And for the first time in the months since his wife’s passing…he felt ashamed. Helios Rhadros stood outside the nursery door, his hand just above he handle—the faint sound of Nico’s laughter filtered through the heavy wood, muffled but unmistakable. His son’s. He had not heard that sound in…so long. Too godsdamned long.

He clenched his jaw as he paced.

She slapped him.

It hurt. How strong could that small woman be?

The memory of it burned beneath his skin and through the small, faint red mark on his cheek. The audacity, the nerve of her. That plump kitchen maid, with her tears streaking down her face, dared to strike him. 

He was a man who crushed armies and burned down empires—and yet…

Her words stabbed her deeper than any blade.

“What would your wife think?”

Indeed, what would Lucia think?

She’d probably beat him half to death.

He had his wife first in person at the annual hunting competition. Although it was his first time seeing her, he’d heard many things about the youngest daughter of the Clementi house. At first she shied away from society. Growing up, he had been sickly since birth. She was expected not to even reach adulthood—until one day, she woke up with no memory of herself and acting strangely. Even her few friends said she was “a completely different person”.

Helios found it bizarre. He didn’t know if she had really losat her head or if her and her family were planning something to disrupt the empire. 

Before he had spoke to her, he surveiled her.

It was simply to see if she was suspicious or not.

She had been on his list of potential marriage partners—ones his family picked out in particular. He thought she was a safe choice, one he could have an heir with and one to put an end to families trying to scheme and match him with their daughters.

He never figured he’d fall in with her, or anyone at all.

Then she remembered when he first saw her during the hunting competition, and she asked him something silly—although he couldn’t remember what she said, he remembered her smile. 

It was so bright.

 Even from the crack of the door, Helios could Nico had his mother’s smile.

The Duke exhaled hard through his nose, pushing the door open before he could think further.

Inside, his son sat cross-legged on the leg, his little head bent as he concentrated on a wooden puzzle. The temporary nanny, Ines, hovered nearby, rocking a sleeping Anastasia in her arms. He smiled at his daughter and then frowned. His son, his son, was what he was here for. When the Duke entered, she froze, her eyes widened with alarm, and Nico looked up, startled.-

“Papa?”

Hearing his voice made him think about the maid’s—Enid’s words. The boy’s voice was so small, unsure. He gestures to Ines with a nod. 

“Nanny Ines, leave us for a moment.”

Ines hesitated but obeyed, murmuring to the baby as she slipped past him. Her footsteps receded, leaving only silence between father and son. Thinking for a moment, he decides to lower himself to meet his son’s eye level, folding his legs awkwardly. Nico looked at him like he was a rare animal, with wide-eyed curiosity and hesitation.

“Nico…I’m sorry.”

Nico blinked, pausing. “Why?”

Nico…looked like him, mostly. The same dark hair, the same silver eyes. But in his face, he saw Lucia.

“And if your wife could see you now, see how you’re neglecting the part of her that looks like you?”

He knew what Lucia would think. She would surely hate him for neglecting this boy—the boy she created with him. This boy who only has him to rely on.

“Yes…I have not been the father you deserve.” he rested his elbows on the knees—his hands clasped together. “Nothing I’ve done since your mother died has been befitting of a man are father.”

The boy’s tiny fingers toyed with one of the puzzle pieces but she still stared at his father.

“I let being sad blind me to something I still have.” Helios admitted.

“You mean Ana?” Nico asked quietly.

Helio’s chest felt pained. “I mean you.” 

The bopy’s lip wobbled. He looked down at the puzzle in his hands, trembling. “I thought…maybe you didn’t love anymore. You only pay attention to the baby.”

Helios reaches out for a second, before hestitating for a second. He places a large, scarred, calloused hand on Nico’s shoulder.

“I do love you,” he said firmly. “You don’t to forgvie me now, but I want to know you’re my son, and you’re your mother’s too. And that alone makes you precious.”

Nico sniffled, and before Helios could say more, the boy launched himself forward, burying his face in his father’s chest. Helios froze. 

Then, slowly, his arms came up, wrapping them around his son for the first time in months.