After the wonderful experience with Nyx, Arthur heads to the bathroom for his usual morning bath, not before changing the sheets of his bed. In the past three years, he has never failed to wash his body well to remove Nyx's scent, and he has also only spoken to her through mental communication.
Thus, not even Aria, being so smart and observant, could imagine that he had been sleeping in the same bed with a girl since he was eleven. On this particular day though, Arthur comes down for breakfast with an extra sparkle in his eyes, and Aria immediately recognizes it.
'It's not possible...' Aria wants to believe that her son is still an innocent angel, but the sparkle in his eyes is unmistakable.
"Mom?" Arthur notices that something is wrong, which makes him slightly concerned.
"How could I not notice it?" Aria thinks out loud before running up the stairs.
Arthur realizes that she is heading towards his room, so he goes after her. "Wait, Mom!!"
But Aria does not stop; she enters Arthur's room and starts rummaging through everything, looking for any sign of her suspicions. Finding nothing suspicious that could link Arthur to a girl, leaves Aria very confused.
She can feel that something is wrong, but there is no murder without a body. Her sharp gaze scans every millimeter of the room and always ends up coming back to his bed, specifically to the clean sheets over it.
"Did you change the sheets today? Why?" She asks Arthur with a penetrating gaze, trying to see through his soul.
Arthur hates lying to his mother, as it's not easy because she can detect it very easily. So he learned to lie by omission. "I think I woke up very excited today, you know... the other sheet was smelling, so I took it off."
It's impossible to talk about such a subject with his mother without getting embarrassed, so Arthur doesn't try to contain his emotions and lets his face blush naturally.
"Hmm..." Aria can see that he is telling the truth. 'But why do I feel like he's still hiding something from me? If he were with a girl, I would know,' she wonders. 'There's no way she could leave the house without me noticing...'
Without any evidence, Aria sighs and hugs Arthur. "Sorry, son, I think Mommy is becoming a senile old woman."
Arthur feels even worse for making his mother doubt herself. But he still thinks that telling about Nyx would bring more problems than he could handle right now.
"You're still very young, Mom," He tries to cheer her up, though he is being honest.
Aria smiles but then looks at him with expectant but also sad eyes. "You're growing up faster than Mommy can keep up with..."
"It seems so," Arthur responds honestly because he also feels how his body has matured over the past few years.
"Look at you... you already look like a young adult," Aria has to stand on her tiptoes to pinch Arthur's cheeks because he is already taller than her. She adopts a pondering stance and speaks with a loving tone. "You must want to do young adult things, too, right?"
Before Arthur can answer, she continues. "That's okay, just promise Mommy you'll talk to me before bringing girls home."
"I promise, Mom," Arthur can promise that without any weight on his conscience. After all, he can't bring Nyx home because she's always been there, and he doesn't think about bringing any other girl either.
Aria makes him lean towards her and places a tender kiss on his forehead. "Today is going to be your birthday, so everyone is coming, including the carpenter's daughter..."
Arthur can't help but feel embarrassed again. Talking about girls with his dad seems pretty normal, but with his mom, it feels awkward.
"She is already nineteen, so I don't like to imagine you two together..." Aria speaks honestly, showing her worry. "But I guess it's normal for boys to be interested in older girls, so it's okay."
"I get it, I get it!" Arthur can't take any more of this weird conversation and nods quickly to his mom.
"Alright," Aria leaves Arthur and starts walking towards the door. "Remember, be responsible and kind."
"Yes, Mom," He quickly replies.
It seems like Aria is done, but then she turns around and starts to make seals with her fingers in the air. That's an enchantment that Arthur is used to seeing his mother do to take things out of nothing, or rather, from a dimensional storage that she has. Only powerful mages can do it as easily as Aria, and in an instant, she makes a beautiful box adorned in her hands appear.
"Mommy thought about giving this to you when you turned fifteen," Aria sighs dejectedly and hands the box to Arthur. "But it looks like the time has come a little earlier than expected."
Arthur opens the box and blushes furiously when he sees the contents. There are many small packages of fabric similar to the plastic of Liam's world.
"You know what they are, don't you?" Aria shakes her head, clearly a little angry and disappointed. "Did Draven tell you?"
Arthur nods because his dad really did talk to him about that two years ago. He still remembers his father's words: Protection so that you can be with a woman without having babies. In this world, they call them love wards, but in Liam's world, it was a condom, so Arthur understands what it's for and how to use it.
"Well," Aria isn't truly upset that Draven is teaching such things to Arthur even though he is young, she just feels a little frustrated that it happened so early.
"You know how to use it, right?" She asks. "Or do you still have any doubts?"
"No doubts, no doubts!" Arthur quickly exclaims; after all, he doesn't want to talk to his mother about condoms.
"Good," Aria smiles. "Also, try not to use them all too quickly, but when you need more, come to me, and I will make more for you."
Arthur can't imagine how embarrassing it would be to have to ask his mother for more condoms to be able to be with Nyx. But he also knows that only magic craftsmen can make them, so the only options are to find another mage or buy from traveling merchants, in which case they are expensive.
Arthur looks at the box with dozens of condoms and can't help but be happy to have such a good mother.
"Thank you, Mom!" He smiles at Aria because, despite her often creating embarrassing situations for him, she always tries her best.
"Mommy loves you, darling," Aria strokes Arthur's hair and then leaves the room.
Arthur looks at the box of wards and can only think about using them on Nyx, but she can't even talk to him now because of the morning episode, so that dream seems very distant. However, he is determined to shorten the distance between them, and apparently, the only obstacle is her shy personality.
With his mind full of thoughts about how to improve his relationship with Nyx, Arthur continues enjoying his fourteenth birthday. As it happens every year, Draven and Aria throw a big party in the village, both for him and for little Eve.
That is not only to celebrate the birth of their children, but also for the benefit of the villages' population, who enjoy such events. The Fletcher village is not that small in territory, having many large farms, but its population is very simple, living with things produced only in the village.
Arthur's family is clearly the richest in the village, but this is due to Aria selling items that she crafts with magic to traveling merchants who pass through.
Draven also could earn a lot of money if he accepted it from the farmers who try to pay him for taking care of everyone. However, his morals and good upbringing do not allow him to accept more than food and resources in the village; after all, he does not need money to take care of his family's basic needs.
Yet, Aria sells her magic items to be able to buy useful things like magic materials and rare resources that can't be found in the village, in addition to clothes and jewelry as well.
As today is Arthur's birthday and he already looks like a young adult, she makes him wear his most luxurious clothes, a set of fine white and red linen clothes with golden ornaments.
Thanks to his very handsome appearance, he looks like a fairy tale prince, and the girls can hardly walk after passing by him because of how weak their knees become. Aria notices it, but she still makes him greet all the guests at the entrance of their large estate.
The guests gather inside the house, mainly in the back garden, where they participate in typical games of their culture, dances, and talks about all kinds of topics.
Aria makes a lot of food using her rare ingredients, making everyone very satisfied, turning the party into a success as always. Today, in particular, the girls are even more excited because Aria seems to have allowed Arthur to have a girlfriend.
Dozens of girls implore their parents to ask for Draven and Aria's permission, but they refuse to do it for fear of offending the Fletchers. No matter how well Draven and Aria treat the people in the village, the farmers instinctively feel that they are not on the same social level.
They don't understand how a couple like the Fletchers ended up in such a simple village when they clearly have the potential to be the King and Queen of whole Kingdoms.
But as they are very kind to everyone and help the village a lot, the farmers are very grateful to them. And while it's okay to accept their help and participate in their parties, none of them considers the idea of their daughters marrying a promising young man like Arthur.
Arthur hates that kind of thinking just as Liam hated it in his past life, especially now because Draven is always teaching him that no person is better than another just for being born from a powerful lineage.
Draven and Arthur really hate such things, but no matter how good they are to the people in the village, they only see them with more respect and admiration, which increases the gap between them in social aspects.
So, those poor girls can only look at Arthur from afar and imagine how good it would be to be his girlfriend because their parents don't want to offend Draven and Aria. Case in point, when the time comes for the birthday boy to dance with the guests, a common custom in the farmers' culture, they all hold their daughters back.
A strange silence envelops the happy atmosphere of the party, and Draven can't help but feel ashamed. At that moment, Arthur walks up to one of the simplest families among the farmers and bows respectfully to them.
"May I have the honor of dancing with your daughter?" He asks in a respectful and gallant manner.
The head of the family almost panics as he sees the Fletchers as the most honorable royalty ever, so he quickly tries to bow lower than Arthur.
"No, my friend," But then Draven appears and prevents the poor man from bowing. "We are all equal here, so let the young have fun."
That farmer can't change the mindset ingrained over a lifetime, but as the Fletcher family doesn't really seem to care about social differences, he tries not to think about it just for now.
To the girl's delight, her father lets her dance with Arthur, and he makes her feel like a princess in a fairy tale for the next few minutes. Some people fear that Arthur is not as noble as Draven and may be thinking of using the simple girls as servants, just like most nobles do.
But he treats all the girls at the party with great respect and gives each of them an unforgettable dance. Draven is proud of his son because Arthur can already break stupid social barriers more easily than he can.
"How did we end up making such a good son?" He asks Aria.
"What good son?" Aria shakes her head and speaks in a fake upset tone with a pout. "I said he could have a girlfriend, and a few hours later, he's making all the girls in the village fall in love with him..."
"Hahaha..." Draven couldn't be prouder of his son.
On the other hand, Aria can't help but be a little jealous; after all, her little boy is becoming a young adult, and it won't be long before he starts thinking about leaving her to explore the world and create his own family.
"Oh..." Little Eve can't help but admire her big brother even more and feels jealous of the girls around him. Of course, she's also going to ask for a princess dance next, as is her right.