Theo began walking forward slowly, but after a mont, he slid his sword back into its hilt.
"It’s great to et you, my lord," Theo said calmly, showing proper etiquette by offering a proper bow, making the old man chuckle at his gesture.
"You have been quite daring, Theo. To go to the gate without permission," the old man said with a smile.
"If it had been anyone else, they would have long since been thrown into the prison, and not just any prison, but the royal one."
The old man paused but didn’t stop at just that.
"But since I know His Majesty and Aldric go way back, I knew there wouldn’t be any trouble."
"And I am glad about that," he added before rising to his feet. The tar guards beside him stepped forward as well, as if ready to move at a mont’s notice.
The old duke approached Theo and placed a hand on his shoulder. Theo had already directed the ants to go to the exterior of his pants and abdon since he didn’t want to spook any of these high nobles.
"Hmm... not the shoulders I would expect a child like you to have," the old duke said with a soft sigh, though his smile remained. "But they clearly show how hard you have worked, Theo rrick"
"I would like to hear about your journey once this ordeal is complete. Would you both like to visit the Duchy later?" he asked.
The baron bowed in respect again.
"I could never refuse an invitation from you, Duke Aurelius. When all of this is over, we will co to et you right away."
"I will wait patiently; it’s not like there’s much these old bones can do anyway," the old man replied with a light laugh. He patted Theo’s shoulder once more before walking toward the exit.
"I will take my leave now."
The baron maintained his respectful posture until the old duke and his guards had completely left the room.
"Do you know who that was, Theo?" the baron asked.
"He is the Duke who granted us the Whispering Forests, Father," Theo answered imdiately.
The baron chuckled at his son’s answer. "That’s just what the papers say, son. I will tell you the truth soon."
"The debt we rricks owe to the Aurelius Duchy..."
Before Theo could even ask what he ant by that, since he hadn’t read anything related to that in the books, he felt sothing enter his range of sense and approach them closer and faster.
Theo could have easily dodged it. His mind seed to have already calculated the movent ahead of ti. But he knew there weren’t many who would dare to attack him here, and even fewer the baron would allow.
Before Theo could even turn to see who it was, he felt a tug around his waist, forcing him into a half-step before he caught himself.
He twisted around to see who was crazy enough to grab him like this, only to see the one person he hadn’t thought would be there.
"MOTHER!"
Shock filled his thoughts, but Theo’s first instinct was to gently remove her hands and drop down to pull her for a hug.
When the baroness got hugged right away, tears refused to stop dripping from her eyes. She kept one hand on her son’s head, gently ruffling his hair as if reassuring herself that he was truly before her.
She looked toward the baron with teary eyes, and he t her gaze with warmth.
Nothing much was said between the two, yet the storm of emotions Theo felt from them was beyond what could be described in re words.
All this ti, a single question had always lingered in the back of his mind...
Was his mother safe?
And now, here she was.
He quickly pulled back from the hug and looked at his mother carefully, making sure that she was okay.
But aside from the tears and the fragile expression of a mother seeing her son after so long, Theo couldn’t find anything wrong.
"You both had so scared this whole ti..." the baroness said between sniffles, making Theo feel even guiltier.
"But I am back ho safely now, am I not, Mother? Please don’t be sad anymore." Theo replied softly and placed a hand on her head before gently caressing her hair for a few seconds.
Seeing her son like this, a small chuckle escaped the baroness’s lips as she whipped her tears away.
"How mature you have beco... to console your own mother now," she said.
Theo quickly stood up and offered her a hand.
"Your dress is getting dirty, Mother. Let’s get up first."
She accepted without hesitation.
Once she stood up, she realized that Theo was now taller than her, which, despite being a small detail, surprised her more.
Then she noticed him glancing down at himself and scratching his head in embarrassnt.
When Seraphina looked down as well, she suddenly realized she had forgotten sothing in desperation.
Her expression briefly twisted with disgust, as though she was going to retch any mont, but she controlled herself quite well.
"It was safe to... touch them, right, Theo?" she asked, her face switching to a poker expression to hide just how horrified she was.
In the emotional mont earlier, she had slamd herself into the very spot that was filled the most with the ants.
"There is no issue about that, Mother. And the mont they felt you coming toward , these bastards just ditched protecting and went to the side," Theo replied with a laugh.
For the first ti, concern for his son flickered across the baron’s face, but Theo was oblivious to it.
A few seconds passed, and seeing that nothing seed to be happening, the baroness kept smiling as she stared deeply into Theo’s eyes.
"I guess my dear husband has taught our son so... really interesting words. It seems another etiquette training is in order. For both of you, uhh. Isn’t that right, honey?" the baroness asked sweetly, though there was an icy cold glint in her eyes.
Theo’s laughter died instantly. He glanced at his father, who had the most annoyed face imaginable while looking at him.
But despite being angry about so things, the baroness still stepped forward and wrapped the baron in a hug, which he returned right away.
Seeing the relieved and satisfied expressions on their faces, Theo finally understood just how deeply they loved each other.
Monts later, more mbers of the household entered the study, starting the long-awaited reunion.
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