Marked By The Mad King Alpha (Phoebe and Perry) novel Chapter 293

Chapter 293: Chapter 293 Innocent Revelation

Jude’s POV

My cheeks burned hot when Timothy asked that question, and I ducked my head to conceal the shy smile tugging at my lips.

Sensing another presence, Harlow spun around and spotted me. "Mama!" She bounced excitedly and rushed toward me, her face lighting up. "Mama, are you okay? Did the queen get mad at you?" Her eyes searched mine with worry.

I quickly shook my head. "No, sweetheart. The queen wasn’t angry with me at all," I assured her, stroking her soft hair.

"Then why did it take forever? And why couldn’t I come in?" Harlow raised both arms, silently requesting to be lifted.

I crouched down and scooped her into my arms. "We were discussing grown-up matters that children shouldn’t hear."

"But why?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Because it’s adult talk."

"But why?"

I sighed internally. Harlow was going through that phase where she questioned absolutely everything, and I always tried to answer her patiently.

Noticing my predicament, Timothy stepped closer and jumped into our conversation, offering to help field Harlow’s endless stream of questions.

"Hey, look at this gorgeous necklace," Timothy said, gesturing to the makeshift jewelry he’d crafted earlier, clearly trying to redirect Harlow’s attention.

"That’s not gorgeous at all," Harlow giggled.

"What’s your opinion?" Timothy’s gaze found mine, making me lower my head as heat flooded my face again.

"It’s... nice," I mumbled bashfully. Obviously, there was nothing remotely nice about the awful necklace Timothy had created, so Harlow immediately contradicted me.

"Mama, that necklace is hideous."

We ended up spending the entire afternoon chatting about everything and nothing, with Timothy sharing childhood stories he remembered from his own youth.

I watched him make a mental reminder to learn more children’s tales after today.

"Don’t you have work to do?" I asked, since Timothy had been hanging around with Harlow and me for quite a while.

"Don’t you want me here?" Timothy gave me such a pitiful look that I immediately panicked, frantically waving my hands to prevent any misunderstanding.

"No... No, that’s not what I meant..." I stammered quickly, but Timothy just chuckled at my flustered response.

"I’m just teasing." Timothy ruffled my hair naturally, as though he’d done it countless times before. He grinned when Harlow skipped over with two flowers clutched in her tiny fists. We were still in the greenhouse with no intention of leaving, despite it being well past lunchtime.

"These are for you both." Harlow presented the flowers to Timothy and me, beaming and showing her little teeth as happiness radiated from her.