.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

Cal had never thought that this would be the sight that he would come home to. He expected to return in victory to a loving reunion with his wife and son. Now that he had declared his feelings to her, he was looking forward to spending the day resting in the comfort of her embrace.

Instead, his wife laid unconscious, bandages wrapped over her head and arm, and news that she had fallen from a horse today.

But why would she be riding a horse? Didn't she tell him that she wasn't that good with horses?

"Baby, slow down," Senior cupped Junior's face as the boy threw himself upon him; though it didn't stop his tears from flowing as he attempted to wipe them away. "Tell me what happened."

"I did it, Papa!" Junior sobbed. "I did this to Gigi! I was upset that you left, so I ran into the woods! Then she came after me... and that man knocked her off her horse! I never meant for it to happen! I never wanted her to get hurt!"

Normally Cal would have scolded his son, but seeing how he was crumbling inside his arms, he didn't have the heart to do it. Junior had realized his mistake and felt remorse for his actions, and that was enough.

Hold on... what man?

"What man, Junior? They told me she fell off the horse by accident!" Cal gripped his son by his shoulders, his blue eyes widened as if he had let slip something he shouldn't have said.

"...Nobody. Just a common snatcher. He threatened to take me away."

"And you're just telling me this now?" He stood up furiously. Had someone attempted to kidnap his son? "I have to alert the guards. We better catch him now; he couldn't have gone that far!"

"No, it's too dangerous!" Junior shrieked, grabbing the end of his suit. Tears were pouring out of his eyes as his voice trembled. "P-Please, Papa... Don't go. Stay! I-I don't want anyone else to get injured for me. N-Not you. Don't leave me again."

His poor son! Of course, he would be shaken! He shall conduct an investigation, but not now.

Kneeling back before him, he rubbed the sides of his head in circles. "...You said you were upset at me leaving?"

Junior shot a glare through his tearful eyes. "I was, and I am! Y-You didn't even write to me, not even a message. N-Not a single telephone call! Each day, I kept thinking to myself if you were ever going to return!"

"Oh, Junior, I'm so sorry. I didn't think that you would be so devastated with me leaving," Cal muttered regretfully. He had underestimated Junior's attachment to him, thinking it would be alright as long as he had Gigi by his side.

"Y-You're the evilest person..." He hiccuped between his tears, balling his fists and hitting them against his father's chest. "...t-that ever walked the earth!"

Cal enfolded his son tighter in his arms, Junior's tears dampening the front of his suit. "I see. I will make sure to call you next time. Every single day."

They stayed like that for some time, before he was finally called away.

Later Cal realized that he had to deal with Aravin, too. The boy had been avoiding him, so he acted quickly, contacting the Prajan Embassy and issuing a formal letter addressing Gigi's accident. Even though the notion of returning Gigi to Praja was mostly nonsense, he wouldn't want any talks of him abandoning Gigi reaching the royal family; just in case Aravin decided to write to his parents. He would have a lot to explain himself and would risk spoiling his plans for Seol-il.

He had secretly commanded the guards to search for the snatcher, but so far they had found no suspicious-looking man in the area. He must have escaped, just as Cal feared.

Even though he knew that being the rulers of an empire made them a juicy target, he would never have thought that it would happen in his own backyard. The palace complex was supposed to be a safe place; the woods included. There were armed guards on every corner of the perimeter. If anyone decided to sneak in, they would have been caught.

Another question was, who would it be? Could it be a common thief aiming for ransom? Currently, there weren't any opposing political parties who detested him enough to attempt kidnapping. And if they did they would've hired a group of people, not a single man. Was it done by a rival country, maybe? Thinking about it only gave him a headache.

Though...there was one. An old family who had always had it against Angletonia, ever since their realm fell under his great-grandfather's rule. Their latest contact with them had been... a horror. Because they accused his family of killing their daughter.

It was rubbish, and they were delusional. He wished he had killed her. Isleen had it coming. And if there was a God, he must have been just for ending that bitch's life in exchange for his son's.

But they were exiled in their own homeland with no gold and their resources were depleted. It couldn't have been them, he convinced himself as he downed his whiskey. They should never be able to return here.

Cal arranged the pillows comfortably around Gigi as he lay by her side that night. He changed her bandages and gently pressed ice over her swelling arm. It was the least he could do for the woman who had done too much for him, while he—by his weakness—had only given her so little.

She went out of her way because she was worried about Junior. She fell off the horse because she protected his son from the kidnapper. She could've lost her life for it.

"I'm here, darling," he murmured as she started to shift and mumble in her sleep, loosely wrapping an arm over her petite figure. "I'm home."

***

Cal made sure to put on a happy face as he addressed everyone in the Polo Gold Cup the following day.

"I was in Genovo the other day when I heard the devastating news about our neighbouring country and flew straight home out of concern for my wife and son. Although my cousin, the Lord Amboise, has confirmed that the northern mountain range was not affected by this disaster, we should continue to look to aid those in need," he added smoothly into his speech.

As soon as he stepped down from the podium he was quickly approached by a dark-skinned man, handing him an envelope.

"Sire, a message from Prince Adejola. He regretted that he could not prolong his stay in Angletonia because he needed to return home at once. His brother, the King, has passed away from illness."

Cal threw a sceptical glance at him before accepting the envelope. The card inside it did bear the special markings of the Kingdom of N'thanda, Adejola's home country, and signed with his initials.

"My deepest condolences for his loss. It's unfortunate that I couldn't see him leaving, I wish I could tell him personally." He ran a hand through his hair anxiously as he finished reading the note, shaking his head. King Kamau of N'thanda was a just and honourable man. Cal had met him a couple of times when he was not yet Emperor.

"He had wanted to tell you himself, but seeing as you were out of the country..."

"That... is fine. I understand. I will send an emissary to N'thanda immediately to pay our respects."

The news of the King of N'thanda's passing was still bothering him as he went home that afternoon. Death knows no age, the King was forty-three. His thoughts wandered to his own wife who was still lying unconscious in her bed at the very moment. How much time would he have with her?

She could've lost her life to the accident if she had been unlucky. He himself had seen the breaching of the dams in Seol-il with his own eyes, and could have been swept away had he miscalculated.

If one of them had to face an untimely death one day, he wouldn't want to be left with regret. Realizing their time together was inevitably limited, he would make sure to celebrate it to the fullest.

It would leave him vulnerable, but she was worth the risk when she had put her own life in danger for their family.

From that moment he decided, when she opened her eyes he would give her everything she'd always wanted.

Every single one of them.

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.

If anyone's wondering what kind of power does Jr. (and Fate) have... It is magic, of course... But not as in Harry Potter magic. Try to think of Loki and Scarlet Witch in the MCU. So telekinesis, illusion-casting... those sorts of thing.

And I am working on making the map of this universe!! 😊😊😊

I want everything to be perfect so it might take a week or two. But here's a small sneak-peak of the country's locations. There are still other countries, of course. But I am only listing some that are already mentioned and involved in the story.

(This is just a cheat-sheet and not the real map) XD