Strangely enough, the more he knew about the fourth prince, the more connected Austin felt to his new body and new life.
At first, it had felt strange, but it became comforting the more he began to accept this new life of his.
Leaving that aside for now, Austin decided that it was time to freshen up and spend time with his new family.
He swiftly changed his clothes, and right after he was done dressing up and ready to leave his room, he suddenly heard a knock on his door.
"Good morning, Your Highness, it's me. May I come in?"
It was his aunt, and Austin did not hesitate to give her a response.
"Yes. Please, come in."
Although he called Sue his aunt, in reality, she was not truly related to him.
She was actually his personal maid, but she used to be his mom's maid and sworn sister, so it only felt natural for him to refer to her as his Aunt.
Sue walked into the room, and Austin was amazed by the beautiful lady standing before him with a tray in her hand.
Her cute cow horns, tail, and ears stood out the most, and Austin was awestruck by how beautiful a real-life demi-human looked like.
Sue had waist-length brown hair with beautiful green eyes and her stunning hourglass body made her stand out more than any other model he had ever seen in his previous world.
Anyways, the door closed shut behind her, and Sue greeted him as she walked in. "Good morning, Your Highness. How was your night?"
"It was restless, but I got through it."
Sue nodded but didn't press on the topic. She assumed that he was referring to the heated argument she had with him last night, and to be honest, it had made her restless throughout the night as well.
When Sue informed the fourth prince about the third prince's intention to have a word with him, she warned him not to go. But the fourth prince was quite stubborn, and he saw the meeting as a chance to have an ally among his brothers and to make sure he didn't lose the chance to ally with the third prince.
In the end, the fourth prince said some mean words to her, and she had felt sad about it since last night.
Pushing this thought out of her mind, Sue set the tray down before sitting in front of the stool. She had brought food for the two of them, and she wanted the both of them to eat together, just like they did every morning.
"I brought breakfast and thought you might be hungry."
"Thank you," Austin replied with a nod before sitting across from her.
Although his aunt had brought him breakfast earlier than usual, he could see that she was still worried about her argument with the fourth prince last night.
The signs were clear.
He could see how she frequently creased her brows and avoided making eye contact with him, so he knew he had to say something about last night.
He wasn't doing so because it would erase what was said; rather, he was doing it because he knew that remaining silent would only let the ache grow heavier between them.
Moreover, a part of him felt like it was the right thing to do.
The two continued to eat in silence, but after a while, Austin opened his mouth to speak.
"Aunt Sue?"
"Mm?"
"About last night...." He began, and Sue stopped eating as she waited for what he had to say.
"I know I said a lot of things I shouldn't have. But I just wanted you to know that I won't take your kindness for granted again. You've been there for me when I had no one else, and to be honest, I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you and the things you've done for me, so I'm sorry for what happened last night, and I promise you that it won't happen ever again." Austin's words were sincere and spoken from deep within him, and Sue could feel it as well.
A smile appeared on her lips, and she placed a hand on Austin's hand. "I'm sorry about what happened as well. I understood your reasons for wishing to speak to your brother, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. So can you forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me for what I said as well."
"Of course, I will. You're my cute little nephew, and there's nothing that can make me stay mad at you."
"Good, now eat and enjoy." Austin said, bringing his bowl of rice toward Sue's bowl.
"Huh? Why are you adding more rice to mine?"
"Because you look like you didn't eat anything last night."
Sue's eyes widened in shock.
She hadn't expected the young prince to be so observant concerning matters like that.
"Still, that doesn't mean you should give me most of yours. You're a prince, so you deserve to eat a lot."
"Nah, I'm not that hungry. So you should have more." Austin smiled and continued to happily add more of his rice to her bowl.
Of course, he could easily ask a maid of his to get more rice for his aunt, but Austin really wasn't in the mood to eat a lot, and Sue could see this as well.
"Thank you, Austin." She said with a smile on her lips.
Her thanks weren't just concerning the food, but also related to how Austin had cleared the awkward atmosphere between them.
Since last night, Sue had been worried about how she would talk freely to the fourth prince again.
A huge part of her had been unhappy and unsettled about what happened the previous night.
However, now that things had been cleared between them, she felt more at ease.
With that out of the way, Sue couldn't help but stare at Austin, the handsome young man before her, as he continued to eat with a smile on his face.
With what she had witnessed this morning, Sue couldn't help but notice how mature he had acted, and it made her feel happy.
In the past, the young prince would have never taken the initiative to apologize first.
Maybe it was due to his pride as a prince, but Sue had never been bothered by this.
However, for the first time, the young prince had surprised her by being the one to apologize first.
This simply proved to her that the young prince was growing up, and Sue couldn't be happier to witness this, especially since he was about to marry two beautiful ladies in a few weeks.
Time passed, and the two continued to eat and converse with each other.
After a while, they were done eating, and Sue called out to Austin.
"Austin?"
"Yes?"
"About last night. What did you and your brother discuss when you went to see him?"