5 Chapter 4

Asteria saw the grim look on her dad's face and put down the empty cup on the table. Getting off the couch, she walked towards him and called out, "Dad?"

Hearing her voice, Matthew was a bit startled. He quickly put away the grim look on his face and a smile blossomed on the corners of his lips.

"My little Ria! Did you come to visit daddy because you missed me at home? Aww~ daddy is so happy!"

There was no trace of abnormality on Matthew's face as he picked her up in his arms and rubbed his silly face covered with beard against her delicate cheeks.

Was it just her imagination?

Asteria looked at Matthew in doubt but her thoughts were scattered away by his tight hug.

Pushing away Matthew's face off her cheeks that were being pricked by his beard, Asteria showed a look of distaste as she said, "No, I didn't. I only came to take Lynn and Len back home for lunch. And stop rubbing your face against mine, your beard is hurting me!"

"Hehehe, my little Ria is shy to say that she missed her daddy. So cute!" Matthew hugged her tightly but was careful not to hurt her as he laughed like a fool.

Asteria helplessly squirmed in his muscular arms for a bit and gave up after looking at his foolish grin. Because of this momentary distraction, she forgot to even ask why he looked so upset just now.

"Dad, are you not busy anymore?"

"Nope. Daddy is done with work for now." Matthew smilingly replied.

Hearing his words, Asteria blinked her bright eyes and happily said, "Then how about going home for lunch today? Mom said she will be preparing our favourites and I know that she is probably going to make your portion too! Dad is always too busy with work and won't come back home until dinner time. I'm sure mom will be very happy if you came back home for lunch today."

Matthew's eyes rippled at her words and warmth filled his heart. He gently caressed Asteria's head and laughed heartily.

"If that's what my Ria wants then daddy will do as you say! Let's go! Daddy will go home together with my Ria!"

Asteria giggled and let him carry her out of the shop without forgetting to bring her bags of snacks with them.

The two father and daughter went near the bridge to call back the twins who were playing with other children then happily made their way back the road to their home.

When the father and children got back home, Paula had been waiting for them with the table full of snacks.

Seeing her husband entering together with the children, Paula was pleasantly surprised and a beautiful smile blossomed on her face.

"You are back so early today. Did your work go well?"

Settling down the little girls from his arms to their feet, Matthew gently pulled Paula into his arms in a warm embrace.

With a smile, he said, "I heard from Ria that you missed me very much so I couldn't just burrow myself into work while my beautiful wife is feeling lonely at home, can I?"

"Oh you!" Paula pretended to swat away his hand on her waist as a suspicious blush crept on her cheeks. "You are already so old yet not ashamed to say such a thing before the kids!"

Then she shot a glare with no force behind it at Asteria who quickly avoided it with a turn of her head, pretending to be oblivious to it.

"Hahaha, okay. Let's not just stand around and head inside. The children must be hungry after playing outside," said Matthew as he led Paula inside the dining hall with the children following behind them and added,

"And I also miss my wife's cooking after a busy day at work. With my wife's delicious cooking, I can always feel all the stress leaving my body and feel refreshed again!"

And then he received yet another swat on his chest.

"Acting so cheeky, see if I won't give you a burnt bread for dinner tonight."

Catching Paula's 'merciless' hand with his, Matthew pitifully cried out. "My wrong, my wrong. I still want to eat my wife's cooking, how could I stomach just a bread? I won't say anything now, see?"

Saying that, he mimed a 'zipping his mouth' gesture while staring at his wife with a 'pitiful' gaze.

With a 'pfft', Paula broke into a smile and pinched his ear lightly then let him off with a 'still so cheeky'.

Asteria and the twins at the side also giggled at their lovey-dovey actions then ran off to the bathroom to wash their arms and legs after being told by their mother.

After seeing the children out of the kitchen, Matthew's carefree smile dimmed. He didn't want the children to worry so he was still able to put on an act before them but when it came to his wife, he didn't have to put on a facade anymore.

Paula noticed the change on his mood immediately and the upward curve on her lips slowly bent down. Although she was worried, she still asked in a gentle tone, "Dear, what's wrong? Is there any trouble with your work?"

As if finding a place to unload his burdens, Matthew heaved a long sigh, pulled a chair and sat down. He said in a low voice, "Paula..."

"This time...we might be in a big trouble."

***

Asteria didn't know what happened in the kitchen after going to the bathroom to wash her hands and feet.

After playing around with the twins for a few minutes and splashing water at each other, they quickly dried themselves up with towels in case they got scolded by their mother if she saw the mess.

When the three went back to the kitchen, Paula and Matthew still acted normally without showing any suspicious behaviour. But once a while during lunch, Asteria would find Paula blankly staring into the air or clenching her skirt with her fingers as if she had something in her mind the whole time.

It wasn't really unusual if it was just one or two times but when Asteria saw her like this even after finishing the lunch and preparing to wash the dishes, she finally couldn't help but feel worried about her mother.

Matthew still had work to do so he had already left after having lunch while the twins went to their room to take a nap. Only Paula and Asteria were left in the kitchen.

Asteria stood up from her seat and walked towards Paula carrying the remaining dishes on the table.

Paula took the dishes from her and smiled. "My, thank you Ria. But why are you still here? I can do the rest myself so you can go and take a nap."

"Mom, is something wrong? Do you feel unwell? How about I go look for a doctor?" Asteria worriedly held Paula's hand and asked.

She could feel the hand held in hers stiffen for a second, then it was pulled out of her hold before gently enveloping her hand.

With a light tap on the small hand, Paula gently smiled and said,"Don't worry, Ria. Mom doesn't feel unwell at all. Just a bit tired, nothing much."

Asteria tentatively asked, "Really?"

"Mhm!" Paula nodded with a reassuring smile. "Would mom lie to you?"

Asteria finally chose to believe her, and shook her head.

Paula then caressed her hair. "Then go and take a nap. You must be tired from training and going outside. I will wake you guys up before dinner time so stop scrunching your little forehead in case you get a wrinkle at such a young age! See if any boy would like you then."

Asteria immediately retorted her words."I don't need them to like me anyway! I can like myself!"

"Pfft!" Paula shook her head at her reaction. Her eyes full of indulgence as she said, "Yes yes, there is no way anyone would dislike our cute Ria! If anyone does then they are too blind!"

Asteria 'humphed' and turned around then went back to her room with a look of "at least you are aware".

Paula followed the proud back of of her daughter with her eyes and chuckled lowly to herself. Then her affectionate eyes turned into worry and sorrow at the thought of her husband's previous words.

"Oh celestial god above, please protect my family from this crisis."

***

Days passed and it was already the mid of Piscium.

The preparation for the baptism ceremony was in full blast in the city. The whole city was filled with merry colours and even the increasingly cold wind outside couldn't hold people back from getting out of their houses to gather around in merriment. The market was also booming with activities with more people coming out to shop around for the festivities.

It was very warm and livey inside the Lucielle's as well. With the baptism ceremony only an arm's reach away, Asteria was very excited and busy with the preparation all this time.

This year was double the excitement for her with her 12th birthday so close to the baptism ceremony. Asteria had been looking forward to it all these years and now that it was finally near, she couldn't help but feel nervous, which was quite rare for her.

Actually, this nervousness wasn't really something directed towards the baptism ceremony. True, she was full of anticipation and excitement but there was a small bugging feeling deep inside her heart, a sort of anxiousness that couldn't be explained with words.

This feeling was too strange for Asteria to understand. It felt as if something bad was going to happen soon. Something really bad...

At first it was just a sense of restlessness but as it neared her 12th birthday, this foreboding feeling grew stronger and stronger which finally alarmed her a little.

Normal people might have shaken it off as just overthinking due to the excitement but Asteria didn't do the same.

She took this a bit more seriously as she had always believed in her intuitions which she relied on quite a few times to avoid any bad situations while growing up.

Although sometimes it might not be 100% accurate, and she also never completely relied on her intuitions, she didn't deny it and was more cautious whenever she was outside or training to avoid any accidents.

But as she waited, she didn't encounter anything dangerous like she had thought and yet the restlessness was still there like a constant reminder that something was definitely wrong.

This feeling was a bit too overwhelming for Asteria as she was still too young and had never really experienced something like this before.

This feeling of something dangerous lurking around her in the shadows while she was out in the light completely unaware of the danger made her heart tighten in frustration.

Asteria had also noticed that her father was getting busier with his works these days. He would spend most of his time out for work and rarely came back home, and when he was finally home, although he always tried to hide it from them, she still noticed the fatigue hidden under his smiling face everytime.

But no matter how she asked, her father would either dodge the question or simply give her some silly answers to stop her from inquiring any further.

Although his behaviour was too suspicious and Asteria knew that he was trying to hide something, she could only drop it after looking at his haggard face.

As children, it wasn't really her turn to meddle in the adult's matters. She could only hope that there won't be any problem with her father's work.

Because of this matter, her excitement and anticipation for her 12th birthday lessened as she worried about her father and the foreboding in her heart only made it worse for her.

So to distract herself from the heavy feeling in her heart, she spent most of her time training swordsmanship to refresh her mind from all the stress.

She could only forget about everything when she was concentrating on practicing swordfight while sweating out. Although it didn't help in solving anything, at least she was able to calm the restlessness inside her.

One evening, Asteria had just finished having dinner with her family and it was also a rare moment when her father had also returned home from work for a short break.

The days had become much colder and all the windows were tightly closed to prevent the cold wind from blowing in from outside so it was a bit dim inside with only the candle lights and the fireplace lighting up the house.

They were happily spending this rare peaceful moment, huddled together in front of the fireplace in the living room while telling short stories and jokes to pass the time. Warm laughters and giggles spilled out of their mouths every now and then; it was especially harmonious and heartwarming.

However, the peaceful atmosphere inside the house was shattered by a barrage of urgent knocks ringing out from the entrance door.

Knock, knock, knock!!

From the sound of the very short interval between the knocks, one could tell how panicked the person outside was at this moment.

Because of the series of knocking sound coming from the door, Matthew and others stopped speaking as they exchanged silent glances. They were a bit puzzled.

Matthew stood up while carrying Lynn up from his lap and set her down on his seat. He said, "I'll go and open the door. Paula, look after the children."

Paula was a bit worried as she subconsciously caught his hand and stopped him.

Matthew paused on his step and turned around to give her a reassuring glance.

"Don't worry. I will be fine."

Then he gently pulled his hand out of her hold and walked towards the door.

Paula worriedly followed his back with her eyes and slightly tightened her hold on Asteria in her arms.

Asteria had already felt the aburpt change in the atmosphere since the moment she heard the urgent knocks echoing inside the house from the door. She could also feel the tension in the gazes exchanged between Matthew and Paula who seemed to know about something.

Asteria had noticed that her mother and father were clearly hiding something from them for a long time already. So she couldn't help but also feel worried about this situation after linking it to what she thought was troubling the two.

Even Lynn and Len who were still too young to understand most of the things could tell that the situation wasn't quite right. So they both chose to keep quiet and stick to their mother while waiting for their father to open the door.

Matthew quickly walked infront of the door, his hand gripped the handle and slowly turned it with a click sound, and pulled the door open.

The person outside also stopped knocking after seeing the door open and anxiously barged inside without waiting for the person inside to let him in.

"Boss! Boss! We're in big trouble! Someone leaked the information about our hideout and our brothers were arrested by the knights for interrogation!! They said that we are suspects for the recent assassination attempt upon his majesty, the emperor!"