The prince and princess’s eyes lit up right away.

"Really? No take-backs, alright? Liora asked, and Julian gave a friendly smile. Cassian acted like it was no big deal, clearing his throat when he almost jumped into the air in celebration.

"I mean, it should be an honor for you as a scholar," he said, and Julian ruffled his hair.

"Ah, do me. Do me." Liora raised her hand, beckoning him to ruffle her hair as well. Julian did that, enjoying the glee from these kids.

To think he would be like this after what he had just done with the Duke in the carriage. Did this make him a hypocrite? He hoped not.

But then he noticed there was one child who was not happy with this arrangement. Lucius stood there, twiddling his fingers, and his head lowered. He looked like he was going to cry, sad and rejected.

"Lucius," Julian called, but the boy did not lift his head. Instead, he walked to where he dropped his drawing slate and wrote something slowly, his eyes already tearing up.

Then, he held it up, and Julian read, "Master, are you already tired of me? Have I been a bad boy? Is that why you no longer want to teach me?" his tears rolled down, and he cried quietly, hitting Julian’s heart with an arrow.

How could he make Lucius cry?

"Lucius, it’s not like that. I’m not leaving you. And you’ve been a very good boy, so don’t cry." The board fell from Lucius’s hand, but he did not stop crying.

He used his small arms to rub his tears away, but they just kept flowing. Julian wanted to reach for his handkerchief, but realized that it was what the Duke used to clean the semen in his hand, so he used his palm instead.

He wiped the child’s tears, but it did not do much. He kept crying.

"Lucius, please don’t cry," Julian said and got on one knee, pulling the child over and patting his back. "I’m not leaving you, so don’t cry."

Watching the little child cry, sniffing with hardly any sound escaping his lips, was more heartbreaking than Julian thought.

"I should explain it properly, right? I’m going to be the Royal Tutor, but I’m only going to the Palace once in three days, and when I do go, I’ll take you along. And then when it’s time to go back to the North, I’ll also go with you. You see? I’m not leaving you." He pulled the boy away from his body gently to look at his eyes, which were now swollen. "So, wipe your tears, Lucius. Seeing you cry makes me sad."

He watched Lucius move his lips, as if he was going to say something, despite no words leaving his mouth. But he could not listen till the end as they were not alone.

"Is that true, Master?" Cassian asked, and Julian turned his head to look at the young prince.

"Yes, that’s the agreement we came to. I shall be the Royal tutor, but only temporarily."

Liora pouted her lips.

"That’s too bad. And once in three days is too little as well."

Julian could only laugh awkwardly as the children said their minds. He turned back to Lucius and brought his hand to the boy’s wet cheek.

"Cheer up, Lucius. Nothing can take me away from you, got it?" He nodded, though still sniffing.

Of course, nothing could take Julian away, not now when he was officially the Duke’s lover. He was literally Lucius’s new mom at this point.

"What’s going on here?" Alaric asked as he returned, and Julian looked up.

"You’re back?" Julian asked. "What about the priest?"

"Gone," the Duke simply said, and Julian felt something must have definitely happened.

He didn’t tie the priest in a bag and toss him out instead of coming up with a believable explanation as to how he got healed, right?

The Duke looked at Lucius and his teary cheeks. Lucius instinctively lowered his head, hiding his face from his father, scared of being seen as a nuisance. But instead of that, the Duke reached down and grabbed the boy, putting him over his right arm, and suddenly grabbed the princess’s arm and put her over his neck.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed and quickly grabbed his hair as if tugging on two control antennas. She was excited without even knowing what was going on.

"What are you doing?"Julian asked, standing to his feet as he watched the Duke act the way he was.

"I heard kids get exhausted quickly if you tire them out." He said, and his eyes landed on the prince.

Cassian was already retreating two steps back when he felt the Duke’s gaze.

"Ah, Uncle, you don’t have toooo—" Alaric picked him up and put him over his left arm, holding him and Lucius like luggage while Liora got the princess treatment and a steering wheel to top it.

"This is discourteous," Cassian said, and Julian could only place his hand over his mouth in surprise.

"Quiet." Alaric snarled at the boy. "Take it that your Uncle wants to play with you for the first time."

"But this is..."

"This is how I play." Alaric interrupted him, and Liora laughed.

"I like this game," she declared. Yeah, that was because she wasn’t being carried like a piece of luggage.

"Lucius," Alaric suddenly called, and he looked up at his father, cleaning his eyes to make sure there was no trace of tears left. "I won’t get mad at you just because you cry. So you don’t have to hide your tears from me. Remember, I am your father."

Lucius heard this and twisted his little lips. Then, he nodded.

Julian watched with a little sense of relief, watching over him.

He knew the Duke wanted to do this so the kids would tire out and leave them alone, but it was still a fact that he was taking his time to play with the kids. This would probably be the first time he would be playing with his son, his niece, and his nephew.

It was a fulfilling scene.

"Let’s go to the garden," Liora announced, moving about frantically and gripping the Duke’s hair however she liked, and Alaric clicked his tongue.

"Hold steady," he growled, and Julian laughed at the side.