🌷The Duke and The Widow🌷

{33}Little Howard

🌷Chapter 33🌷
Little Howard

     After Bellisima's untimely passing, the King fulfilled his promise to his wife to leave their newborn son in the care of her brother and friend, Louis and Cherin. Cherin was her Lady In Waiting while Louis went under training to be a Royal Advisor, to which he earned the title shortly after her passing.
They both sat in Bellisima's chamber as they cradled her newborn son as he slept.
"Such a precious little thing," Louis caressed Nicholas' pale cheek, "He never cries."
"He looks just like her." She muttered softly. In that moment, infant Nicholas fluttered his eyes open, sighed, and closed them shut as he continued to rest.

📖

      Young Nicholas was growing well, although the King wasn't too fond of the fact that a Royal child was being taught etiquette and class by peasants, he seemed to have caught up well with his elder siblings. They all shared a large sleeping quarters with each having their own bed, arranged by order of birth.
Every moring, the young Princes were greeted by their mothers who then prepared them to sit at breakfast.
He was woken up to a light tap on the shoulder by his caregiver Cherin.

"Good morning, Prince Howard." She smiled down at him as she tugged the blankets off him.
"Good morning." He slid himself off the bed, glancing over to his half brothers that were being smothered with love by their respective mothers, then taking himself to the bath.

After the bath he sat before the dressing table where he faced the mirror as Cherin combed his hair.
"Your hair is growing rather quickly, are you ready for a cut?"
"No. This is fine with me, thank you."
She parted his hair to the side and smoothed it down with the comb. "You look so much like your mother."
Every time she mentions his mother he never seemed to react at all.
"You know, your mother's the same way.. She never liked things being done for her."
"Then..why choose it if it's not what you want?"
"Well, in life.. There's choices you have to make. That's all I'm allowed to say." She placed the comb down, "Now, my Prince, let me take you to breakfast."

"Good morning, father." They stood at attention to greet their father.
"Good morning to you all. Look at all of you, so dashingly handsome. Go on, have a seat."
"Thank you father." They all said in unison as they took their seats with their mothers.
"So, how are my sons doing?"
"Well, Ashton's —" The First Wife and Queen was about to answer until she was ultimately silenced.
"I asked my sons, Priscilla."

The other wives rolled their eyes at her, they never seemed to have understood how she's Queen Consort and still be so competitive and insecure.

"Pardon my mother, dear father. I'm rather excited for today's lesson." Said Crown Prince Asthon.

"Splendid, father." Answered Spencer.

"As am me, father." Said Tilton.
"You mean as am I." Princess Adelaide corrected her son with a pinch on his leg.
"Sorry— as am I, father." Tilton immediately corrected himself.

Princess Lucinda pinched her son who was still eating, he swallowed quickly and said "I am well, father." He smiled, "Breakfast tastes lovely!"

His brothers laughed.

"And Nicholas? What about you, my son?" Asked King Bartholomew, everyone that sat at the table turned their focus to little Howard that barely ate off his plate.