Michael’s little hands pressed into the mattress as he struggled to lift himself again, his tiny arms trembling beneath the effort while the faint golden light beneath his skin became more visible with every irritated sound that escaped him.
Antony’s smile disappeared completely.
For a moment, neither he nor Roxanna moved. Three months of parenthood had taught Antony enough about his son to recognize the usual things: the impatient kicks when Michael wanted to be picked up, the unhappy little sounds that came before crying, the way his face scrunched whenever he was becoming frustrated.
He had seen all of those before. What he had never seen was mana gathering around Michael’s body simply because the boy was angry at his inability to keep his head raised.
The air around the bed trembled and a small glass bottle on Roxanna’s dressing table rattled.
Antony’s green eyes moved toward it before returning immediately to Michael.
"That isn’t normal."
Roxanna had already moved closer, her blue eyes losing their earlier amusement as traces of distant stars seemed to brighten inside them.
She didn’t touch Michael immediately; instead, she watched the mana circulating beneath his skin, following its movements with an awareness Antony could never hope to match.
"No," she murmured. "It isn’t."
Michael pushed himself upward again. His head rose for a few seconds before his arms began shaking. He dropped back onto the mattress and a furious little sound escaped him.
Then the room exploded.
There was no warning beyond a flash of gold. Antony barely had time to see Michael’s entire body illuminate before mana erupted outward in a circular wave.
"Michael!"
The bedside table shattered, and the mattress slammed downward.
A chair was thrown across the room hard enough to break against the opposite wall, two windows burst simultaneously, and several decorative crystals exploded into glittering fragments. Cracks raced through the plaster around the bed while the wardrobe doors flew open and clothing scattered across the floor.
He was thrown backward so hard that his wings opened instinctively and mana surged through his body.
[Mist Dominion Lv.4 Activated.]
Mist erupted around him before his back could strike the wall, cushioning the impact, but he dismissed it almost immediately and lunged toward the bed.
"Michael!" He shouted.
The door burst open before he reached them. Commander Seris entered first with her sword already drawn, followed by four guards whose wings were spread and weapons glowing with light mana.
"My Lord!"
"Nobody attack!"
Seris stopped so suddenly that one of the guards nearly ran into her.
Antony reached the bed to find Roxanna already there. Michael lay exactly where he’d been before the explosion... And he was screaming his lungs away.
The mana had disappeared almost as suddenly as it appeared, leaving their three-month-old son lying on his stomach, fists clenched against the ruined mattress while he cried hard enough that tears gathered in the corners of his blue eyes.
Roxanna scooped him up immediately.
"Shh...it’s all right. Mama has you," she softly said.
Michael’s cries grew louder. Antony reached them and began checking him without thinking, his hands shaking in the process.
He especially focused on his mana pathways, as much as he could sense them.
"He’s hurt," he said, his voice trembling.
"No." Roxanna’s voice was calm despite everything surrounding them. "He’s frightened."
Antony looked at her.
She settled Michael against her chest and rubbed his back slowly.
"He frightened himself."
Antony just stared at her, speechless. Behind them, Seris slowly lowered her sword.
"My Lord."
He turned.
She looked around the room; one wall had cracked, two windows were gone,a chair was in pieces and the heavy wooden dressing table had shifted almost a meter.
Seris then looked at the infant crying against Roxanna’s chest, her expression becoming very strange with each passing second.
"Was there an attacker?" She asked.
"No," Antony replied.
"An artifact malfunction?"
"No."
Her eyes slowly moved toward Michael. Antony immediately knew where this was going.
"Don’t."
She remained quiet.
He pointed toward the door.
"Everything is fine."
"My Lord, half the corridor felt that."
"We’re fine."
"A window nearly landed in the garden."
"I’ll replace it."
She continued staring at him and she stared back for sometime.
Finally, Seris sheathed her sword.
"I’ll tell the guards there was a magical accident."
"Good."
"And increase the perimeter around the manor until we know what caused it."
His lips tightened.
"Also good."
Seris looked once more toward Michael before leaving followed by the guards.
Antony waited until the doors closed, then he turned toward Roxanna.
"You are going to tell me that wasn’t him."
She didn’t answer.
"Honey."
Michael’s crying was finally beginning to fade. She kissed the side of his head before shifting him slightly higher against her shoulder.
"It was him," she firmly said.
He looked around the destroyed bedroom, then back toward the very small person responsible.
"Thats impossible, he’s three months old."
"I know."
At the moment, he was fully freaking out as he touched his son over and over again.
"He can’t sit."
"I am aware."
"He discovered his feet last week."
Roxanna almost smiled.
"I was there."
"He shouldn’t be able to destroy furniture because tummy time offended him."
That finally made her laugh, though the concern in her eyes remained.
Michael sniffled against her shoulder.
Antony lowered his voice immediately.
"He didn’t even cast anything that was raw mana."
"Yes."
He rubbed both hands down his face.
"Wonderful."
She sat carefully on the edge of the damaged bed.
He moved closer.
Michael had stopped crying completely now, though his tiny face remained wet with tears. He looked exhausted more than anything else.
Her placed two fingers lightly against his chest and eyes her closed.
The room fell quiet.
Antony watched her expression.
He had seen Roxanna use her divine senses enough times to know when she was concentrating deeply. The faint pressure surrounding her changed, and for several seconds the returning fraction of her old power became perceptible.
Michael stirred as her mana entered his body.
Roxanna’s eyes opened. Antony didn’t speak immediately, neither did she, and that worried him more than the explosion.
Finally, she exhaled slowly.
"His core is developing too quickly," she said with a grim voice.
Antony’s expression hardened.
"Is it damaged?"
"No. That’s part of the problem."