highness is still sleeping! Please don’t disturb her!”

“You can see her highness when she wakes up…!”

Preventing any disturbance to the empress’ sleep was the maids’ job, and they were failing.

‘I want to see mommy!’

The princess went to bed early last night because she was tired from the trip. She was now well-rested, and Beatrice was determined to see her mother. She made her maids dress her, and as soon as she was ready, the princess ran to the empress’ room.

When she saw who was inside, her green eyes widened.

It was the emperor standing in a shower gown.

The maids bowed in shock and fear.

“Y, your highness!”

“Gr… greetings to your highness the emperor!”

The maids realized that the bed curtain was still down, indicating that the empress was asleep. They lowered their voice and trembled nervously.

They hadn’t expected the emperor to be here. By not preventing the princess from barging into the room, the maids inadvertently ended up disturbing both the emperor and the empress.

Thankfully, the emperor and the princess didn’t even notice the maids at all.

“Daddy… Your highness!”

Beatrice smiled widely as she saw her father. She ran to him, who greeted her happily.

“Oh, my princess!”

Lucretius lifted his daughter and hugged her.

“Daddy your highness!”

“Hello dear. You are heavier than the last time I saw you only a few days ago.”

“I missed daddy your highness!”

As the child hugged him with all her strength, the emperor looked down at her with the happiest smile. Beatrice suddenly realized why she came into this room.

“Mommy her highness! Where is mommy?!”

“She is still asleep.”

“I want to say hello to mommy her highness too!”

Lucretius looked out the window and noted that the sun was high up. It looked like it was about 11 am.

However, Bina looked very tired last night. He wondered if he should let her rest a while longer.

Their daughter begged him even more though.

“Mommy—!”

Just then, there was a noise from the bed. It appeared that Bina was awake. He smiled at the princess.

“Alright. Shall we?”

By the time they reached the bed, Bina was awake. When she saw her husband and their daughter, she smiled.

“Mommy…. Your… Highness!”

The child still had difficulty addressing people properly. Bina and Lucretius taught her to address them as mommy and daddy only when they were alone.

Beatrice was still very young but unusually intelligent. She quickly learned that she had to address her parents differently when there were others in the room. Since Beatrice addressed her properly, Bina knew that there must be others, most likely the maids, in the room with them.

Beatrice kissed her mother’s cheek soundly.

Bina couldn’t help but reach out for her and hug her tightly. When she was still in Korea, she could never understand why many parents baby-talked to their children. Now she understood. She herself couldn’t help but doing the same to her own baby.

“My Beetweece! Did you sweeeep well?”

Bina was a highly respected empress, yet in front of her baby, she was just like any other mother. Beatrice laughed blissfully.

“Yesss!”

Beatrice smelled of sweet milk. It was the most pleasant morning call.

***

The royal family got dressed and walked the garden together. Lucretius held their daughter in his arms, and with Bina, they took a nice walk while the maids prepared their breakfast in the garden.

Under a pretty tree, the maids set up a table and three chairs. When everyone realized the emperor arrived last night, the chef anxiously prepared the best breakfast he had ever made.

“Oh!”

Bina was surprised.

“Fondue… What a great idea!”

They were a bit late to the table, but the cheese pot was still steaming. The molten cheese smelled amazing and the light snacks accompanying is as a dip looked tasty. It was a bit chilly in the morning, so the chef made a very fine choice with this.

Bina and Lucretius sat down with Beatrice. One of the chairs had a large cushion on it, which was a thoughtful gesture by the maids for the young princess. The snacks included freshly baked bread pieces, smoked ham, and various fruits.

“Are you hungry, Beatrice?”

Bina dipped a piece of bread in the cheese using a silver fork. The melted cheese smelled faintly of wine. Bina felt the temperature of the cheese with her lips.

“Hmm. It’s still a bit too hot.”

“Mommy your highness…!”

“Just a little while longer, honey.”

Bina smiled at her daughter gently and blew on the piece of the cheese-covered bread to cool it. When it looked right at the right temperature, Bina gave it to Beatrice.

“Say ah~.”

Beatrice opened her mouth like a little bird.

“Aaahhh!”

Beatrice chewed adorably, making Bina’s heart melt.

After giving her a few more bites, Bina suddenly realized something.

She turned around to ask her husband, “Why aren’t you eating?”

Lucretius smiled gently. “Just looking at you two makes me feel full.”

“…”

More corny comments. When will he ever stop?!

Besides, she knew better. By the tone of his voice, Bina could tell that he was unhappy about something.

She lowered her voice and whispered, “Are you by chance irritated because I am paying attention only to Beatrice?”

“… Of course not.”

He answered with the briefest hesitation, which meant that she was right.

“Gosh… You are over thirty and the emperor for god’s sake, yet you are still acting so childishly.”

“… I, I said I’m not!” He must have realized how silly he was acting because he hurriedly explained himself. “I was just enjoying this beautiful moment with my lovely wife and our adorable daughter.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

Bina picked up a piece of ham, dunked it in the melted cheese, and got it to Lucretius’ lips.

“Here you are.”

Lucretius opened his mouth without hesitation and ate it happily. Beatrice watched them with a pleased smile.

Lucretius smiled in satisfaction, and Bina couldn’t help but laugh. He pretended otherwise, but he wanted her attention so bad. Once he got it, he seemed delighted.

Bina teased him. “You act so childishly sometimes.”

Lucretius pretended not to hear her and finally started to feed himself. He ate a piece of sweet fruit dipped in cheese.

Bina turned her attention back to their daughter. Normally, an empress never fed her children, but Bina wanted to do this at least until Beatrice became old enough to get her own wing. She wanted to spend as much family time with her and Lucretius as possible.

Just then, a piece of fruit in cheese appeared in front of her lips. It was Lucretius who was offering it to her.

“Say ahhh~.”

Bina blushed in embarrassment. “The maids are watching…!”

Lucretius wouldn’t budge. “This isn’t the first time they saw me act like this. I’m sure they are used to it by now.”

“…”

It was true. Bina was the only one who was conscious of others’ eyes when showing affection. Lucretius didn’t care who saw them together, and even Bina was starting to forget the maids and servants’ presence.

Bina protested, “B, but…”

When Bina hesitated, Lucretius asked casually, “If you don’t like this fork, I can feed you with my mouth.”

“I, it’s ok! It’s fine!”

Bina surrendered. As she ate the food and the fork left her mouth, it lightly rubbed on her lips on purpose. It was such an obviously seductive move and Bina narrowed her eyes.

‘We are in broad daylight!’

Her husband smiled and ignored her glare. This time, he got a piece of biscuit and had her open her mouth. Bina had no choice but to take the food again.

When the fork was still in her mouth, he lightly pushed her tongue with the utensil and touched the roof of her mouth with it.

Her cheeks reddened.

‘This… is what he does when he kisses!’

However, she couldn’t say anything. From the outside, it just looked like he was being considerate and feeding his wife.

Bina picked up her silver fork.

Now it was her turn.