Four Little Princes

Birthday Boys

Zarc smiled happily as he sat in the bath with his consorts, gently washing his new kids. They were very filthy from their time on the streets, and being cleaned made them very happy. Even little Yuya, who was sick with a cold, seemed to feel a little better when he was clean.

Zarc had, of course, learned the names and ages of the other three boys from Starve Venom, who had learned them from the locals he had talked to. Eggplant's name was Yuto, Cabbage's name was Yuri, and Blunana's name was Yugo. Apparently the boys were quadruplets, and today was actually their third birthday! According to the midwife that had delivered them, Yuto was the oldest, with Yuri being born seven minutes after him, followed ten minutes by Yugo, and finally Yuya was born fifteen minutes after Yugo.

Since it was the boys' birthday, Zarc had instructed the mansion cooks to bake a birthday cake for them in addition to cooking dinner. The smell of good food was already wafting into the bathroom.

Yugo and Yuto were all clean now and playing happily in the bath, splashing around and chewing on rubber duckies, and munching on the tiny hors d'oeuvres that the estate servants had brought for the starving children to snack on. Yuri was sitting patiently with Zarc as the king scrubbed the dirt off his face, pulling the pieces of a shrimp-and-pineapple kebab off the skewer and eating them one by one.

Meanwhile the now clean Yuya was snuggled into Odd-Eyes's arms for warmth. He was shivering a little from his sickness, but he didn't seem to want to leave the bath. He'd eaten two cucumber sandwiches before pushing the plate away. Zarc had made sure to instruct the cooks to prepare a nice chicken and rice soup for the little one's dinner. He wanted to make sure Yuya got enough to eat without upsetting his poor little tummy.

Zarc finished washing Yuri and kissed his forehead as he had with the others, before letting him go to play in the bath with his brothers. Yuri immediately began putting bubbles on his head like a hat and beard, giggling adorably. Zarc and the dragons all chuckled at his cuteness. All of the boys were absolutely adorable, deserving of the best life they could get, and Zarc fully intended to give them that. While still making sure that they didn't get too spoiled or grow up to be entitled rich brats like the ex-earl Hashi, of course. The king would never forget his own humble origins, and while he wanted the absolute best for his new kids, he didn't want them to forget theirs.

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Zarc smiled happily as the dragons fed the little ones their dinner. To everyone's immense relief, Yuya ate almost half of his soup before saying he wasn't hungry anymore. Yugo, Yuto, and Yuri actually refused to eat until they saw Yuya eating, both in the bath and at the dinner table, clearly remembering how their mother had died from not having enough to eat. They were probably too young for the experience to be permanently traumatizing, but they still remembered.

While Yuya's sick little tummy couldn't stomach anything heavier than a simple chicken and rice soup or a light cucumber sandwich, his brothers feasted on steamed apples with cinnamon, grilled plantains, lemon-garlic pan-seared salmon, and freshly baked bread with butter. They seemed to really enjoy the food too! Their little faces got very messy, but the mess was worth seeing their bright smiles.

Once the toddlers had eaten their fill, the butler came out with a cute chocolate birthday cake with vanilla buttercream icing and the words Happy Birthday Little Princes! written on it. There were three little lit candles on the cake.

When the little princes saw the cake, they all got very excited. Even sick little Yuya seemed to want some of it. The butler set the cake down on the dining table, and the dragons each picked up one of the boys and gathered them around the cake. The whole castle staff came into the dining room to sing Happy Birthday to the little birthday boys, and Zarc and the dragons helped the tiny toddlers blow out their candles before cutting the cake.

Zarc smiled proudly as his new sons happily munched their cake. Even Yuya had a few bites! Zarc knew that he would be very happy with his new family.