After Aries and Sunny bathed together, Aries insisted on taking care of the little girl instead of asking Gertrude for some help. She dried Sunny's body, changed her clothes, and even combed the girl's short silver hair with hazel turfs after dying it.
When Aries was done, she was about to escort Sunny to the guest room where she would stay. However, Sunny tugged her hand and asked in the most adorable voice, "can I sleep in Grandmama's room?"
Aries didn't have the heart to refuse her. Abel wouldn't visit her for the time being. Therefore, she agreed to the little girl's request. The main reason Aries was now lying on her side, facing Sunny. The latter was also lying on her side, facing Aries.
'She's so cute,' Aries mused inwardly, smiling, bewitched by Sunny's adorable charms. She could look at her all day and she wouldn't complain about it.
"You should sleep," Aries whispered, seeing that Sunny was just staring at her with her innocent doe eyes.
"Sunny isn't sleepy," came out an adorable voice that could melt even an iceberg.
"Should I tell you a story?" Aries asked, and Sunny nodded. So Aries hummed a long tune, pondering which story Sunny might want to hear.
There were no children's books in the House of Vandran. It wasn't surprising, though. Not many were invited to enter the estate. Ever since Aries came into the marquess's residence, there was never a single child that stepped foot inside this mansion.
Aries's lips curled up as she thought about an overused children's story. "Have you heard about the story between the whiny boy and the potato?"
Sunny shook her head mildly. Her eyes gleamed, however, eager to hear about this seemingly interesting story she never heard before.
"Well, this story is about that." Aries cleared her throat, propping her temple against her knuckles. "There was this one boy who always whines about boredom. As he took a walk in the garden, a potato suddenly popped out of nowhere.
Apparently, the potato had been buried for a long time and no one was helping her get out. So when she found a chance, she crawled her way out of the dirt and met the whiny boy. The whiny boy took her home, washed the dirt stuck on her, and took care of her.
However, he still whines because he had always been bored. So the potato said the world out there is fun. If only he stepped out, he'd know how fun it was.
Little did the potato know, there was a deeper reason the boy didn't want to go out. Apparently, the whiny boy was bullied by his friends because he was... different. Therefore, he kept himself within his safe zones.
When the potato heard about it, her heart broke. She felt bad for him and wanted to accompany him to the end. As they enjoy each other's company, the whiny boy starts seeing how colorful the world was while the potato found beauty in his deep scars.
They promised each other —"
Zzz
Aries halted from continuing her story when Sunny started snoring. She chuckled, biting her tongue.
"I guess I changed the story too much. It didn't sound like a children's book." Aries removed her knuckles from her temple and laid down.
Her eyes softened the longer she stared at Sunny's round face. The little girl's cheek was squishing against the pillow, holding her hand in front of her as if she was praying. Aries couldn't help but brush the stray hairs away from Sunny's face with her fingertips.
"She reminds me of the days Alaric and I had," she whispered, smiling gently. "She also likes to sleep with me."
Aside from Abel, Aries would usually sleep on her own. The nightmares that kept haunting her in the past had disappeared. But she was slowly growing used to having someone sleep with her.
"She's really cute." Aries chuckled, moving closer to Sunny as she embraced her mildly. Although the room temperature was warm enough, there was just something that urged her to embrace Sunny.
Aries then closed her eyes, stroking Sunny's little back. She started humming, and her pats on Sunny's back grew weaker and slower. Before Aries knew it, she too, had fallen into a deep slumber.
As the night fell deeper and the crackling sound of the wood from the fireplace resonated in the chambers, Sunny's eyes slowly cracked open. Her gaze instantly fell on Aries's face, glancing down only to feel Aries's arms wrapped around her little hip under the sheet.
Sunny didn't struggle, though. Instead, she stared at Aries's face silently, showing no sign of drowsiness in her eyes. She slipped her hand over the blanket, poking the tip of Aries's nose to check if she would wake up.
Aries didn't.
Hence, Sunny carefully slipped away from Aries's embrace. The latter was deep asleep and didn't wake up; although she moved slightly and moaned when Sunny was already sitting on her side.
Sunny gazed down at Aries, placing her hand together in front of her, eyes shut. She remained silent, but when she reopened her eyes, a dark glint flickered across her slightly sharp doe eyes.
Her hands remained touching each other's palms, eyes falling on Aries once more. Her gaze observed Aries's face, and then it moved down. Sunny scanned Aries from head to toe until her eyes settled on Aries's throat.
Sunny gulped down, recalling her promise to Abel. She ignored her grumbling stomach, reaching for Aries's throat. When her fingertips were touching Aries's throat, she pressed it a bit until Aries furrowed her brows.
"Sunny promised Grandpa not to do anything," Sunny muttered, retracting her hand from Aries's throat. "But Sunny and Grandma will be sad if Grandpa gets hurt."
Sunny pursed her lips into a thin line, keeping her gaze on Aries's face. A deep sigh slipped past her lips, turning her attention to the window. The moonlight filtered through the glass window, adding more light to the dim room.
She frowned when her stomach grumbled once again. "Sunny is hungry…"
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