Praesidium (WMMAP Fanfic)

Chapter 5

"Princess Rabia, his majesty the Emperor and the Prince is here" Olive announced to Rabia who was enjoying tea in her private rooms

"You're here early" Rabia greeted them in surprise before picking up her son and giving him kisses on his cute and plump cheeks completely oblivious of the jealous look on the Claude's face but Felix saw it all causing him to smother his laugh and disguise it as a cough earning him a vicious glare from his Emperor

"You emphasized the great need of children to nap during the day to grow properly, so we decided being early is better than late" Claude said seriously while nodding towards Ambrose who is also nodding along in agreement

Rabia looked between them while having a difficult time remembering when she emphasized children nap times, but let it slide when she got a good look at Claude's face and saw bags under his eyes

"Then let's go nap then" Rabia said before turning towards her room but stopped short when the Emperor turned around to leave "where do you think you're going?"

"To work" Claude answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"No, you'll stay and nap with us" Rabia said as she pulled Claude with her towards the bedroom

"You always seem to drag me everywhere you want to go" Claude said in amusement

"I do not" Rabia denied but the blush on her face says otherwise

"Now let's go nap, we'll do this for 21 days"

"Why 21 days?" Claude asked as he helped his son arrange the pillows on the bed for maximum comfort

"I read somewhere that, for something to become a habit you must do it for 21 days" Rabia said as she watches Ambrose with a smile on her face as he climbs underneath the covers and pulls Claude to lay beside him

A napping habit? That goes against everything Claude learned growing up, he was trained to be efficient and hardworking. It has been ingrained in his very being that resting was a luxury

"Mama said to sleep" Ambrose said to his father when he settled down on one side and his mother on the other. Ambrose patted his father's chest lightly as he hummed with closed eyes, making Rabia blink in surprise because he was humming the song she sings him during nap time

After a few pats Ambrose stopped humming and his breath evened out signaling he fell asleep

"Seems like the little Prince fell asleep to his own humming" Rabia said with a smile while tucking Ambrose's arm back under the blanket

"You should sleep too Claude"

Rabia hummed a soft tune, a more smooth and refined version of what Ambrose was humming before. Claude's eyes started to close, granting himself the luxury of resting wouldn't hurt anybody

"The construction of your sleeping nook at the back of the audience room will be finished tomorrow, your majesty" Felix reported to Claude inside his study

"It's for Ambrose, walking him to his mother on time is sometimes impossible because of barking dogs asking useless things" Claude explained with an annoyed tone, knowing what Felix was thinking about

"Of course, your majesty" Felix said with an expression that says he doesn't believe Claude's answer at all. This past month the Emperor has successfully developed the habit of napping with Ambrose, causing him to become well rested and making him less cranky during meeting with the nobles. Felix is eternally thankful to Rabia because of this

"I don't like your face Felix, get out" Claude glared at him over the paperwork he was reviewing

"Your Majesty, couldn't you just say you don't like my expression? Why attack my whole face like that?" Felix protested with a pout