Chapter 77 - Father-Son Time

It was still dawn so King Dragomir was not in the Court yet. That was why Nigel headed straight towards his father's sleeping chamber. Prince Nigel was a little nervous when he was going to see his father in his private chamber. He had rarely done that before, and this was one of those rare moments.

It was a well-known fact that the King did not like being visited in his chamber. So people would wait until it was time for the King to proceed to the Court; and they would put forth their grievances in the Court.

However, as Prince Nigel was leaving early in the morning, he had to see the King in his own quarter. But he couldn't help but worry that he would anger the King by invading his privacy.

After reaching outside the chamber, Nigel nervously looked at the guard who was standing by the door and asked, "Will you announce to the King that I am here to see him?"

The guard bowed to the Prince and replied, "Yes Your Highness." Then he knocked on the door and went inside the room. He returned back within a few seconds and reported back to the Prince, "His Majesty is waiting for you inside."

The guards opened the door for the Prince and stepped to the side to let him enter the King's room.

When Nigel reached inside the King's room, he saw that his father was sitting on his bed sloppily. His hair and clothes were a mess. And his expression looked as if he was very weary and hadn't slept in days.

Prince Nigel was shocked to see the King in that state. He had always seen the King in his full Royal clothing or at least proper clothing. He cared a lot about his appearance and thus was always well groomed. He would exude with confidence every time that he was around other people. And for the first time, Nigel felt like his father didn't care about maintaining his appearance.

And for the first time, Nigel felt as if the King was getting old.

Nigel was awkwardly standing in front of the King's bed, not really sure what he was going to say to his father. "Am I just supposed to say goodbye and leave, or am I supposed to chat with him for a while?"

He thought that just informing the King that he was about to leave would seem rude but he didn't know how to do small talks with the King. So he waited for the King to say something and decided to go with the flow.

Prince Nigel was dressed up in his royal attire so Dragomir guessed why his son came to see him early in the morning.

Seeing Nigel standing with a stiff body, King Dragomir shifted to one side of his bed and then gestured at the other side and said, "Why don't you sit for a while Nigel?"

Nigel stared at the King with a surprised look on his face as it was something that he had least expected.

He was not used to this kind of polite treatment from the King so he felt a little nervous while he was walking towards the huge bed. "Is he being so polite because I am going away today?" he asked to himself.

"You are leaving already?" King Dragomir asked as if he was not the one to give an order to Nigel asking him to leave as soon as possible.

Nigel politely smiled at the King and replied, "Yes Your Majesty, I wanted to start my training as early as it was possible." He obviously didn't want to leave for Aberdeen and was just going there because of the orders. But he was not going to say that to the King himself.

The King looked at the Prince and he was able to read the face of Nigel. Although Nigel didn't say it, Dragomir knew that he was not leaving on his own will.

So, the King started the conversation with an apology, "I am sorry that I gave an order to you to go to Aberdeen. I was not in a right state of mind when the messenger from Aberdeen arrived. And I agreed to send you there without even realizing it."

"He was not in a right state of mind? Did something happen to him?" Nigel couldn't help but worry.

The King kept on bad-mouthing himself, "I should have never agreed to send my son away to another Kingdom, that also for a month! No Prince should be sent away from his own home. But now it's too late as I already gave my word to King Conall."

Prince Nigel was touched by this gesture from the King. Nigel always thought that the King never really cared about any of his children other than Adeline. He would even get jealous of Adeline sometimes for being the youngest one and being the only one to receive the love from their father. But right now, he felt like the King really cared about him as well. He thought that the King just didn't show it openly.

Nigel looked down at the floor and smiled softly. "It's alright Your Majesty. I have not minded it at all. And I will be back before the test so I will be fine."

Dragomir patted on Nigel's shoulder and held it firmly. He gave a soft smile to his son and said in a calmer voice than his usual stern tone, "You don't have to call me 'Your Majesty' when we are alone. You can call me 'father'. I don't want to deprive my children of the right to call me 'father'."

"Yes yo… yes father." Nigel was beaming with happiness because of the way his father was being so polite and loving towards him.

Dragomir glanced at Nigel and then asked him, "Did you finish making all the preparations for the journey? Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"I have already prepared everything for the journey. You don't have to worry about such things." Nigel was already used to doing everything by himself, so there was no need for the King to worry about such trivial matters.

Due to the recent talk with Adeline, Dragomir had realized that he was not providing enough love and care to his family. And he realized how dangerous that was. He did not want anyone else to be like Lillian.

Dragomir had not yet finished asking for forgiveness from Nigel. He had a sad expression on his face when he spoke again, "Nigel, I would like to say that I am sorry for being an absent father. I was never close to any of my family members. I just took all of you for granted and never really played my part as a husband or as a father."

Nigel felt a prick in his heart seeing the King pleading for forgiveness in front of him. And that also because of the matter that he had already made peace with. He wanted to say something to the King to make him stop asking for forgiveness but the King kept on speaking.

"All I ever cared about was securing borders, looking after the villagers, tying up with other nations, and what not. But while doing all that, I forgot to give love and support to my own family."

Dragomir slammed his fist on his bed and murmured, "I failed all of you. I failed myself." Dragomir was acting this way because he was blaming himself for what happened to Lillian and Auvera.

Nigel had no idea why Dragomir was saying all these things out of the blue. But whatever the reason, he did not like seeing his father feeling this guilty. So he tried to make his father feel better about himself and said, "Father, you didn't fail anybody. You are the King of this great nation. You made everyone's life better. You succeeded as a King."

"But I failed as a husband and as a father" Dragomir's eyes dulled up and the expression on his face died down.

Nigel made another attempt to try to calm his father down, "You might not have gotten the chance to do some heart-to-heat conversations or spend some more time with us but that's the cost one has to bear with such power as yourself. You are not just responsible for us, you are responsible for everyone in this Kingdom. So we understand you father."

Dragomir's eyes were filled with tears when he heard his son. He just wished that everyone in his family were as caring and as understanding as Nigel.

Only the King knew how hard it was to shoulder the responsibility of the whole Kingdom. No one else knew how tiring it was to be under constant pressure, pressure to make sure that the decisions that he would make on behalf of the whole Kingdom would always be right. His one wrong decision and hundreds of innocent people would have to pay the price.

No one would ask to the King how he was doing but he was required to ask that to each of his citizens and make sure everyone was okay. No one would give the words of encouragement to the King. Even though he was surrounded by lots of people, he felt like he was on his own. And these kind words from his son made him emotional.

Dragomir hugged his son and praised him, "You are a good lad. You were always one. Don't you ever dare to change your good heart."

"Yes father" and Nigel was over the moon at this reaction from his father.. This was the first time that his father had ever hugged him, and it meant a lot to Nigel.