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"Bros, look at this!"
In the middle of a clear meadow, three boys could be seen playing. They all had the same golden eyes and facial features; the only real difference between them was their hair color; one had shiny black hair, the other was brunette with green tips, and the last one had white hair.
The one with the black hair was vibrating in excitement as he showed off to his brothers. He picked up a rock and threw it behind him; this alone would've been boring, but the rock he threw magically shifted its trajectory and hit the dummy right in front of them.
The black-haired boy looked at his brothers and asked, "See? See? Ain't that cool?"
"Mn, cool! But I can do better." The brunette with green tips replied with a smug tone.
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"Boring," the white-haired boy replied.
"Hmph, you two are just jealous because I'm awesome!" The black-haired boy didn't sound too upset that his brothers weren't too impressed by his trick. In his mind, they don't understand his awesomeness, and that's fine; not everybody gets it.
"If you can take us flying like our father does, then we'd be really jealous. Ain't that right, Geld?" The brunette nudged the white-haired boy with his elbows.
"True." The white-haired boy replied before looking at his brother beside him with a glare, saying, "And please, call me by my actual name. We're no longer infants, so you have no excuse for using that old nickname."
"You speak as if you don't call me by an old nickname too."
"Yeah, but yours makes sense." The white-haired boy groaned. "We call you 'Gil' because Gilderoy is a mouthful to say. How the heck did my name turn to 'Geld'? Make that make sense!"
"I mean, all the letters are in there. 'Geld' for Gerald. Only two letters are missing, and it sounds close enough." The black-haired boy chimed in.
"Oh, I see. Would you like me to call you 'Gym' then, huh? Godwyn? That also sounds close enough to your name." Geld, or Gerald, snarkily remarked at the black-haired boy.
"Well, that's not fair. My name doesn't have an 'M' in it. Besides, you two already call me Gwyn, which is not bad for a nickname." Godwyn shrugged as he replied.
"Is this who we are now? Too lazy to use our given names? Why the heck are we even using words if we're too lazy to bother uttering more syllables to complete each other's name?"
"Gosh, you complain too much. My ears are ringing." Gilderoy, or simply Gil, scrunched up his face, annoyed at the complaints of his white-haired brother.
"Whatever."
Godwyn was there, hugging the lion from below as it continued to run. His back was definitely scratching the ground because the lion wasn't stopping at all.
"Shut up and make him stop! It hurts!" Godwyn complained.
"See what happens when you're not using your brain?" Gerald snorted, crossing his arms to his chest and looking completely disinterested to help his brother out.
"Sorry, bro. Even I can't tell what this stupid lion can and cannot do. It's our guardian, not some wild beast." Gilderoy lied through his teeth, and his brothers know that too. "Plus, you were asking for this. You could've done the same as us yet you didn't. What did you think was going to happen anyway? That's your fault, bro."
Well, Godwyn initially planned to show off again. He thought that he was strong enough to tackle the lion off course and tussle with it for a bit. Unfortunately, he had severely overestimated himself because not only was the lion way tougher than it looked, he also forgot that he's far from being skilled enough to actually pull off what he had in mind.
This type of recklessness was just right up Godwyn's alley, and Gilderoy's right; he was practically asking for this to happen, so he had nobody else to blame other than himself.
But that doesn't mean that he'd let his brothers get away from this.
"Dang it, just you two wait! I'll get you back for this," Godwyn threatened while resolutely holding on to the lion's fur so that he wouldn't fall and enduring the skidding of his back on the ground.
Growl!
Fortunately, it seems that the lion decided to show him some mercy instead of his brothers. With a growl, it suddenly grew twice its previous size, effectively lifting Godwyn off the ground. Furthermore, the fur on its underside seemingly turned into strands of silk that held on to the poor kid so that he doesn't have to hold on.
"Thanks, Aurelion. You're definitely more handsome than the two riding on your back." Godwyn almost teared up in comfort after the lion did all of that.
That's right, this lion wasn't just some wild beast in captivity. It was none other than Aurelion the Radiant Sunlion—Cedric's familiar, who's also acting as the guardian beast of this family. Previously, Cedric left him to shadow his wives to make sure that they're safe. Now, he's been transferred to look after his master's cubs.
After a short run, Aurelion arrived at a dainty garden that has a small tea table in the middle. The sun stopped beside the man who's calmly sitting in front of the table, drinking his tea in peace.
Gil and Gerald hopped off the lion's back while Godwyn was unceremoniously dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
"Oof!"
He got up immediately and looked shyly at the man whom he idolized since the moment he became aware of the world around him.
The same man looked at him with fondness and asked, "How did that ride go for you? Was it fun?"
"Daaad!!"
Cedric just laughed at his son's antics.