Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 324: Reminiscing

Chapter 324: Reminiscing

Ara and the other ladies moved to the palace where they could speak among themselves. Immediately they reached the room, Eadlin asked, "Sister-in-law, have you eaten yet?"

"No, not yet..." Ara replied softly, she was already starving, however she was trying to reduce her food consumption.

"Hmm, I thought so. I’ll tell the maids to bring you something to eat, so please wait here." She stood up, but Ara waved her hands, "Please don’t bother, you don’t have to." She declined, but Eadlin had already stood up, "Don’t worry, I’ll be right back."

"Ah, wait for me I’ll come with you, your highness!" Mary hurriedly ran after Eadlin.

They soon returned with maids carrying two full trays. Ara who was trying to avoid too much food couldn’t help but salivate at the sight of the food, but quickly composed herself, "Eadlin, why did you bring this much food?"

"Brother told me you liked them, so I got them all for you, help yourself, that way you will be healthy."

Ara smiled warmly, she looked at the ladies before her, Eadlin was like a sister and a friend to her, while the others were also her close friends. In her past life, she couldn’t particularly call them friends, but not anymore. Unlike the days when she felt lonely even when she was around people in gatherings, she now had people with whom she could open her heart and be free around them. It was a different kind of warmth from her experience in her past life.

Ara beamed, "Thank you, I’ll eat well."

Ara spent her time joyfully with her friends, before they finally returned back to the hall. She returned to Hamon, who seemed to be having a heated conversation with Henry judging from the frown on her brother’s face, however as if sensing her presence Hamon turned towards her with a smile, before he said to Henry,

"Just do as I say and get it over with, brother-in-law."

Ara looked from Henry to Hamon in confusion, "Is something wrong?" She asked.

Henry spoke, "There’s nothing, we were just discussing about my wedding with Eadlin, but we’re done talking, I’ll excuse myself, your majesty." He gave a curt bow and left the couple, Ara followed Henry with her eyes until he went to stand beside his fiance, before turning back to Hamon, "Were you waiting for me?"

"Not at all, your brother was here to keep me company."

"Has the shaman picked from the list of the names we gave?" She asked as she sat down on her sit. Hamon and Ara had already made a list of names beforehand, all that was left was the approval of the shaman.

"Yes, the shaman has brought two names. And surprisingly It’s the names you chose a few days ago."

Ara’s eyes brightened, "Really? I thought the names sounded off to the ears, but it’s good they were approved!"

Hamon smiled, however he didn’t tell his wife that he had made the shaman pick those names she chose for the babies. He raised his hand into the air, and Olivier, who was waiting nearby quickly approached and shouted out loud,

"Attention everyone! It’s time."

The noisy hall fell silent, and all the people’s attention turned towards the high table. Hamon stood up and addressed the crowd,

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the naming of our unborn babies. The shaman has approved of the names we picked, and since we aren’t sure of their genders yet, we decided to give names useable for the both genders, the names are..." Hamon paused for a brief second before he announced, "Hara and Rara!"

Murmuring broke out at the unexpected strange names. Of course, those were the names Ara picked by combining both their names, however it sounded weird to the guests, but sensing Hamon’s bloodshot eyes swept across them, the guests cheered and clapped their hands.

"Such lovely names, congratulations your majesty!"

"Congratulations!"

Ara awkwardly glanced towards Hamon, "Do you also think the names are strange?" She asked.

Hamon chuckled, "Strange? Not at all, I like them."

Ara grinned and hooked her arm around Hamon’s arm and hugged him sideways. No matter what the people think, to her the names were perfect, and she couldn’t be happier. Hara and Rara. Hamon and Ara. The grin on Ara’s mouth widened as she closed her eyes to breathe in Hamon’s scent,

"Thank you..." She mumbled softly.

---

The banquet ended in good grace, however the people who attended it, couldn’t stop talking about the names. Nevertheless, Ara continued her normal daily life and spent most of her time making arrangements for her babies arrival in a month, she sat on a rocking chair as she knitted some colourful sweaters for her babies with a warm smile on her face.

However, she was soon interrupted with the news that Richard, her father had arrived at the palace to visit her. She was slightly taken aback. Richard didn’t get to attend the banquet because he was still recovering from his injury, Ara hadn’t expected to suddenly see him visit the palace today.

Nevertheless, she told the servant to lead him to the room she was in, and soon Richard walked in. He looked just as she remembered, stern expression, strong physic, straight posture.

A warm smile graced Ara’s lips as she made to stand up to great her father, however he beat her to it by bowing to her, "Good afternoon, your majesty."

Ara’s smile slowly fell seeing how he was still treating her with respect, not like a father would treat his daughter. Her warm smile was soon replaced with a bitter one, however she replied, "Good afternoon...lord Boxton." She then motioned to the chair close to hers, "Please take your seat."

Richard quietly sat down, Ara asked if he would like to have anything, however he refused. She didn’t insist and decided to resume her knitting since he wasn’t speaking. They was a heavy silence in the room as Ara wasn’t used to being around her father.

Richard gazed at his daughter who continued to knit the colorful sweater, and as if sensing his gaze she glanced towards him and ended up poking her finger with the needle, "Ahh!" She hissed in pain.

"That’s enough, your majesty. You should let the servants do that for you."

Ara hurried to say, "No, I want to do this with my own hands. It’s just a small poke, I can do it myself."

"Your majesty..." Richard wanted to speak further, but Ara cut him off by saying, "You can also quit calling me that when we’re alone, father."

"How dare I, as a servant of the royals, it is only proper I address you with respect."

Ara swallowed a wry smile, Richard was a loyal general, but he didn’t know how to be a loving father to his daughter. She wasn’t sitting here with him as the queen, but as his daughter. Whenever her father treated her only as the queen, she felt a chasm between them. Had it been the past, she would have hidden her disappointment and pretended to be fine. But now...She would not.

"I’m sorry father, but it is known all over the world that the queen of Findara is a daughter of the Boxton household. Would you make me a cruel daughter who made her father bow to her just because she has power?"

"...!"

Richard’s dark green eyes trembled slightly at Ara’s words. He had never considered this before, Ara had been hiding her feelings from him for a long time, and she knew he never intended to make her dislike him. Until now, she believed he would at least show her love as a father if she was obedient.

However, the communication between them only seemed to fade even further. Only recently did she realized it, hence she vowed to express her own feelings to him more frequently, starting from today.

"Father, I hope you don’t call me ’Her majesty’ too much, as you know, I’m still your daughter, and I just want to be that, not the queen to you."

"..."

"So, can you please call me by my name when we’re alone?"

"...very well, your maj_" Richard almost replied with an honorary title, but quickly realized his mistake and glanced at Ara with a wry look. It was an unfamiliar expression to her, and she stared at him without even realizing it.

Richard spoke again, apparently misunderstanding her expression, "...I mean Arabella, I will try to call your that from now on."

Ara nodded, "Very well then." She said before cautiously taking Richard’s roughed hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He looked at her in puzzlement and she spoke again, "Thank you so much for staying alive, you should live a long life, that way you will be able to hug and care for your grandchildren in the future."

Richard’s eyes slid to Ara’s rounded belly, an irresistible smile split across his face. Though he’d already heard that his daughter was pregnant, however this was the first time he had confirmed it with his own eyes. That was the main reason he was here to personally visit her, but then didn’t know what to say to her.

"For some reason, you remind me of your mother when she was pregnant..." He muttered softly as he gently stroked one of the colorful baby sweaters on the table that Ara had already finished knitting days ago.

"Mother?"

"Yes, whenever she’s pregnant, she always wanted to prepare for the baby herself, just like you’re doing now."

"Really?" Ara paused in her knitting and looked at her father. It was the first time they’d ever talked about the past like this. Her mother had died so long ago that her memories of the woman were limited.

"I wonder what mother was like when she was pregnant." She muttered softly.

Richard’s eyes looked dazedly ahead as he reminisced, "When she was pregnant with your brother Henry, she suffered from severe morning sickness and countless sleepless nights, fortunately when she was pregnant with you...I remember she ate and slept well. She always talked about how gentle you were compared to your brother, she probably liked that you didn’t give her so much trouble like he did." He said with a small smile.

If Ara had heard this story in the past, she would not have fully understood it. Now, she empathized with her mother completely, while she never saw her mother’s pregnancies, of course, she could clearly imagine it. She smiled softly, "I’m glad I wasn’t too hard on mother."

Richard chuckled softly, the sound of it sounded foreign to Ara who didn’t remember the last time she saw her father laugh, however it brought a smile to her face without even realizing it. Richard resumed to speak,

"Well, as I’ve said, your were a gentle child. The last time your mother was pregnant, it was your sister Anne. The pregnancy was so difficult that she couldn’t even step out of bed for some days. Her legs were so swollen..."

"Mother suffered a lot with Anne?" Ara had a vague memory of her mother being pregnant with Anne, but she didn’t know the difficulties she was suffering at the time.

Richard nodded his head, "Yes, your sister really gave your mother a hard time...on the day of the childbirth, she couldn’t hold on anymore, even the physicians couldn’t save her."

"I never knew mother went through so much." Ara stroked her rounded stomach. Her babies also gave her some hard times, but it wasn’t that much. She wondered what babies were growing inside her. Until now, she was someone else’s daughter, but now she would soon be a parent. It was hard to believe how time flies so fast, she couldn’t wait to welcome her children.

Her mother, whom she missed now probably felt the same way when she was pregnant with her. If her mother was with her now, she might be able to tell her more of being a mother...all there was now was the feeling of her absence in their life.

"I miss mother so much." Ara mumbled softly, but Richard heard her and smiled, "Me too, your mother might not be here today, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t always watching over you all, and she must be very proud of you right now."

"Father..." Ara’s nose started to feel stuffy at her father’s unexpected words. Now that she had children to love, she could imagine that her mother would have looked at her in the same way in the past. Ara became even more choked up as she glanced up at her father,

"Father, you have to stay with us for a long time."

Richard smiled, "That is also my wish, to see my grandchildren."

Ara felt grateful all over again, this was a different future in which her father could be with her in this lifetime. This happiness that she risked her life for was now safe by her side.

Ara looked towards her father, she could see the sadness in his green eyes. Although, her father had a blunt and strick nature, he loved their mother so much. If she were in her father’s position and had lost Hamon, the hole in her heart would never be filled. She couldn’t even imagine a life without him, it would be like living in hell.

Without Hamon in her life, she would be miserable.