Athena had a good sleep after giving birth. When she woke up again, there were two little babies lying beside her. She looked at the babies in their swaddling clothes, a content smile on her face. Whether it was a daughter or a son, they were all her precious darlings.

Xander heard the movement on the bed and almost jumped up. “You’re awake, Athena, are you thirsty? I’ll get you some water.”

He busied himself reaching for the warm water on the table, but accidentally knocked over the medicine bowl next to it. The porcelain bowl shattered on the ground, and the brown medicinal liquid splashed on the corner of his robe.

With great difficulty, he poured the water, handed it to Athena’s lips, and hurriedly withdrew it. He blew on it and gave it to Athena to drink, saying, “Slow down, be careful, it’s hot.”

Athena couldn’t help but smile at his flustered appearance. After taking a few sips of water, she asked, “Where are the maids and servants? Why are you the only one guarding me?”

Xander’s eyes were bloodshot and his face was tired, but in his eyes, there was a bright sparkle. He said to Athena, “Alexandra said that you just gave birth, and if I don’t stay by your side, you will feel lost, so Alexandra sent all those people out.”

“So, you’ve been guarding here all along. How long have I been asleep?” Athena asked in surprise.

Xander smiled softly, “Not long, only two hours. I even changed the baby’s diaper.” Speaking of these things, he looked proud.

Athena lovingly touched his face, “Why do you have to work so hard, my husband? You could just leave these things to the servants.”

“No, I like doing it,” Xander said.

While they were talking, one of the children started to cry. Athena was also taking care of a child for the first time and was clearly a little flustered. Seeing the child cry, she didn’t know whether to pick him up or coax him, “What, what’s wrong? Is he hungry?”

“No, the wet nurse just fed him. He must have peed.” As Xander spoke, he reached out to untie the swaddling clothes. As soon as he untied it, a stream of water shot out.

He dodged subconsciously, and the stream of water flew past his ear. Athena covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling with laughter.

Xander also didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and said, “You little rascal, you actually dared to pee on your father.” His words were of disdain, but his eyes were full of affection. He gently unwrapped the swaddling clothes, clumsily removed the diaper, and laid a clean one down. After re-wrapping the swaddling clothes, he handed the baby to Athena and said, “Here, do you want to hold your son?”

Athena took the child and carefully examined his facial features. She saw that both sons looked exactly like Xander. They were simply miniature versions of Xander.

“Wah, wah…” The other child also began to cry. Xander hurriedly went to pick up the second child, and the eldest in Athena’s arms seemed to have a telepathic connection and also started crying. The two little babies have surprisingly loud voices.

Athena and Xander both panicked, but as they were at a loss, the nanny came in. “The young masters are hungry. I’ll take him down to feed him,” the nanny said.

Athena breathed a sigh of relief and handed the child to the nanny. Xander also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He could manage to take care of one child; he really couldn’t handle two.

At this moment, the woman from the kitchenette came in carrying a food box, “Princess Consort, the soup is here.” The moment the lid was lifted, the room was filled with fragrant steam. A few bright red wolfberries floated on the milky white crucian carp soup. Next to it was a bowl of perfectly steamed egg custard, so tender that it seemed to drip with water. There was also a dish of finely shredded young ginger, which was said to dispel the cold.

“These were all made according to the prince’s instructions. The crucian carp was caught fresh from the lake this morning, and the eggs were freshly laid by the chickens in the backyard, guaranteed to be fresh,” the old woman replied respectfully.

Xander helped Athena up, but he didn’t know whether to support her waist or her shoulders, so he had to look at the old woman for help and said, “You, you come, be gentle.”

Athena looked at his appearance and couldn’t help but chuckle softly, which caused her wound to tighten and she frowned. Xander immediately panicked, reaching out to touch her but suddenly retracting his hand, afraid that he would hurt Athena. He asked cautiously, “What’s wrong? Is something hurting? I’ll go call the royal attendant!”

“Don’t go.” Athena grabbed his hand and said, “I’m fine. I just think you look a little funny like this.”

Xander breathed a sigh of relief, but looking at Athena’s pale face, he felt sorry for her again. “You can still laugh; I was really scared to death by you today.”

“Eat something first.” He picked up a silver spoon, scooped up a spoonful of steamed egg custard, and blew on it as he had done to test the temperature. By the time it was delivered to her mouth, the steamed egg custard was almost cold.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, about to scoop it up again, but Athena opened her mouth and ate the egg custard. “It tastes very good.”

Xander looked at Athena and smiled lightly at her.

Trina walked in and said to Xander, “Your Highness, your mother said she wants you to go over there.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll go now.” Xander reluctantly got up and said to Athena, “I’ll be right back.” After saying that, he left reluctantly.

Trina wanted to remind him, but Xander walked too fast, and she had no chance.

Athena was a little tired and lay down again. Before long, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Xander came to Alexandra’s yard. As soon as he entered the door, he asked, “Mother, what did you call me here for?”

Alexandra glared at him, annoyed by his exhausted appearance. “Athena just gave birth, and you were just loitering there, not leaving, not letting her rest. If I hadn’t called you, you’d still be standing there.”

Xander then realized, “You’re right, Mother. I was negligent.”

In the days that followed, Xander tried not to disturb Athena’s rest. Newborns were easy to care for. All they did was eat and sleep, occasionally waking up, they would be fed, then they would fall back into a deep sleep. Their little brows were furrowed, as if they were having colorful dreams.

The wet nurse and maids took turns caring for the baby. If the baby made the slightest movement at night, someone would immediately come forward to change the diaper and feed the baby, never letting the crying reach Athena’s ears.

Even with the wet nurse and maids helping to care for the baby, Athena and Xander still felt physically and mentally exhausted. Athena was weak after giving birth and always woke up at night and couldn’t help but listen for the babies’ movements. Even knowing that the wet nurse was taking care of the baby, she couldn’t help but worry.

Xander handled official business during the day, and at night, he would get up and stand guard outside the room at the slightest whimper from the child. He would listen to the nanny soothing the child inside, and only after confirming that the child was asleep again would he tiptoe back to his room, often finding that dawn was near before he had been lying down for long.

In just one month, Xander and Athena both lost a lot of weight. Even more exaggerated, Xander had dark circles under his eyes. During the morning court session, a minister couldn’t help but glance at him a couple of times, only to be met with Xander’s cold glare, scaring him into immediately lowering his head.

After the court session, the royal attendant next to the King whispered, “Your Highness, you look really tired these past few days, why not ask the imperial physician to take a look?”

Xander waved his hand, his voice heavy with fatigue but also tinged with satisfaction, “It’s alright, it will be fine once Athena is out of confinement.” He raised his hand to rub his brow, his fingertips touching the stubble on his chin, and he remembered that he hadn’t shaved for several days.