The Knight Commander's son

Chapter 4

Alden ignored Tyon and turned to Amauri:

"When you eat and talk at the same time, food could go down the wrong way and that's really dangerous. That's why you should never talk with a full mouth."

Amauri's eyes started sparkling and he asked a lot more questions wanting to know more. Alden's heart acked. Was no one answering his questions? He seemed so excited when he answered. And when he understood what he explained he would ask him if he was smart. Alden wanted to hug him until he stopped breathing. He was adorable and it was so sad to see him like this.

"He shouldn't because it is not polite."

Alden rolled his eyes again.

"His safety is more important than being polite. Who cares about what others think?

-That's really something you would say.

-And what does that mean?"

The air grew really cold in the room and the servants started fidgeting not knowing where to look.

"You never care about what others think and continue on wearing those awful creations of yours.

-That again. You really are obsessed with my dresses. That's right. I don't care. I would hate myself if I did.

-Don't you feel ashamed having everyone tell you on and on again how monstrous they are?

-I thought you were a knight. Have you ever seen a monster before? You think way too much about ethichet and others' opinions. If it makes you happy then by all means. But don't tell me what to be ashamed of. My dresses aren't something like that."

Tyon got up, way too irritated to put up with it more. The dinner finished and the two of them hated each other even more than before eating together. The servants stared at Alden shily. No one dared to say anything to him and he wouldn't be the one to ask. Alden went to sleep with Amauri in his arms and the next day he didn't talk to Tyon during breakfast pretending he wasn't there. It was rather easy to do in fact. Tyon stared at his plate and only looked up when Amauri did something bad. However the little boy got way less clumsy with Alden around. He seemed ecstatic, his smile not fading for a second and when he was about to make a mistake, Alden would save the day at the last second.

He saw how stressed the child was and Alden kept repeating to him how brave and smart he was. Amauri quickly opened up and felt way more confident than before. Their days were quite peaceful. Alden didn't really have a lot to do. He had his own room and spent his day playing with Amauri. He read to him, explained things to him, and went to the garden with him... They slept together and the only moment Alden saw Tyon was during breakfast and dinner when neither of them tried interacting with the other. Alden talked a lot to Amauri and taught him a lot of things but Tyon still only talked to him to ground him. Alden didn't try to make their relationship better. He knew he had to but not for now. He was way too angry at Tyon to think about it at the moment. He didn't care if he had a good day or if he did something interesting. He wasn't interested in him and wasn't planning to help him with Amauri yet.

Amauri really liked music. This was a big surprise for everyone which made Alden roll his eyes. Of course they didn't know anything about the kid when he didn't have the right to express himself. Alden jumped on every occasion to get to know Amauri and to make him do things he loved, therefore they started singing together. They sang together before sleeping and went in the garden to sing and dance together in the falling leaves. Amauri had an amazing time and even Alden was happy. He laughed at the top of his lungs not knowing that Tyon was watching them more and more interested in Alden's laugh.

Alden had been staying at the mansion for a week and his suitcase was still nowhere to be found. Earl was quite shy around him so he didn't want to pester him every second about it. Janyn told him he would look into it but for some reason he seemed to avoid the topic with an embarrassed look. Therefore one morning Alden decided to talk to Tyon about this matter directly :

"When will my suitcase arrive?"

Tyon didn't respond immediately and Alden was ready to repeat himself when the commander said:

"You have everything you need here. If you have something you want to buy, ask Janyn directly."

Alden frowned. Poor Janyn, he was always the one Tyon sent him to. He was so nice and he didn't want to complain to him about everything. He by far prefered to pester Tyon even if he didn't want to talk to him.

"I want my stuff. My books, my dresses, my tools...

-Prepare a list but the dresses aren't allowed in the mansion."

Alden couldn't hold back a scoff :

"And why is that your highness?"

Tyon swallowed hard trying to keep his calm.

"I won't accept something improper in my house. I can't have my nephew witness such garments. What if he starts wearing the same things?

-Wait a minute. Hold up. Who are you to decide what I wear? If you don't let me wear whatever I want then I'll wear nothing."

Tyon didn't take Alden's words seriously and insisted on his dresses being off limits. After breakfast Alden was boiling but he had a plan and started laughing to himself. He must have still seemed angry because both Amauri and Earl stared at him worried :

"Mommy, is there something wrong?"

Alden remembered that there was a child there and smiled:

"Everything is fine, sweaty. I had a really funny idea and was thinking about it."

Earl didn't seem reassured and for the first time he channeled all his courage to ask :

"What are you going to do?"

Alden couldn't hold back his smile and Earl got really scared:

"I know Sir Tyon can be quite strong willed but...

-Strong willed? He did something he should never have done. I don't care how rude he is but he has no right to tell me anything about my body.

-I understand but... I don't want the Mister to be in trouble..."

Alden smiled softly :

"You are adorable, Earl. You are one of my favorite people in this mansion."

Amauri raised his arms in the air :

"I am the first right?"

Alden carried him in his arms with a smile.

"Of course it's you!"

Amauri laughed happily.

"Don't worry about me, Earl. I can fight my own battles. I have been for the last 25 years and I don't plan on stopping."

Earl seemed to have a lot to say but he just bit his lip and followed Alden to his room. Alden immediately headed to his wardrobe and took out clean undergarments that he didn't hesitate to put on instead of the dress he had been wearing. Earl opened wide eyes understanding what he was planning to do :

"Alden!"

He was so surprised he didn't even realize he had screamed. Alden went to his mirror and looked at himself with a satisfied smile:

"I look amazing. Oh my God, who wouldn't want this body?"

Earl was starting to get really red and tried covering Amauri's eyes.

"It's okay. It is just undergarments. I am not naked and there is nothing ugly or secret about a body.

-B-but... Y-you..."

Alden laughed:

"It was exactly the reaction I wanted. Thank you Earl."

Seeing Alden leave his room in his undergarments, Amauri wanted to do the same. Earl tried reasoning with him but there was no way to convince him. There was no one more influential for him than his new mommy and Alden was really proud to see his new friend accompany him in his plan.

Alden and Amauri went around in their day the same way they always did. They went outside to have tea, played in the grass... They were lucky that it was still really hot outside. When the servants saw them they opened wide eyes and stared at them as if they just witnessed ghosts. Janyn was the most surprised of them all and covered his eyes, his cheeks growing dark red. Alden laughed seeing him do so:

"It is just undergarments, Janyn. Don't act so prude. We all have bodies."

He seemed at a loss for words and soon ran away which made Alden laugh even more. Seeing his mommy in such a good mood, Amauri laughed and jumped all over the place. This child had never felt so free and happy in his entire life. As they were having fun, Alden heard some footsteps and the next second he found himself face to face with the knights who lost Amauri. He hadn't seen them since he arrived but knew they had been having a hard time because of the events.

They immediately recognised Alden and opened wide eyes seeing what he was wearing. They seemed really tired and Alden didn't want to talk to them, annoyed for some reason. He wanted to pass them by without a word but they soon recovered from their surprise and called for him:

"Mister, Alden!"

Alden turned around irritation visible on his face:

"What?

-Do you need help of any sort?"

Alden looked at his clothes knowing what they meant. They didn't dare look at them but he knew they thought that he lost his clothes for some reason.

"Nope. Have a nice day!

-Wait!"

Alden didn't want to continue this conversation but when he turned around he saw five sad faces looking at him. He frowned and stayed put to listen to what they wanted:

"We are really sorry about the events.

-Great."

Alden didn't want to be so cold but it was hard.

"We were completely in the wrong but we were really scared about Sir Farroworb finding out and took the frustration out on you. We're sorry."

All of them apologized and Alden was taken aback for a second.

"Thank you..."

There was an awkward silence and Alden did his best to soothe his voice. He couldn't stay mad at them after they apologized:

"It happens to everyone, don't worry about it."

The knights bowed to him:

"Thank you for being so understanding."

Alden nodded and turned to leave. Janyn seemed right. They weren't that bad after all.