Morning came and Mikael once again took babysitting duty with Tan, with permission from the Duke who then relegated duties meant for Mikael to others he trusts.

Izak is a good natured baby, not crying for his mother all the time; he was content on holding and nibbling on the rabbit doll given to him by his uncle.

The three of them were in a private parlor, with the adults having a simple breakfast of eggplant omelet with ground pork, fried rice with one egg, and a cup of coffee. The wetnurse is in one corner, almost done feeding the baby.

Once the baby had been burped and returned to the nearby cradle, Tan looked over at him to check if he’s a happy baby. His eyes darted to the wet nurse who seemed to have a satisfied smile on her face.

He doesn’t want to cast doubts on the people that his siblings hired but he has to admit that they’re a little too trusting. Javi had already compiled a report and got nothing on the wet nurse other than she needed the money for her children.

“How many days to go before inso comes back?” Tan asked as he straightened back in his seat.

“Five more days, if things go well.”

Tan nodded at that, his eyes darting here and there at the servants, making note of the tiny details. Mikael noticed this and sighed, before raising his hand to dismiss everyone from their presence.

Once alone, Mikael bluntly said, “Tell me about the repeating prophetic dream you’ve been having about Izak. Your suspicion about everyone is starting to get annoying. We’re partners, aren’t we?”

Tan blinked and gave him an abashed smile. “Sorry, I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

He took his cup and stared at its content before taking a sip. “I told you last night that it’s harder to differentiate but my guts say that…someone might attempt to kidnap him or kill him in his sleep. They were dressed as one of the servants but I couldn’t see their faces.”

Mikael pondered on that for a moment before nodding, as the possibility is there. Since someone had infiltrated their house before to steal old servant clothes and laid false claims of the Duke being injured, the possibility of someone sneaking in again is high.

But who would dare be the mastermind of such an attempt?

His investigation into Eufemia Ferrer turned up nothing, though he did hear that unlicensed merchants and mages were seen frequenting their domain. Focusing too much on one noble house means they’ll lose sight of the others who are not in favor of the Queen.

“We don’t have new hires, except for the wet nurse.” Mikael said as he resumed his breakfast. “Nanny Mira is keeping an eye on her as well, since this is Izak’s safety we’re talking about. We can rest assured no one in this House would dare attempt such crime because of money.”

Tan raised his eyebrows, surprised to know that the Head Maid is personally involved despite her other duties.

After breakfast, the two of them went on a walk, with the young prince in his stroller and his canopy drawn to shield him from sunlight. Mikael pushed the stroller carefully, unaware that he’s clenching his jaw tightly as he concentrated on not tipping the carriage to either side.

They went around the gardens and Tan idly plucked a small flower from a tree to put on Mikael’s hair. He didn’t mean anything with it, but a small voice in his mind told him that it’ll look good on his partner.

True enough, the white petals of the flower complimented the reddish pink hair that Mikael has. Mikael only frowned at his direction, stopping in his footsteps and the sight of him pouting like that sent butterflies in Tan’s stomach.

‘Love marriages have contracts too…’ Tan realized as he smiled at his friend, not really aware of the budding feelings he has.

•×•×•

“Your Highness, it’s time for me to feed the young prince.” The wet nurse said as she bowed politely to Tan, who was busy playing peekaboo and other baby-friendly games with his nephew, resulting in many thrilled laughter from the baby.

Tan only glanced at her before nodding. “I’ll leave two knights with you since you don’t have your assistants.”

He noticed the slight twitch on the wet nurse and he raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem with my order?”

“N-no, Your Highness. None at all.”

Tan stood up and looked at two female knights in the room. “Leslie, Christin, you’re on guard duty. If anything happens, I will strip you of your knighthood and your baronet titles.”

The two knights only gulped and only gave a “Yes, Your Highness” affirmation.

Tan gave the wet nurse a look that said “Don’t even try anything funny”, as he layered every little action and gaze with a dominating aura that he learned to abuse from his brother. He left the room and made his way to Mikael’s office not far away from his original location.

He was surprised to see Nanny Mira coming out of Mikael’s office and he gave her a warm smile, a stark contrast to how he was cold before.

“Nanny Mira, how are you today?”

“I’m doing well, Your Highness. You seem to be in a good mood.”

Tan flashed her a big smile. “I’m teaching Izak to say ‘uncle’, to surprise my brother and sister-in-law.”

Nanny Mira only chuckled, shaking her head at his harmless prank. “By the way, what brought you here, Your Highness? Is something amiss?”

“The wet nurse said it’s time to feed Izak.”

“Isn’t it a little too early?”

“Yeah, I left two knights with her since she didn’t have her assistants…”

This seemed to bother the nanny for a moment before she excused herself to check in on the wet nurse. Tan only watched her go before knocking on Mikael’s door.

“Come in.”

Tan entered the clean and organized office that is a total opposite of the Tower Master’s. He found Mikael by his desk, equipped with a reading glass as he sorted through the paperworks.

‘Bad eyesight runs in the family…’ Tan thought bemusedly.

Mikael looked up from the stack of accounting reports in his hands. “What brought you here? We’ve only been separated for an hour and a half, surely you’re not here because you missed me?”

Tan laughed. “You were the one that said we should act like our idiot siblings in love, but you’re giving me the cold shoulder.”

One of Mikael’s eyebrows went up. “Are you sure you can handle that?”

“We grew up seeing them fawn over one another, how hard can it be?”

Mikael gazed at him for a moment before setting aside the papers and his eyeglasses. Standing up, he made his way to the second prince, opening his arms and sliding them around the prince’s waist.

Tan froze on the spot, his eyes glued to Mikael, hyper aware of what he’s doing. He could feel the muscles hidden beneath Mikael’s sleeves, and if he were being honest, he likes the way they feel around him.

Mikael only stared up at him, their height difference not so much in terms of inches. He watched Tan slowly tensed up and turned red as he gently rubbed his thumbs on the prince’s lower back. He sighed as he pulled away.

“You still tense up on physical intimacy, how are you going to convince people we’re in love?” Mikael said as he crossed his arms.

“You did it without warning. I was unprepared.” Tan replied rather defensively, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Because there’s no need for a warning for physical intimacy. I thought you watched our siblings fawn over one another up close?”

Tan pouted before he extended his arms and gently cornered Mikael back to his desk, his arms on either side of his partner. He then pressed his forehead onto Mikael’s, looking straight into those pretty teal irises that never wavers, which made his ears redder.

Damn it, how can Tan make him fluster the way Mikael flusters him with physical intimacy?

A knock on the door interrupted their staring contest.

“Your Lordship, Your Highness, we have something to report.”

It was Nanny Mira outside the door, sounding grave and worried that the two broke away from one another and fixed their expressions.