With the help of her maid Lauriel, Seraphina was ready to go in no time. Since they had reached the Ancient Greece period, mortal fashion and culture had evolved drastically through the help of their angelic friends. Though, even with that, humanity was still far behind the modernity and fashion of Heaven and Hell. 

That was the reason Michael was more than a little surprised about his daughter’s excitement to wear the old-fashioned garments of the mortals. Personally, he wasn’t very fond of wearing the red himation robe that graced his body at the moment. It was rather uncomfortable and got in the way with his eight wings, not to mention he would much rather wear his battle armor right now. “Gosh, this is so annoying…” He grumbled as he fiddled with the fabric while trying to attach his holy sword to his waist. However, the robe clearly wasn’t made to wear weapons with it. “For fuck’s sake-” 

“Papa, you shouldn’t curse!” Seraphina scolded him in amusement as the girl happily skipped towards him. “You look nice in these robes, so don’t fuss about it.”

“But I hate this! For what do they need this piece of fabric here?? It gets in the way!” Michael murmured as he tugged on the artistically draped fabric that wrapped across his bare chest. “I rather run around without a shirt than having this piece of useless fabric strain my shoulders.”

The four-year-old giggled and shook her head fondly. “It’s there because it’s pretty!” She exclaimed seriously.

“...Really?” Her father asked suspiciously, not sounding very convinced right now. 'Why can’t I just wear my usual clothes, that would give me much less of a headache than whatever this is.'

“Really! Just look, everyone likes it!” Seraphina said enthusiastically as she mentioned to the few servants that had stopped to stare at their king in surprise. Obviously, the little angel didn’t get why they were staring at her father like this. It was a rare occasion for Michael to wear anything that showed off his muscular body, especially not his well-defined chest. So, their blushing faces and Michael’s half-exposed upper body gave him enough of a clue that this was not because of his attire.

“Yeah… Right…” He grumbled as he shot a sharp glare at the staring servants who rushed off embarrassed. With an inaudible sigh in defeat, he turned to look back at his daughter fondly. ‘Bless her innocent soul…’ 

“Can we go now?” Sera asked him with childish impatience as she grabbed onto his hand. 

“Not so quick.” Michael teased her and chuckled lightly at her surprised expression. “After all, first I have to admire my beautiful daughter! Now come here!” He teased and suddenly lifted her up gently, making the girl squeak and laugh.

“Stop! You are going to mess up my hair!” She giggled out when he started to ruffle her hair gently.

“Okay, okay, geez.” The King of Angels chuckled as he set her back down, watching in amusement how she tried to fix her elegantly braided hair. “Don’t worry, I didn’t mess up anything.” He soothed her in amusement, his eyes softening as he gazed over her outfit.

Seraphina’s silver hair was in braids around the crown of her head, for once exposing her gracefully pointed ears. A white peplum tunic that flowed over into the long flowing skirt graced her tiny form. The light fabric fluttered with every of her movement and gave her a more ethereal flair if that was even possible with her shimmering silver wings unfolded proudly.

‘She’s growing up so fast… I can remember when she was just as big as my palm…’ Michael thought in nostalgia as his eyes watered lightly. ‘Curse Elder Tempus for making her grow up so fast…’

The young angel paused and blinked up to her father when she noticed he didn’t start walking. Her deep silver eyes stared up into his as she frowned lightly in worry. “Papa? Is everything okay?” She asked him concerned after noticing his slightly teary eyes.

The Archangel of Justice quickly wiped over his eyes and chuckled. “It’s nothing, Sera. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go now.” He told her and quickly grabbed onto her hand. “We need to travel to Heaven’s main gate first so it would be the best to travel by horseback.”

“Horseback? So you mean we can go visit the pretty angelic horses?” Sera asked him in awe, making her father chuckle softly.

“Yes. But we don’t have time to pet them all this time. So, don’t run off, okay?”

“...Fine. But next time we will have to pet them!”

“Of course.” Michael chuckled and shook his head as they made their way towards the stallions.

———🕊———

Michael sighed and shook his head fondly as he watched his daughter pet his midnight black stallion. The old beast Nocte that had stood by his side through countless battles seemed rather charmed by Sera. The horse neighed softly and nuzzled into her touch as if he was a foal. 

'Wow. Why am I not surprised?' Michael thought in amusement and smirked softly for a moment. 

Then, however, he looked sharply back at the Nephilim knights who were supposed to prepare his horse…but instead were staring at his daughter in awe.

"She's so adorable! Gosh, my heart can't take her cuteness!" One of them muttered with teary eyes.

"Who would have thought our tiny princess is this cute! I can't believe it, I just want to hug her!" Another chimed in with a rather goofy smile.

"Yes, yes! How is it possible someone this adorable exists!" 

Michael's expression dropped into a look of deadpan, staring at his smitten, rigorously trained knights. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance and he cleared his throat loudly what made the Nephilim snap back to their sense. "Are you done soon, or…?" He asked and raised an eyebrow at them, his glare being enough to send the men back into full hustle.

"Of course, of course, your majesty! We are almost done!" One of them blurted out while the others finished preparing the horse.

Michael just grunted and completely ignored their presence as he stepped back to his daughter. "Ready to go, Sera?" He asked her softly in amusement.

"Yes! Just wait a moment, please." Seraphina replied and gently petted Nocte one last time. She stared deeply into his blue eyes, the depths of her silver orbs shimmering more strongly. “Thank you for carrying us on this journey.” She whispered to the horse, the angelic being tilting his head in response. Suddenly, Nocte neighed in understanding as a smile spread on Sera’s lips. “No! Don’t be like this… Of course I will pet you more when we return!” She said happily as it almost sounded like she was having a conversation with the horse.

Michael’s eyes narrowed in confusion as for some reason chills rose on his skin. ‘This is odd… Can she understand Nocte?!’ He frowned at that realization and shook his head. Of course, all angels had a deeper connection to animals, especially angelic animals, but… Never did he hear of an angel being able to fully communicate with them. ‘It’s probably just my imagination…’ The King of Angels shrugged it off for now but was going to speak to Uriel about this later.

With that in mind, he gently lifted his daughter onto the horse before mounting it as well. "Alright, let's go. Hold onto Nocte and don't fall off, please." Michael reminded her gently, making the young girl nod happily.