Forced to become a delicate companion of a paranoid lord

With his head covered in white foam, Finn sat stiffly by the edge of the bathtub, clutching a towel in his hand. He looked down at the petals floating on the surface of the water, and a few petals drifted to his side.

Finn's gaze followed the direction the petals had drifted from and gradually moved upwards. By the large bathtub, less than half a meter away from him, his uncle and cousin were rubbing each other's hair.

Finn gazed at the close father and son, a sense of bewilderment welling up within him.

Is it possible for a father and son to be this close?

Perhaps only his uncle and cousin would think this way, after all, no one would dislike Egbert, who is gifted in both magic and martial arts, and no one would not admire or yearn for the glory of the empire, Ilias.

The father and son, standing together, were so dazzling that they could scorch many hearts filled with envy, yet at this moment, their tenderness deeply pierced Finn's heart.

However, he quickly regained his composure.

Finn's smooth skin was free of any scars, but the scars that would be quickly repaired by a mage after being whipped served as a constant reminder of this.

Because his mediocre swordsmanship talent was of little value to his father, his father would not give him what he wanted.

Even if all he wanted was a hug...

Elias let her eldest son mess up her long, curly hair, gently washing his slightly wavy, medium-length hair, which was just like her own, before pushing the little guy to the center of the pool.

"Alright, go play by yourself for a while."

The curly-haired boy who had been pushed away swam away like a little fish, only to splash back a moment later.

Sitting back down by the bathtub, Egbert looked at his cousin, who was staring at him like a puppet, and turned slightly to his father, who was carefully washing his cousin's hair behind him.

"Dad, Finn isn't breathing."

His Highness Ilias, who is very experienced in taking care of children: !!!

……

For the two eight-year-old princes, this trip was a relaxing and enjoyable journey, but for the adults, it was a political negotiation fraught with undercurrents.

Egbert and Finn only knew that what the adults were talking about was related to the Parasaurs in the far north, but they didn't know the specifics, since they were not yet old enough to participate. Therefore, the task Ilias gave them was simply to eat, drink, and have fun.

Eight-year-old Finn believed that this journey was the happiest time of his short life, and that for many years to come, it was this beautiful memory that sustained him through endless repentance.

……

Just as Finn thought to himself, no one could dislike Egbert, and wherever he went, all sorts of people would flock to Egbert's side.

The young ladies and young men of the grand duke of the Duchy of Loire liked to hang around Egbert all day long. The arrogant and rude only son of a certain city lord in the western region, after being beaten by Egbert, not only did not bear any grudge against them, but instead wallowed with his father and wanted to follow them back to the empire. After being rejected, he tried to follow their motorcade secretly, but he didn't follow very far before his father beat him with a stick and ran back...

December 972, 7 in the Imperial calendar.

On his way back to the imperial capital with the Dragonwing Knights, Elias received an urgent secret letter from a secluded village in the Garda region. He immediately changed his route and rushed to the small village, whose exact location was little known, overnight.

The caravan sped along the dirt road. Inside the carriage, which was protected by a special magic circle, everything was smooth and stable. Lying on the soft bed inside the carriage, Egbert imitated his father's usual actions of coaxing him to sleep, gently patting his cousin's back, earnestly trying to lull him to sleep.

A square pendant covered in magical runes slipped out from the collar of Egbert's robe without him noticing, but Finn, lying on his side facing him, saw it. The pendant reminded him of the round pendant he wore around his neck, with some beautiful patterns on its surface, and it seemed to be made of magical metal.

He unconsciously reached out and touched his pendant through his clothes. There were so many fun and interesting things to do after leaving the imperial capital. With Egbert by his side, his attention was almost entirely on him, so he rarely had time to think about the pendant hanging around his neck.

Now that he had some free time, Finn was a little conflicted. He wanted to tell Egbert that he always felt something was off about the pendant. His parents had told him not to take it out of his spatial ring before leaving the capital, but he was to wear it all the time after leaving the capital.

But when he finally decided to tell Egbert, he not only failed to say what he wanted to say, but instead, as if controlled by something, he reached out to touch Egbert's square pendant and said something.

"It's so beautiful. Is it made from fragments of the floating island's ruins?"

The unsuspecting curly-haired boy glanced down at the square pendant his cousin was pointing to, then said in a calm tone without any hint of boasting, "Yes, such a big shooting star is said to be very rare. If you like, you can get a closer look."

Egbert remembered that the pendant was given to him by his mother, who seemed to say that it was a shooting star that someone who cared about them very much had personally tracked down and made for them.

This seemingly ordinary sign has a very auspicious name: "Peaceful Sign".