At one point, a young boy suddenly approached them. He looked up at her and held out a hand that had a flower towards Evie.
Evie was shocked as she looked at Gavriel. Within her eyes, he saw how emotional she was. When Gavriel nodded at her, Evie knelt in front of the boy with a smile as she accepted the flower that was so beautiful it looked very magical. It was glowing under the moonlight.
"Is this for me?" Evie gently asked, awed and feeling emotional. She never expected that a boy would actually approach her and even giving her flowers!
"Yes, Princess." The boy nodded vigorously as he smiled back, and Evie could not stop herself from reaching out to the boy.
"May I hug you?" Evie asked. This was the very first time a vampire approached her without any wariness. And the boy was so adorable and sweet.
The boy blinked and then he gazed up at Gavriel. When Gavriel nodded at him, the boy's smile widened as he jumped into Evie's embrace as he let Evie hug him.
"Thank you, what's your name?"
"Eleazar, princess."
"What a handsome name."
"Thank you, princess. My friends also want to give you flowers. You are so beautiful, just like this Moonflower."
"This is called moonflower?"
"Yes, Princess. Can my friends come give you their flowers too?" The boy asked with a big grin and Evie could only nod as her heart melted at his large, clear, and innocent eyes.
At that moment, a few children slowly approached them, a combination of both boys and girls and each of them were holding a flower in their hands.
Evie felt so happy as she hugged all the children one by one thanking them for their gifts. She had always adored children and it had been so long since she met one since she left for her wedding.
The vampires watching were worried at first but eventually, after seeing the smile on the princess' face and the happiness in the children's eyes, they finally relaxed. They too could not help but praise the princess. They thought the princess would get scared and ask the prince to tell the children to leave. But she even hugged them all. They did not know that the human princess their prince chose was such an angel. It seems her angelic appearance was not merely for show. And it made them feel glad – not only for themselves but more so for their respected and beloved prince.
From a distance, Gavriel's men who had just stepped out of a shop where they too were searching for a new weapon for Leon – after he threw away the poisoned sword the emperor gave him – spotted Gavriel and Evie with the children surrounding them.
"Oh, what a surprise. His Highness is not jealous." Luc lifted an eyebrow.
"Are you nuts? They're kids. Why would he get jealous?"
"Well, that's our possessive prince after all. He even gets jealous of a steak you know?" Levy said as he rolled his eyes, remembering the scene he saw during the couple's first dinner back in the capital. He almost died of grief when he realised that his most revered prince and lord was vying with a piece of steak for his wife's attention!
"Oh…" Leon looked like he just realized something. "So, His Highness is the jealous type… a while ago when he suddenly glared at me… could it be because…" he trailed off and shook his head. "No, that must be just my imagination." That could not be it. The mighty prince with the battle prowess could not be that petty. Could he?
"Of course not. You're not imagining things, Leon." Luc told him. "He was jealous a while ago because the princess seemed to be fascinated with your eyes. So, I'd remind you to be extra careful. Our prince is very ridiculous most of the times when it comes to his wife." Luc's reminder plus his dry tone of voice told Leon that he was not joking.
Leon had his eyes wide seemingly worried now.
"Stop scaring the man," Zolan broke off.
"I'm not! In fact, he should thank me. This is for his own good!"
...
By the time the children dispersed and finally left off surrounding Evie, Gavriel was on his last bits of patience. The children literally monopolized Evie for more than an hour. Though it made him very happy that his wife was enjoying the company of the town's children, Gavriel's selfishness of wanting to have her all to himself all of the time was strong.
He had to scold himself and told himself to be patient over and over again until at long last, the children finally left after Evie agreed to their requests that they will visit her at the castle one day. Somehow, his desire for his wife was growing incredibly strong and getting a little too much overboard it seems.
"Thank you for waiting," Evie said, smiling, as she finally approached her husband who now had the look of an indignant and neglected god. "The children are so adorable. I'm so happy to have had the chance to meet them." She expressed her gratitude and after planting a kiss on Gavriel's cheek, the sullen god finally brightened up again. "I hope it's alright for me to spent time with them." Evie smiled as she thought that her adorable hubby could be as childish as any one of the children that were surrounding her earlier. His attitude sure did match the levels of those kids, she thought as she laughed inwardly.
"It's alright Evie. Vampire kids do not have a strong sense of smell yet. So, they would be safe from any temptations for now." Gavriel explained and Evie was relieved. She was so glad that she would not cause any discomfort for those adorable children.
"I'd like to meet them again." Evie stated as she watched the reaction of this big child.
"Of course, love. Anything for you." Gavriel gave his assent instantaneously and grinned happily, now contented to having his wife back to himself.