The family I grew up in

Chapter 2

Rill rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake. It was 3am by now. They finally reached the royal capital, immediately calling for a meeting with the wizard king. Julius Novachrono, the current wizard king, finally entered the room.

The young man felt like he had been waiting for hours. The ticking of the clock on the wall didn't help much, it seemed to lull him to sleep even more.

But when the large double doors opened and Julius walked in, Marx trailing along behind him, the need for sleep quickly vanished from his mind.

"Forgive me, I'm pretty late, or early?" The wizard king laughed, clearly nervous. He knew very well that is had to be urgent if they called in the middle of the night.

"There was a hold up with the king" he mumbled. When he said 'hold up' he probably meant that he was on his way to the meeting and the king, Augustus Kira Clover XIII made a scene about how important he was.

The blonde man took a closer look at the baby in Charlotte's arms. The boy had taken a liking to her. Maybe it soothed him. Rill didn't know much about babies. What he did know, was that they liked the sound of a heartbeat. Apparently it calmed them, especially the sound of their mother's heart.

Charlotte seemed to be the closest person to a mother. She had almost the same hair color as the baby's real mother.

Charlotte felt weird holding the baby, she had just agreed to hold him so he would be quiet. No, she didn't like those emerald green eyes or his laugh when she began to hold him. And she certainly hated that the brat had to choose her out of all the people there.

"So, this is the boy you mentioned" Julius observed.

"Indeed, though we have no idea why the being wisher for him" Novel confirmed.

Julius hummed. He carefully took the baby from Charlotte's arms. He didn't want to wake him but needed to get a better look at him. It didn't help though, as he slowly opened his emerald eyes.

They were shining with curiosity, but tiredness as well. He began squirming, trying to get back to Charlotte. Julius smiled at the small boy, handing him back to the blonde woman.

"Cute" the wizard king commented.

"Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened"

"Yes. It demanded for the baby after killing his mother. The baby-" Charlotte was cut off.

"Asta" Rill interjected. Everyone looked at him which made the young captain slump down in his seat.

"She said his name was Asta. The baby, I mean" he explained.

"Asta" Charlotte corrected herself "was upstairs at the time. We don't know what the being was nor what he wants from Asta."

Julius hummed in thought, before placing a book onto the table. It was black with strange symbols on top. One that none of the captains could read. Julius opened a certain page in it.

"Yes! That was it" Fuegoleon said, nodding to himself.

"If this is what you saw, then you saw a demon" Julius explained.

"Let's say that you're right. Why did he want the brat?" Jack said, leaning back in his chair, one hand thrown over the edge.

"Demons are mysterious beings. None of us really know what their intentions are. If we want to know, we'd have to ask him, which I wouldn't recommend. They're not know for being friendly" Julius clasped his hands together, smiling awkwardly.

"Still, why him? What's so important to him that he'd kill that woman?" Fuegoleon held a hand to his chin in thought.

"What woman?" Julius asked.

"Probably his mother, he wounded her pretty badly before we arrived. There was nothing we could do for her" Charlotte mumbled.

"She was his mother, she asked to keep her baby safe" Rill said, leaning forward in his seat.

"And he promised to come back for him" Nozel reminded.

"Which means we have to hide him" Yami huffed.

"Then it would be best to hide him with one of us. We are the strongest mages in the kingdom. If he comes back, we can defend him" Jack said.

"I would rather not put a baby in your care. Jack the Ripper. You know what your name means right?" Charlotte said, dangerously calm.

"Yeah I know, not like I want the brat anyway...." Jack huffed. He didn't want to take care of a baby. Kids were a plaque to him.

"Agreed. I should take him. I have three siblings and helped raise them. I am the most capable out of all of us" Nozel said.

Charlotte looked down at the baby, she felt protective of him. It was a woman's instinct to protect children (more or less), she knew that. But it wasn't even her baby. This boy, Asta, was separated from his parents. He would never know his true mother and father

The peaceful face of Asta buried in her chest looked more then just a bit cute, she had to admit.

"Well...." Julius started. "I would recommend that you, Yami, take care of the boy" he smiled.

"Eeehh!? What am I supposed to do with the brat?" He complained.

"You have dark magic Yami. It is powerful and not known to many. I'm sure you would surprise the demon. Besides, a little more responsibility would be good for you" the wizard king laughed.

Yami grumbled in response. "Do I look like some kind of babysitter? I don't know how to take care of a baby. Give the brat to Charlotte. He likes her already"

"Excuse you! Charlotte know as much about babies as you. Almost none" Nozel cut in.

"I'll help" Charlotte blurted out. She quickly shut her mouth again. What was she thinking? Helping Yami look after a baby? They weren't together. She constantly acted like she hated him. Like she needed no man. And she didn't. But the thought of helping Yami raise the boy seemed like a dream.

"We'll just take care of him together" she blushed lightly, trying to hide by looking away.

The perfect excuse to be closer to him. But had she been too fast? Yami gave her a weird look.

"You and a baby?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You and a baby?" She asked back.

Yami laughed, his voice booming through the room. "Touché prickly queen. I guess it's settled then, we'll take care of the brat" Charlotte rolled her eyes at his behavior.

Asta opened his eyes. The loud noise had woken him up, which he didn't like very much. He was quick to let his displeasure be known as he began to cry. Tiny fists clutching the fabric of Charlotte's top.

"Now what you've done, you woke him" she grumbled.

"Not my fault the at the kid has such good ears" the large man tried to defend himself.

Charlotte grumbled, rocking the baby in her arms, trying to coax him back to sleep. To her luck, Asta seemed sleepy enough to lean his head back against her chest, falling asleep again.

Julius chuckled.

"Yes, they will take good care of him".

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