The room felt different the moment she approached. It felt more silent and simply calmer.
Empress Selene Valerius moved fast but still with grace, her each step showed dignity, she represents moonlight herself. The maids moved to the side naturally, lowering their gazes, hands folded neatly.
Her attention, however, was fixed on one place alone. The cradle and her baby. Her silver white hair looked really good. They were shining in the sunlight.
"No, this can't be. He can't be my son."
The maids held their breath.
"How. Just How?"
"HOW CAN HE BE SO CUTE?" The Empress shouted.The maids smiled, and chuckled. This was not a first time instance for them.
AURELION.
It was the name she loved the most in this world. Her eyes were full of affection.
She bent down and picked the boy up very carefully. The boy felt like she has done it multiple times even though it was his first time experiencing it. The maids watched and smiled.
"My little one," Selene murmured softly, her voice was low, intimate and cute.
"Awake again."
She then, sat into a chair which was placed near the cradle. She pulled him closer to her chest.Her fingers touched lightly against his cheek. Once. And then Twice.
Aurelion followed the movement of her fingers.
"…She smells nice." He thought.
A scent of nice, cool and clean like flowers.
Selene smiled when his tiny fingers grabbed her hand.
"So curious already," she said warmly. "Such bright eyes." She placed her thumb against his palm and then laughed.
"He likes you," one of the maids said. Selene smiled again.
"I know," she replied.
She shifted him slightly, supporting his head more securely, and leaned back, studying him with open adoration.
"…She's really a doting one, I guess." Aurelion thought.
Selene tilted her head slightly, watching his gaze wander around the room.
"Would you like to play?" she asked softly.
She raised one hand, palm open.
The air responded. Not violently. Not dramatically. It simply stirred.
A gentle breeze of air formed above her palm, it was wind, the boy suddenly realised. The maid smiled, it was a regular thing for them.
"…Is that Magic?" Aurelion was shocked.
That air moved and behaved in the way she wanted completely.
Selene laughed quietly.
"There," she said, voice filled with fondness.
"Do you feel that?"
The wind danced. It swirled around him like a curious creature, lifting the edge of his blanket, tickling his nose.
"…Wind magic," he thought.
The term surfaced easily, drawn from years of reading fantasy novels, of imagining scenes exactly like this.
"…So magic here is real. And controlled."
The breeze responded to Selene's movements with perfect obedience.
She lowered her fingers. The wind slowed and shifted. She lifted her fingers again. The wind danced higher.
"…It doesn't look that OP though." Aurelion observed. "It's simply modulating environment."
Selene watched his reactions closely. His focused gaze.The way his eyes followed the flow rather than reacting randomly. She chuckled softly.
"You're watching very carefully," she noted.
"So observant."
The wind brushed his tiny fingers. His hand twitched.
"I see…I think I understand."
"…It's not about power output. It's about harmony." Aurelion thought.
Selene then made that breeze of air into rings of different size like hookah rings.
"Magic is part of this world," she continued. "It responds best when treated kindly." Her eyes softened again.
"And you," she added,"are already very kind."
Aurelion's breathing was calm. His heart was beating steadily.
"…I've read about this in fantasy novels," he thought. "Let's see, if I try to change the wind in the room." His eye's shifted from the wind to his own hand.
"To control wind, I should think of it pushing through something."
He focused. Just… imagining. The feeling of air moving. The sensation of warmth and calm that surrounded him.
"…If I move it like she did…"
His fingers twitched. Barely. The air near his hand stirred. A faint ripple formed.
One of the maids inhaled sharply. Selene paused. Her eyes lowered to his hand.
The ripple expanded.It was a slow transition. A soft breeze emerged. It wasn't wild and unstable.It mirrored hers.
A gentle current flowed outward from his tiny palm, brushing against Selene's sleeve.
The room stilled. The maids froze where they stood. Selene's breath caught not alarming, but in absolute focus.
The wind responded again, circling his hand with quiet precision.
"…It worked," Aurelion realized.
"…First try. Score. "
The breeze continued, stable and controlled.
Selene stared.
Her eyes were filled with pure astonishment. There was no sign of her doubting the whole situation.
The wind between their hands merged and were flowing together in perfect synchronization for a little while.
The maids were shocked and looked at each other. The maids did not speak right away. They were still standing there as if this whole situation was too much for them to comprehend.
One of them swallowed. Another blinked twice, slowly, as if she couldn't believe what she just saw.
"…Did you see that?" one whispered in awe.
"I saw it too," another replied quietly. "The wind answered him."
The youngest maid glanced toward the cradle again, she acted proud for some reason.
They all knew magic. Everyone in the palace did, in one way or another. They had seen many such incidents where children would sense mana early or resonate with it.
This was different.
One maid pressed her hand lightly to her chest, breathing out. "…It felt calm," she said. "Like the room settled instead of shaking." Another nodded.
"Yes," she agreed. "Like it belonged."
They looked towards the Empress again, who was still holding her son close, smiling as if nothing unusual had happened.
The maids exchanged one last look. "…We're going to remember this," one of them murmured. And none of the others disagreed.
One whispered softly, unable to stop herself.
"Your Majesty…"
Selene did not answer. Her attention remained entirely on her son. On the calm expression, On the steady control, On the impossible ease.
Her fingers trembled faintly. Not from weakness from awe. She slowly lowered her hand. The wind obeyed again but So did his.
Both currents faded simultaneously, dissolving into the room as if they had never existed.
Selene looked down at him.Her expression held something new now. Something profound.
The room remained silent. The air felt… expectant.
Aurelion blinked up at her. "…Did I do something wrong?" He thought that immediately.
Selene gave a proud look, then drew him closer and held him tightly in his arms. More steady and secure as if she was preparing herself for something. Her voice was soft and Steady. Filled with something deeper than pride.
"My little moon," she murmured.
And in her eyes—
The future had just shifted.
[To be Continued]