Chapter 406 - Tugging For Affection
"Ah! I\'ve never been invited to a human wedding ceremony before. I am so excited to finally have been invited to one." He was talking to himself while trying on the golden robe that he had prepared especially for the wedding ceremony.
"I want to see how humans get married when they don\'t even have floating clouds to bring the bride and the groom together."
"And how do they make the flower petals to shower?" He thought for a while and made a guess, "Do they have the servants to hang down from the ceiling and throw the petals down with their hands?"
"But that doesn\'t sound right… Do they even shower the bride and the groom with flowers? Ooh! I\'m already so curious."
He winked at his own reflection in the mirror and complimented himself, "Everyone is going to be dazzled by the light that will grace them." And he smugly smiled while saying, "I hope I don\'t steal the limelight from Theodore."
Right then, his room was filled with the dazzling light that almost blinded him. And Azriel\'s cheerful expression changed that to the one of horror thinking he was visited by his father.
"He is not here to punish me as well, is he?" he thought.
But when the light settled down, he saw his beautiful mother instead. She looked as fresh and pure as the blooming lotus and kept him stunned.
"M-Mother…" Azriel had not expected to meet his mother and he was in for a great surprise.
"My beautiful boy," the Goddess spread her arms and smiled at her son.
Azriel flew towards his mother and greeted her with a warm welcome. "Mother! What a pleasant surprise!"
The rims of her eyes were glistening with tears when she held Azriel in her arms.
Theodore had a huge grin on his face when he trotted towards the two of them and enveloped both of them in his arms.
Azriel gave a side-eyed look to his brother and sneered, "You jealous little brat! Can\'t you even let me have her to my own for a minute?"
"I can\'t," Theodore widened his grin and lay his head on their mother\'s shoulder.
They had met each other after countless years. So they sat down and talked about their lives, especially their mother\'s. She already knew almost everything about her sons so there was no need to reiterate their life events to her.
After talking till nightfall, Theodore asked his mother again, "Mother, so what have you decided? Will you stay here for my wedding ceremony?"
She stayed quiet for a while and thought about it. And she asked some questions regarding the wedding, "I believe that you are going to use an alias as the Prince of some nation. So are you going to go alone to the wedding or are you going to take some… people with you when you \'arrive\' for the wedding?"
Theodore glanced at Azriel and smiled. And he replied, "Azriel will use his illusion to transform some of mine as well as his followers into humans. And we will be pretending to arrive at the Palace in a lot of carriages."
The Goddess nodded her head and asked again, "Then what about after the wedding? Will you first bring my daughter-in-law to your home and return back to the Palace afterward? Or will you be staying there in the Palace effective immediately?"
"I will stay there," Theodore had a huge smile on his face when he said that.
The Goddess kept on staring at her son with a soft smile on her face.
Theodore pressed his cheeks with both of his palms and asked, "Is something wrong with my face? You\'ve been staring at me for quite some time now."
She laughed softly and gently patted Theodore\'s head. "You look so beautiful when you smile. It used to be a rare treat back in the past to see that precious smile of yours. But now I see that you\'ve started to smile a lot."
Azriel jumped up and knocked on Theodore\'s head while complaining, "He has even started to hug me a lot. And it\'s like he has reverted back to being a baby. He keeps on coming to my place and invades my bed."
"So what?" Theodore rubbed his head and glared at Azriel.
Azriel sneered at Theodore and then fisted over his waist. "So I don\'t have a peaceful life anymore. I\'m always on my guard wondering when you might pop into my room and start taunting me."
The Goddess was watching both of them bantering with each other as they used to when they were kids.
After spending some time with her sons, she became greedy. She wanted to be by their side for a little longer.
And she finally gave her decision, "Theodore, I will be staying until your wedding then."
Both Theodore and Azriel stopped fighting with each other and looked at their mother. Theodore happily gave her a hug. "I appreciate it. My special day will be even more special if you are by my side."
Azriel then instantly announced, "Mother will stay with me."
Theodore abruptly turned his head toward Azriel and protested, "Mother is here for my wedding so she is my guest. That means she is going to stay at my place."
Azriel glared at Theodore and shouted back, "She is already going to attend your wedding. How much more do you want? Also, aren\'t you busy with all the preparations for the wedding? Can you even look after mother\'s needs and accompany her all the time?"
"I…" Theodore clenched his fists because he knew that he wouldn\'t be able to give complete attention to his mother. So even though he was unwilling, he agreed to Azriel, "Alright…"
"Alright what?" Azriel gave a teasing smile to his brother.
Theodore sighed in frustration. He then chewed his anger and spoke in a controlled tone, "Alright, you may host our mother in your place."
Azriel smirked and sat beside their mother. He put his arms around her shoulder and teased Theodore again, "Aren\'t you going to meet Adeline? She might be waiting for you. It\'s already late. Now shoo away!"
"Oh, right!" Theodore abruptly got up on his feet and was about to rush off. He then gave an apologetic look to his mother and asked her, "She will keep on waiting for me and might get worried. I will inform her that I\'ll be staying here and will be right back."
The Goddess gave a nod while Azriel shouted, "What? Does that mean that you are going to hover around me until mother stays here?"
Theodore gave a taunting smile and replied, "Yes, I will be here whenever I have free time and I am going to sleep here as well."
Azriel half-closed his eyes and stated, "I\'m not going to share my bed with you. I always wake up with numb hand whenever you sleep with me."
Theodore shrugged and casually brushed him off. "Sure. Feel free to sleep on the floor then. I won\'t force you to share the bed if you are that against it."
"Hey! I\'m not…" Before Azriel could finish his sentence, Theodore was long gone from the room.