The mate of his nanny

Chapter 83: Forgotten

Moana

We returned to the penthouse after the incident with the creepy man, which unfortunately put a bit of a damper on the trip. However, I tried not to let the man get to me, and was instead grateful for Edrick's quick thinking and protective demeanor. The entire ride home, I kept glancing at him by accident. I wasn't sure if he noticed, but if he did, he didn't say anything about it.

After parking the car, we took the elevator up to the penthouse and finally took our masks off once we were on the elevator. I was relieved to finally take the mask off after wearing it all day and let out a deep sigh as we set down our things.

Unfortunately, it seemed that our relief was short-lived. Selena quickly came into the foyer not long after we arrived with an expression on her face that was a combination of both concern and mild frustration.

"What's wrong?" I asked before she even said anything. Already, just from the look on her face, I could tell that something happened.

She sighed. "It's Ella," she said. "She's been moping in her room all day. I tried going in, but she even barricaded the door with toys. I'm not sure what to do."

Edrick and I exchanged quick glances. We both seemed to be thinking the same thing. "We'll check on her," he said with a sigh. "Go and take the rest of the night to yourself, Selena. I'm sure you're exhausted."

Selena managed a weak, but surprised, smile. Without another word, Edrick walked off in the direction of Ella's room. Selena shot me a brief glance that conveyed her shock at the Alpha billionaire's suddenly generous demeanor, to which I merely shrugged, before I followed him to Ella's bedroom door.

Edrick knocked gently on the door. "Princess?" he called out. "It's daddy. Can you let me in, please?"

"No!" a tiny voice yelled from the other side of the door. "Go away! No monsters are allowed in my kingdom!"

Edrick turned to look at me with a confused expression on his face. I contained a smirk and brushed past him.

"Your Majesty," I called out, playing into her game, "please let us in. We've been sent from another kingdom to make peace."

There was a silence, followed by the sound of bare feet slapping on the floor. The door then cracked open, and one of Ella's eyes peered out. She looked both of us up and down before opening the door a little more and stepping out of the way, revealing that her room was a complete mess. She was wearing a princess costume and a tiara from her costume chest, and had arranged all of her pillows and sheets into a makeshift castle on her bed. All of her toys were scattered around the room arranged in various scenes - a battlefield, a tea party, and a throne room - and her clothes had all been ripped out of her closet and were tossed carelessly on every surface.

"Ella," Edrick said, sounding disappointed, "why did you do this?"

A small growl escaped Ella's lips. I looked down to see her glaring at her father through her eyebrows. Her pointed wolf ears were showing and her tiny fangs were protruding slightly. Her claws were extended as well, and I sighed, knowing that Edrick's accusatory demeanor was aggravating her further.

"What King Edrick meant to say was that he only wants to know what happened here in your kingdom," I said gently, crouching to the little girl's level. As I did, her face softened slightly, but she still looked rather angry.

"I have decided to move my kingdom elsewhere," Ella said. She pointed over to her closet, where a suitcase laid open on the floor. It was full of toys and other costumes. "This land is no longer fit for the Princess."

I looked up at Edrick then, who had a deep frown on his face. He seemed to be at a loss for words, and opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. When he looked at me, I could see a sense of pleading behind his eyes.

"Maybe the King and the Princess should have a royal meeting," I suggested, urging him to play along with Ella; I knew from years of experience with children that playing along was sometimes the best way to handle a situation like this.

Edrick sighed, then cleared his throat nervously.
"Um... Ahem... El- I mean, Princess Ella," he said, dropping to one knee and bowing, "would you... um... be so kind as to explain why you'd like to leave this land?"

Ella was silent for a moment. She tilted her chin up and stared angrily down her nose at Edrick, causing her tiara to flop backwards a bit on her head. I gently reached out and straightened it for her.

"I'm the only Princess in the land," she said finally. "I don't want to be replaced."

Edrick's head snapped up. He looked at me with wide eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but I merely shook my head and nodded my head toward her, indicating for him to address his daughter, and not me. He slowly looked back at Ella and cleared his throat again.

"Why do you think that you'll be replaced, Princess?" he asked.

Ella shrugged. "You guys went out all day without me and had lots of fun. If you're already forgetting about me now, you're just gonna replace me with the new baby."

Now, I felt my own eyes widen. Edrick's face softened and he sat down on the floor, crossing his legs. "Sweetheart, no one's gonna replace you," he said gently. It was endearing to see him look at his daughter with such a genuine, pained expression. He slowly opened his arms, and after a moment of hesitation, Ella walked over to him and plopped down in his lap, burying her face in her chest. As she did, her tiara fell off of her head and clattered to the floor. "You're always gonna be my first baby," Edrick said softly. "You don't have to worry."

They held each other like that for a few minutes. Edrick rocked Ella back and forth while she sniffled, and for that time, I almost felt as though I wasn't even there; I was just an observer watching a sweet moment between a father and a daughter, and I stood, deciding to give them some space. As I walked quietly over to the door, I heard Edrick speak again.

"How can I make it up to you, Princess?" Edrick asked gently.

"I miss my friends at the orphanage," Ella replied with a sniff, her voice muffled by his chest. "Can we go as a family?" she glanced up then to look at me and I froze, taken aback by her use of the word 'family'. Edrick looked up as well, and I could tell that he was just as taken aback as I was. He stared at me for several long moments, both of us frozen. His steely gray eyes were softer than usual, and in that moment, I felt Mina rousing inside of me.

Finally, he licked his lips and spoke, never releasing his gaze from mine.

"Yes," he said quietly. "We can all go tomorrow."