With a gasp, Esther immediately closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “Theron!”

He laughed at her reaction. “After an entire night enjoying this body of mine, suddenly my lady is ignoring it like this? Do you not think it is kind of disrespectful to such a good body?”

Esther didn’t move, her hands still covering her face. “Please get dressed.”

“But I don’t want to,” she heard him say. “My wife is ignoring my body.”

“I am not ignoring it!” Esther countered. “I…am just a little embarrassed.”

A hearty laugh reached her ears. “I think we have crossed the limits of embarrassment last night. Do you wish me to remind you, my dear wife? I remember when your hands—”

“Stop, stop it!” When she opened her eyes to glare at the perverted rogue, she saw  Prince Theron already clad in his robe and he was tying its waist knot while looking at her with a teasing smile. She felt an odd sense of relief and regret.

“I am going to my chamber,” he said. “I believe my wife needs some privacy.”

‘How considerate,’ she thought and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

He leaned down and pecked on her lips. “See you in a while, my love.”

She nodded and the Crown Prince left to return to his own bedchamber.

Soon after, female servants entered her bedchamber to serve the Crown Princess.

They helped Esther have a bath and get ready for the day, while the others cleaned the bedsheets. Those servants could not help but gape when they saw the torn pillowcases and sheet, exclaiming at how wild the night must have gone for such a thing to occur. Luckily, Esther was already in the side chamber by then, or else she would have been embarrassed about how she had to channel her strength on the pillows last night in order to not hurt her weak human husband.

Under the care of the servants, Esther felt her entire body aching the whole time, although soaking in hot water did give her some sort of relief. She wished she could just rest in her bed the whole day as she didn’t wish to go out in such a state.

She and the Crown Prince had a late afternoon meal together inside her chamber. Afterwards, Prince Theron left to handle some important court matters. Just as Esther thought she would be able to rest comfortably for the rest of the day, Queen Theodora came to visit the Crown Prince’s residence.

Seeing Queen Theodora enter her bedchamber, Esther was about to step out of bed to greet the Queen, but heard her say, “No need for formalities. Just keep resting, my dear.”

Esther felt thankful for the older woman’s thoughtfulness and simply sat with her back against the new pillows. But then, she heard the Queen continue, “I am sure my son must have troubled you enough, so being his mother, I will spare you from the trouble of formality.”

With a huge emphasis on the word ‘troubled’, blood rushed to Esther’s face. Not just the son, but even the mother didn’t spare her from hearing such embarrassing things. With her head lowered, she struggled to keep herself polite. “Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.”

“Now that I think about it,” the Queen said as she sat on the chair a servant brought beside the bed, “we seem to have a problem that needs immediate attention.”

Esther looked at the Queen with a puzzled look.

The Queen continued, “It is a problem that my son’s wife is not  calling me ‘mother’.”

Esther didn’t know how to react. This beautiful woman in front of her was younger than her, their age difference not even just a generation or two away. But as she married her son, she did have a duty to call her mother.

“I will remember to do so from today onwards, Your Majesty.”

The Queen offered her displeased gaze. “I think I heard something wrong?”

Esther realized her mistake and corrected herself. “I apologize, Mother.”

A contented smile painted itself on Queen Theodora’s lips. “Oh, I think there is another thing that needs immediate attention.”

Seeing Esther patiently waiting for her to continue, she could not help but raise a brow. “My husband and I are getting old, and if we have to wait long, I am afraid we won’t be able to have enough energy to play with young children. We will have to trouble you with giving us grandchildren before that happens.”

Esther had an urge to laugh. Prince Theron wasn’t wrong when he said earlier that his mother would ask for this.

Seeing Esther quiet, Queen Theodora grew concerned. “What happened, dear? Did I say something wrong?”

“N-No, Mother. I will try to fulfil your wishes,” Esther replied.

“Do not be pressured. This is just my and Esteban’s wish, but of course, everything has its own time.” The Queen smiled ear to ear. “Theron had always been a lonely child as he never had siblings to play with. He has cousins and half-siblings, but as you know, in royal families, real familial bonds are a rare sight. Especially with his half-siblings, they had started to compete with each other from a young age, and there is no one true among them who doesn’t have underlying intentions against my son. I know the other children were raised that way by their mothers in order for their own benefits, and it’s just a matter of a clash of interest, but seeing my own son suffer due to that at such an early age saddens me.

“After experiencing such treatment, my son was forced to be an adult even though he was so young then. As soon as he learned what it meant to be an Ivanov, he always had to look over his shoulder and be wary of people. He began to believe that he had no one to trust but himself. Theron had always busied himself in studies and later on work, all in order to prove that he is worthy of being the Crown Prince. He never got the chance to live like other children. I do not even remember him playing the moment he started his studies. I believe that once he has kids of his own, at least through playing with them, he will get to experience that lost childhood.”

Esther felt her mood dampen, her heart aching for what her husband experienced. It reminded her of how Prince Theron treated her when they first met, and she realized he wasn’t particularly hating on her. He was only being protective of the Queen.

“I understand, Mother.”

“Thank you, my dear.”

The Queen then enjoyed having tea with her daughter-in-law as she shared some funny incidents from Theron’s childhood days.

=====

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